Black eyes and bruises and everything else inbetween.

“Keep moving forward because action creates momentum, which in turn creates unanticipated opportunities.”

~ Nick Vujicic - a preacher and motivational speaker who created the non-profit organisation Life without Limbs. You’ve probably seen his video but if you haven’t, here it is ... he is INSPIRATIONAL.

Sometimes I need to be reminded of all the good I have in my life. 
Sometimes I forget and allow the difficulties to overwhelm me.

Enough!   I believe in me.

.... and so does the hound!

“Anywhere you go, let me go too. That’s all I ask of you.”

~ from Phantom of the Opera
Thanks Anthony - it's such an appropriate quote!

That could be my hound’s mantra .... or the mantra of any of the hounds that I ramble with. It IS all they want from us .... just to be with us, to partake in our lives - every little bit of our lives.

Carol arrived at the Co-op this morning with a black eye and bruises too numerous to mention .... I KNOW the culprit. I’ve SEEN him in action. 

He's wanting to be a Black Labrador today!

He has a head as hard as a bullet, doesn’t know his own strength and LEAPS like a kangaroo ... it’s all that Aussie blood in him! Carol was the loser in their wrestling match this morning. I didn’t think wrestling matches were supposed to leave bruises. 

Ebony with a tennis ball she retrieved off the bottom of the Dog Pond this morning .... clever hound!

Sam’s definitely growing into himself. No more does he allow every other hound to pinch his ball and NOT give it back. Now when another hound takes his ball, he’s quite confident about dashing over and grabbing it back. Ebony’s getting used to being mugged!

Ebony loves rugby balls too and joins in the chase whenever she can, regardless of which ball it is. 

A trio of chocolate mousse .... but only TWO rugby balls! Where's yours Ebony?

My hound’s quite the opposite and won’t chase a ball unless it’s the one she WANTS to carry. More often than not, she chooses to take Sam’s Chiefs ball but, just recently, she’s been taking the ball that Anthony brings for Ebony. She walks contentedly around the reserve between water holes and rivers with the ball in her mouth, just waiting for it to be kicked in the water.

They know the route so well and wait patiently, most of the time, for us to join them.

Shadow’s another story altogether. He wants the other hounds to chase him and believes that if he takes their rugby ball, they’ll chase him to get it back. It doesn’t quite work like that though and he can’t understand why. He sits down with the ball in his mouth looking at them. He’s all eagerness .... CHASE ME ... CHASE ME!!

What a puddle of personalities!

First it was a PAW!

I’m sitting here writing my blog after a really productive day completing an order, when a fur-ball’s head appears at the top of my lap-top screen. She’s climbed UP the Lap top lid and, as she tries to balance on the top, the lid slowly descends on to the desk with the fur-ball clinging to it!

... then the whole head appeared ...

Cute kitten OVERLOAD!!  

Clinging on for dear life as the lid descends.

Even Shadow's retrieving the ball from the pond .... we'll make a Labrador of him yet!

Grrrr .... summer time beach restrictions.

“Those who were seen dancing were thought to be INSANE by those who could not hear the music.” 

... a quote credited to Friedrick Nietzsche, a German philosopher and poet.

I MUST be insane.

Grrrrr .... along with daylight saving come summer hound times on our beaches. NO hounds on the beach between 9am and 7pm .... not even on lead. Yes, I know .... I’ve been on my soapbox about this issue before and the times ... they be a-changing .... but not at a speed that I’m happy with!!

Very low tides mean more fish than the gulls can eat

I’m NOT even supposed to let her off-lead before 9 in the morning. I’m on the beach from 6.30! 

Who in their right mind is going to be on the beach at that time in the morning unless they’ve got a hound?

The Dog Wardens ... that’s who! 

I CAN’T wait for the new regulations that have been proposed, to come into force! It will be a victory for dog-owners throughout Auckland. BAH HUMBUG to those who said it couldn’t be done and an avid THANK YOU to all those who’ve made it happen.

It was WORTH collecting all those signatures!

Our weather is STILL dismal. I think summer’s gone on holiday and it’s certainly NOT here in Auckland. Rain is the order of the day .... and clouds .... heavy grey ones. I’m even beginning to forget what that big yellow orb in the sky looks like.

Despite the rain, despite the gloomy weather outlook, I LOVE my rambles. I don’t mind getting wet .... or cold .... and I certainly don’t mind getting muddy! Thankfully my camera’s quite robust and able to tolerate the drizzle and mud and sand and whatever else rambling with the hound might throw at it. Smudges in photos are more often the result of raindrops or mud splatters on the lens. It’s one of the pitfalls of rambling with water-loving Labradors ....  and "pseudo"  Labradors.

The reflections on the beach today, albeit sans sunshine, were brilliant! Low tide was at 7.10 and the ocean was like a mirror ... even Rangitoto at that early hour in the morning had a reflection. 

Not only can I photograph raindrops on roses but raindrops on swans too! The Black Swan family put on an impromptu photo-shoot this morning to introduce us to their babies ... though their babies are NOT so little anymore. 

Neither adult swan was happy with Shadow (he of the pseudo Labrador fame) prancing around like a lunatic on the water’s edge ... yes, he’s insane too. Dad sailed rapidly forward hissing loudly at Shadow as Mom, hissing just as furiously, gathered the youngsters around her. They didn’t seem to mind US being there but they weren’t happy with the hounds. 

I’ve seen the swans regularly in the distance but it’s the first time I’ve seen all of them up close and personal. They’re so beautiful and just so elegant .... it was awesomeness and beyond to snap photos of them like that this morning!

"If you have good thoughts they will shine out of your face like sunbeams and you will always look lovely."

~ Roald Dahl

Labrador owners MUST be crazy!!

“We are here to laugh at the odds and live our lives so well that Death will tremble to take us.”

 ~ a quotation by the poet Charles Bukowski in a book by Time Life called “The Meaning of Life”.

It was BEAUTIFUL when I woke this morning!

It is raining YET again!

It’s not often I manage to get wetter than the hound when I ramble .... but yesterday I did. Both of us did .... Carol and I that is. I’m not sure WHO created the bigger puddle at the front door 

... the hound OR me!

This is the netball she found on the beach a few weeks ago.

It was already raining when we headed to Waiatarua but, being the positive souls that we are, we continued on our way ever hopeful that the rain would stop. Mother Nature had other ideas.

She still prefers Sam's Chiefs rugby ball to it though.

Not only did the rain continue BUT it got heavier .... much heavier! There was a brief lull in the downpour whilst we were at the dog pond. We get wet there whether it’s raining or not ... the hounds and their balls and the impromptu showers they give us take care of that. No matter how carefully you try and avoid the fall-out from the pooch-shake, staying dry is never an option.

Contrary to popular belief, we weren’t the only insane humans walking hounds at Waiatarua yesterday. I’ve just had a thought though .... most of the hounds we met there were Labradors. That tells you something. 

Labrador owners MUST be crazy!  

Oh yes ... that includes all of you, Carol and Julia and Suzanne and Keith and Ebony’s human and all the other ‘wannabee’ Labrador owners that I’ve had the pleasure of getting to know..

The weather hasn’t been much better today. The sun HAS tried to shine and it DIDN’T rain quite as hard but the wind was icy. For some reason unknown even to myself, I wore a short-sleeve T-shirt AND left my raincoat at home. 

The water is so clear today that we can even see the Mallard Duck's webbed feet!

Yes .... the mind boggles.

I need a more waterproof raincoat though. The one I wore yesterday left me just as wet on the inside as I was on the outside.

Shadow took a swim ... all on his own and without any prompting!

If anyone’s to blame for the unseasonal weather it MUST be Shadow. He jumped IN the river of his own accord today AND swam! He LOVED all the praise and gave us all an impromptu shower to thank us.  It’s one thing having a Labrador shower .... a Border Collie shaking is quite another. It was raining again ... but not from the clouds!

These interactions with other hounds and their humans make my day. I love the enjoyment we all take from them. Our hounds NEED these rambles and, in providing for their needs and fulfilling them, we find FULFILLMENT ourselves. 

What better way can there be to start a day!

Ebony got the ball!!

I have another market tomorrow, one of my favourites .... the St. Heliers one. It’s not just because it’s close to home that I enjoy it so much, I also see so many people I know. Every spare moment now is taken up with preparing stock for markets and selecting photos to have printed on canvas. THIS is a busy time of year AND I love it!

Shadow taking ANOTHER swim!