Maniacal Mondays!

Maniacal Monday gave way to Time-out Tuesday and well over 2 hours of rambling at Waiatarua .... just what the Doctor ordered!

Hounds and mud and water and good company were just what I needed today. Yesterday was frenetic. There is always a lot do at the shop on a Monday and I love it, the time passes so quickly. Yesterday was extreme though ... there wasn’t a moment during the day when there wasn’t something needing to be done or customers needing to be helped. Even when I went to the loo, I came back to find 2 customers waiting outside the shop to try on bathing suits.

I have to smile when I think of the differences between the two days ... not just in the frantic pace with which Monday passed but in my visual appearance too. On Mondays I’m preened and pimped  for work .... stockings, high heels or boots, short dress, make-up etc. On Tuesdays it’s a completely different picture ... shorts, long-sleeve T and trainers, jacket and bright orange scarf ... no make-up. Backpack and hound to hand, we head out the door clean and dry only to return a few hours later muddy, wet and windblown .... but on an absolute high.

Sam doesn't want to jump in the river so he's trying to pinch the ball as she climbs out!

There’s something about these hound-accompanied rambles that just feeds my soul, pushes my spirit to new heights and puts bounce into every step I take .... it's that Tigger thing. Would that everyone could feel as good as I do after my rambles. How did I get to be so lucky!

Even coming home and having to hose down the hound and dry her before heading upstairs to clean my trainers doesn’t detract from the elation I feel. Those tasks are part and parcel of owning a hound who loves swimming .... AND mud!

My tasks are simpler than Carol’s especially after we’ve been to Waiatarua. She always brings towels along, as does Julia, for us to dry the hounds before they climb in the car. Despite drying them though, they’re still quite muddy and neither hound is perturbed about shaking in the confines of the car. No matter how much WE think we’ve dried them, there’s still an inordinate amount of water and mud drops that come off when they shake!

Look at that mud dripping off his chin!!

I have great friends .... they don’t seem to mind the additional mess in their cars and the extra load of washing they have from rambling the hounds at Waiatarua. 

Triple mousse .... white, chocolate and dark

Ebony .... being a furry submarine

The dog-pond at Waiatarua has become Sam’s favourite spot since he realised he can swim. He’strong AND, he’s fast and my hound is having to make a huge effort to get to the ball first. It’s a big game to them now .... whoever gets to the ball first has to endure the other one trying to take it off them. Other hounds don’t stand a chance .... these two have it taped!

.... and what she recovered.

We met another Labrador there today, a black girl called Ebony. Not only did she enjoy chasing the ball with our hounds but she would also dive UNDER the water to retrieve whatever debris she could find on the pond floor. She emerged several times with broken tennis balls and long sticks .... all collected from the bottom of the pond. My hound will occasionally put her head under the water if she’s lost a log but she won’t leave it under for long ..... Ebony stays under until she’s able to bring what she’s found to the surface. 

It’s the first time I’ve seen a submersible hound .... she looked like a furry submarine as she hovered just below the water’s surface.

Her owner was a mine of interesting information. I had always thought the Labrador was bred for bird and duck hunting but their first use as a working dog was retrieving fish that wriggled off hooks in the fishing waters of Newfoundland. They were bred to become a hard-working efficient retriever with great talent in cold water. 

Watching our hounds retrieving ball after ball like they do, and swimming in the waves regardless of the temperature shows how strong those natural Labrador traits are.

Hmmm .... an interesting thought ..... we have a fishpond in our garden. I guess I shouldn’t be surprised if my hound catches me a fish one of these fine days!