BEFORE hitting 50 next year, former SNJ news editor Sandra Ashenford has compiled a bucket list of 50 goals to achieve before her birthday.

The aim is to do one every week.

HAVING ticked off 34 items from my list, I have to confess that this week I didn’t manage to achieve anything.

The remaining 16 items all need an investment of either time or money.

Both of these commodities are in very short supply at the moment.

What we did do this week though, was to bury a dog and bake a cake.

The dog in question was Mason, my 13-year-old lurcher-greyhound cross.

In his younger days he could run like the wind but lately he has been much slower on his feet.

This has been partly due to the tumour that began to grow on one of his hind legs some while ago.

We made the decision that we would not, at his advanced age, put him through the trauma of surgery, but as long as he was well and the growth wasn’t causing him any problems, we would carry on as normal.

So we did, and he was very well until recently when the tumour began to grow at quite an alarming rate.

I was in London on a training course for part of the week, and when I returned home it was as much as Mason could do to stand up and greet me.

The following day he wouldn’t even get up, although I still got a wag of the tail.

I could see that the tumour was bleeding, and I knew that the time had come to say goodbye.

I called the vet who came round and put him to sleep as he lay in his basket.

We buried him alongside his predecessors, Jojo, Maverick and Hector, under the trees at the bottom of the garden.

It was absolutely the right thing to do, but the house is quiet without him.

My two little dogs have big personalities, but I miss Mason’s solid reassuring presence.

On Sunday, to get us back in the Christmas spirit, the whole family came round for the traditional cake making ceremony.

Everyone helps and we all make a wish as we give the mixture a final stir.

If all goes well though, this time next year there will be three new little people to lend a hand to the proceedings.

The cycle of life goes on.