If he was in human form, he'd be a GIGOLO.

 “... keep what is worth keeping and, with the breath of kindness, blow the rest away.” 

~ Dinah Craik

There are some things in a morning that are best left unsaid. 

“It’s ok ... I’ve got my bra on already.” would be one of them.  Yep, she does wear bras ... Carol that is .... and felt the need to share that with us this morning.  Carol should know by now though that any conversation with me is apt to be turned into fodder for my blog ... and especially when said conversation includes statements like that.

This poor gull has lost one of his feet ... 

Whilst Julz and I raise our eyebrows in surprise and giggle at this unexpected statement, she explained that what she meant was she had her ‘GYM’ bra on.  She was heading off for a gym work-out after our walk and, as most women will know, gym bras are far more time-consuming to don than an everyday bra. She was practising time management! 

Pete would be pleased .... or maybe NOT.

Beach toys - rugby ball and a log

My friend Carol is an exercise junkie.  I might have mentioned this before but she thrives on exercise .... not just normal everyday exercise ... but exercise of an addictive nature.  Despite being in her 60's and I WON’T mention her exact age but it’s a few years INTO her 60's, she still participates in half-marathons.  The next one will be the 50th  that she’s participated in.

She particularly likes half-marathons that offer a medal for completion.  So much so that she’s cancelling a marathon she’s already applied and paid for to participate in a DIFFERENT one on the same day in Rotorua.  The one in Rotorua has a medal you see.

Pete just shakes his head resignedly.  I think he’s given up trying to understand her.  So have I and I’ve only known her a few years ... Pete’s known her a WHOLE lifetime!

Exercise Junkie or not though, I thoroughly enjoy the time the hound and I spend with her.

Sam enjoys our company too.  I love the greeting I get when he sees me on the beach.  Nothing and no-one interferes with his flight down the beach to flop at my feet ... generally in an upside down position so I can tickle his tummy.  If he’s not been in the waves he’s soft and cuddly and just SO adorable.

This hound KNOWS all the tricks!  If he was in human form, he’d be a GIGOLO.

Sam’s arrival means the new CHIEFS ball has arrived.  My hound, traitor that she is,  dances anxiously around Carol’s feet .... desperate to SWAP balls!

What is it about the BRIGHT new Chiefs ball that’s so appealing .... and NO, it’s NOT because it’s a Chiefs ball.  They haven’t won Super Rugby 2013 YET. 

I say that tongue in cheek as there’s little chance of them losing this Saturday.  Everything’s in their favour ... home final and top of the log.  It would take something of a miracle for the Brumbies to beat them.

In the meantime I’m sending a pic of my unfaithful hound and the Chiefs rugby ball to the Chiefs.  

I think I have a HEAP more fun!

Most people go to the gym to exercise, Keith told me this morning.  You go to the beach and throw logs for your dog, he added.

Yep ... I do ... and I think I have much more fun with my form of exercise.

It has everything and more than what I could get at the gym.  Cardio - from all those hills I climb at double-quick time.  Weights - from all those mammoth and not-so-mammoth logs I have to toss into the waves.  Stamina - from the kilometre after kilometre I trek with a chocolate brown hound in tow.

I think I have a HEAP more fun!

I see and hear a whole heap more too.  I see the early morning sun creeping over the horizon as it tries to wake a slumbering world.   I hear the strident calls of the gulls and skua as they impatiently wait for the Baker to toss out the early morning crumbs.  GOM is as regular as clockwork as he strides sullenly along the boardwalk in his red fleece top. 

I do sometimes wonder if he has any friends.

Mornings are my favourite time of the day.  I don’t think I literally LEAP out of bed each morning but I certainly greet each day with enthusiasm.  I love that I get to share in each new day’s birth, that I get to participate in the early morning chorus as the hound and I hike up to the view site, that I get to hear the waves crashing on the shore as they relentlessly and tirelessly race up the sand.  That’s what mornings are about ... they’re a way of life, MY way of life.

My EVERY day is so much more complete after a morning ramble AND a dose of caffeine.

The hound has been taking the teeniest of rugby balls to the beach with her this week. In one way I’ve not minded as there’s been umpteen logs on the beach.  I’ve ended up having to carry the ball on more than one morning ramble because she’s found a log that she CAN’T possibly leave behind.

The log pile outside the front door is growing ... much to my other half’s consternation.  It wasn’t a problem in the other house as we had a fireplace.  There isn’t a fireplace in this house and yet the hound still brings log after log home with her.  Does she know something we don’t?

Panda took a liking to this teeny weeny rugby ball today and bit a chunk out of it.  That’s the problem with hounds that don’t have gentle mouths like my girl.  They’re inclined to seek and destroy the hound’s rugby balls ... bit like a heat-seeking missile!  The hound didn’t mind.  She was burying a log in the sand and Panda’s minor misdemeanour was of no concern to her.

Panda just wanted my girl to chase him ... isn’t that what ALL boys want?

“You’ll know when a relationship is right for you.  It will enhance your life, not complicate it.” 

~ Brigitte Nicole