I'm getting cranky!!

Hee hee ... she changed the colour of the Chiefs rugby ball!!

I hate enforced rest ..... with a passion. I’ve done enough Killer Sudoku to last me a lifetime ... I’ve read the morning paper .... I’ve checked my emails and FB and it’s only 9am. The sister doing the blood tests told me to relax and enjoy some time-out whilst I wait the two hours to have the second lot of bloods taken. Relax?? Time out??? 

I HAVEN’T had my ramble yet! The hound hasn’t had her ramble yet. I’m getting cranky!!

Playing with Bandit on the beach yesterday

Bandit loves to herd her!

Then I get a text message from Carol which makes me crack up “Hi, how’s it going? I have one very impatient hound pacing the house!” 

Yep, I can just picture it ... Sam the man wondering what the heck has happened this morning ... why hasn’t he had his ramble?

.... and she doesn't want to be herded.

My hound’s face was a picture when I left for the Lab. 

I had to be there by 7.30 so I’d dressed ready for a ramble, all the paraphernalia in the backpack

 .... and then 

..... left her BEHIND. 

She was so confused.

Their day .... and mine ..... improved immeasurably when Carol collected me at 10 from the Lab. Sam couldn’t contain his excitement. Yay ... we’re on our way to fetch Chocolat .... and Jess. It’s her last day in NZ so she’d decided to join us for our ramble so she could meet Sam and see for herself the antics the hounds get up to at the park.

A fairly clean Sam before the fun begins!

They didn’t disappoint. If anything Sam leapt higher and further than usual! He LOVES having an audience .... especially an appreciative audience ..... and he performed his role with gusto. It wasn’t just Jess that he impressed with his huge leaps .... a group of school children on a field trip were enthralled by the hounds and their prowess with the rugby balls.

Even my hound, show-off that she is, got into the groove. She leapt into the water with such enthusiasm  .... it was almost as if she was trying to say that anything Sam could do, she could do better!

We were left wondering what the kids would write in their journals about the field-trip. I’m pretty certain the hounds and their balls and their leaping into the water would be one of the unexpected high-lights of it.

Our hounds made their day so much brighter.

Today apparently is “R U OK? Day” in Australia .... a national day of action in which all Australians are being encouraged to reach out to family, friends and colleagues. The philosophy behind it is that a conversation could change a life ... and prevent someone from taking their own life. It’s a frightening thought that more than 

2 200 people take their own lives each year ... and that’s just in Aus.

A few of my favourite things!

Reaching out and sharing with the people we care about, even if they’re not at risk, is good for all of us. In the time it takes to have my coffee, I could start a conversation that could change someone’s life.

A VERY muddy Sam!

Who will you ask today?

Gorgeous morning!

Another view of some of my favourite things