The 'HE'S" in the household have been BEWITCHED!

The “HE’s” in this household who DIDN’T want another pet have been bewitched .... by 2 HUGE blue eyes in a 10cm frame!

My early mornings are a little busier as I clean out what the 4-legged miniature poop factory has produced during the night, and provide her with early morning sustenance. The hound waits patiently whilst being spat and growled at by a small fearsome feline. She doesn’t understand Co’s animosity .... she only wants to play and be friends.

The purring puff-ball has sussed out the pecking order in this house .... and deemed herself queen.

Such is life.

SHE condescended to touch noses with the hound on day 3 .... from the safety of my desk. Two big blue eyes and one quivering nose stretched gingerly out to sniff one WET nose below two eager brown eyes.  If the hound’s eyes could have wagged, they would have done!

The little feisty feline has been here a week now.  She cautiously tolerates the advances of the hound and spits fiercely should the hound overstep the boundaries.  Somehow though, it’s difficult to spit when you’ve rolled upside down off the cushion and find yourself being nosed by a large chocolate monster.

The hound is horrendously naive .... she hasn’t seen those pics of kitty sharpening her claws.

ALL the cygnets were at the bank onThursday

I’ve had far more visits from my daughter than usual this week. Her and Dave generally come for dinner once a week and we see them occasionally over the weekend. This week she’s been here EVERY night .... I just haven’t been able to work out why.  Could it have something to do with a small fluffy fur-ball?

Dad was keeping a close eye on them.

THAT fur-ball is definitely ‘flavour of the month’ at the moment!

Zac, the 4 and a half month old German Shepherd we met on Thursday

Last week was unbelievably hectic! Writing a blog had to take a back seat.  There just wasn’t enough time in each day to fit in writing a blog as well as walking the hound, running the house, looking after a kitty, working at the shop AND preparing stock for Craft Jam.

Craft Jam was awesome  and well worth the extra work and the long car journey there. I met the NICEST of people, made LOTS of sales, got several enquiries for commissioned work and SO many compliments! 

I could do that all over again!!

If they’ll have me, I’ll be back there next year!

Looking down from Te Mata Peak

The drive down was great but the drive back up was a different story. I’m NOT the world’s best car traveller despite LOVING windy roads and long car journeys. I love speed and I love corners .... as long as I’m driving. All the hard work of the past week and the late nights burning the midnight oil caught up with me and the last half of the journey home was tortuous ... the kind of “let me curl up and die” tortuous.

I didn't get out the car at the top of Te Mata ... it was BLOWING gales ... I'd have been blown off the peak!

It’s back to the grindstone today ... work at the shop as usual this morning .... after the mandatory ramble to the viewsite and the waves with the hound. I have two markets next weekend so the rest of the week will be given over to replacing sold stock ... and of course .... TAKING PHOTOGRAPHS!

The rugby ball carrying Labradors at Waitarua .... Sam, Ebony and my hound!
Anthony's holding the ball over his head which is why Ebony's looking so quizzically at him.

“Writing, contrary to the to the culturally toxic tortured-genius myth, should celebrate, rather than bemoan life.” .... Amen to that!

This one came out of the water for a closer look

Look at the size of his feet!

A sea-plane .... most unusual to see one of these parked outside someone's house! Harbour Bridge in the background.

A heron trying to hide from me

We rambled at Meola Reserve on Friday and stopped at the Garnet Station for a bite to eat on the way home

Lunch on Friday at the Garnet Cafe .... was delicious!

Mount Ruapehu in the background.

The sun dial at Mission Estate

Find the UNIQUE ....

“LIFE is like a camera .... FOCUS only on what is important and you will capture it PERFECTLY.” 

~ anon.

Rock Pool reflections

To understand perfection one only needs to pause and take in what’s right in front of one’s eyes. As the hound and I walked down the road yesterday we were greeted by the tabby cat that lives a few houses down. There aren’t any dogs in this tabby’s  life but he wasn’t perturbed by the hound’s presence. Little furry kitty nose met large wet doggy nose. The hound’s tail wagged and kitty’s tail swished as he arched his back and stretched forward for a closer look at the hound. 

For just a moment, time stood still. 

I couldn’t help it. I was grinning from ear to ear as hound and kitty sussed each other out. Trying to take the camera out the backpack broke the spell and kitty moved off on his morning meander. I didn’t get a photo but the image I have in my mind of those two noses touching is vividly clear.

The Rosea were VERY vocal on the way up to the view-site this morning

I LOVE looking at life through the lens. I see so much more than what I ever did before I started taking my photography so seriously. 

FIND the unique, GET the angle, KNOW when to snap .....it’s so SIMPLE! 

I wish it WAS that simple. 

Sometimes the moment’s gone before you even know it’s happened. Pete drove past in his Black Mini Shorty as we headed over to the Co-op for coffee. Next to him in the Shorty was his hound, Bert. It was the most incongruous image ... this really cute LITTLE car .... filled to capacity with Pete and his hound.

They were away round the corner before I even had time to think of lifting the camera!

Mini Shorty + Pete + Bert = FULL!

Moments in time are exactly that .... a BRIEF interlude in the hustle and bustle of life that make you stop and think. Little pieces of your life that stick with you forever. I try to only remember the good ones .... it doesn’t mean there aren’t any bad ones but it means I’m making a choice not to give them prominence.

I LOVE life. 

Up close and personal ..... and the hissing didn't stop.

Carol and Sam were both happy bunnies when they picked me up outside the Co-op this morning! Sam’s first ramble at Waiatarua since THAT op. I’m NOT sure who needed it the most .... him.... or Carol. Sam wasted NO TIME in turning himself chocolate. He found the muddiest puddle and splashed through it with ball in mouth. 

I swear I could see him grinning as he raced back to us, mud splashing EVERYWHERE!

Sam turning chocolate brown

Daddy Swan doing his best to scare me away.
I don't frighten easily though.

The Black Swan Cygnets are growing. They’re almost as big as their Dad now .... and just as vociferous. They were at the filtration end of the wetland and close to the bank. I left both hounds at the top with Carol and quietly knelt down on the bank. It’s scary enough having one large Black Swan come racing through the water hissing at you ... three paint a very different picture! I stood .... or should that be knelt ... my ground and focused on their eyes. 

One of the babies who'd been hissing at me

They really are magnificent birds. The hissing is all a ploy .... though I wouldn’t like to test that theory. They were happy enough to hiss at me and ruffle their feathers without feeling the need to come charging out the water. I think if the hounds had been with me, Daddy Swan wouldn’t have hesitated .... he would have been out there and defending his babies in a flash.

The mad blonde with the camera doesn’t have sharp teeth though so all I got was a warning .... and some great photos!

Awesome reflection of Carol and Sam before Sam shattered the mirror-like surface of the river!

Even Sam's reflection as he jumped was crystal clear!

That kitty that lived .... she's back!

"The cat who lived"

“One should never consent to creep when one feels the compulsion to soar.” Helen Keller

Sometimes the compulsion to soar is missing and one resorts to creeping because it kinda just feels right .... and it’s kinda what you need. Even me, eternal optimist that I am, isn’t immune to feeling overwhelmed by life at times.  Hugs were needed this morning .... and hugs were what I got. Even the sun gave me a hug.

Rambling, just like a roll in the hay or a really good laugh, lifts my sprits and makes me feel so much better. The Tui even put on a show ..... amazing aerial acrobatics before squabbling and squawking over the fruits on the Cherry Blossom tree. They make me chuckle with their antics.

Today ended on an absolute high though .... “the cat who lived” lives again! She’s been missing for FOUR weeks but announced her presence at a friendly feline-lover’s door this evening to ask for help. 

I received an excited phone call from Cayl’s “Mom ... someone’s found my cat! Dave’s not home, please can you come and fetch me?” 

Bella, the baby Shepherd we met the other day was on the beach again today

So we did. 228 St. John’s Road was our destination and there she was. A VERY thin, VERY bony Shimmer .... a VERY vocal Shimmer. I nearly burst into tears. Cayl’s nearly burst into tears. We hadn’t expected to ever see her again.

I couldn’t thank the couple enough who phoned Cayl’s .... they have no idea of how much this kitty means to us. With all that she’s been through these last few months, losing her was heart-breaking. I think Cayl’s understood for the first time why I’ve never wanted to have a kitty again. They creep into your heart like a hound does but, unlike a hound, they don’t give up their independence.

If only Shimmer could talk .... what adventures has she faced .... what other kitties has she terrorised .... where has she been wandering?

She isn’t able to bite down on anything hard anymore since she broke her jaw, so her hunting abilities wouldn’t have provided her with much food. She’s a walking skeleton .... every bone in her body can be felt. This little kitty needs lots of loving and pampering over the next few weeks ... something that will be in abundant supply in the Porteous/Jardine household.

She certainly hasn’t lost her voice .... if anything, she’s even more vocal than normal. She can’t stop talking to everyone.  I don’t know if it’s because she’s so pleased to see Cayl's or if it’s because she’s hungry but the sound just doesn’t stop.

That’s 3 of her lives gone .... 6 still to go. What challenge will she present us with next?