I shall be shouting LOUDLY this Saturday ...

What an awesome weekend of rugby! It puts Carol and I at opposite ends of the field this next weekend .... she’s convinced her Chiefs are going to win and I’m just as convinced they’re not!

I think I have a traitor in my midst though ... the hound LOVES Sam’s rugby ball .... and it’s a CHIEFS rugby ball. I wonder if she knows something I don’t. Regardless of her allegiance, or anyone else’s allegiance, I shall be shouting loudly ... VERY loudly ... for my Sharks this coming Saturday.

OUR favourite tipple!

Our weather has been a bit dismal since Sunday. I didn’t have a market this weekend so, knowing we would be up 3am on Sunday morning to watch rugby, we headed out with the hound for an extra long walk on Saturday. It was a blue sky and sunshine day with the city clearly visible from Glover Park .... no clouds to obscure the view.

I did a really blonde thing at the view site. I managed to drop the lens cover over the railing and it landed on the ledge below us. Fortunately Gav was able to clamber over the railing and, using the railing for support, work his way along the ledge to where I’d dropped it. The hound thought it was a great game .... try and catch Gav’s hands as he edged along the railing. She couldn’t understand how he’d got down there.

Molly

She had a great time on the beach with Molly, another black Labrador we know. Molly’s going to be famous, she’s going to be in the 2013 Labrador Calendar put out by the Labrador Club. Molly’s 7 years old but still thinks she’s a puppy and had a great time chasing the hound’s ball while the hound worried one of the huge logs she’d managed to unearth on the beach.

The wet and woeful weather that started yesterday seems to be sticking around. There were hardly any hounds on the beach this morning, just Bandit and the Boxer we often see. My Labrador Gang was noticeable by it’s absence ... both Julia and Carol aren’t well, though I did see Carol when she walked down to the shop with Sam later during the morning.

Bandit

Bandit is SO bouncy ... he reminds me of the gymnasts we’ve been watching at the Olympics. When they do their floor exercises they seem to have springs in their feet. Bandit’s the same ... he’s like Tigger from Winnie the Pooh as he bounces through the waves. He still tries to herd the hound ... much to her annoyance. She just wants to fetch balls and logs and he’s like a niggle in her side .... always in the way!

Such characters ... such diversity .... my morning rambles just wouldn’t be the same without them.

They're like 2 little kids .... always yelling at one another!

I think Sam's winning this battle!

Sam .... doing what dogs do best ... getting MUDDY!

A moment in time ..... a pause .... it’s only there for a second then it’s gone ... like sunsets!

This evening's sunset ... my pause ...

I’m sitting at my desk editing my photos from this morning and I sense, rather than see, the redness creeping across my evening sky. Sunsets are brief ... fleeting .... you have to capture the moment as it’s happening ... and I did. 


It quite derailed me from my blog and photo editing!!

“Along your pathway of life you will observe that you are not the only traveler. There are others who need your help. There are feet to steady, hands to grasp, minds to encourage, hearts to inspire and souls to save.” ~ Thomas Monson

Meeting and greeting

Sam MUST be one of these travelers .... he’s ALWAYS trying to help the other hounds - with their logs, with their balls .... even with their LEADS!

One of the few sticks we found to throw in the pond

Not all the other hounds want his help though and much grunting and growling ensues as he does his utmost to help them carry whatever treasure it is that they’ve found. He even tried to carry the hound’s leash today .... something she’s quite capable of doing on her own. I don’t think she really noticed as we were heading back to the car in Mangere and she was more focused on what FUN thing we were going to do next.

Unbeknown to her it was HOME time ... it was already close to midday and we’d been out since 7.30!

Sam ... doing what he does best .... giving my hound a helping hand!

Carol had collected the hound and I from the Co-op just before 8. We’d grabbed our coffee and headed for the reserve. There were hounds aplenty there today .... so MANY fellow travelers for Sam to help. He didn’t know which hound to help next!

The dog pond is finally open .... no more builders fences for me to clamber around .... thank goodness! Not that it was necessary today. I had forgotten her log at home and we were hard pressed to find anything suitable for retrieving. The small sticks I DID find kept on sinking and the thin branches were rapidly pulled apart by whichever hound was retrieving them and Sam the traveler!

They had heaps of fun in the pond and left a multitude of broken twigs and small sticks at the bottom of it.

All the rain we’ve been having has left Waiatarua water-logged in many parts. Venturing off the path results in water-logged and muddy shoes AND socks. My shoes are definitely NOT water-proof .... my socks are testimony to that. The rain has also created PUDDLES of MUD .... lots and lots of them!  OUR hounds LOVE mud!  It’s not always easy to see that my hound’s muddy but it’s sure easy to see when Sam’s muddy ... and boy, does he get muddy!

There’s STILL a battle of wills going on between Carol and Sam when it comes to traveling in the car. Sam is of the opinion that he should travel in the back seat when he’s in the car on his own with Carol. When Carol dropped the hound and I off, we put Sam back in the boot NINE times .... without success. Carol drove home with Sam on the back seat .... one up to the hound!