Spring!

 

Its spring, and with all the rain the garden is looking lush.

The front has matured and is bursting with flowers.

We have started the back but are really time poor to do to much.

The back garden is also so waterlogged that it is difficult to get the few plants we have put in established.

But Graham has got the birdfeeder up.

I don’t know what its ‘passenger limit’ is, but I have seen it take 10 sulphur crested cockatoos, if 3 stand on the roof.

Lizzie has grown up ( and grown round).

She is nearly perfect with her toileting now and has stopped eating things as much – such as the railings on the back deck, all the dog coats are gone, she rips them off Georgie's back, dog beds are eaten too.

She loves her Georgie,

and loves snuggles!

Whats it's all about Alfie?

What's it all about, Alfie?
Is it just for the moment we live?
What's it all about when you sort it out, Alfie?
Are we meant to take more than we give
(Cilla Black - see Utube & others)

Songwriters: BACHARACH, BURT / DAVID, HAL

Alfie lyrics © Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC

RIP Alfie

Oh no, this is so sad.

We got back from South Africa and picked them up on the Monday and the doggies were so 

happy to see us. Alfie was bouncing around like a pup!

 

He was struggling by Friday, (but, we have been treating him for heart failure for the last six months).

Monday, a week after we came home, and our first day back at work, he was critically ill.

And we had him put to sleep on Tuesday the 8th December. 

We don't know how old he was, we adopted him thinking he was 2 or 3 but he must have been 7 or 8 or older, because he had lots of old age problems. We had him for 5 and a half years, far too short.

We have lost a lovely little dog and Graham has lost his best buddy.

And Georgie is so sad....

We had him cremated and have him back in a little box.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~

So how to replace an irreplaceable doggie?

We are looking for a different little dog and have our feelers out with the pound. 

Please come and find us little doggie, you will be a lucky little doggie to fill this vacancy.

The Great Nundle Dog Race 2013

This past weekend Graham and I went with the car club to ‘The great Nundle dog race’. This has been an annual event in Nundle for many years now and is a great fundraiser for the school.

Nundle is a small town south east of Tamworth. I’ve not been there before but it’s a pretty little place.

It was a beautiful day too, warm and sunny.

The dog races are a huge event for the town and great fun. I guess that there must have been over three thousand people there and therefore over 1000 dogs!

These aren’t all working dogs but family pets of every breed you can possibly imagine,, and before I go further,,, we didn’t take ours. We’re not sure how WE would have coped with the excitement.

 

Above: This was a side race – with dogs chasing a bait – a “humanely killed ‘on the road’ fox tail from the previous night”…. hummm

loads of foxes without tails in the Nundle area then…  But the best doggies at this (which I don’t have photos of) were the Jack Russell's!

Mad little things!

 

Anyway, the idea is that the dogs race in small medium & large dog categories. They also have races for age groups for the kids. The main race is for working breeds only and is very serious. The greyhounds and whippets also have their own categories and they run fast and straight.

The idea is that each dog needs two handlers, one holds the dog up one end of the oval while the other person walks backwards down the field trying to keep eye contact with the dog. The winner is the dog that crosses the line first AND finds its handler. So the dogs need to be fast and smart!...............

Well the result is chaos, dogs go everywhere! My description of it couldn’t do it justice, but I do have two short movies I took, the first is the mini mutts race..

 

 

Mini mutts race

And the second is the under 12 year olds so only went ½ the length of the field.

 

Under 12’s race

Then there is of course the fancy dress parade, what can I say?

Whoever thought of this as a fundraiser was a genius – much more fun than a school fete.

 

 

Below is the ABC local news story on the event.

 

 

Fierce competition as Nundle goes to the dogs

ABC Local news By Lisa Herbert

Photo: Dogs begin the 100 metre sprint to their owners waiting on the other side of the field. The event is one of many at the annual Great Nundle Dog Race in north-west NSW. (Lisa Herbert)

Photo: Shank won the dog jump at the Great Nundle Dog Race. He scaled 2.08 metres in front of proud owner Mike McGuire of Tamworth. (Lisa Herbert)

Photo: The fastest and straightest running working dog in the NSW north-west! Red and his owner Stan Smith from Boggabri. (Lisa Herbert)

Once a year the northern New South Wales town of Nundle goes to the dogs.

Yesterday thousands of people and their pooches made their way to the small town for the local primary school's major fundraiser.

The day is packed full of doggy activities and culminates with the big one - the prestigious Great Nundle Dog Race, a 100 metre sprint for working dogs.

The day's events started with dog jump which was won by a bull mastiff cross called Shank. He scaled 2.08 metres without too much trouble. Shank's owner, Mark McGuire, wasn't expecting too much. "He surprised me. I didn't even think he'd even make the first jump and he ended up winning it!"

A red cattle dog called Red, owned by Stan Smith of Boggabri, won the day's feature event - the Great Nundle Dog race. Shep from Tamworth ran second. Jin of Merriwa came in third .Mr Smith says his best friend didn't do a lot of training for the event. "She gets walked every day. This is just a fun thing."

The event raised more than $12,000 for the local school. Principal Ian Worley says it's a lot of money for a school of 60 children. "It's a major fundraiser for us but it also brings people into the town.

"It puts technology into the classroom. A lot of it goes towards assisting students to go on excursions." Principal Worley says some people take the dog races very seriously. “They get pretty competitive. People aren't allowed any aids that might help attract the dog to them but we had to confiscate a few this year. "We had people trying to sneak snacks in or the dog's favourite rubber ball!"

Nearly finished – Baubles, Bangles and Beads

I’m just finishing the last borders on this quilt.

I like a final inch border to tidy it up and make it easier to bind.

I am also piecing the final bits of its sister quilt and have finally finished cutting out black triangles! YES!!

The dogs think if its on the floor its fair game.

 

I love the black bubble fabric that I am using for the backing as well.

 

 

Alfie approves!

 

I have a LOT of nearly finished projects,

so watch this space over the next few months.

Until next time, Kim

Welcome to the New Year

Hi all, I took a little break from the blog after having such an intensive blogging period during our Grand Tour. Thanks to all those who travelled along with us via the blog for your positive feedback.

So we have landed back to reality with a thump. Work has been busy and stressful. I spent the first five weeks after our return stepping up to the managers role. But now I am back to my normal shift work.

Christmas was quiet, as I worked. Andrew came over and we had a nice meal of middle eastern inspired lamb and salad, plus a spectacular Pavlova. Graham gave me the most brilliant Kenwood Chef for my birthday, so I was itching to use it and mixing up a meringue seemed to be a good christening.

Christmas 2012 will be different as I have already booked leave! YEH.

New Years Day we spent on a mystery run with the car club. Finally, a beautiful sunny day after what seems like weeks of rain! We ended up at Uralla's racecourse lagoon, which I never knew existed despite living in the area for over 17 years.

 

 

Last year was the year of the Grand Tour and this year I hope to be the year of the Grand Design. We have spent so much money on travel over the past 10 years that we have neglected house maintenance. Now everything needs to be done at once – from the floorboards to the roof tiles. So I am busy sketching plans and thinking about how we can improve our living environment.

We may yet throw up our hands in horror and just move! We will make a decision in the next month, because if we are going to renovate I need to get things organised.

Alfie wearing his reindeer antlers for Christmas.

He says “this is so humiliating, but I’ll let you do it cause I wub u mum”

I’ve been a bit slow getting back into the rhythm with my unfinished quilts, but I hope to give an update on my kaleidoscope project soon.

Until next time, Kim

Of Doggies, Silver Horses and Rainbows

“My goal in life is to be as good as the person

that my dog already thinks I am”

                                                                   Author unknown

 

 

Its the time of year to be making dog coats! To keep the little furry bodies warm.

This year Alfie has a Formula 1  racing car coat 

and Georgie Girl has a swinging 60’s number.

 

I have also made coats for their furry cousins in Queensland.

 

 

Here they are below waiting to go in the post. The yellow one has bugs and butterflies and the other has gelato and ice cream.

 

 

….and here they are below being modelled by Millie and Maya (thanks Sean for the pics)

 

 

 

 

 

Its also Emmy’s birthday this week and the photo below  is the pretty piece of jewellery we have bought her as a gift.

Its a silver horse, and is a copy of the Chalk Horse necklace that Tiffany Aching wears in the wonderful novel A Hat Full of Sky by Terry Pratchett.

In this book Granny Aching is reported (by Tiffany) to have said "Taint what a horse looks like, it's what a horse be".

 

 

 

Sir Terry based this horse on a real chalk horse – The Uffington Horse in the U.K.

 

History.

The Uffington white horse is undoubtedly Britain’s oldest and most famous hill figure,

which has recently been dated at 3000 years old by the Oxford Archaeological Unit.

1000 years older than previously thought.

This the oldest hill figure and inspired the creation of many of the other white horses

 http://www.hows.org.uk/personal/hillfigs/uff/uffing.htm

 

 

AND… the rainbow ends at the racecourse.

I’m sure many deluded souls have really thought that its where they would find their pot of gold!

Photos taken from our front porch, looking towards the east.

 

 

!

 

Not long now and we will be off on our trip! Counting the days and getting excited……

Until next time, Kim