The fearsome pigdog makes a stand.

"What is this thing you put on my head, Wellie and Stanley's human? It is attracting unwanted attention."

"Do you not realise I am a proud and fearsome pigdog? Please remove it immediately!" 

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"No kissing, please."

"No kissing, I said!"

"Stop it, Larry! I don't want everyone calling me a shameless hussy again."

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"Seriously guys. What does a girl have to do to get a little respect around here?"

A Valentine's Day story [sort of] by me and then The Typist gets contemplative.

This is Stanley.

He's Wellington's new housemate and is just 4 months old.

Hands up if you think Stanley is a bit in love obsessed with me.

In the piccie above,  from L to R: Woody, Milo, Stanley, Daisy and my newest bestie, Pash the lab. Can you see Wellie in the back pretending not to know Stanley?

God help us all when Stanley grows up.

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I read this post by Verobirdie a few days ago. Somehow it seems appropriate to share it with you on this Day of Overpriced Roses and Dinners Love. 

It's about a festival in Japan called Hari-kuyo (針供養), that honours old and broken sewing needles and pins for their year of labour. I think it's a story about relationships, respect and love. 

This link [also from Vero's post] will give you a good idea of what Hari-kuyo is about. However, if you want to know more about the ritual and significance of the festival, check out this book by audsomee.  My favourite part is the page on Values.

So what do you think of Hari-kuyo? Or Stanley for that matter? Are you a fan of Valentine's Day? :)

Stoopid tourists and imaginary sheep.

After we [sadly] left the Byron hinterland, we stopped for the night at Port Macquarie where we stayed at a dog friendly motel. 

There were dogs everywhere. In the rooms to our left and right, upstairs and downstairs. We were allowed everywhere too, even the swimming pool area. But no one played outside because there was no where to play and no gates or fencing to keep us safe. 

I don't want to be overly harsh so I will give our motel 3 stars for friendliness, a nice room and the heart shaped liver bikkies I got on arrival. But no star at all for actually being set up for us dogs on holiday. Hey humans! we have requirements too you know! 

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There were many dog friendly beaches in Port Macquarie which was the one and only reason we decided to stop in this town. 

This is Nobby's Beach.

After Palm Beach, it was a bit of a let down.

We did however meet this dog, in a manner of speaking since he was too busy to say hello. 

Can you see him in the picture above?

You can see a video of him here, if you like. Be careful. He's a bit crazy.

I bet some of you know what he's doing. Personally, I think he needs to get his head checked by his Dr Dog and ASAP.

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The next morning, we got up bright and early and went to Lighthouse Beach. 

It was much nicer!

For some reason, Cushion decided I needed to get comfortable with surf. Why, I ask you? WHY do I need to do that? I live in suburbia for heaven's sake! What are the chances of me ever being taken to Hawaii and needing to know how to surf?

There is no understanding humans. But I love My Cushion dearly so I dutifully followed him out into the water.

"You want me to stay here with you, give me a treat first."

"Wave coming! Wave coming!"

"See, you silly man? Now your shorts are all wet! And for what?"

"Completely incomprehensible."

After Lighthouse Beach, we started our journey home. Because we were in a rush to beat the holiday traffic, I missed seeing a camel. 

Bummer.

However! If you click on the videos below, you will see me meeting some other local fauna at the very start of our holiday! 





It was the first time I've ever met these strange creatures. I think I handled myself admirably, don't you?

The Typist wants to tell you how I got chased out of Uncle E's shed by a fluffy white cat and was too scared to go up to a chicken that came into the yard but this is my blog and I'm not going to let her tell you lies like that.

And that sums up my Christmas and New Year road trip. Thank you so much for coming on holiday with us! We really enjoyed your company and hope you had a good time too!

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HOW TO GET TO LIGHTHOUSE AND NOBBY'S:

View Larger Map

NOTE! Only part of Lighthouse Beach is off-leash. Want to find out specifics and other dog friendly areas in Port Macquarie? CLICK HERE.

Update.

Georgia got home about an hour and a half ago. She spent the afternoon at the vet's, sleeping off the anaesthesia. 

The x-ray showed only 1 hook. It was thankfully small.

The hook was stuck in the lining of her oesophagus, apparently quite close to her heart. If it had ruptured the oesophagus, or been a bigger hook, this story would have a different ending. The hook might have snagged her heart. Air bubbles could have formed in her chest cavity. Scar tissue would also have made it hard for her to ever eat normally again, and she would have had to be on a soft or liquid diet, antibiotics and cortisone for life. 

As it is, Dr C tried several times to remove the hook but was unable to. He was about to refer her to a specialist when Dr J asked to give it a go and managed to remove it successfully. We're so grateful to have good vets.

The endoscopic equipment they used to remove the hook.

At the moment, we can't stop talking about how irresponsible the people are, who fish in our neighbourhood. Many come from other suburbs. Yes Rose, they leave bunches of hooks, snarled lines, and tasty dried bait behind on the ground. These aren't random things they forgot or lost. They just can't be bothered. What Cushion pulled out of Georgia's mouth was a section of line with hooks tied every 15cm or so apart. A line for catching bait, he says.

A local man named Steve actually goes around collecting all this rubbish. He says he hasn't had to buy any fishing hooks in a while. That's how many he finds. Cushion was helping him this morning when Georgia snarfled hers. 

"I'm okay guys, really. Thank you for asking after me." 

What would have happened if our wonderful vets hadn't been able to remove the hook? 
Georgia would have had to undergo open chest surgery, a complicated procedure, we're told, requiring a specialist. It would have cost 7 to 9 thousand dollars. Yup. Today's procedure set us back a mere 1,123 dollars. Are we all counting ourselves lucky yet? 

I think missy is going to be doing leash walks for a while.

"I don't suppose this is a good time to ask for another slice of  bread with rhubarb jam?"

A not so small stone, Tuesday 8th January.

I woke up early to give the garden a good soaking. We're expecting a 43degree day. The cicadas were already screeching. The water from the hose hit the big leaves with a loud indescribable sound. It hit small feathery leaves with a whisper, filtering by them to soak into the ground. It gurgled as it filled the water pot with its 30 dollar moss-covered terracotta turtle in the centre. Best buy ever. Then Georgia came home from her walk.

She'd swallowed some hooks at Ballast Point park. She looked normal. Larry's mum, who was at the park, told Cushion to stuff her with white bread. Larry had swallowed a hook before. As I watered the plants, I watched Cushion feed her. He'd bought a big loaf. She swallowed each slice of the white Homebrand bread without blinking or pause. More than half the loaf was gone before he stopped, wondering if that was enough. We went into the kitchen. Cushion called Dr Dog. I called Tara and Sammy's mum. Sammy had swallowed a hook before too. She said it was best to get an x-ray done. Sammy had ended up having surgery. I offered Georgia another slice of bread. She took it with a lot less gusto. How about a lick of peanut butter on it, girl? Yum. Another 3 slices went down her throat. A bit of raspberry rhubarb jam now? She finished the rest of the loaf, crust, ends and all. She looked a bit sick, as you might expect. Dr Dog said, "Bring her in for an x-ray." And that's where she is now, as I type this. On her way to Dr Dog. Cushion has taken her. 



To find out more about Small Stones and the 30 day mindful writing challenge, CLICK HERE. 





Correction, Wednesday 9th.

I received an email from Larry's mum last night but wasn't able to post it here because our internet connection was down. It wasn't Larry who'd swallowed the hook, it was a previous dog she'd had named Rufus. My apologies! I'm pretty sure this misinformation was Cushion's fault.

Anyway, since I changed the comments setting to registered users only, a few of our friends haven't been able to post their messages directly. So here is her email:

Do hope Georgia is ok. Was alarmed to read about the whole loaf of bread! It was our old dog, Rufus, who swallowed, and passed, the fish hook, not Larry. We were in the country and the vet I called recommended grass and white bread. Rufus was smaller than Larry, but the hook came out all wrapped up in grass and didn't bother him much. We were lucky. Larry's fish hook was stuck on the inside of his mouth and I was able to get it out. Damn fishermen!

Thinking of you,
Paula and Larry xx

Thank you Laura Paula! ;)

A bush walk and Smurf's house.

This is the little cabin where we stayed on Tuesday and Wednesday night. 

It was very restful there and apart from the hum screech chatter of cicadas crickets birds mozzies and the 1000 froggies in the pond down the slope, it was super quiet.

I wish we could have stayed longer.

For some reason, since we were in the middle of nowhere, Cushion thought he could just open the door and say, "Go on, Georgia, go walk. Go toilet!" But of course, I wasn't silly and didn't wander too far on my own. I remembered what Ms Jean said and I didn't want to get lost. 

Besides, there were scary animals outside. 

You can laugh but these brush turkeys had beaks.

"You in the tree!"

"Stop staring at me, please."

We found a lovely bush trail nearby.

Can anyone tell us what these plants below are? 

They looked similar to pawpaw trees and were about the same height as well, but the fruit were smaller. No one was game to try them. It was too beautiful a day to get crook.

Suddenly! we saw this shack up ahead! 

 It was the cutest thing ever! I couldn't resist being a sticky beak exploring it as any curious dog would.

The manure was very tasty! 

I would have eaten a whole lot more if The Typist hadn't started screaming.

We thought this could be a nursery, the place where the humans who owned our cabin grew their vegetables, herbs and fruit.

 My favourite fruit in all the world wasn't ripe yet, which was unfortunate. 

[Not that I would have stolen it or anything.]

We really liked this little shack! I could see my humans getting starry-eyed. My guess is they probably saw themselves living like this, in the middle of nowhere, growing their own stuff and living off the land and rainwater.

BWAH haha!

It didn't take them long to realise there were mozzies biting them, it was very hot, there was no airconditioning, probably no cable telly either, oh! how about flush toilets? and it was a bit far from any decent looking patisserie.

This did not look like a Nespresso machine.

Anyway, after snooping wandering around for a good 10 minutes, it was time to go back to our cabin. Which is, of course, where I dramatically collapsed and was rescued from death's door by being unceremoniously splashed with 7 pots of cold water. Yes, Ms Rose, I think it was 7.

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On the way back to the cabin, we met a man who told us a dwarf named Smurf lived at the shack.

A. dwarf. named. Smurf.

My goodness! How I wish we'd met him! My humans were quite mortified that they had so rudely trampled all over his little house. 

I wonder if Smurf was inside the whole time, keeping very quiet and wondering how on earth his hideaway had become a tourist attraction. 

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Here's a special treat for you! It was a bit hard to capture and is quite soft, so please turn up the volume. I hope you like it!

Any guesses what it might be?