Showing posts with label sand. Show all posts
Showing posts with label sand. Show all posts

Friday, 11 July 2014

Hope. ALWAYS.

"Don't let them think that we've broken down;
That we've cracked up.
We merely dropped leaves,
For a further spring."
~ Rumi
My attempt to show how windy it was didn't work.
My hair had been blowing everywhere but
 the yacht club's too sheltered to show it!
Ah Rumi.  So much sense every time.
It's been a week of grey skies and gale-force winds.
Time for some SUNSHINE!
Would that I could so easily make sense of this wind!  
It’s high time it went and blew somewhere else.
My little world has had enough! 
Sand, sand everywhere .... not JUST on the beach!
  
Wild waves and sand-swept roads have been the norm this week and they make my topsy turvy world even more confusing. 
Even when my world’s turning upside down and spinning around though, 
Rumi’s words of wisdom touch a chord.  
This is what living is all about.
Even the pathways were covered in sand.

This is the pile of sand that was swept off the road by council workers.

Chaos
Yes.
Turmoil.  
Yes.
Growth.  
Definitely.
Hope
ALWAYS.


Boxes of crystal and an empty cabinet
.... all ready for collection.
This week saw me packing up a lifetime of memories in my crystal collection.
  
As I packed each piece carefully in it’s box I remembered when and where I’d bought it. 

 Most of it was bought to commemorate a special event or momentous occasion.  
I have so enjoyed and cherished this little obsession of mine, 
but the time has come for it to grace someone else’s home.


She's just caught sight of some buddies on the beach.
It’s that dropping leaves thingy that Rumi talks about.
Co ... aka The Infidel
When there’s a need, there’s a way.
The hound's vet bills are mounting.
I have the werewithal to meet them with the sale of the crystal and the cabinet.
Achmed .... aka "the cat who lived" ... aka Shimmer
Ruler of the roost even though she's only with us temporarily.
After x-rays, an ultrasound scan, blood tests and tests of the fluid in her joints 
we finally have a diagnosis for her lameness.
The most gorgeous of donkeys that we met on Thursday
It’s complicated.
It involves both the elbow joint AND the shoulder joint.
A bit grainy as it was taken with my phone.
Where we all sleep on the bed .... gets a bit crowded at times.
She has a bare shaved shoulder ... all the better for the laser treatment that’s to come.  
We don’t notice her muscular frame when it’s covered in fur but it’s all too obvious when the shoulder’s bared.  
The sun DID try to phone this morning.
She has NOT an extra ounce of fat on her. 
It’s all muscle.
Exercise restraint is necessary whilst she’s undergoing the next 4 weeks of treatment.
How does one explain that to a Labrador?  
These donkeys were just TOO cute.
Keeping her on lead on the beach when all her buddies are bounding up to say hi is nigh on impossible.  
She might not be the only one requiring therapy at this rate!
This was Harry
“Let the beauty of what you LOVE be what you do.” 
~ Rumi
... and this is the kitten that lives with the donkeys 
Harry

Friday, 10 January 2014

I am wet. I am sand. I am hound.

“In the end, it's not going to matter how many breaths you took, 
but how many moments took your breath away.”
~ Shing Xiong
Takapuna Beach
Sea, Sand and Sunshine

My world has it all.  
In abundance.

It has insane hounds with equally insane humans, weird and wonderful strangers who become friends and enough sunshiny smiles to light up a moonless night. 

I defy ANYONE to still feel the world’s worries on their shoulders after a morning ramble in this little spot in paradise.  Barefoot in the waves, shoulders bared to the sun, mind emptied of anything but the needs of the moment.

My world - at this exact moment in time - COULDN’T be more perfect.

The mad and manic antics of a chocolate hound make it even more so.
I am WET.  I am SAND.  I am HOUND.
.... times TWO.
Oscar, the Black Labrador, joined in the fun.
TWO hounds, TWO balls, TWO humans 
and miles and miles of endless sand and waves.
Coffee on tap at the end and NO hound restrictions till after 10 in the morning.
Takapuna Beach has it all.
... and kept trying to take Sam's ball.
We weren’t the only ones taking advantage of the low tide either.

We met hounds in every shape, size and colour ... ditto for the humans.
They breed them different on that side of the shore
.... the humans that is.

It’s hard to keep a straight face sometimes.

Wet hounds DO make for showers when they shake.
... and yes, water IS wet.

Strange humans aside, our ramble was both fun and entertaining.

I have need of mornings like this. 
They fill me to over-flowing with sunshine.
It's not often they leave their balls on the sand.
“We love: that’s why life is full of so many wonderful gifts.” 
~ Rumi

Yep, Carol's got food and she's wanting her share.
That was delicious thanks.



Thursday, 14 June 2012

Sam the Man has arrived!


The new “boy on the block” has arrived and he’s all of 9 months old and GORGEOUS! He also likes coffee ... so much so that he pinched Keith’s ‘coffee-to-go’ BEFORE Keith finished drinking it!!
We might have taught him a new “bad habit” too soon.


Carol and I were doubled over with laughter  .... I don’t know how we managed to stay upright. There was this large golden Labrador gently picking up the ‘coffee-to-go’ by the lid and sneaking across the sand with it hoping we wouldn’t notice! We were laughing so hard it made it difficult retrieving the coffee from Sam ... by which time he’d spilled half of it on the sand! Carol dusted off the sand and hound drool from the lid and nonchalantly handed it back to Keith ... thank goodness he has a sense of humour and a hound of his own!!
Sam’s first foray onto the sand and ALREADY he’s made a name for himself!


He’s a character ... a big gentle giant ... who’ll lick you to death given half the chance. He had a whale of a time on the sand and in the waves with my hound this morning. He was amazingly well-behaved for it being his first outing with Carol. Whenever he chose to be deaf, I’d kick the rugby ball into the water for Chocolat and he’d come racing back to help her retrieve it.  He’s a water-loving, stick-fetching Labrador .... everything a Labrador should be .... and he couldn’t have come to a better home!


We’ve all had a good chuckle this morning .... laughing is good for the soul and the antics of the various hounds on the beach this morning created so much soul food. The sun’s shining, the tide’s out and the hounds have been in heaven.
Mornings like this are magical!
Nico ... the miniature Schnauzer
We’ve all in the past been accustomed to seeing Carol first, and then her hound .... Sebastian would always bring up the rear, walking along at his own pace. Even the cars slowed down for him when he crossed the road .... well .... MOST of them. It’s quite the reverse with Sam the Man. We get to see him first and then Carol flying along behind him. She’s only a slight thing so Sam definitely has the strength and weight advantage!
He got to meet several of the Labradors that make up the ‘Chocolat Express’ today.  Julia was taking Indy for his follow-up blood tests so they popped onto the beach to meet Sam, before heading off to the vet. Suzanne and Bella also joined us in the waves as did Keith and Bessie. At one point this morning we had all 3 Labradors, Chocolat, Bessie and Sam charging out of the water gripping the same stick in their mouths. Sam, typical Aussie, broke the stick! Sadly, I don’t have a photo of that as the camera chose to have one of it’s moments then.


I did manage to get some great pics of Bella, Vi and Wally’s Poodle and some more pics of Nico, Brian’s Miniature Schnauzer ... more canine celebrities  for my Hounds of St. Heliers range.
Bella, Vi and Wally's poodle


Sam wanted to go home with each and every new hound that he met and he particularly liked Coco Chanel ... the Bichon Frise! She WASN’T disinterested in him either and they made a cute picutre ... tiny little Coco and big Sam the Man ... another photo opportunity missed by a malfunctioning camera. Yep ... I think it’s time to make a decision about a new camera and get this one some TLC.








Love the reflection in Carol's glasses ... I've got a double!