Anyone for a steak?

Spring rain means the perfect excuse for a scrummy pub lunch and that includes Martha! The Red Shoot Inn at Linwood in the New Forest is perfect! The typical country pub with gorgeous wooden floors and yummy food, but even better it is so very welcoming to hikers, ramblers, horse riders, cyclists and anyone else with muddy boots.... or paws! Not only did Martha get a big cuddle from all the staff, but also a nice bowl of water (essential for a Newfy!) and some complimentary biscuits!

You can just spot a peek of Martha's bib in this picture as well! She's got a few in various girly shades, so any stray dribble can be mopped up in-situe! This is her summery rich plum shade!

Just the Two of Us!

Had a great day today over at Farmer Giles farm pack near Salisbury. Martha was welcomed by the wonderful staff and other visitors as well as by the animals! Martha's a country girl so done of it fazed her at all, except maybe the geese! Her favourite was this CUTE skewbald foal who i'm sure thought Martha was a pony too! They had a big kiss and then trotted about along the fence line together!


She wasn't so sure of the pigs (this is a Kune Kune) and who can blame her with those huge teeth? (tucks??)

The sheep and goats were pretty popular too and they rushed over for Newfy kisses too!

Crop tonight and it was a hoot as always! It's an ongoing 'in' joke that 'Just the Two of Us' is always the perfect title for a page, and tonight Anita came up trumps! (looking back at my photos from today, i think a WHOLE mini book with this title is in order!) I'll try and twist Anita's arm to post it on her blog later! Think her pages were my faves tonight!

Summer's here?

Out today for a lovely picnic enjoying the gorgeous hot sun! The girls of course had a dip to cool off and I did my bit for Springwatch! (including a random little Beagle mix who came to say hello!)

Doggy Dictionary

Had this fun and very true list of doggy definitions sent to me....

LEASH: A strap which attaches to your collar, enabling you to lead your person where you want him/her to go.

DOG BED: Any soft, clean surface, such as the white bedspread in the guest room or the newly upholstered couch in the living room.

DROOL: A liquid which, when combined with sad eyes, forces humans to give you their food. To do this properly you must sit as close as you can and get the drool on the human.

SNIFF: A social custom used to greet other dogs, similar to the human exchange of business cards.

GARBAGE CAN: A container which your neighbors put out once a week to test your ingenuity. You must stand on your hind legs and try to push the lid off with your nose. If you do it right you are rewarded with margarine wrappers to shred, beef bones to consume and moldy crusts of bread.

BICYCLES: Two-wheeled exercise machines, invented for dogs to control body fat. To get maximum aerobic benefit, you must hide behind a bush and dash out, bark loudly and run alongside for a few yards. The person then swerves and falls into the bushes, and you prance away.

DEAFNESS: This is a malady which affects dogs when their person wants them in and they want to stay out. Symptoms include staring blankly at the person, then running in the opposite direction, or lying down.

THUNDER: This is a signal that the world is coming to an end. Humans remain amazingly calm during thunderstorms, so it is necessary to warn them of the danger by trembling uncontrollably, panting, rolling your eyes wildly, and following at their heels.

WASTE BASKET: This is a dog toy filled with paper, envelopes, and old candy wrappers. It is important to evenly distribute its contents throughout the house before your person comes home.

BATH : If you find something especially good to roll in, humans get jealous, and they use this degrading form of torture to get even. Be sure to shake only when next to a person or a piece of furniture.

LEAN: Every good dog's response to the command "sit!," especially if your person is dressed for an evening out. Incredibly effective before black-tie events.

BUMP: The best way to get your human's attention when they are drinking a fresh cup of coffee or tea.

CHILDREN: Short humans of optimal petting height. Standing close to one assures some good petting. When running, they are good to chase. If they fall down, they are comfortable to sit on.

LOVE: A feeling of intense affection, given freely and without restriction. The best way you can show your love is to wag your tail. If you're lucky, a human will love you in return.

Water + camera = GOOD!

We (yes both Martha and I) had a lovely paddle today! Yes these pics are taken from IN the water and no, it wasn't using my Canon! I was using my cheapy waterproof Olympus instead!

I did get a little wetter than I expected! (About waist deep!) but it's scorching today so it's all good! Is it sad that I have real issues getting a compact to work? I'm so much happier now with the full deal! But i'm also so happy to have the pics to record the moment, better to have some pics than no pics for fear of damaging your equipment! It doesn't always have to be about perfect exposure, amazing compostion and silky smooth bokeh.... my cheapy shock proof, waterproof and almost indestructible little cam let me experience the moment rather than stressing! Off to print these on my loaner Epson and get scrapping this evening!

Simply put.... OMG!

It's always exciting to spot a new baby donkey... and i've been keeping an eye on a *VERY* pregnant white donkey... We've been debating and keeping our fingers crossed that she'd have a cute white baby (even though Dad is the regular Donkey colour!) so when I spotted this today it was quite the shock! I don't recall ever having seen a totally black donkey - and certainly not in the forest! CUTE!!!

Quoted

'The only difference between lunacy and genius is timing...' David Tennant as 'Campbell' - Taking Over the Asylum

Yes.... more! And a unexpected subject!

Few more cute creatures from today, including a Nuthatch, a Great Tit, a VERY scruffy Blue Tit baby, a Greenfinch, Canada Geese and goslings and a Chaffinch....

Another newborn Donkey too!! Think she must have been from last night as she was extra wobbly!

I found myself a nice spot and started snapping away (with what is a fairly substantial lens... and it's white, so i'm not exactly covert.... ) when this keen snapper wandered into frame and found the perfect place for his own shot! Do ya think he missed me? I fired off a few frames and he got the hint and scuttled away!

Had a mammoth scrapping session last night and managed 7 more pages with my Spring Homegrown Scrapbooks kit... I've now used at least a bit of all the pps in the kit! I'll grab a few pics of them tomorrow and share!

....and breathe!

Started my week off today... got nothing much planned.... luxury! I'd be grateful for some nice weather though so keep your fingers crossed for me!

I'm lucky enough to be testing a rather splendid Epson A3+ printer for the second issue of Creativity Life magazine (1st issue out July 1st) and with just a few prints i'm already in love! I've had my cheapy HP for years and i thought it was pretty high quality until I saw the gorgeous glossy and wonderfully saturated images on this bad boy! I'm beginning to fear for my credit card!

Critters!

Continuing the Springwatch vein... here's a few cute creatures for a Thursday... I quite enjoyed the birdy pics.. which doesn't bode well for my lens envy! Oh dear!

Come Fly with me....

So i've been watching Springwatch on the BBC over the last couple of weeks and loving the great footage of the Ospreys (not my picture by the way!!) in particular - they are so majestic! So using my usual rambling logic (or lack thereof!) i got to thinking about flying in general... i figured that the nearest flying thing to a Newfie must be a fruitbat (or maybe a Reindeer!!) so using the logic that a fruitbat is about 1kg and has a wingspan of about 150cm, that means to get a Newfie in the air they'd need a wingspan of 96metres!!!! I think they might have more luck with the Reindeer method... magic is their only hope!

Charge!

I'm sure that photographing a Newfie is great practice for scarier species. It's funny how when you're looking through a viewfinder that's the moment that they like to run at you! Minor splashing is an occupational hazard which you get good at avoiding! I must be extra brave (mad?) because i was also ankle deep standing on the slippery pond floor so falling flat on my bum, camera in hand is a distinct possibility!! It must be years of practice of keeping my foooting in wet conditions - maybe it's just a good job I use my backup body around water, but so far (touch wood) i've been very lucky!

Some to share!

A few pages to share today...

The last of these is over on Scrapping Frenzy today.... why not pop along and share your extra vibrant pages!

Sneak Peak!

Well here it is! The cover of the exciting launch issue of Creativity Life magazine which is in stores on July 1st! it's looking gorgeous in the proofs, but I can't wait to see the real thing!

It's poured all day today, but after work the sun miraculously came out just long enough to take the troll for a bit of a swim. The best thing about the rain (unless you're a newfy, in which case the best thing is the opportunity of prime wading real-estate) is that all the greenery looks so vibrant and..... green! Gorgeous!