Devilish thoughts

“There are devilish thoughts even in the MOST angelic of minds.”

 ~ anon

LOVE that quote!

It was a public holiday here in NZ yesterday ... Queen’s Birthday weekend.  

It was wet and cold and I had to work.

No photos from yesterday morning as it was RAINING!

Ho-hum.  

The ONLY shop in the mall that was open.

This evening's sunset ... magical!

Part of my display in the Public Library

I wouldn’t mind if it were busy.

I wouldn’t mind if I had company.

I wouldn’t mind if I had an eye candy overload from the French Open to watch.

Yes, it's THAT time of year again!

But I had none of that, 

just the occasional browser killing time whilst they waited for a restaurant table.

That’s where all the people were

 ... in the restaurants.

Willie, Cocker Spaniel x Poodle ... and ALL legs!

There’s only SO much one can do in a shop before boredom sets in.

The week’s paperwork took about 20 minutes.

No interruptions you see.

Another part of my display

Dressing the front and side windows and the mannequins accounted for another 30 minutes.

Re-arranging racks and checking size tags and security discs took a little longer.

I even vacuumed the floor.

Coatesville Market on Sunday ... glorious sunshine!

Days like this frustrate me.

There’s SO much I could be doing at home.

THIS year is manifesting into an awesome year for my photography, despite the 

distinct lack of confidence I’ve had since the significant other was incarcerated.

My little spot in the world on a glorious winter's day

It’s been 7 weeks so far and I’ve found participating in markets really hard, 

from an emotional perspective that is.

I’ve struggled to believe in ME.

This last weekend though was different.

I found a SPARK of the me I know and love.

Happiness was IN and AROUND me.  

For the first time in a while I felt at ONE with myself and with the world.  

I like that feeling.

What we had for breakfast at Coatesville Market

It’s contagious.

Someone bought their MOP to the market!
This is a Hungarian Puli ... they had TWO ... this white one and a black one.

I might not have CHOSEN this journey I’m on but it HAS to be travelled.

There are NO exits.

Change IS mandatory.

Every step forward, no matter how small, is reason to CELEBRATE,

so I'm  celebrating.

Scrumptious morning tea at Coatesville Market
Sinful stuff that Em's found for us to eat!

"A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step."

~ Lao Tzu

Don't forget to smile today!

I was GRUMPY.

They're becoming the best of buddies!

“BROWSING only, NO sales today.”

I SHOULD have put that darn sign up! I so wanted to NOT have ANY sales today so we could show HO that it wasn’t worthwhile being the ONLY shop in the mall OPEN on Boxing Day

 ... or any public holiday, for that matter.

Huge restless waves this morning .... and rain 

HO have this warped idea that EVERYONE goes shopping on a Public Holiday. That might work in the bigger retail centres but our little shop is in a pedestrian mall in the village. 

Our village DOESN’T do ‘Retail Therapy on Public Holidays’ 

..... or so I thought.

A CLOSED mall!

I was GRUMPY. I had to open up the shop at 9 and stay open till 6. There were NO other shops open in the mall ... the mall itself was locked and armed. We’re one of two shops at the entrance to the mall, on the outside of the security doors, so couldn’t even access the ablution facilities. I was stranded .... my only company being the Superette on the High Street and the Newsagent.

Even my usual coffee haunt WASN’T open ... HELP

.... how was I meant to survive without my daily caffeine fix?

A Christmas Hound .... and the caption on her bandanna reads
"Dear Santa ..... I can explain ..."

Why did I choose to work on Mondays and Wednesdays?

New Zealand has this strange policy of moving the majority of Public Holidays, with the exception of Christmas Day, New Year and Good Friday, to the Monday closest to the date of the Public Holiday. All well and good .... and when I first heard about this policy I thought it was a great idea .... until I started working at the shop!

The fur-ball likes my reindeer antlers!

MOST public holidays are celebrated on a MONDAY ..... dam!

Getting her Christmas present.

Our little village CLOSES down on Public Holidays. For some obscure reason it DIDN’T stop customers coming into the shop today .... BIGGER dam!

Sales were better than I expected them to be.

That might have had something to do with me being GRUMPY. All the customers coming into the shop expressed their amazement at the shop being open when EVERYONE else in the mall was closed .... I won’t tell you what my reply was. Suffice to say most of them had a good chuckle .... and spent money .... even though I didn’t want them too!

It was a fun day despite having to work. I had friends pop in and visit, the family pop in and visit .... even the flirtatious milk delivery chap popped in to chat even though he didn’t have any deliveries to make in the mall! Most of the customers were in the mood for a chat too so I wasn’t short of entertaining company. Facebook added to the mix with the saga of the seven dwarfs .... that was a lot of fun too!

So Christmas is done and dusted for ANOTHER year! We celebrate the youngest lemming’s birthday tomorrow .... he’ll be 17!! 

Boy, do I feel old!

We're becoming accustomed to seeing bare bums and balls ....

6.30 in the morning and there's a cruise ship going into the harbour
... the white blob on the horizon.

Mornings don’t come more beautiful than this one!  I was out of the house at 6.30 and on the beach at Ladies Bay before sunrise .... it’s an awesome feeling beating the sun out of bed!!


I was there before Julia this morning so I climbed on the rocks between Ladies Bay and the Bay of the Tree to

watch the sun rise over the horizon.  It peeked through the branches of my tree and cast this magical glow all over the world.  It's amazing how quickly my world lights up as the sun ascends into the sky.  Rangitoto a few minutes before had been dark and eerie but was now glistening and glowing with life.

The early morning sun isn’t hidden by a cliff  on the Bay of the Tree ... but our access to the Bay of the Tree is determined by the tide and the tide was high this morning and our bay inaccessible .... the hounds, not that they mind, had to make do with Ladies Bay.

The tide is so high it's almost covering the rocks between Ladies Bay and the Bay of the Tree

An elderly nudist joined us in the Bay and asked Julia if we minded if he swam ..... we were a bit non-plussed, we’re not used to nudists asking if we mind if they swim! He went to the far end of the Bay to undress and swim so we stayed where we were trying not to have to look in that direction.  Julia has more of a problem with that than I do

 ... my hound stays in the waves and plays with her ball - I don’t have to look anywhere but the waves .... Indy, as is his wont, explores his domain from cliff face to waves ... from rocks at one end to rocks at the other ... Julia can’t help but have to look in every direction.  


We’re becoming accustomed to seeing bare bums and balls ...... rugby balls of course.

I really love these early morning walks .... yes, it’s darker when I leave home and photo opportunities are more scarce ... particularly on Ladies Bay ... but I love watching the world wake up - it’s almost as if a big hand in the sky has switched the world on ..... well ..... my part of the world that is! 

The early morning sun and absence of clouds has bought humans and hounds ... and humans WITHOUT hounds .... out in droves.  There were people EVERYWHERE as we headed back down to the village.  It was so noisy ... and it was only 7.30!!  A bus had pulled into the bus-stop and a stream of people were boarding it ... obviously on their way to school or work in the city.  A glass recycling truck was making it’s way down the road picking up and emptying glass bins ... what a racket ... the sound of the glass breaking as the bin was tipped upside down.  

Even the zebra crossing was busy .... cars turning in all directions .... I even paused to ensure the cars were stopping before I stepped of the kerb ... not something I normally do! Pedestrian crossings are treated with respect here in NZ ... one becomes accustomed to assuming the cars will stop.

On reflection I don’t think it was just the glorious weather that bought more people out of the woodwork today, I think the village was busier as everyone heads back to work and to school.  Yesterday’s Public Holiday is the last one before Easter. Life returns to

The same view when I arrived back home at 10

some semblance of normality now and, with that normality, is the return of the traffic and early morning busy-ness.


Everyone’s getting back into routine ..... and that includes my humans with hounds .... I’m seeing the regulars more frequently now, despite walking earlier. I head back to the beach

after saying goodbye to Julia and Indy .... attach the hound to her long rope - just in case the Dog Warden decides to pay a call .... and throw ball after stick after ball after stick for the hound ... she’s never the one that tires of the game first ... I am. 

Carol and Sebastian joined us on the beach today AND I got to see Denise and Abi ... and get more of my petition forms signed. I find it odd when someone with a hound doesn’t want to sign a form .... and especially when they’re on the beach with their hound .... off-leash ... and it’s NOT swimming .... where is the Warden when I want him!! Despite explaining the reason for the petition to them, the woman still saw fit not to sign ... she was quite derogatory about it in fact .... her husband wanted to sign but felt obliged to follow her lead. 

Her lack of understanding of the Dog By-laws reinforced for me the need for clarity by the Council ... so many of the people I’ve approached about the petition are completely ignorant of the times they’re allowed on the beach ... and that during summer their

On Ladies Bay yesterday with Indy - Julia had been writing in the sand!

hounds have to be on lead, unless they're swimming. 


I value my right to walk my hound on the beach and for her to swim in the waves ... I want to do my utmost to ensure that right isn’t removed.  I guess I can’t convince everyone that standing up for our rights is necessary but I sure intend to try.