I can do ALL .....

Sunshine .... sunshine ..... sunshine ....... something that was in short supply this morning! I got rather damp and drizzly on my ramble  .... so did Gav ... so did Julia!  Gav couldn’t find his hat and his windscreen wipers weren’t working ... he saw the world through an even bigger haze than what I did! 

I must admit .... I love mornings like this ..... the drizzle and the mist add another dimension to my little part of the world .... there’s an ethereal eeriness as we walk .... a stillness that’s more noticeable than when the sun shines.

My road at 6.45 this morning ....

 Even the waves were still .... or as still as a wave can be .... they only became noticeably noisier when the wash from the ferries rolled up the beach.

Ladies Bay was devoid of human form this morning .... no nudists, no fisherman ... just Julia, Gav myself and the hounds. Bella’s calmer than she was the last time she stayed with us ... she still tries to strangle herself with the lead as we walk but there’s not the same intense frenetic energy that she’s

exhibited in the past. She still chases sticks with abandon ... but drops them as she hits the beach .... no problem this morning though .... she fetched the stick and Indy retrieved it from where she dropped it. They were a fine example of teamwork!

Can't even see the top of Rangitoto ... it's covered in mist.

I’m not sure of what Indy thought of having 2 girls in tow this morning. The three of them are a contrast in size and form .... both the girls are short, not very graceful on land but supremely powerful and elegant swimmers .... totally addicted to the waves and willing to fetch anything thrown for them. 

Indy is the epitome of laid-back elegance, he loves exploring, doesn’t hurry .... he’s way too clever for that .... and sees the world around him as an endless source of nourishment!  


Our rambles exhaust them ... even Bella, who I’ve always thought of as being hyperactive. Right now, as I sit writing this, she’s stretched out on the tiles with Chocolat fast asleep.

Hmmmm ...... rose between the thorns .. or the other way around?

After my ramble with Julia and Gav I met Carol and Sebastian on the beach for coffee.  Carol’s been away in Melbourne at the Australian Open ... she had tickets for the semi-finals and the finals .... I don’t think I want to be her friend anymore!!  She’s as addicted to certain sports as what I am and has decided that her next Labrador should be called 

Gorgeous Sebastian

Rafa .... I can’t imagine why! We have to talk about her next Labrador quietly as we don’t want to hurt Sebastian’s feelings ... he’s 14½ and she’s preparing herself for the inevitable.


She’s another one who, like me, spends some of her time on-line googling inane information. 

The stance says it all!

One of the snippets of information she gleaned is that Rafa’s father’s name is Sebastian!!  What a co-incidence ... and for her, further confirmation that Rafa is the right name for her next hound!


We saw the funniest thing whilst sitting drinking our coffee. Sebastian is an old man and, as old men do, he moves very slowly. Two ladies were walking down the boardwalk towards him with a very small fluffy hound in tow and stepped to the right to move around Sebastian.  Sebastian, at the same moment in time, decided to step right too ... and the little hound disappeared over the edge of the boardwalk .... about a metre drop. 

The two ladies continued walking ... quite oblivious to their small hound being strangled as it was dragged along. We couldn’t help but laugh ... it was the funniest sight ... the poor hound couldn’t even yip and let them know. Fortunately, as we were about to alert them to the hound’s predicament, they realised something was amiss and stopped to rescue it.  We were both still laughing when Denise and Abi came along and we had to share the source of our amusement with them.

These are the moments that make my days special ... the moments of laughter .... the shared camaraderie with my fellow “humans with hounds”.  They’re all such down-to-earth friendly people who MAKE time each day to ramble with their 4-legged friends .... not out of a sense of duty ... but because they WANT to.  


Despite the difficulties we’re facing at the moment .... despite the uncertainty that exists in my life .... it’s made so much more bearable by the people around me ..... the moments I spend rambling .... the people and hounds I share those rambles with. Nothing in life is insurmountable .... 
“I can do ALL because I THINK I can.”