If he was in human form, he'd be a GIGOLO.

 “... keep what is worth keeping and, with the breath of kindness, blow the rest away.” 

~ Dinah Craik

There are some things in a morning that are best left unsaid. 

“It’s ok ... I’ve got my bra on already.” would be one of them.  Yep, she does wear bras ... Carol that is .... and felt the need to share that with us this morning.  Carol should know by now though that any conversation with me is apt to be turned into fodder for my blog ... and especially when said conversation includes statements like that.

This poor gull has lost one of his feet ... 

Whilst Julz and I raise our eyebrows in surprise and giggle at this unexpected statement, she explained that what she meant was she had her ‘GYM’ bra on.  She was heading off for a gym work-out after our walk and, as most women will know, gym bras are far more time-consuming to don than an everyday bra. She was practising time management! 

Pete would be pleased .... or maybe NOT.

Beach toys - rugby ball and a log

My friend Carol is an exercise junkie.  I might have mentioned this before but she thrives on exercise .... not just normal everyday exercise ... but exercise of an addictive nature.  Despite being in her 60's and I WON’T mention her exact age but it’s a few years INTO her 60's, she still participates in half-marathons.  The next one will be the 50th  that she’s participated in.

She particularly likes half-marathons that offer a medal for completion.  So much so that she’s cancelling a marathon she’s already applied and paid for to participate in a DIFFERENT one on the same day in Rotorua.  The one in Rotorua has a medal you see.

Pete just shakes his head resignedly.  I think he’s given up trying to understand her.  So have I and I’ve only known her a few years ... Pete’s known her a WHOLE lifetime!

Exercise Junkie or not though, I thoroughly enjoy the time the hound and I spend with her.

Sam enjoys our company too.  I love the greeting I get when he sees me on the beach.  Nothing and no-one interferes with his flight down the beach to flop at my feet ... generally in an upside down position so I can tickle his tummy.  If he’s not been in the waves he’s soft and cuddly and just SO adorable.

This hound KNOWS all the tricks!  If he was in human form, he’d be a GIGOLO.

Sam’s arrival means the new CHIEFS ball has arrived.  My hound, traitor that she is,  dances anxiously around Carol’s feet .... desperate to SWAP balls!

What is it about the BRIGHT new Chiefs ball that’s so appealing .... and NO, it’s NOT because it’s a Chiefs ball.  They haven’t won Super Rugby 2013 YET. 

I say that tongue in cheek as there’s little chance of them losing this Saturday.  Everything’s in their favour ... home final and top of the log.  It would take something of a miracle for the Brumbies to beat them.

In the meantime I’m sending a pic of my unfaithful hound and the Chiefs rugby ball to the Chiefs.  

Bubbly .... bouncy ..... and blonde!

“Be brave enough to live creatively.  You have to leave the city of your comfort and go into the wilderness of your intuition.  You can only get there by hard work, by risking and by not quite knowing what you are doing.

What you discover will be wonderful ... you will discover yourself.” 

~ Alan Alda, 1936 (Quoted in The Educators Book of Quotes)

Bubbly ... bouncy .... and blonde.

.... and BAFFLED at having his ‘FIND’ taken off him in the waves.

Nope ... I’m not talking about me, I’m talking about Sam ... the bubbly bouncy blonde Labrador.  To avoid more mischief and mayhem whilst crossing the road in the morning to get our caffeine boost, I now stay on the beach with the hounds whilst Carol goes to the Co-op.

It’s a full-on task kicking and throwing balls for these hounds.  As one returns to the beach with a ball so I’m throwing the other ball into the waves for the other hound.  Sam always drops his ball instantly he hits the sand ... he can’t wait to leap back into the waves to fetch it again.  My hound’s a bit of a tease and practices the same movements on me as what she does on Sam when she DOESN’T want to share any log she might have found.

It’s unusual for Sam to NOT return to the beach with a ball so I knew something of interest had attracted his attention when he sprung from the waves WITHOUT the ball.  

The ‘something of interest’ was something SMELLY which he snatched off the sand.

Clever hound that he is, he headed BACK into the waves with his ‘FIND’ 

.... a fish skeleton ... and started to EAT it.

He’d forgotten though that it wasn’t HIS Carol standing on the sand throwing balls

 .... it was ME .... and I’m not scared of getting my feet wet.

The look of disbelief on his face was PRICELESS as I waded into the waves, 

shoes and all, grabbed his collar and snatched the skeleton OUT of his mouth.

Maggie, a 5 month old Boxer pup we meet on the beach.

I wish I’d had another pair of hands ... one pair just wasn't enough.

The skeleton was sent flying out into the waves.  I had hold of Sam’s collar as I knew, given half the chance, he’d race off after his smelly snack. My other hands, if I’d had any, would have been busy taking photos of the baffled look on his face.  

That’ll teach him to think the waves are a place of refuge when he’s doing something he shouldn’t!

I could hear my hound SNIGGERING as I told him off.

They’re BOTH carrying Chiefs rugby balls at the moment ... much to my dismay.  Sam the Man has managed to kill ANOTHER rugby ball, my second South African one. 

It’s NOT a good omen.  Carol of course is deliriously happy. 

This weekend the Chiefs play her beloved Hurricanes so Carol has a bit of a dilemma.  

Who does she support? 

I’m backing the Hurricanes as I DON’T want the Chiefs to win Super Rugby this year.  Not because they won last year but because I don’t want Carol to have the satisfaction of telling me my hound was right in choosing that darn Chiefs rugby ball!!

Full Moon mayhem and madness.

That Full Moon last week has a LOT to answer for.

Fergus, the Westie owned by my friend Moira chewed up her diary last week.  Fergus is all of 5 years old and he’s NOT ever done anything like that before.  That in itself is NOT unusual.  Hounds have a penchant for doing the most inopportune of things ... silent deadly farts during an evening meal spring to mind.

What is unusual is what happened next.  Moira phoned the Dog Groomer to make an appointment for Fergus to be trimmed.  The Dog Groomer also owns a Westie.  Without knowing what Fergus had done the Dog Groomer asked Moira if she knew where she could get another diary for 2013 as her Westie had just last week chewed her existing one. 

In both cases nothing untoward had happened in either hound’s life and the diaries had been in their usual spots where their owners left them.

How bizarre is that! 

Yep ... strange things happen when that there moon is full in the sky.

It was still high in the sky this morning when we hiked up to the view site.  We were just in time to see what was a magnificent sun rise.  It’s the last day in April and I’m STILL wearing a short-sleeved T-shirt for our early morning rambles.  I think Autumn’s passed us by.  We’re going to step from Summer right into Winter.

I’m NOT complaining.  This weather has been glorious.

I’m not even wearing my fingerless gloves yet!

The hound was a tad confused at there being NO Sam on the beach this morning.  She’s become quite accustomed to a hound-shaped bullet exploding into our midst on Tuesdays and Thursdays. Sam’s on holidays at the kennels though as Carol and Pete are in Fiji for the week.  They both NEED a break.

I received a rather smug text message from her on Saturday after HER Chiefs BEAT my Sharks in their Super Rugby match.  Apparently Sam and Chocolat are BOTH well pleased with the result of the game. I think I have a traitor in my midst. Carol has one in her midst too as Pete also backed my Sharks to win this last week!

The hound needs to learn which side her bread’s buttered and which side she SHOULD be supporting.

... otherwise I might just have to STOP kicking that rugby ball on the beach!