"Lighthouses don't go running all over an island looking for boats to save; 

 they just stand there shining."

~ Anne Lamott

My city is beautiful!

It’s official.  

January SALES bring out the NEANDERTHAL in my fellow man.

Working in retail on a part-time basis has been an education in itself. 

 I’ve seen a side to the general public that I wouldn’t usually have been exposed to. Respect for something that doesn’t belong to you disappears when the word SALE is mentioned.

Hangars that don’t usually suffer much damage get broken.  

Price tags get ripped off garments.  

Buttons and fasteners are found on the floor.  

Manners fly out of the window.

A sense of humour  is MANDATORY!

Tact is essential.

Fodder for my blog is a given.

We aren't the only ones out bright and early.

Despite how tired I feel some days, 

despite the long hours we’ve worked over this Christmas period 

and despite the occasional rude customer we get, 

I STILL so enjoy working in the shop.

It’s that words falling out of my mouth thingy again.

I get PAID to talk.

Making sales is a bonus.

Frazzled moms with weary lemmings are not.

This week has had an odd feel to it. 

It’s almost as if the world is holding it’s breath waiting for the year to kick into gear.  

The urgency and vibrancy that was around in December has disappeared.  

I’m NOT complaining.  Less early morning traffic and fewer mamils on their two-wheel conveyancies make for a more peaceful ramble.  I have no doubt the decibel level in the morning will rise as the return to school date approaches.

For now though, I’ll just enjoy the peace and quiet of the EARLY morning and so will the hound.

It's NOT for sissies .... or those who DON'T want to get wet!

“LAUGH loudly, LAUGH often, AND most importantly, LAUGH at YOURSELF.”

~ Chelsea Handler

Stand-Up Paddle boarding is NOT as easy as it looks!

My fellow 'SUP'ers ... Christine, our teacher, who's the only one older than me ... Julia, who's 10 years younger than me and Nicky and Olivia,
 20 and 17 or thereabouts respectively, 2 of the girls from the Co-op.

I learnt a lot today about what NOT to do when you're learning to SUP!

A sense of humour is MANDATORY. 

Nicky was UP and GOING almost immediately!!  Wonderful balance!

DON’T fall in the water.  It makes you laugh .... AND ..... you struggle to get back up on your board

 .... BUT .... it makes everyone around you laugh and then they FALL in the water too!

I was up next but didn't have Nicky's confidence to try standing up straight away.

DON’T try stand-up paddle boarding for the first time when there are waves ... and a wind ..... unless you have the balance and poise of a ballerina. Nicky does, she took to it like a duck to water.  So does Olivia though it took her a little longer to feel confident enough to stand up.  So does Chris, our teacher, but she’s adamant that with a little practice and the right conditions we’ll be standing up too!

First step of trying to stand up .... I've now got to get my feet on either side of the handle in the centre of the board ..... yeah right!

I think I’ll be getting a little wetter first before I get the balance thingy right.

Julia heading out

WAVES and WIND are NOT conducive to learning stand-up paddle boarding.

Olivia heading out 

It is NOT the most graceful of sports despite looking so.  When you watch SUPers when you’re walking along the beach they appear to glide effortlessly over the water.  

It is NOT effortless .... my quads feel like jelly!

Second step .... get your feet on either side of the centre, and bend your knees.
This is the 'bum in the air' pose!

In the beginning when you’re trying to stand up, you spend a lot of the time on your hands and feet with your bum in the air.  If holding this pose for what feels like aeons bothers you, DON’T try paddle boarding.

Third step .... stand up and paddle .... FURIOUSLY .... it's supposed to help you keep your balance!

It IS a HUGE amount of fun. 

I obviously DIDN'T paddle furiously enough.

DON’T allow the lemming to have the camera.  

There are only SO many unflattering photos of yourself you can tolerate.  

So I tried again ...

Be prepared to LAUGH and LAUGH and LAUGH.  

It’s a long time since I’ve had SO much fun in an hour and got SO wet!  

.... and took ANOTHER tumble!
You can tell I wear shorts more than what I wear a bathing costume .... really weird tan line!

In the words of Christine, our teacher, “I’m a grandmother and if I can do it, anyone can!”  She’s so right.  

Christine and Nicky .... Nicky's a natural!

Olivia and I both trying to stand.

I have wanted to paddle board for ages.  I’ve often seen Christine out in the bay, with her poodle (her husband’s poodle, actually)  paddling off around the cliff towards Ladies Bay and beyond.  It has ALWAYS appealed to me.  I think I’ve mentioned on my blog before about having this vision of the hound sitting on the front of a board as we explore the eastern bays together.

Olivia DID it!

I am NOTHING if NOT persistent!

Well I think my vision could become reality.  I just need to learn to stand up and paddle first without falling off.  Then I can introduce the hound to the board.  Christine’s offered to help and will take the hound on her board first as it’s quite possible I’d put the hound off by tipping her into the waves.

The hound couldn’t understand WHY I wasn’t on the sand with her.  I didn’t know until after the lesson but she’d apparently tried to swim out to me.  She’d got it into her head that she should join me .... mad hound!

Even Nicky DID fall off ..... but not as frequently as yours truly!

I think she’s going to enjoy this paddle boarding lunacy as much as I am!.

Yep, those are my feet ...... again!

Julia couldn't stand either so she decided to SLEEP on her board!

The hound was delighted to see me exit the waves!

"Just tell yourself Duckie ...

Grrrrr .... I need some soul-soothing .... BIG time!

Another cloudy morning ramble .... come out earlier please sunshine!

I’m making Rice Pudding and the timer on the oven has just beeped. I go through to check it, reset the timer and walk back through to my office to carry on working. As I sit down, the phone rings. The phone’s in the kitchen. I get up, walk back to the kitchen and answer the phone. It’s the oldest lemming ... who, just by the way, is DOWNSTAIRS in the SAME house .... SUPPOSEDLY working! I can hear the laughter in his voice as he tells me NOT to forget his rice pudding. I am NOT AMUSED.

Indy at the viewsite this morning

Just to put this in perspective, when the phone rings and I’m sitting at my desk, it takes 10 rings of the phone for me to walk through from my desk to the kitchen to answer it. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve gone to answer it and there’s no-one there cause they’ve hung up. 

Julia's neighbour Nigel who's hound Bonnie goes to work with him
each day.

All this has happened just as I’ve finished cleaning up where the hound was ill last night. SOMEONE, no names mentioned but it could just be the aforementioned lemming, gave the hound a piece of avocado yesterday with the skin on. Typical Labrador, she ate the lot, skin and all ... and regurgitated it all during the night. 

SENSE OF HUMOUR FAILURE!!  .... and I’ve already HAD my ramble!

Breathe Carol ... just breathe ....

The Swan family scheduled an unexpected photo shoot again this morning. There they were as I headed down the hill to the wetland, stretching and preening next to the water. The youngsters are quite inquisitive but Daddy Swan doesn’t let them get too close. He got a little aggro when I crossed what he considered to be the boundary line. He reminded me of an elephant doing a mock charge ....  ears flapping, head shaking and loud trumpeting, the elephant that is .... it’s all bravado but you don’t want to hang around to prove your point. Daddy Swan came racing towards me in the same fashion ... hissing and spitting and fluffing up his gorgeous tail feathers. I got the message and retreated to a more acceptable vantage point ... from his perspective, that is.

One of the babies getting up close and personal

It’s not just the Swans that have young at the moment ... the Ducks do too. Mommy Duck is ever vigilant when her babies are tiny and wouldn’t hang around to be photographed. She had a little flotilla bobbing along behind her ... there must have been 8 or 9 little ducklings. One wonders how many will still be around next week. Of all our feathered friends in the reserve, the ducks are the most vulnerable. The Harrier Hawk, the Pukeko and the Magpies, will all feast on the ducklings given the opportunity. 

I know it’s nature’s way of ensuring a status quo in the species but it’s heart-breaking to think of those little fluffy ducklings becoming some other bird’s evening meal.

Hmmmm .... Duck on the menu doesn’t sound quite as appealing anymore.

Daddy Swan giving me the hairy eyeball

Sam gets very concerned when I head off in another direction to him .... he keeps coming to LOOK for me. MY hound couldn’t give a toss. She’s impatient to get to the waterholes and continues on her way, ball in mouth, not even glancing behind. She doesn’t mind WHO’S there to kick her ball as LONG as it gets KICKED .... into the water preferably.

Yep ... Sam's been in the mud!

She’s contentment personified today as she’s had the BEST of both worlds ... beach AND reserve!

“Just tell yourself Duckie, you’re really quite lucky!”

~ Dr. Seuss ~  from the book ‘Did I ever tell you how lucky you are?’

Sam, killing his rugby ball