She’s growing up

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Our little Nunzio (aka Cassie) has graduated from puppy pre-school. Yup, apparcassy graduation certently puppy pre-school is now a thing. It’s aimed at socialising puppies and teaching them the rudiments of obedience – thus advantaging them when they trot off to ‘big school.’

We cheated a bit, I guess, because we started teaching our puppy to sit, wait and walk on lead right from the beginning. Pre-school added an introduction to ‘drop’ and ‘stay’ – and she’s sort of starting to get the hang of those.

More importantly, by the final session she was interacting with the other puppies quite positively. At the start of the series I’ve an idea she thought they might bounce on her like MissMolly does – and since there were rather a lot of them, this probably had low appeal. So there was a certain amount of hiding under chairs and peeking out.

Next term it’s off to puppy obedience level 1. We’ve done it any number of times (with other dogs), so we already know what to do – but the routine of going to class each week and both puppy and trainer interacting with lots of other dogs and people is a valuable exercise in its own right.

So Himself will be having the joy of dog training at two separate clubs on two separate nights. Ah yes, the joys of dogs…

cassy puppy school

Finding your writing space

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Sometimes it’s really easy to write. Words almost seem to tumble over themselves in their haste to exit my brain and leap onto the page/screen. Those are the productive days – and even if the subject matter is sometimes a little sombre, the joy of self-expression wins out.

Then there are the other days – the days when the blank screen (or journal) looks at me… and I stare right back. It’s frustrating. That’s when social media or Internet browsing seems a LOT more productive than passively sitting and waiting for words to emerge.

And sometimes it is. Sometimes something I read or see sparks some little flame that spurs me on to getting moving again. By and large though, the thing that works best for me is to go outside and wander around in the garden (any garden, really) for a while. So much the better if the sun’s shining, but it’s not a requirement.

The act of acknowledging the block and then getting up and walking away from it for a while is a healing action in its own right. Going outdoors, spending a few minutes (or more, if time allows) in my happy place – a garden – energises me. It also engages a different part of my brain, giving the writing-me some time out to swim around in the sea of ideas in my head without having to do anything about them.

By the time I come back indoors I’m usually smiling. Settling back at my desk with a cup of tea, I feel refreshed and am usually ready to get back to whatever it was that I abandoned. If not, I take my journal, a pen and my tea back outside with me – and write about something else instead to break the cycle.

I’ve written some very odd things in these tea-in-the-sun moments, and have incorporated most of them into a larger narrative at some point. Mission accomplished, I reckon.

My winter garden 2016

Winter project

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18 months ago I was given 800g of beautifully soft natural cotton Bendigo yarn. It’s a delicious colour called pomegranate and I was sure it’d be a pleasure to knit with… but what to knit? After my usual period of procrastination, pattern hunting and visits to Ravelry, I arrived at a decision. I’ve often wished I had some sort of small, easy to transport blanket, particularly when at outdoor cinema events or sitting at my computer, so I opted to turn the yarn into a simple lap/travel rug.
knitting book
None of the patterns I found appealed to me though, and nor did the idea of knitting individual patterned squares and sewing them up. So, in the end, I devised my own idea. The bulk of the rug is worked in an Irish moss diamond stitch that I found in a great book of knitting stitches a friend gave me many years ago. I’ve used the book innumerable times when at a loss to find just the right stitch for a project – and this was no exception.

A simple corded cable (also from the book) runs along each long edge and I’m adding a plain moss stitch border all the way round to complete the design. Because sewing things up doesn’t appeal to me much, I’ve chosen to knit the rug all in one piece. It’s growing (slowly) and has been keeping me from going completely troppo whilst dog-sitting. I’m about halfway there now, so it’s also finally big enough to keep my lap toasty warm – definitely a plus.

pomegranate blanket

The delights of garden gnomes

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Late last year I had an epiphany: summer was rapidly approaching and it was time to get some mulch down to protect the garden over the hotter months. So I logged in to Mulchnet and ordered 5 cubic meters. To ensure that it wouldn’t take too long for the mulch arrive, I opted to pay for it rather than be wait listed for a free load. (Been there, done that, and it seemed to take forever.)

The truck arrived the next day and deposited an epic pile of mulch on our verge. The timing was supreme… slap bang in the middle of one of the busiest times of our year. DaughterDearest was moving house, a friend was celebrating her wedding, work was chaotic… and then I set off on a trip to Tasmania. No sooner was I back than Christmas happened, followed by a patch of I-don’t-want-to-garden weather (hot!), then we got a puppy…

I’m sure you get the picture. The mulch pile on the verge slowly started to collapse in some areas and grass started to grow up and over it. I started to imagine it turning into a grassy knoll and to worry that one our homes-and-garden-neighbours might complain to the council, resulting in the wrath of the gods (or some other dramatic outcome). And the garden still needed mulching…

So I asked a few people if they’d mind helping out, bribing them with offers of lunch and super tasty cake. They accepted with surprisingly alacrity – which I attribute more to their kindness than to the food bribes, but who knows 🙂

As the scheduled day drew closer, the weather got worse. In the end we caved and rescheduled, not wanting to subject our garden gnomes to the howling gales and torrential rain. Most of them came to lunch anyway, since the cakes had to be eaten.

Yesterday was attempt number three, attempt number two having been skittled by  a combination of weather and dog dramas. This time the weather held, the dogs were (more or less) manageable,  and the garden gnomes were successful. After much digging, heaving and carrying, the mulch pile / grassy knoll is no more. Much happiness!
mulchpile transition
The gnomes then went on to remove epic quantities of grass from our verge garden, trim the rosemary bushes and plant out my sweet potato cuttings. They definitely earned their lunch, ALL the cake – and my heartfelt thanks.

gardengnomes_4kine16

Taking time out

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I was going to make the Saturday #BlogJune posts about nothing in particular – or, more specifically, about everything in a random sort of way. Creating a series of mini collages using photos to represent what I’d been up to, what I was planning or where I’d been, sounded like it might be fun.

And then… the other night I had a bubble bath, the first this winter. The first this year, actually. I try to save water, so I keep to the 4 minute shower regime as far as possible. Sometimes though – when it’s really cold or the day has been particularly stressful (or both) – a bubble bath really hits the spot.

Settling down into the grapefruit and bergamot scented bubbles, I felt myself give one of those deep, heartfelt sighs. You know the sort? The ones that come from some place deep inside, releasing tension and allowing you to finally relax.

It’s not just the bubbles – or the fact that I can make them come back bfavourite bubble bath_croppedy simply turning on the spa pump, although both of these things are a factor. It’s the peace and quiet, settling down to read a book (carefully!), sipping some tea (or red wine, depending on the day), listening to the rain and enjoying some solitude (for about 45 minutes), once in a blue moon. Bliss.

Of course,  in this household, the sound of dog/s with separation anxiety  on the other side  of the bathroom door does tend to be a distraction. But I can tune them out – for a while – sometimes – for one of my favourite things. What are yours?