Happy is...

a Newfie paddling, or making friends!

Delilah laid a whopper yesterday... and on cracking it open this morning it was another double yolker!! Yay!

You know when...?

Something is sooo funny that you are trying your hardest not to laugh, but end up shaking with laughter under your breath? Well that's how I feel tonight! A little while back I taught my Auntie to sing Teenage Dirtbag on karaoke.. and it's now her favourite... it's quite an experience I can tell you!! Anita if you are reading... you are in for a treat!

Woodn't it be love-ly!

I've managed to get my paint smeared and inkstained, grubby little mitts on some more of that delightful and delicious woodgrain dymo tape! If you fancy a roll, check out the link over on the right ---------->

Busy, busy...

Been busy, busy the last few days so as a catch up here's a few pictures...

Martha, just being Martha... I love her great big squishy face - she really does look like a big snuggly bear from this angle!

On Wednesday a little trip over to Hatchett Pond at Beaulieu was in order, it's not often I venture to the far side of the New Forest but Martha was glad to find there are lovely ponds all over!

I was more distressed to find that the Black Headed Gulls are already well on their way to sporting their fulll winter plumage! We haven't even had summer yet!

Had a wander out in the garden this morning, I adore this little miniature Acer that overhangs the pond...

...but love even more that I managed to capture the sun glinting shining through the leaves... see... a brief 5 mins of summer after all!

Chicken Wisdom

Irreverent humour, doodly goodness and chickens... what more could you ask for?? Check out Savage Chicken for a fun (and yet strangly wise!) daily cartoon!

Bank Holiday and Action Alpaca

August Bank Holiday means our village Rustic Fayre - a little fun event with novelty arena events, little stalls, and a fun pet show, but quite honestly just a good reason to partake of local cider and the barbeque! I entered Martha in the fun pet show and we were amused when she won 'Dog the judge would most like to take home'... and who can blame the judge!

Also at the weekend, we passed the field with the cute pigs and alpacas... as soon as we got near they all galloped over... quite a sight seeing these guys at full tilt towards you!

So pwetty!

No words of wisdom (like there ever are!!!?), no ramblings, no tales of woe or wonder, just a couple of pics of one of my gorgeous girlies!

Plus they prove my camera isn't mullered! :-)

Camera Caution!

After ending work for a week or so for a well earned break, I popped up to take Martha for a paddle in the lovley afternoon sun yesterday, and aside from a fairly spectacular flying fall into the mud, all went well! Martha was so excited to get in the water that she managed to pull me off balance and combined with muddy ground and my own apparant lack of cordination I managed to end up face first on the floor!

Of course I had my SLR with me but it survived the fall! (My 400D not the 40D - i'm too scared to take that near water - and probably with good reason thanks to my track record of ruining equipment in water!)

Thank goodness for the soft ground and for my long (Amy Butler fabric) camera strap - i bought a long strap a while back from this Etsy seller - the thinking behind it being that I can wear the camera on my hip slung around my body - essential when with the dogs, as if i lose my grip on it or if I need two hands quickly for any reason, I can literally let go and it will be safe! It's also less likely to swing about if you bend over for whatever reason - dogs, kids, etc. it's also good if you have two cameras, one round your body and one round your neck!

I'm sure if it had just been around my neck (or in my hand) my camera would have become a very expensive frisbee and the result wouldn't have been as good!

Divas

  Poor Lola missed her Hydrotherapy last week and it was obvious that she was so glad to be back this week! While she was getting her life jacket on she shrieked with excitement!! Quite an experience from such a great big dog!

Nowadays not only do I have two lovely dogs ecstatic to see me when I return home, I now have 6 more eager faces greeting me! I'm sure it's not just the lovely big bowl of corn that they receive as an afternoon treat! After being the most camera shy in the early days, Valerie is a slave to the camera now! I swear she's started posing!

Journal Junkie!

There's a new challenge over at 'A True Friend' - this time we're attempting to put some of that sunny feeling back into this rather moist summer that we're having! - We want to know how your pet likes to spend those hot, sunny days. There are no prizes for guessing Martha's preferred method of chilling out! It's all about the paddling!

This is another page using the Summer Survival kit.. along with a few bits and pieces that I keep within arms reach at all times. I may have one of the worlds' biggest collections of journalling blocks, and it's one thing I find it very, very hard to resist. One reason for this is that i'm a total Etsy junkie where you can find blocks in every hue, theme and size. They are great for journalling (obviously!) but also for layering up other elements and titles  - you can never have too many - it's onw of those budget essentials that you just have to have a good stock of!

And a Golden Sunday!

Amazing, amazing Olympic action yet again today, the double skulls was awesome, the Women's Pursuit was outstanding and the Yngling and Finn results were fantastic! And it all culminated with GB at third place in the medal table!

Martha had a simple day of pleasure including some OLympic standard stick rescuing! By the look of this one she might be eyeing up the pole vault though!

Oh and my mysterious (in the run!) egg layer struck again... and the first of those turned out to be a double yolker this morning! Scrummy!

Isn't it ironic?

I'm a big fan of irony... warm and dry aren't exactly to words that would spring to mind when you think of Martha! So the standard message that comes on *everything* you buy is quite humerous for her!

This is another page using the Homegrown Summer Survival Kit... and I have to pretty much all the papers are used! Loads of embelies left tho'!

Golden Saturday!

If there was an Olympics for Newfies i think Martha would excel in the pool of course.... move over (Dame?) Becky Adlington!...or maybe she'd be Gold medal standard at slobbering...

As it is I'm keeping myself busy with the real Olympics! Like most of the country I adore the rowing and screamed my encouragement for all our crews, but especially the truly heroic Fours this afternoon!

But the highlight for me is the velodrome - extreme screaming from me again especially in the amazing Keirin with the superhuman Chris Hoy grabbing gold and Ross Edgar amazing with a Silver as well as Bradley Wiggins and Steven Burke who were both AWESOME in the 4K pursuit. I think the track cycling has been fascinating ever since Chris Boardman famously blew the competition away in Barcelona in '92. I was gutted to miss the live race of the team pursuit final in the week so pretty darn happy that there was some great competition today! And more tomorrow!

Nuff said!

F...F...F...Friday!

Amazingly and totally at odds with the norm... the warm weather held on for the end of my working day! The Donkeys looked contented and happy to be dry and warm...

....and of course Martha had a little dip!

When I first got in for work, as usual I popped out to see the girls in the garden, and of course have a peek into the egg port (just in case!), however I was AMAZED to see that *someone* had laid an egg in the run!!! I suspect it's Sally as she has the HUGEST comb and wattles... but time will tell! I think Valerie was a bit cross as it was a relatively massive 48g and was a lovely darker shade of brown! Very exciting to have my very first two egg day!

In full swing....

I adore the Cupcake collection from BasicGrey (except the clowns *shudder*)so when there were a couple more sheets in my Summer Homegrown Kit, I was pretty happy! I love all the scrummy summer colours... which is quite refreshing with our 'so called' summer in full swing!

A brief encounter....

.... with summer? Came out of work this evening after spending all day cocooned indoors to hot, bright sunshine! You've never seen someone get home, grab a car load of Newfy and camera and get out in the sun! I was greeted by gorgeous blue skies, punctuated by a sunny little yellow plane....

Of course the realism was that there were clouds on the horizon, but at least they look gorgeous, so it couldn't dampen my spirits...

...or those of Martha! She'd enjoy herself whatever the weather but it really is nice to get even the smallest bit of warmth to keep her owner happy!

And finally.... Valerie - One Egg - 43g... to quote Emma... 'Good Girl!'

Bad Hair Day!

If you frequent my other blog (email me for an invite) you'll have already seen the photo featuring on this page... He's an Alpaca and I love him!

I've made the page using the ever continuing Summer Survival Kit from homegrown Scrapbooks. The papers are Heidi Swapp, BasicGrey Boxer and also includes gorgeously strokable Velvet Brads from Doodlebug.

And then there were 4...

Valerie has done it again! 43g! Woohoo!

Disguised?

Despite being nice and enthusiastic, my first three Newfies were a bit rubbish at retreiving (unless you are a drowning victim... or a boat!) they might bring back a stick once or twice if you are lucky - i think they can't see the point... and who can blame them! We throw a stick, they seemingly heroically rescue it using all their inbred instincts and then we chuck it back in to drown!

Martha though is a whole other kettle of fish... she'll happily chase in and out time after time after sticks, so for the first time i've been able to confidently fish out some of the floating toys i've accumulated over the years safe in the knowledge that she'll bring them all safely to shore when it's time to go home! I think she might be a retriever in disguise!

Trio!

Little Valerie, (bless her cotton socks!) came up trumps again yesterday with a 40g beauty! Yum Yum!

Making Friends.....

While Martha was having a bit of a splash around today she had a little friend come and say hello! It was a little, 15 year old Westie (with arthritis!) who seemed to be very keen to play with Martha until he got close and clocked how big she really is! He soon hot footed it away and left Martha with her sticks!

It's all about you...

Guess what!!? More Homegrown Goodness! This amazing paper is by Creative Imaginations and it was another that at first glance I balked at slightly, but OMG once I got some bits and pieces on there I adored it!

The kits is now starting to look decidedly depleted... i think i've got about 7 or 8 papers left to hack into and that's about it!

And then there were two!

I'm sure we might have a case for going to trading standards... I'm pretty sure you're not supposed to need to be wearing your winter coat in August, but as I'm a 'glass is half full' kind of girl, I embraced the fact that it wasn't raining today, donned my cosy jacket and took Lola and Martha for a paddle up near Fritham in the New Forest. Right next to the pond were some Shetlands, including this snuggly pair of foals!

Talking of cute animals here are some pics of some much happier chooks today! They aren't so fond of the wind/rain either!

A special mention has to go to Valerie who came up with the goods for a second time, producing a 38g beauty! I feel a dippy egg may just be on the menu for tomorrow!