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? :)

poofer feesh and bad fishy men.

Pleese get youR reeding  glasses out!The typis is stil being lazy  so i mus type this importen story myelsf. 

Sum fishy man has been bad again. BAD! he caiught a poofer feesh and threw it riTE   into the middel of the park on the grass wheRe anyone.   could step on it or eat it. the Typis says the fishyman hoo did it mus haf been dropped on his hed when he was a baby   becaus surely no one coud be so stoopid all by himslef .

Cushion took a pikture of the poofer feesh befor he threw it away. look how big it was! 

my friend Paddy would haf been really crook if he'd eaten it,   lucky there weren;t any kiddies aroun too.

And thaty's not all! we herd that/  sum brave hUMan went to ask a fishy man if he cood  pleese trow his old bait and  hooks and lines  in the bins and not in the park because they were making us dogs sick   and guess wat happened? she got aboosed! and had to call the police! it is ahporling appoling shamefool  wat is happening in our littel  neighburhood these days,

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What is a puffer fish? >>> CLICK HERE.

Excerpt:
"Almost all pufferfish contain tetrodotoxin, a substance that makes them foul tasting and often lethal to fish. To humans, tetrodotoxin is deadly, up to 1,200 times more poisonous than cyanide. There is enough toxin in one pufferfish to kill 30 adult humans, and there is no known antidote."

Want to know what happens when a dog eats a puffer fish? >>> 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 short visit, a door and a P.S.

This is my friend Poppy.

She has a humongous an impressive nose. It is not her fault. She was born that way.

Last week, I met Poppy in the park. Lloyd turned up too!

I was very happy to see him because, as you all know, we are deeply in love.

Poppy tried to seedoos him. Here is some photographic evidence of her shameful behaviour.

We played in the water too!


Can you tell Lloyd only had eyes for me?

If you only have time for 1 video, see this one! Make sure you see the end bit!


After the park, Poppy came over to my house. 

I told her she had to stay outside because she was  wet and sandy and would get into trouble with The Typist if she came in, but she wouldn't listen.

"Is this your house, Georgia?"

"It sure is small."

"I'm sorry Typist. I tried to stop her. You saw that, right? She doesn't know how fierce you can be."

I tried to be a good host.

"Come on Poppy! Let's play!"

But Poppy didn't want to play. She just sat and sulked.

"You know what Poppy? You're a lot more fun in the park."

Then she had not 1! but 2! of my special stash peanut butter bikkies! turned around and went home.

If you ask me, having friends over is highly over rated.

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Good news though! When Poppy's human saw how crappy our garden door was, he offered to help us fix it. He came over yesterday. It was supposed to be an easy 2 hour job just fixing the bad bits. It took more than 8 hours, a whole new door got built, it's now today and they still haven't finished. 

God knows how long it would have taken yesterday, if I hadn't helped.

"You hold the top Cushion, and I'll hold the bottom."

ThaNk yOu Mister Matthew! It was very kind of you to help us fix the door. Thank you Miss Jenny for lending him to us :) X

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P.S. and a completely unrelated subject.

The Typist is sure I'm related to Porter, one of the New Zealand SPCA driving dogs!

What do you think?

 Of course, personally, I'd rather be chauffeured around.

That's life.

It's very hot today, expected to top 40 out west, and predicted to stay much the same over the weekend. I was sweating by 8, but strangely, it no longer feels quite as bad now at 2.

The heat must be making the pigeons cranky. The 1 flying decided to pick a fight with 1 of the ones on the wire.

A couple of others will not see summer.

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The red algae bloom which closed beaches including Bondi, earlier in the week, seems to have dissipated. 

This pic from the Herald Sun link above.

In the day, the bloom looked like a scene from a horror movie.

This and more scary pics HERE.

At night, it was beautiful.

This pic by: Davide Gaglio, www.photonature.it

CLICK HERE if you want to see a video of this blue light show.

Let's hope the bloom stays away from our beaches this weekend because when temperatures soar, that's where a lot of Sydneysiders end up.

This pic from HERE.

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"I know how to keep cool when it gets hot."

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 "This is not it!" 

"THIS IS NOT IT!"

"Seriously guys. Wouldn't a frozen bone have been simpler and just as effective?"

Sum*Mer is  here!