Magic and Mayhem.

Weekends don’t come better than this one.

Cooper trying to help the hound retrieve her ball

Stunning weather.  

Sensational market.  

Winning Rugby.  

Cheerful and noisy ramble.  

Full Moon.  

Website launched.

Phew .... it’s had it all and more.

The full moon was accompanied by clear skies on Saturday night.  They’re essential for any excursion on a broomstick ... especially mine as my navigational skills are abysmal.  The only person I know with navigational skills worse than mine is the other Carol. 

 It must be something to do with the name.

Love watching this drive into the water

When it’s a full moon and cloudy, the broomstick’s relegated to the basement.

... lifts up the wheels and off it goes

There was little need for creating magic and mayhem this weekend though.  It happened all by itself.  

I couldn’t have wished for a busier or more enjoyable market on Saturday. 

 It exceeded all my expectations and left my head reeling. 

 If compliments were currency I’d be the wealthiest girl in the world.

It wasn’t just me that enjoyed the market either.

The hound was her usual cuddle-slut self and created mayhem with her tail.  

What is it about Labradors and the bum wag. 

 It’s not just her tail that she wags, it’s her WHOLE bottom!   

I’ve lost count of the number of times I’ve had to rescue the canvas prints on the easel when she’s welcoming people to my stall.  Her tail is a weapon all on it’s own!

She’s my market mascot and EVERYONE loves her!

SHE loves it when we get up early to watch rugby too. Fortunately this morning’s match was on at a respectable time for us .... 6am instead of the more usual 3am.  She curls up at my feet ready to LEAP up in excitement every time I cheer.  That happened quite frequently this morning as my Sharks scored the necessary number of tries to earn a bonus point.  

What an awesome start to a tournament.

The Weetb-Bix Kids TRYathlon was SO well supported today.

No matter where in the world I live, I will ALWAYS be a Sharks supporter.  

I believe in the power of the BLACK and WHITE.

So does the hound.

My world had neither form NOR substance today.

It’s been one of THOSE days.

MISTY .... MAGICAL ..... and utterly MADDENING.

The misty and magical bit was the morning ... the utterly maddening bit is the youngest lemming.  I do sometimes wonder where he came from.

The road up to the view site

Maybe he’s NOT mine.

Walking out the front door into a world with neither form nor substance is eerie.  I’d already guessed from the melancholy wailing of the foghorns in the harbour that my world would be shrouded in mist today.

And it was.  More than just shrouded though .... it was completely enveloped.  

Sun rise!

Our ramble to the view-site was markedly quiet.  No early morning bird chorus.  No lycra-clad loonies.  Not even a kayak.

The silence was broken only by the foghorns and the throb of the ferry as it made it’s way across the channel to Half Moon Bay. The mist seems to intensify the sound.  The ferry sounded MUCH closer that what it probably was.

Yep ... we could see the sun - through all the mist!

Even the hound was confused.  What had they done with the waves?

She found them soon enough when we hit the beach.  Aided and abetted by Bandit and Panda and Sam, the 4 of them lept in and out of the waves after rugby balls.  Bandit ensured that everyone in the immediate vicinity knew they were on the beach and Panda killed the rugby ball so it couldn’t fight back.  Sam’s not too sure what to make of this big brown and white dog with the spot on it’s eye that keeps pinching his ball.

Tug-of-war

Panda thinks it’s great fun.  He’d be a marvelous member of their rugby team if he could just learn to release the ball.  He’s a great flanker, superb at gaining and retaining possession of the ball from Sam.  Sam’s yet to learn all my hound’s marvellous defensive manoeuvres.

Bandit’s learning to be a great wing.  He runs alongside Sam giving full vocal encouragement but isn’t too sure what to do when he gets the ball.  He’s fast, furious and persistent.

A few more lessons and BOTH could be optimal players!  Maybe we’ll get Coach Carol to train them .... or maybe not.  Her language at match times COULD be a bit of a problem.

The misty mayhem gave way to a downpour so Carol and I sought refuge at Annabel’s for breakfast.  The hounds didn’t mind.  Suitably nourished by the remnants of our breakfast they returned to their manic digging in the sand.

Disclaimer: We are NOT responsible for any harm or injury that befalls anyone attempting to traverse the mountains and valleys the hounds have constructed in the sand.

“When something bad happens you have three choices, you can either let it define you, let it destroy you or let it strengthen you.” 

~ anon.

Drove out to Kumue this afternoon to source some mounting board
and stopped here for lunch on the way home.

Taken by the youngest lemming, who thinks he's quite the photographer now.

Doesn't like having his own pic taken though.

It's a HAPPY place.

The elusive Tui .... yep, I stalked him too!

"Sometimes you find yourself in the middle of nowhere, and sometimes

in the middle of nowhere you find yourself."

~ unknown

Sitting on the steps drinking our caffeine fix whilst the hounds dismantle the beach is NEVER quiet.  Not only do Carol and I talk nineteen to the dozen .... Carol’s much noisier than me .... but we’re usually joined by 1 or other lemming, and sometimes an extra, as well as a motley crew of regular ramblers.

It’s a happy place to be.  Voices fill the air .... as does laughter AND the occasional bark.  It’s an opportunity to forget the busyness of life and the stresses and just BE.

The beach could be another setting in our soap opera, another story-line where unfamiliar characters are introduced .... characters that DON’T frequent the more familiar location of the wetland that’s known as Waiatarua.  

(If you’re lost at this stage, taking a peek at this previous blog might help!)

I’m not sure that many of the hounds that ramble the boardwalk would be permitted to go to Waiatarua.  For one, they’d get muddy and two, they’d get wet.

The beach is slowly becoming as social a place for the hounds though as Waiatarua.

Patiently waiting on the beach
for the others to arrive.  Cayl's is
playing with her phone.

We didn’t know WHAT was happening this morning when we heard a thunderous noise on the boardwalk behind us.  It sounded like horses galloping.  As we all turned to look Charlie, the Golden Lab shot down the stairs with her human in tow.  I’m still not sure if her human’s feet even TOUCHED the stairs.  Charlie had dragged her slipping and sliding all along the boardwalk in his determination to say hi to our hounds. She bemusedly apologised as we all chuckled.  Who would have thought that a human and a hound could make SUCH a racket!

Not quite the gentle morning stroll her human had envisaged. 

Charlie after having said hi to the hounds

Carol's learnt how to retrieve rugby balls too!

The hound takes her role as Sam’s minder very seriously.  No wannabee Labrador is going to pinch her mate’s ball .... not on her watch.  The wannabee Labrador in question got put in his place in no uncertain terms when he grabbed Sam’s ball as Sam came bounding out of the waves.  He hadn’t counted on being chastised by my girl.  She bounded over as only she can and charged between the hounds, snarling at the new comer.  He understandably let go as Sam, rather smugly, trotted up the beach with his ball proudly held in his mouth. 

Her look as she trotted along behind him said it all.  DON’T mess with me and my boy.

The hounds are loving the higher tides we’re having this week and they’re all thanks to the perigee full moon.  It has been breathtakingly beautiful.

A full moon on a clear night is magical but a full moon setting over my city on a clear morning is even more mind-blowing.  I’ve had the best of both words this week and have captured some awesome shots of this spectacular full moon.  Yesterday the clear skies meant I captured the start of the sunrise over Browns Island AS WELL AS the moon setting over my city.  How cool is that.

I LOVE Full Moons .... and not just because I get to ride on my broomstick.  It’s been way too cold to fire THAT up in the evenings this week.  There’s an extra kind of energy around at full moon .... I think the hounds feel it too.  It’s difficult to explain but it leaves me feeling buoyed, upbeat .... energised even! 

That moon is a connection to all I hold dear ... love, friendship, family .... and at full moon, I feel that connection even more deeply.  To all my friends and family out there, no matter where in the world you are, I love and miss you all!

Some of the photo art on display at last week's Orewa market.

I wish I spoke "cat"

“Life isn’t always sunshine and butterflies.  

Sometimes you’ve just got to learn to smile through the pain.”  

~ anon.

This morning's sunrise

When all’s not well in my world and I’m not quite sure which way to turn I focus on the little things ... like butterflies.  They remind me that whilst life might not always be good, there’s always good out there ... I just need to look for it.

She found some antlers.

Hercules, one of the cats in the neighbourhood, walked me home from work yesterday.  He came running up the hill behind me, bell tinkling, his meows loudly instructing me to slow down. Obligatory cuddle over, we walked in contented harmony to his gate.  I wish I spoke ‘cat’ as Hercules had lots to say for himself.  He regularly escorts a variety of people up and down the road and I’m sure he was filling me in on whom he’d seen.  With another cuddle and a farewell meow he bade me good night.  He made me smile.  Who else can claim to have been escorted home from work by a cat!

.... and did her best to wear them!

As I walked down the driveway I looked up at the moon. It was directly above me in the clear night sky, it’s bumps and crevices so clearly visible.  Sunday 23rd June is a date to mark in my calendar.  According to the Stardome Observatory and Planetarium it’s a Perigee Full Moon ... ie, a SUPERmoon!

That means King Tides next week too!

This Sunday will be the closest the moon will be to earth until August next year.  I think that makes it a worthwhile subject for a few photographs .... if, of course, we have clear skies!  It’s set to rise at 5pm NZ time so here’s hoping the clouds play ball.  

Maybe I should send them a memo ...

Yep, low tide means I get to stalk my favourite friend

This morning’s ramble was a sunny one, quite a contrast to the past few mornings.  As the day’s progressed though heavy clouds have lumbered across the skies.  All that polar weather that’s forecast for South Island is sending it’s icy fingers our way.  

Light was still a bit low this morning .... roll on 21 June and let that sun start it's journey back!

Not that icy weather bothers the hound ... or Sam.

They're agreeing to disagree over a stick.

A lack of water DOES bother them though. I might like the low tide from a photography perspective but from the hound’s perspective, it stinks .... sometimes quite literally.

Fortunately, being a Tuesday, I’m my own boss so our time on the beach wasn’t bought to an early end.  The sunny morning bought out hounds in every shape and size ..... even Cosmo!

Cosmo being put in his place by Fergus

 It’s been a while since I’ve seen such a collection of hounds on the beach!  Labradors ... obviously ..... Retrievers, Westies, Poodles and their myriad off-shoots ... Spoodles, Labradoodles, Caboodles .... an Irish Setter, Schnausers and the usual array of Heinz 57 hounds.

Fergus standing his ground.

All loveable in their very own unique way.

One curmudgeonly rambler saw fit to point out that one of the many hounds on the beach had done a poop and she hoped said owner would retrieve it .... the poop, not the hound. 

She needs to learn to smile.

“Every moment I shape my destiny with a chisel - I am the carpenter of my own soul.”

~ Rumi

Lying patiently waiting for me to finish stalking the heron ... or for the heron to fly away!

The new range of Mounted Photos at the Browns Bay Market