One day Candy followed me down the stairs with no trouble at all. When she started to go back up, however, it was another story. She tried to jump up about 3 stairs at a time and gingerly made it onto one of the steps. I was worried she'd hurt herself.
Chilli has been doing lots of practice with her newspaper routine. Each morning she practices bringing in the paper...
We set out of our first long drive with our new little doggie Candy, here she is at our coffee stop at Newcastle. We were wondering how she would go on a long car trip, as we haven't been on a long trip since she came to live with us. She did a little bit of huffing and puffing for the first half hour or so, but settled down well and had a lovely pit stop at Taree. After that she relaxed into the drive and by the time we reached our coffee o'clock stop she seemed like a seasoned traveller.
The temperature started to soar once we hit the central coast, and about the same time as it started to soar, our car's air conditioner decided it would stop. Funny how car's pick the highway to do things, you drive around at home for weeks and months on end with not even a little hiccup and before you can say heatwave... oh well not to worry we managed to get it booked in straight away once we arrived. Thank goodness though we set off early before the heat of the day really kicked in.
We arrived to a beautiful Chilli welcome again, we were wondering if she would remember us from last time. She seemed pretty happy though and we received tail wags and licks. After introducing Candy to Chilli, we went out to the pool to cool off after the rather hot last leg of the journey, ahhhhh instant relief. The dogs both get on really well, and Chilli was trying to get Candy to play with her. Chilli is a very social doggie and offers to share her toys which is so lovely to see.
We waited until the day cooled down to take the dogs on their walk and it was about 7.30pm when we set off. It's such a nice time of night in summer to walk once the heat of the day has passed.
Strolled past this front yard, complete with bubbler. Which kicked off a memory of cold bubbler water on hot summer days... did you love drinking from them? Nothing quite like it, then wiping off the water with the back of your hand across your face, yum. Have you ever squirted someone with the water from a bubbler? If not, please do so soon.
I love the long summer evenings to walk, lots of light, the paths are cool for the dogs to walk on, and they get to have a great sniff along the way. On the way home, Chilli got to meet one of her friends on their walk, she was very excited. Chilli spotted a cat that she'd have liked to say hello to, but you know cats, it wasn't having a bar of it. I wish I could have captured that U shaped warning it managed to contort it's body into, on my camera.
We called in at Woolgoolga on our way back from a housesit in Queensland late last year, and spotted Riley sitting outside his shop waiting to go for his walk. I loved seeing him sitting against the yellow background, and he inspired me to try a doggie artwork, here it is underway...
I noticed this gorgeous rose blooming outside a store just prior to Christmas. I love how some people have the ability to make the most of what and where they are. This garden sits in a carpark with concrete all around in an industrial area, and yet this plant is nurtured and blooming there. Thank you to the gardener who created this lovely little garden - it's such a joy to see.
We loved spending time making rock stacks at the Secret Beach we've discovered with family over the New Year break. Everywhere around our town was full of people on the beach, but this one is still a bit of a secret gem... we had all to ourselves. What a treasure.
After losing our little dog Xena last year, we decided to have a break from doggie ownership for a few months. Trouble was, after having dogs for so long, our house felt so empty (and our hearts). Every time we were on the beach we'd have longer and longer dog chats and pats with other people's dogs in order to feed our dog longing, so I decided to look around for one that needed a home.
On December 30th our new family member arrived home. Her name is Candy and she came to us via a very wonderful carer for the RSPCA in Taree. She is 9 years old and the most gentle, darling girl. She's settled in very well and already she feels like she's always been with us.
If you're looking for a new dog friend, the RSPCA has so many in need of a home. If you click here you can have a look at all the little friends, waiting for a new home.