Whales 'POOP' is valuable!

I learnt some interesting facts today ... and no .... it wasn’t via the purveyor of all things inane, ie Google though I must admit, I HAVE since VERIFIED them on Google.

I didn’t know that Ambergris, which is used as a fixative for perfumes, is actually a substance produced in the digestive system of sperm whales and ‘pooped’ out! This little gem of knowledge came courtesy of a fellow human with hounds who stopped to ask what the hound was unearthing in the sand.  He was hoping, for my sake, that it was a lump of Ambergris as, apparently, it’s worth a lot of money. He was wrong in the one aspect of the story he regaled me with .... he called it whales’ vomit when it’s not.

I wouldn’t mind the hound unearthing some of that ... scientists call it ‘floating gold’ and whales produce it to protect their gut from the very sharp beaks of squid.  There was an article in a UK newspaper recently about it. 

Maybe I need to give the hound some lessons in WHAT she should be retrieving from the waves.

It was her log she was unearthing from the sand though, all ready to bury again in the hope that I’d let her re-unearth it.  She’d buried and unearthed it once already whilst Pete and I were having our morning chinwag on the boardwalk.  

It’s Wednesday and I have to get home to shower and change for work.  She knows that and is trying to delay the inevitable as long as possible. It’s easy to forget the time when the mornings are so beautiful.

I just love this time of year ... ambient mornings and the sun rising at a respectable time over the islands. My world rocks.

The second gem came courtesy of a customer in the shop who’d been examining the labels of some of the frocks ... yes, very old-fashioned word but used often by some of the ladies who frequent the shop .... to determine what the fabric was.  Her daughter is a fashion designer in the UK.  Apparently viscose is made using a blend of wood pulp ... that’s another snippet of inane information that I wasn’t aware of.  Papers made from wood pulp too so it it’s probably not MUCH of a stretch to make a fabric from it as well.

I love it when friends who’re humans with hounds come into the shop to shop.  One such friend has clothes shopping down to a fine art.  She hates buying clothes.  She breezes in, selects the items she likes, finds her size and buys them.  Just like that.  No trying on.  No indecision.  Just charge the card.  

I need to take some lessons from her!

“The primary cause of unhappiness is NEVER the situation, but your THOUGHTS about it.” 
~ Eckhart Tolle

THINK happy!

I'm a rugby addict....

Morning reflections ......

.... and even earlier before we could see the sun.

Our job .... our invitation from the Universe .... according to Nealle Donald Walsch, is to give people back to themselves. He suggests we look for the best in every person we meet and tell them, right there and then!  It’s not always easy though with someone you’ve just met, but I like the philosophy

behind the idea. Each and every individual has something positive and vital to add to the communities we live and work in ... yes ... even the GOPs!


That’s what’s so awesome about our daily rambles ... we get to meet the nicest of people in this little community we live in.

Indy Explorer!

Indy got to go on a bus today .... not for a ride ... but he got to see what the inside of a bus was like. The nicest of bus drivers had parked opposite Moretons and was obviously waiting for his shift to begin ... he’d been watching the hounds playing on the sand. We headed up to the boardwalk and Chocolat’s ball rolled in his direction so he kicked it back towards her. Both hounds see anyone kicking the ball as an invitation to say hello .... so over they went to greet him with wet and muddy noses ... the poor bus driver had mud splashes all over his trousers but didn’t mind one little bit! 

Clouds in puddles of water!

Indy, in typical Indy explorer mode, headed into the bus and up and down the aisle - I don’t think he was checking out the seating arrangement .... more like he was sussing out the availability of food on board!

The bus driver told us he loves dogs but won’t have another one as he hasn’t got over the loss of his last one. It used to lie under the car in the shade and his son inadvertently ran over it one day whilst moving the car. His grief was palpable and we felt such an affinity for his loss ... it explained why he was happy to have hound slobber all over him.

Love it ... love it ... love it!!

I walked away from him feeling that in some way we’d reached out to him ... in some way talking to us about his loss comforted him and made his day brighter. It just felt so right.


I’m baby-sitting Sebastian for Carol on

Sunday .... or should that be “pensioner-sitting”!! Carol’s participating in a half-marathon at Coatesville and after Sebastian’s stroke this week, she’s understandably worried about leaving him on his own. She was concerned about needing to drop him off early but she forgets .... I’m a rugby addict ... it’s Super Rugby

season and 6 Nations ... both my team’s are playing early Sunday morning .... I’ll be UP and CHEERING!


Sebastian’s looking good though ... I could even see an improvement in him from yesterday ... he stood up with more ease at the coffee shop today. He’s a dear old soul and quite the celebrity in our little village ... how many other 15 year old hounds do you know who’re taken for their daily constitutional at the beach without fail! I reckon that’s what’s kept Sebastian young ... Carol and Pete’s commitment to his daily ramble ... well .... Carol’s commitment to his daily ramble, Pete joins in at weekends.

I’m loving the weather at the moment ... the early morning sunshine creates the most amazing reflections in the low tide. The cotton-wool clouds and blue sky are reflected so clearly in the pools of water on the sand .... the beach is a photographer’s heaven at the moment and I’m milking it for all that it’s worth!

I’ve been asked by Dog Friends Auckland to take photos of some of the other Eastern Bay’s  “empty” beaches this month. I’ve already submitted photos of St. Helier’s beach but they’re needing more ammunition and are finding the locals in our neck of the woods a little apathetic. They’re using the photos in their

submission to Council to have the summer restrictions lifted earlier. I’m surprised at the apathy of my fellow humans with hounds .... Julia and I have been quite vocal about the need for us all to get involved in shaping the new laws and access times. Without photographic evidence of empty beaches the submission is doomed.
I’m on a mission!!