So much is happening this time of year, my brain can hardly keep up with it!

It's the time of year when people are thinking about getting a new puppy or kitten to surprise their family at Christmas, while others may be wondering what to do with their animals while they are away on holidays.

The title of my post today has a double meaning.

This past week at work has been heartbreaking.

For those of you who are unaware, we are now in kitten season, and we are also fast approaching Christmas, which means there is also a boom in the backyard and factory puppy business.

A long time between posts again, but I've been busy - I promise!!

Since my last post:

• More riding lessons
• Pilates and Rider Wellbeing
• Got my Own Horse!
• Teaching my Beginners Group
• BIG Trail Ride!
• Trip to Hobart
• Work, Work, Work...

Horse Stuff

The lovely Andrea from Southern Tas Pilates made a trip to the North of the state in July, and I was lucky enough to get a spot in both the Pilates Mat Class and the Rider Wellbeing Class.  I learned a few things I didn't know about my body, and some techniques to deal with everyday 'problems'.  I also learned a lot about my posture and riding position, and the change in the ease of riding was almost instant!!

Later that weekend, I took a trip with Merry to visit a lovely old Thoroughbred named Gypsy.  Despite the freezing, howling wind, my tired, nervous body, and the slippery ground, she walked slowly around the roundyard with me on her bare back, in nothing but a rope halter.  From those first few moments, I know she and I would become friends.  So, the next day, Merry and I drove out with the float to pick Gypsy up, who called to me as I walked to her paddock to take her away from her friends and her son.

And so begins the story of Gypsy and I!  It's been almost a month now, and we have had a couple of short rides together, and are developing a great understanding.  She is kind, gentle and willing, and I know we will have a lot of fun together.

One of my new workmates - Amelia - is also a Horsey person, and was kind enough to invite me to the Tasmanian High Country Rider's Assoc. ride at Kimberley last month.  I rode her lovely 23-year-old boy Bundy and had a hell of a lot of fun!  Some of the downhill sections scared the pants off me, and I was sure I was coming off more than once.  But I didn't!!  Can't wait to do it again sometime.
Work

Well, I'm still there!!  Not much more to say aside from I am lucky to be working with a great group of thoughtful and supportive staff.  I'm still enjoying it, and leave every work-day with a smile.  It makes me laugh, makes me cry, but most of all it makes me feel whole.

Road Trip!

Had a bit of a trip to Hobart last weekend to catch up with friends and family, especially Emma & Charles Gregory and their spawn(!) to celebrate the impending birth of their third child!

One of the things attendees to the 'Blessingway' were asked to do was to knit or crochet a square to be added into a blanket for the baby.  I haven't knitted in years as it hurts my wrists, and have never learned to crochet, so that's what I did this week!  After only a few attempts, I managed to create a pretty square-ish looking patch to become part of the babys blanket.  Proud of myself!

I also managed to do a bit of shopping while down there.  But only a tiny bit, I promise!

Dogs

I'm still teaching my beginners group at training - only one more lesson next weekend, then the following week is their assesment!!  I'm really proud of the progress they have all made, and while I would like to think that it is due to my guidance, I would be more realistic to attribute it to each person and family's dedication to their dog.

Well, enough rambling for now... I'll try and write again soon!!

I wanted to share with you this picture of Abby.  She stood like this for about four minutes, just vacantly staring into space.  I wonder what she was watching?  It was almost like she forgot she wasn't actually laying down!

Broc, Harry and I had a fantastic day with all our friends - furry and human - at the end of year bash for the TDTC today!

Bobby, Nala and Harry

Seeing so many people come along to have a laugh, and dressing their dogs (and themselves!) up for the occasion was a real hoot.

Holly in her trendy red Christmas shirt!

There were a couple of doggy games - the Bone & Spoon Race and Musical Squares, as well as photos with Santa Claus, we all had a play with some of the agility equipment, lovely food, and general Merriment all-around.

Nala enjoys some Mutt Muffins

Denver gets his lean on with Glenn

Denver gets his lean on some more!

Group Shot

And there were Encouragement Awards!!  Alexander and Bobby got one...

Alexander and Bobby recieving their award

And Kelly, Gerard and Lucy too!

Kelly and Lucy recieve their award!

So to all my Dog Training friends, don't forget to practice, and see you all in the New Year!!  No doubt Tanya will have some more photos up later, and I'm sure Sean will put up some of his shots on the TDTC website too.

Edit:  No award for Harry, but he and 2 other doggies won the Fancy Dress competition, and I forgot to mention last week... We scored 140/150 in our test, and will be starting the new year in Grade 3!

Harry and I had a wonderful day today, spent with our friends Tanya, Alexander and Nicholas over at Zannick : Our Home Ed Journey creating Christmas Crafts!!

Next weekend is our last day at our Dog Training Club for the year, and they're having a break up BBQ, complete with Fancy Dress!  Alexander's dog Bobby and my big boy Harry will be going together as Santa and his trusty Reindeer, so the majority of today was spent creating their costumes.  The boys also worked on some beautiful felt Christmas Stockings for their pets: Zander for his Ratties, and Nick for his new ferret Hagrid (when he arrives!).
Great Photos of the day over at their blog.  Craft (and everything else for that matter) seems to take that much longer when five dogs are trying to 'help'!

Yoda, she is!  Molly, her name!  Helping, she was!

On arriving home, a suprise was waiting for me in the mailbox - the Santa Paws DVD I won from Just Us Kids blog competition.  A big thankyou to Norlin!


An even bigger surprise was waiting for Broc when he took the dogs outside a few minutes ago...  A great big stick insect - for your viewing pleasure.

Well, a busy weekend awaits.  Here's hoping I can find some more time to work on those frugal Christmas tips!

Had to work half a day today in lovely <68% humidity and a top temp of 24°C (but much warmer in the shop!), but I did manage to spare a minute to take a couple of photos while I was there, and I had some helpers aswell!!

So kind of a boring day, but I wanted to blog the photos I took.

Cheeky Tomato Clowns took off every time I tried to focus!

The Dwarf Lop boys - I woke them from their nap

The Ocellaris Clown didn't want his photo taken either!

Glenn  sporting his Awesome Mo and chatting to a Sun Conure

Nick, brushing an Angora Dwarf Lop - fuzzy little buggers they are!

No, I didn't get mugged, but it was bloody humid and warm today!!

Warmest day of Spring so far (I think?), getting to a top of 26°C and 50% - 60% Humidity!!

Unbelievably, it's still hovering at 19°C as I write this at nearly 9PM. Ahh roll on Summer!

I got most of my chores done early, followed by errands, and then drove out to Longford to see some friends. I took a pack of boisterous dogs for a walk/swim at the river, and spent the rest of the afternoon lazing away and chatting.

As you can see, Harry really enjoyed lazing with his friends Alexander and Nicholas on the loveseat:
I'm doing well so far with my goals, and I've exercised 4 out of 5 days since writing that post. I'm not doing so well with the pampering myself, but I'm going to make up for that next week when I go and have a Manicure, Pedicure and Lash Tint - Bec made me do it!!!

Now that I am healthier, happier and more active, my dogs have again become a big part of my life. That's not to say that they haven't been the whole time - they have - but now I'm able to be more active with them, which I have missed dearly.

Still gone are the days when Sooty and I would walk for hours in the bush and run in Heritage Forest - I don't think I will ever be as active as I once was.

I am managing to walk almost every day, usually for around 30 - 45 minutes, and covering between 3 and 5 Km, usually on flat ground. This seems like a good distance for me at the moment, and also for my walking partner - Harry.

To add more content to the blog, I've decided I'm going to chronicle all the fantastic places I visit on my walking trips, giving detailed information such as on leash and off leash areas, pet drinking facilities, parking, track and ground conditions (likely to be muddy after rain, very muddy, underwater, paved, gravel, etc.), terrain and whatever else I think may be relevant to others who might like to visit these areas.

I hope these entries will become a useful resource for others! Stay tuned for entries in the coming days/weeks/months.

I had the most wonderful day at dog training with Abby on Sunday!! She has improved so much, I'm very proud of her. Feeling a lot better about myself too after a pretty difficult training session the week before. On Tuesday I took Miss Abby to the vet for her annual check-up and vaccinations, and she sat in the waiting room with other dogs! I was so proud!

I have decided that after one more dedicated training weekend with Abby, I'm going to start taking Harry as well, and start him in Grade 1 (after Abby's session is over). This will give him some more interaction with other people and dogs, an outlet for his doggy intelligence, and give me something much more relaxing to do while Abby is chilling out in the car after her session.

Sunday afternoon Broc and I, along with Dan and Anita went on a little road trip up to Greens Beach, then through into West Head and the headland area of Narawntapu National Park. We spent a couple hours trekking around on the cliffs, in the bush and on the beach and let me say, what a stunning area it is!! I'd love to go back again when there's a couple more hours of sunlight and do the whole walk. The amount of critters on the rocky section of the beach was just amazing. Hundreds and hundreds of snails!! Broc and Dan found a dead shark, very smelly but pretty cool looking. I took some pictures, which I'll put up on facebook sometime over the weekend.

I've been getting out walking with my big boy a lot more, and I feel much better for it. I've been aiming to get out for a fairly decent walk every second day, but I try to do something reasonably physical on the days I'm not walking. For example, yesterday afternoon I spent two hours trimming trees and shovelling dirt at a friends house while Broc cleaned out their guttering. I managed to make a large section of their driveway a foot wider on either side by clearing off the dirt, tree bits, grass and mulch that had accumulated there in the last seven years thanks to some sub-standard maintenance by their tenants.

I actually a Saturday off! This weekend, it has been 10 years that Broc and I have been together. We plan on going out for a movie tonight, and just generally spending some time together doing stuff, as we so seldom get to do. It's lovely to think that we've spent so much time together and can still appreciate each others company. We've grown a lot together over these years and shared so much. I can't imagine my life without him, and look forward to spending many more years together.

I Love you Broc!
xoxox

Had a bit of a blah weekend to go with my blah week.
Very busy day at work on Saturday, then a stressful couple of hours at dog training on Sunday.

Abby is making some improvements, but it's slow going, physically demanding and mentally draining. Plus, there's always someone around to stick their nose in and tell you what you 'should be doing'. I know people do that everywhere, but Abby is my little girl, and I guess I take it pretty personally. Thankfully, I had the support of some great people there to help me through.

I had a lovely Sunday afternoon with my wonderful husband - he took me up to the Trevallyn bakery, where we bought a bag full of yummy stuff, and drove to the Tailrace and sat, ate and chatted. Ahh.

I was driving to the Dentists early this morning, listening as I often do to LAFM.  The breakfast show was on, and Mel was bitching about her children's pet guinea pigs, which had been 'passed on' from another family, and which she now wanted to get rid of as her kids weren't bothered with them anymore.

If I hadn't already been running late, I would have pulled over and called the station to give this woman an ear full.

Not only was she setting a terrible example by not making sure her kids looked after their pets, but now she wanted to pass them on like hand-me-down clothes or perhaps an old car!  Not only that, but she was doing it on local radio!!  Hey, I'm sure she's a great parent, and I'm sure she had no bad intent, but the simple fact that she thought nothing of making it a topic of general conversation really pissed me off.

What's that, you say?  They're only a couple of stupid guinea pigs?
Well, that may be so, but in my humble, personal opinion, when you bring a pet into your home, you make a commitment to provide for it.  The pet cannot choose whether or not it wants to be there, it can't make you like it (or dislike it), and it certainly can't feed itself.  It certainly (in most cases) can't find somewhere better to live if it thinks you're doing a crap job of looking after it.  Much like a baby, pets rely on their owners to provide everything for them.

To the parents out there who 'let' their kids get/talk them into getting a pet and then complain when the kids aren't interested anymore, suck it up!!  You're the parent, you made the decision, now it's your responsibility.  First, it might be something little, like a guinea pig, fish or bird - what about when your kids then have kids?  Perhaps even while they're living at home?  What about when the excitement wears off - are Mum and Dad going to pick up the pieces and look after the baby?  Or perhaps just put an ad in the paper: Give Away Baby to good home, great with kids!!

I do digress - I tend not to be the best author in the world when I'm writing about something that makes me mad, but I'm sure by now you've gotten the point.  Well, I hope so anyway.

The sound of baby birds chirping has again graced our home - along with all the poop, early and late feeds and learning to fly that goes with raising birds! We have three little cockatiels this time, and they are growing fast - flying already!! I'm not looking forward to seeing them go so soon, but there will be more over the coming months, with plenty of pictures!!

I've had a busy few weeks, bringing together all the planning from the last 12 months, and finalising everything to get ready for our big day!!!

I have spent the last two mornings at the dentists!

But it's not all bad. Yesterday was a check-up and a nice clean, and today I had some microabrasion treatment done on my front teeth. I'm so excited! They look so much better already, and over the next 6 weeks they will continue to whiten as they remineralise following todays acid treatment.
PS: The treatment tasted AWFUL!

Also, I bought my wedding shoes today!!! they are a nice Beige which should compliment my dress nicely, and they were also on special. Win! They look really nice, don't make my foot look HUGE, and they are quite comfortable. They have a respectable little heel on them, but not too much. Can't wait to try them on with my dress!

I also bought my wedding flowers and ribbon today so I can start working on the boquet. No more details as yet - you'll just have to wait!! ;)

Anyway, I think that's about it for now. We got a couple of new fish recently - I'll endeavour to take some nice pictures of them and put them up soon. There's a couple of pictures of one of the new additions up on Facebook - click here to check them out.

moar funny pictures

What could be more fun on Australia Day than jumping in the car and going on a short road trip to Latrobe to participate in Henley on Mersey?!


View Larger Map

They've got everything, from regatta events, fun activities for the kids, helicopter rides, RC car stunts and market stalls to wood-chopping events, the Betta Milk boat race and the famous Ferret Frolic and Ferret Racing!

This year was possibly the biggest turnout I've ever seen there - cars and people galore! The parl at Bell's Parade was packed - on both sides of the river. It's just a perfect spot for this sort of event - nice cool flowing water and loads and loads of big shady trees.

We were there for the ferret racing of course, sadly we arrived early in the afternoon so missed the boat racing. :(

The Ferret Chocolate wheel is always a big favorite - in place of the traditional wheel, a plastic half-drum with ferret sized holes cut in it is used. The ferret is places inside and the barrel spun - If you are holding the ticket corresponding to the numbered hole the ferret comes out of you win!

But! I did get some awesome ferret pictures, as well as a bit of a shock! Tasmanian Premier David Bartlett was officiating at the event, which included awarding prizes & certificates, and overseeing some of the ferret racng too. I guess he was up for a change from dealing with weasles for something a little cuter ;)

On the way home, we stopped at Ashgrove Cheese to sample their latest creations, and bring some home of course! Broc stuck to the usual suspects - Lancashire and some goold old Farmhouse, but I went a little further afield (as per usual!).

I picked out a block of their new Cumin Seed cheese - a rich creamy club cheese mixed with cumin seeds. Tastes awesome on its' own, and I'm looking forward to having it melted over some tasty curries and other delights - mmm.

I found the most awesome gift - and nibbly snack for myself - taster sticks! At $1.60 each they are great for trying new cheeses that you're still not quite sure of . I bought a stick of Double Gloucester and Bush Pepper. I was tempted to get a stick of Wild Wasabi too but luckily my local Fruit & Veggie place stocks it ;)

I also bought a stick of Lavender cheese for my Nan. It sounds unusual, and the taste is unusual too, but not at all unpleasant. A nice snacky cheese.

I also picked out a nice wedge of Heidi Farm Gruyere - very ouchy on the wallet, but sooo worth it!

We also saw some of the Cow Art on show at Ashgrove - this was my favorite. The program was developed to help schoolchildren gain a greater understanding of the dairy industry. Pretty cool eh?

You can see the full album of the days photos Here.

Holy crap is it hard to take pictures of grown up cockatiels! All they want to do is climb on you and investigate EVERYTHING!



I did manage to take some video of them, but it came out really dark. They can now be viewed live in-store at Petland though - and I'm going to try to take some more pictures of them on Tuesday.

Saying goodbye to them was pretty sad - it's amazing how you can become attatched to something in such a short amount of time. Probably somthing to do with the amount of time you have to spend with them to feed them and socialise them properly. Oh well, st least I know I've done a good job - they're really friendly, happy & healthy.

Of course the first thing I did when I went to the shop on Saturday?? You guessed it - opened their cage and got jumped on by four bouncing babies!

Anyway, enough of that! I'll post some better pics of them once I have some.

Ok, so I'm extremely slack and haven't posted since Christmas Eve - it's a busy time of year!

So, I'd better take this chance to wish you all a Happy and Prosperous New Year, and I hope you all had a good Xmas and NYE.

Over this busy period, I've missed taking pitures of a few stages of the baby birds' development, but being slightly different ages, these photos should help make up for the last couple of weeks.

The two older ones are strengthening their wing muscles by flapping their wings a lot, and have even tested out the whole flying thing by jumping short distances while madly beating their wings - furthest flight so far: 30cm, lol. They've also started eating a little bit of food - mostly just nibbling, but they're starting to get the idea. At the moment they're getting soaked seed, and cooked Peas, Corn & Capsicum. Broccoli, Spinach and organic baby food have also been tested.

The two smaller ones have most of their feathers out and are starting to nibble at everything - each other, shed feather sheathes (i'm sure they have a proper name, lol), the material, and their feet!

All four are becoming very vocal, and I've started leaving the lid off their brooder so they can hear and see the sights and sounds of the great outdoors.

Anyway, enough of my drivel, here's the latest set of pictures. They're becoming very photogenic, don't you think??

Well, I may not have opened any presents yet, but I picked up some little packages from a customer on Monday. Yes, I'm hand rearing a clutch of baby cockatiels!!

I'm so excited to see them grow and develop, although cropping them is still a little scary at the moment, lol.


The two larger ones (top & bottom) are around 10 - 14 days old and weigh just over 50grams each, and the two smaller ones (middle) are around 5 - 8 days old and weigh 22 - 25g each.

I'll try to keep the Blog updated as their development progresses!

Until I post next, have a Safe and Happy Christmas!!!

I managed to score a 3ft Hexagonal fish tank a couple weeks ago, and it has since been sitting on a couple bits of pine on the dining room floor, waiting for us to do something with it. I asked Broc to take a look...

After some deep thought (see facial expession above), my lovely Broc decided he'd indulge me and build a great big cabinet spanning the full length of the dining room!! So, a couple hours and a load of sawdust later, we moved it in...

Then came the fun task of catching 5 Goldfish, 1 Bristlenose Catfish, 3 Rainbow Fish and 1 Hillstream Loach so I could drain the existing 3ft tank enough to move it without cracking the thing. And where, might you ask, did I put them while draining the tank? Well, where else of course, but in a 30L Esky! Except for the Bristlenose of course - she has a bit of an attitude problem, so I lifted her out, plant, cave and all and put her into her own tub.

So now, after much sloshing about and heavy lifting, our dining room looks kinda like this. I'll post another picture once the front of the stand is closed up, and the place isn't so trashed ;) (Err, excuse the plumber bum).