He's booked to have THAT op ....

We've finished our ramble AND we're finished breakfast!

Oh dear .... my friend Sam doesn’t know what’s going to hit him tomorrow! He’s booked to have THAT op .... you know the one I mean. He’s going to have his balls removed .... and no, I DON’T mean the RUGBY kind.

Carol could have booked to have the op on Monday but it was my birthday today, so she wanted Sam to enjoy a ramble at Waiatarua and breakfast at Nosh with the hound and I, before he goes for the chop.

Poor, poor Sam ... he doesn’t have a clue.

There must be something in the air. Shadow went for the chop on Monday and now it’s Sam’s turn. October was Breast Cancer month ... should I be seeing November as having some kind of special significance too? .... other than the month that my birthday falls in of course. That is of HUGE significance!

Talking of birthdays, I just love birthdays ... and I especially love MY birthday! It gets extended you see. That’s the one advantage of living at the arse end of the world. I’m 11 to 13 hours AHEAD of most of my friends that live back in SA or the UK. 

Amazing reflections again today!

I get to spend the first part of my day with my immediate family, and the human and furry friends I’ve made here in NZ. Then I get to spend cyber-time with friends and family all around the world. It extends way beyond the 24 hours that usually make up a birthday! How LUCKY am I!

Even the sun has played ball today. I woke to GORGEOUS sunshine and blue skies. The tide was out too so the reflections were beautiful .... and the heron was in the bay. He posed for photos as I snuck across the rocks and mud flats to get closer to him. Yep ... the trainers got muddy but what’s a bit of mud when you’re getting awesome shots of the heron!

Sam took his aspirations of being a chocolate hound to new levels today. He even got his tongue all chocolate!! Despite the heavy cloud cover of the past few weeks there hasn’t been an awful lot of rain so the wonderful puddles at Waiatarua are now wonderful MUD puddles! It’s a wannabee chocolate hound’s idea of heaven!

From the hounds mud-filled heaven we headed to Nosh for a birthday breakfast ... poached eggs on toast with a side of mushrooms and spinach. When you have a Labrador in your life, you soon get used to being watched as you eat .... and ignore it .... even when Sam’s nose is ALMOST touching your plate!

It's that trio of mousse again!

I could get used to days like this. I’ve been fed and watered and spoilt all day .... even by the girls at the Co-op who wouldn't let me pay for my ice-cream! There were even dolphins in the bay when Gareth and I headed out to meet Cayl’s for lunch. Yes .... breakfast out AND lunch out, lunch courtesy of my lemmings.

Who wouldn’t feel special when they’ve had a birthday like mine!

Reflections in the rock pools on the beach ... amazing!

Oh yes .... it's that moon again!

Making mischief of one kind or another!

Happy Birthday Sam!!

It’s his first birthday today and we celebrated in style with a wet and muddy ramble at Waiatarua followed by breakfast at Nosh. 

Decadent breakfast!! 

French toast with roasted banana, berry compote and mascarpone cheese .... with piles of bacon.

I’m not a big fan of bacon with my french toast and fruit but that wasn’t a problem. I had two hounds alongside who assured me they didn’t mind helping. They’d polish off the bacon quicker than you could blink .... and they did .... with lip-smacking relish.

I love going to Waiatarua with Carol and Sam when it’s been raining. Sam looks so gorgeous and clean till we get there .... and then the fun begins!

It’s so easy to turn the wannabee chocolate hound brown. You just kick his ball into the mud time and time again and with enormous enthusiasm he ploughs through the mud, splashing it up in all directions, to retrieve the ball. The look of satisfaction on his face as he races back to us, ball in mouth, mud all over .... is priceless .... and so is the look on Carol’s face!

She’s given up trying to keep him clean when we ramble in Waiatarua. I guess I don’t help by kicking the ball into the mud .... it’s SO much fun making mischief!

There are plenty of humans with hounds at Waiatarua that need training .... the humans that is, not the hounds. I’ve lost count of the number of times another hound will take one of the rugby balls and race off with it and their human will be unable to get them to drop it. Today’s culprit was totally indifferent to her hound running of with the ball. She continued on her merry way WITH her hound WITH the ball. They make my blood boil, these untrained humans, so the less said about them the better.

We did get the ball back .... though I had to go and fetch it.

Onto something more pleasant ..... caffeine! My favourite tipple .... as Jess has discovered. Pete, the friendly sports-mad owner of the Village Co-op has SOLD the Co-op .... well .... the coffee side of it that is. They need to devote more time to the growth of Joshua’s Ice Cream so him and Josh are focusing on the ice-cream and Neil, the new Co-op owner, will run the coffee side. 

He’s bought into a great little business ..... they make marvelous coffee and the girls are always so pleasant and friendly .... hand-picked by Pete of course .... but they add so much to the coffee experience. The Co-op is a great asset to our little community so it’s nice to know the new owner is a resident in the village too.

Personally I think Pete just wants more time to loiter  .... he’s good at loitering ..... AND he wants more time to offer his rather BIASED opinion on all the sports we enjoy .... rugby and cricket specifically. I’m glad he’s not going anywhere .... our morning rambles wouldn’t be quite the same without Pete’s banter.

Such a magnificently vivid rainbow yesterday!

Double rainbow

Yesterday's rainbow reflected in the puddle .... too beautiful!

A different visitor to the beach yesterday ... a duck.