Mucky Puppy

Lolla: Nice and wet from a walk in the dewy grass

Add a lot of digging in a dusty patch

"I'm not all THAT mucky mum!"

Tuesday Treasures

No surprise that my Tuesday Treasure is, once again, my garden and the glorious flowers therein! And a little pup added in there as well! How could I not?
Oh YES, it is so windy today and quite a challenge to get things to hold still long enough to get a focus! I had some ripper pics that were not in focus - ah well. These will have to do.
Please click on any of the images to get a closer look. Especially the pic with the bee - Now you will have to start looking for it - hehe

Salvia - with beautiful furry flowers!

Pink Penstemon and the furry Salvia

Red Penstemon

White Nerine

Adorable Lolla

Grus en Achen

Vermillion Geranium

Pink Geranium - A piece I pinched from another plant

Maurice Utrillo (Delbard Rose)

Copper Daisy

French Lavender

Modern Lavender - not sure which one

Buddleia

Kangaroo Paw

Rosa Chinensis Mutabilis with a bee, see her shadow? and an aphid!

Rhododendron which is very confused about the seasons

Penstemon Pandamonium

Apricot Nastursium and dear little Lolla who was munching on my camera strap every time I squatted down to take a picture. Then I would start to get up and find she was attached!

I hope you have enjoyed another wander around my garden. Please join Melody at The House on the Side of the Hill for more fabulous Tuesday Treasures.

A New Puppy

Introducing Lolla - my new puppy.

Little personality pup, Lolla

Lolla is a Cavalier King Charles Spaniel x Miniature Poodle
Her mother was a Blenheim CKCSpaniel and her Dad a Red Miniature Poodle. Her fur seems to get thicker and longer every day. She is 8 weeks old and weighs just 2kg. And she is completely irrisistable - As you can clearly see.
She is such a good girl and learns so quickly. I have only had her for a week and she already comes bolting when I call her name. Well, who wouldn't really, when the reward is a lot of fussing and a fabulous tummy rub!
So this is the reason that I have been off the air for a while. That and school holidays, visitors etc.
As Lolla is an 'inside' dog I have to watch her all the time she is awake to avoid too many 'accidents'. She just loves going outside too and will go out and sit on the verandah just looking across to the cattle next door. Haha a real country girl. When Harry is out 'training' with the hunting dummy, Lolla follows him around and races from point to point after him. She occasionally gets the dummy and chews it furiously or growls ferociously over it. Hahaha very cute.

Lolla and Harry socializing through the fence. Harry is very exuberant and still a bit rough for her, although she does follow him around the paddock when he is 'training'.

Her best subject is digging in the damp soil. Her second best subject is scrambling up on the couch when no-one is looking! I often find her curled up on a cushion or my super-soft plush throw (formerly Kanga's super-soft plush throw)
Kanga is a wee tad miffed. I made the choice of a pup over a kitten as I thought she would be less ticked off with another species. She has made herself somewhat scarce and seems to have concentrated on her hunting skills. I saw her gobbling down a mouse under the decking yesterday - Oh YUK! She still comes in wanting her special cuddles and smooches, although less frequently. I hope she adjusts soon.

Kanga - cuddly cat

Bailey (our foster kitten) on the other hand, thinks Lolla is quite a treat and loves to whack him with her gloved left hook. They banter a lot. It's fun to watch.

Bailey, our 'foster cat'

Finished and Goodbye

Don't you just love, quick and easy projects that turn out well! I have made this my treasure today for Melody's Tuesday Treasures:

Here is the delightful 'Twirl' fabrics quilt, made with the layer cake quilt kit.
It is so bright and beautiful and was very quick and easy to make (as you can see). This is a 'quilt top in a day' guaranteed! ... well, if you start early and don't get distracted as I always do. It took me a couple of days and then I quilted it so all up would have been three days to completely finish it.
I took it to town last Friday to give to my wonderful friend Nancy for her Inspirational Quilts Charity ...BUT ... due to a sequence of events I didn't get to give it to her ...  BUT .... I will get it to her when I next go to town.

Oh, just realized that the heading may be a bit misleading. The goodbye refers to our Friday in town. We finally interred my mother's ashes.
It has been over 5 months since we had her funeral but it took this long for the miniscule preparation involved in tucking her under the gravetop with my brother and father.
I was surprised at how emotional I was. I know that sounds a bit strange but I had grieved for mum for the last ten years and by the time she died it was pretty well done.
The woman that was my mother died many years ago. The person we saw and interacted with in the meantime was like a ghost. Sometimes she was present but mostly she was an ethereal host. Her eyes, as 'windows to the soul', had long since clouded over, their sparkle and clarity long gone. So when the tears came on Friday, beside her grave, I was a little surprised at their unexpected and spontaneous profusion. I thought I 'had it all together'. My sister stoically spluttered general niceties and conversation but I just wanted to quietly say goodbye.
I kissed her wedding ring and gently dropped it into the box containing her ashes. It sank with a gentle 'ooof'. The box was closed again and was then nestled in her final resting place.
Mum is surrounded by native plants, which she would have loved. There is a small waterway quite near which runs seasonally and is surrounded by wattle trees. Gazanias grow with gay abandon on the neglected graves and beside the paths. She loved the Gazanias that grew wild on the nature strips of our street. This older part of the cemetery is mostly dry crusty ground with dirt paths. This is the place for a 'country girl' to rest.