I KNOW I am mad.

Another gem from Salvador Dali

“There is only one difference between a madman and me.  

The madman thinks he is sane.  I know I am mad.”

My hound is the OCD hound of the doggy world where logs are concerned.  If there’s a log to be found, she will find it. I’m at a loss to understand why I continue to take the rugby ball to the beach when there’s a plethora of logs for her to choose from.

I guess the day I DON’T take the rugby ball to the beach will be the day there’s no logs to be found.

It’s a log-loving hound’s paradise at the moment though.  Logs in every shape, form and size ... from pretzels for the littler hounds to mammoth cabers for the large ones.  

My city from a different perspective ... during the Twilight walk for Breast Cancer

Yes ... she’s a caber type of hound.

Bandit joined the hound in leaping off the rocks ... but only once.
He WASN'T doing that again!

Despite the abundance of logs on the beach today, there wasn’t an abundance of hounds.  

The wind put paid to that.

It’s a lonesome ramble on mornings like this.  Our only company were the peeping tom kitties sussing out the availability of breakfast .... the flying kind of breakfast.  One large ginger Tom shrunk back into his hiding place as he espied the large chocolate brown hound lumbering past.  Little does he know, but she’d more likely lick him to death than chase him.

She sees other kitties as an extension of her existing feline family.

That ginger Tom wouldn’t have had much luck finding breakfast of the feathered kind though.  

They were all grounded, courtesy of the Wellywood wind.  

I do wish Wellywood would keep it’s wind to itself.

It has BLOWN all day.  White-capped waves ... seagulls flying in reverse ... dishevelled hairdos and disgruntled pedestrians.  My little village has had it all.  That wind whistles through cracks you didn’t even know were there.

NOT that I had time to notice.

Yesterday's sunrise .... today's was hidden by a blanket of cloud ... AND rain!

There are days when the shop is so busy that I don’t even have time to blink ... let alone go for a wee!  The bright and eclectic mix of clothing we have draws customers in for a closer look.  They don’t always buy but they DO leave with a smile. Bright sunshiny colours do that to a person.

Storm approaching.

Even on the dark days my days are SO made up of sunshine. 

“Acknowledging the good that you already have in your life is the foundation for all abundance.” 

~ Eckhart Tolle

All kitted up for the Pink Star Walk ... was so much fun.

I still want to be buddies when we're 94

Friends.  

I have, in my circle of friends, a handful of people that I SO want to grow old with.

They’re the ones who’ll ride broomsticks with me when the moon’s full, 

swing from the chandeliers when we’ve imbibed too much  fruit of the vine 

and talk non-stop just because we can.  

They’re the ones who ALWAYS get their feet wet in the waves no matter the season of the year. 

They dance in the rain with me because what else would you want to be doing when it’s raining. 

 They share in my beautiful moments and lift me up when I’m sad.

These friendships melt away miles, hours, feelings .... they just ARE.

All of this was bought home to me so vividly today whilst having coffee with one of this handful of friends. We shared a moment and thought the same thing

  ... we still want to be buddies when we’re 94.

Yes, I know.  We’re odd-ball ... but who cares.

She understands my need for scrambling over rocks and boulders

 to capture shots of those ever elusive kingfishers.  

She sees the sense in mud between the toes and sodden shoes.  

She sees life through a lens like I do ... but in a very different way.

Like me, she believes that living a full life means allowing the petals of your soul 

to fully unfold and to bask in the energy that it brings.

Life IS a big adventure.  An excess of energy is needed to live it fully.

I love that my rambles each day are in the company of a jovial chocolate brown hound 

who HAS that excess of energy in abundance. 

I love that she’s ever so slightly obsessed with rugby balls and logs. 

I love that she’s ever so slightly obsessed with me.

There are worse things to be obsessed by.

When I think of this handful of friends that I want to grow old with, I can’t help but smile.  

Each and every one of them, in their very own way, adds a bit of themselves to the kaleidoscope that is me.

Today I shall behave ...

Some of the gorgeous roses bought to market by White Tree Floral Design

“We sometimes GIVE so much that we end up LOSING ourselves.” 

~ anon

“Persistent people begin their success where others end in failures.” 

- Edward Eggleston

TWO quotations that I NEED to remember.  

Tamaki Drive Market on Saturday

Life can be disillusioning at times and I have to remember that I CAN’T fix EVERYTHING ... much as I might want to.  Other  people and situations HAVE to fix themselves IN their own time, AT their own pace and to the best of THEIR ability.

I just have to carry on being me ... a wonderfully whacky and weird kinda person

 .... but definitely me. The hound doesn’t have a problem with that.

Daylight saving kicked in on Sunday so this morning’s ramble began in the dark.

Any illusion I might have had about seeing the sun rise was quickly dismissed as the hound and I exited the house.  Cloud ... cloud .... and still more cloud.  The waning moon was visible .... briefly .... till it too was engulfed by cloud.

The hound doesn’t really care.  

The sun can rise ... or not.  

The moon can set .... or not.  

It can rain .... or not.  

As long as the waves are kissing the shore and she has a ball or a log,

 then she’s a HAPPY hound.

Very happy hounds on Friday

Little does she know that without that moon rising or setting there’d be NO waves.

The wind took care of any company we might have had on the beach today, human, canine or otherwise.  

We got blown inside out and upside down ... BOTH of us.  

In some ways it was fortuitous we had no company. 

With caffeine fix to hand and rugby ball firmly grasped in the hound’s mouth, the hound and I headed home only to be stopped by a passer-by who wanted to know if the hound’s name was Chocolat.

The reputation of this hound of mine appears to extend beyond the boundaries of our wee village. The passer-by in question is new to the village and is about to take ownership of a 4 year old Chocolate Labrador called Molly.  She was advised to seek out ... in her words “a beautiful Chocolate Labrador called Chocolat who plays on the beach every day with logs and a rugby ball.” 

Her first words to me on having the identity of the hound confirmed were 

“They were right ... she’s so beautiful.”

Mom and Dad Kingfisher on Sunday morning.

She is.  Even if I say so myself.

Not close enough but finally one with the wings outstretched.

I even have a larger than life canvas pic of her now, courtesy of Pixel Paint.  

For some reason, known only to themselves, they’ve printed one of my latest prints on an A1 canvas instead of the A2 I ordered.

Doesn't it look cool!

The size of print I ordered on the left, and the size of print I received on the right.

And finally in the words of Dr. Seuss

"Today I shall behave as if this is the day I shall be remembered."

Oh yes!

My youngest babies ... human and otherwise.