Magic and Mayhem.

Weekends don’t come better than this one.

Cooper trying to help the hound retrieve her ball

Stunning weather.  

Sensational market.  

Winning Rugby.  

Cheerful and noisy ramble.  

Full Moon.  

Website launched.

Phew .... it’s had it all and more.

The full moon was accompanied by clear skies on Saturday night.  They’re essential for any excursion on a broomstick ... especially mine as my navigational skills are abysmal.  The only person I know with navigational skills worse than mine is the other Carol. 

 It must be something to do with the name.

Love watching this drive into the water

When it’s a full moon and cloudy, the broomstick’s relegated to the basement.

... lifts up the wheels and off it goes

There was little need for creating magic and mayhem this weekend though.  It happened all by itself.  

I couldn’t have wished for a busier or more enjoyable market on Saturday. 

 It exceeded all my expectations and left my head reeling. 

 If compliments were currency I’d be the wealthiest girl in the world.

It wasn’t just me that enjoyed the market either.

The hound was her usual cuddle-slut self and created mayhem with her tail.  

What is it about Labradors and the bum wag. 

 It’s not just her tail that she wags, it’s her WHOLE bottom!   

I’ve lost count of the number of times I’ve had to rescue the canvas prints on the easel when she’s welcoming people to my stall.  Her tail is a weapon all on it’s own!

She’s my market mascot and EVERYONE loves her!

SHE loves it when we get up early to watch rugby too. Fortunately this morning’s match was on at a respectable time for us .... 6am instead of the more usual 3am.  She curls up at my feet ready to LEAP up in excitement every time I cheer.  That happened quite frequently this morning as my Sharks scored the necessary number of tries to earn a bonus point.  

What an awesome start to a tournament.

The Weetb-Bix Kids TRYathlon was SO well supported today.

No matter where in the world I live, I will ALWAYS be a Sharks supporter.  

I believe in the power of the BLACK and WHITE.

So does the hound.

I think I could be deemed a little crazy.

“You find peace not by rearranging the circumstances of your life - but by realising who you are at the deepest level.”

~ Eckhart Tolle

I think I could be deemed a little crazy.

Who else in their right mind gets up in the wee hours to watch rugby ... in the middle of winter nogal!  My loyalty to my Sharks would have been sorely tested had they not won ... but win they did ... even if it was in the dying moments of the game.

This season of Super Rugby has been a disappointment, from my perspective that is, as my Sharks HAVEN’T played their best.  They’re still in with a SLIM chance of making the play-offs but only IF they beat the BULLS

 ... and IF they beat the KINGS

 .... and IF the Cheetahs LOSE to the Blues!  

So many IF’S!

IF that all happens my Sharks will be on the same points as the Cheetahs and will have won the SAME number of games.  Then it goes down to point difference and guess who has the BIGGER point difference?  

Yep ... my Sharks!

This is the joy of Super Rugby .... ANYTHING can and DOES happen.

Dam .... who am I going to back if my Sharks DON’T make the play-offs?  

Nope ... I don’t think I could EVER shout for the Chiefs.

The hound would though.

Talking of the hound, she has become an absolute CUDDLE SLUT at the markets.  She LOVES them.  She LOVES the cuddles.  She LOVES meeting all the customers and she LOVES my fellow stall-holders.  She has become a CUDDLE SLUT of note.  

She’s a chocolate hound with charisma and has become an integral part of my presence at the markets.  

I blame it all on the bum and the way it waggles when she’s happy!

Hmmm .... I don’t get quite the same effect when I waggle my bum.

We’ve had clear skies the past two days and the sunsets have been MORE than magnificent. Brilliant orange and red skies have accompanied that Sun dropping over the horizon.  The mirror-like surface of the low tide intensifies the reflections too.  I live in an awesome spot in the world and moments like this reinforce that. That sun’s still setting very early though  .... a 10 minute delay in reaching the beach and it’s all over ... dusk has already fallen.

I’ve always assumed that ‘dusk’ and ‘twilight’ refer to the same particular time of day, ie after the sun has set.  Google, that arbiter of all things inane has suggested that ‘dusk’ is the time at which the sky becomes completely dark.  That happens when the Sun is supposedly 18 degrees below the horizon .... how one’s supposed to measure than when the sun’s no longer visible befuddles me.  Again, according to Google, ‘twilight’ is the period between when the Sun sets and ‘dusk’!  

Thank you Google .... I’ll try NOT to get that confused in future..

It's EYE CANDY time!

This evening's gorgeous sunset.

Anyone who knows me well knows how much I enjoy sport.  I especially love rugby and tennis ... particularly the Mens Tennis.  Let’s be more specific.  I especially enjoy watching Rafa Nadal play tennis. 

This is what the moon looked like from the street.

I share this addictive and obsessive behaviour with my good friend Carol, only I’m not quite as verbose as her when it comes to dissing the opposition.  In tennis the player she loves to hate the most is Djokovich ... especially when he’s playing one of her favourites.

It was even fully visible at the view site as the sun started to rise.

.... and a close up of it.

This time of year there’s an abundance of sport tournaments that we enjoy. Not only do we have Super Rugby to watch but It’s French Open time too.  That’s one of our favourite Grand Slams ... that and Wimbledon.  My bucket list includes going to ALL of the Grand Slams and preferably one of these first. How anyone EVER does EVERYTHING on their bucket list though is beyond me.  

Mine keeps getting longer, not shorter.

I’ve ticked off a few memorable ones ... flying on the Concorde to New York, scuba diving with sharks and jumping out of an aeroplane at 12000 feet.  I’ve visited several of the places in the world I’ve always wanted to visit but I’ve yet to attend ANY of the Grand Slams, and that’s been an item on my bucket list for a very long time.

She found a rather large log ... or should that be tree branch ... 

I digress though.  Back to the tennis and rugby. The problem with both our favourite tennis tournaments is that they’re played in the Northern Hemisphere.  

I’m generally sleeping when all that eye candy is performing.  I have to record it.

..... that she really wanted to bring with us.

It makes for good viewing though, ESPECIALLY as it’s recorded.  

I can replay the most pertinent parts over and over again.  

My eye candy fix can go on indefinitely.

No matter how much she huffed and puffed, it was TOO big to move.

The final is scheduled to be played on Sunday afternoon .... that’s 2am my Monday morning.  Eeeeek!!  I’ll be recording it but I’ll ALSO be watching live as it’s impossible nowadays to avoid hearing the results of tournaments like this. 

SomeHOW, someWHERE, someONE is bound to let it slip.

Joined by the sparrows again ...

I think I might need matchsticks on Monday morning.

I think the hound might have to forego her early morning ramble.

I haven’t told her this yet.  It’s been difficult enough trying to explain that Sam the Man won’t be back until next Tuesday.  She gazes expectantly up and down the beach each morning WILLING him to appear.  Every other hound is given the once over to ensure it’s not Sam the Man in disguise .... or in drag.

This log .... branch ..... was nearly 3m long!

She got really confused when Zac the Golden Lab arrived on the beach.  From a distance he looks so much like Sam but up close you can see he’s older and more solid.  She went haring up the beach, tail wagging as fast as her legs were running, only to come back looking very dejected. 

It WASN’T Sam the Man.

I’ve just had a sudden thought.

Maybe it’s NOT Sam the Man she’s looking for but that darn CHIEFS rugby ball!!

She's yelling at us to come and help her carry it.

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!