Those SHEEP are so pathetically cute!

“Being creative is not a hobby, it is a way of life.” 

~ Stephanie Ackerman

The hound at the Memorial on the boardwalk

I DON’T have ENOUGH time in my day!  

That is a light bulb moment.  

I have SO many ideas, so many things I want to TRY, so many things I want to MAKE but I’m always running out of minutes to make them in!

The start of my reflection fetish this morning.

This morning for instance, I found a knitting pattern for some cute fluffy sheep.  
I don’t NEED any cute fluffy sheep but I so WANT to make some.  No, let’s change  that 
“I HAVE to make some!”  
I have NO idea what I’m going to do with them but I just know I have to make some.

In the words of the oldest lemming “Those sheep are SO pathetically cute!”

Photo courtesy of Flutterby Patch

I’m my own worst enemy.

All those baby spiders have eaten their way out of the nest.

Take my photography for instance.  I’m as bad at snapping away with my camera as I am at using a multitude of unnecessary words. I take way TOO many photos and then have to spend hours and hours editing and deleting them.  Wouldn’t it just be easier to take FEWER photos?

Such an awesome reflection!

This morning is a case in point.  I went to Waiatarua for the first time in several weeks.  The hound and I have been keeping our distance from Waiatarua as the vet felt it could be the grasses and pollens there that were causing an allergic skin reaction she’s suffering from. Five weeks later and she’s still erupting in these little hives DESPITE not having been to Waiatarua.  I guess the grasses and pollens are NOT the culprit after all.

Savvy, the Bernaise Mountain Dog we met at the reserve today

I digress though ... back to photography and my penchant for taking too many photos.  The reflections were STUNNING this morning and I just couldn’t help myself.  It’s like an addiction .... I just HAVE to keep clicking away.  One more photo is just not enough.

Not too sure why she's looking so guilty

Same thing when we happened upon the Black Swan.  I’d just been saying to Julia that we hadn’t seen the swans at Waiatarua recently when out of nowhere up popped the head of one of the swans.  He was all on his lonesome and I’m sure it’s one of the babies I was photographing towards the end of last year.

The Black Swan, popping up from the grass!

He must have got used to photo shoots though because he swanned over ....yes, that’s what swans do .... and posed beautifully for us.  He is absolutely gorgeous .... the light was perfect, the setting was perfect and HE is perfect!

Once again I took WAY too many photos.

This is me though.  This is the way I express my insane inner self.  My words, my photography, my inability to know when to stop trying to fit too many things into too few hours.  This is MY way of life and I LOVE it.  I love the chaos I create.  I love the humour in the madness that is this life.  

I wouldn’t have it any other way ...

.... even though there aren’t ENOUGH minutes in my day yet to make those pathetically cute little sheep!

Indy, having a good swim!

She comes with CATTITUDE ...

One of the cygnets spent ages at the bank right next to me this morning
 ... I think he likes having his photo taken.

Aim for the heart! It’s one of the most vital organs in the body and the easiest to hurt!

I’m sure that’s what this little ragamuffin of a kitty planned when it looked up at me with it’s big blue eyes.  One look was all it took.  I felt the tug at my heartstrings ... felt the pain of knowing how big a hole it would  fill.

I was smitten. The Co part of Chocolat and Co has entered my life.

Early morning fishermen .... they were feeling the chill.

I’d always thought the Co part would consist of all the other furry friends we’d meet on our rambles, all the other members of the Labrador Gang. I’d never considered that there’d ever be an actual ‘Co’. But there is .... and she’s black .... and she’s tiny ..... with the biggest of eyes ..... and the hugest of hearts. 

She comes with CATTITUDE .... and the hound’s already had a taste of that. 

This is the taste that she likes .... my early morning coffee dregs!

As if life wasn’t busy enough.

My plans this week were to get a little more organised for the up-coming markets and fairs I’m participating in. I have emails to answer, a range of Christmas Cards to finish designing, canvas prints to order and a myriad of other “necessary” things to do. I didn’t quite factor in the distraction of a new furry baby in the house.

For one so tiny, she sure creates a lot of work. What goes in one end comes out the other end .... she’s like a factory, relentlessly churning out poop!

Fortunately I have a multitude of unemployed lemmings as kitty-sitters, a role they’ve all accepted with glee. What is it about a kitten that makes even the biggest of grown-ups go mushy?

The hound’s nose, understandably, is a tad out-of-joint. She didn’t EVER envisage having to share my affection ... and certainly NOT with one so tiny! It’s Tuesday though ... and Tuesday’s are our beach AND reserve ramble days ... so she’s had me to herself for several hours this morning and is feeling on top of the world. She’s had fun on the beach with Indy and then antics aplenty with Sam and Ebony at Waiatarua.

I'm reflected in the cygnet's eye .... close up below ....

Anthony ... Ebony’s human (we FINALLY asked him his name!) hasn’t been around for a week or two so it was great to see Ebony steaming towards us this morning, Anthony in tow. She’d bought her OWN rugby ball too!

Look at that reflection!

Now we not only have a Chocolate Labrador and a “wanabee” Chocolate Labrador carrying their rugby balls around the park, but we also have a Black Labrador carrying her rugby ball around the park! A trio of rugby-playing chocolate mousse hounds!

They all love to swim as much as they love carrying their rugby balls. The Labrador Launch-pad at the river ended up getting rather slippery and muddy as Labrador after Labrador after Labrador lept in the water after whichever ball was available. Even Tully, the water-treading Retriever gave rugby-ball-retrieving a go!

It has been the busiest of days, albeit with some UNPLANNED activities.  Farewelling a friend who’s off on a 30 day cruise was planned, but lunch with the lemmings wasn’t.  Little Co has been fed and watered and cuddled endlessly by all the lemmings and more .... she must be feeling the love.  It brings to mind a quotation by Charles Schultz, unashamedly amended ever so SLIGHTLY by me .... apologies to Mr. Schultz.

“All you need is love ... but a little Chocolat now and then doesn’t hurt.”

The TRIO of Chocolate Mousse!

He's booked to have THAT op ....

We've finished our ramble AND we're finished breakfast!

Oh dear .... my friend Sam doesn’t know what’s going to hit him tomorrow! He’s booked to have THAT op .... you know the one I mean. He’s going to have his balls removed .... and no, I DON’T mean the RUGBY kind.

Carol could have booked to have the op on Monday but it was my birthday today, so she wanted Sam to enjoy a ramble at Waiatarua and breakfast at Nosh with the hound and I, before he goes for the chop.

Poor, poor Sam ... he doesn’t have a clue.

There must be something in the air. Shadow went for the chop on Monday and now it’s Sam’s turn. October was Breast Cancer month ... should I be seeing November as having some kind of special significance too? .... other than the month that my birthday falls in of course. That is of HUGE significance!

Talking of birthdays, I just love birthdays ... and I especially love MY birthday! It gets extended you see. That’s the one advantage of living at the arse end of the world. I’m 11 to 13 hours AHEAD of most of my friends that live back in SA or the UK. 

Amazing reflections again today!

I get to spend the first part of my day with my immediate family, and the human and furry friends I’ve made here in NZ. Then I get to spend cyber-time with friends and family all around the world. It extends way beyond the 24 hours that usually make up a birthday! How LUCKY am I!

Even the sun has played ball today. I woke to GORGEOUS sunshine and blue skies. The tide was out too so the reflections were beautiful .... and the heron was in the bay. He posed for photos as I snuck across the rocks and mud flats to get closer to him. Yep ... the trainers got muddy but what’s a bit of mud when you’re getting awesome shots of the heron!

Sam took his aspirations of being a chocolate hound to new levels today. He even got his tongue all chocolate!! Despite the heavy cloud cover of the past few weeks there hasn’t been an awful lot of rain so the wonderful puddles at Waiatarua are now wonderful MUD puddles! It’s a wannabee chocolate hound’s idea of heaven!

From the hounds mud-filled heaven we headed to Nosh for a birthday breakfast ... poached eggs on toast with a side of mushrooms and spinach. When you have a Labrador in your life, you soon get used to being watched as you eat .... and ignore it .... even when Sam’s nose is ALMOST touching your plate!

It's that trio of mousse again!

I could get used to days like this. I’ve been fed and watered and spoilt all day .... even by the girls at the Co-op who wouldn't let me pay for my ice-cream! There were even dolphins in the bay when Gareth and I headed out to meet Cayl’s for lunch. Yes .... breakfast out AND lunch out, lunch courtesy of my lemmings.

Who wouldn’t feel special when they’ve had a birthday like mine!

Reflections in the rock pools on the beach ... amazing!

Oh yes .... it's that moon again!