Welcome to Matillda "Tilly"

Life as we know it has ended.  A little bundle of energy has arrived and there's no stopping her.  In retrospect we probably should have held off for a week as she came with antibiotics to clear up some diarrhoea.  What a battle to get half an antibiotic down her throat twice a day.  When you are hanging out for a meal you don't want to be bothered with an antibiotic tablet do you?  She is as cute as a button, but also a little terror when it comes to play time.  Nights are spent in a crate beside the bed, so it's like having a small baby.  Every time she wakes up and starts whining I leap up and take her outdoors for toileting.  She seems fine with this, but I'm completely worn out.  It has only been 5 nights so far and already I'm praying for the day her bladder gets a bit larger and she can sleep through the night.  Of course everything else has been put on the back burner.  No housework getting done at all and this is the first time I've been able to sit down at the computer for days.  Of course there is a little pup gnawing on the heel of my shoe as I type.

The other toys are interesting but I love the thong the best

Gotcha!

This bear is more feisty than I thought!

Love at first sight - Tilly and Catherine James

Safe spot for me to hide

Exhausted - at last!!!

Vale Rosie 1999 - 2011

I have spent the last week recovering from the celebrations for Catherine's 60th birthday.  Phewwww!!  What with the trip to Sydney and then all the preparations and cooking for the party, followed by much cleaning up and post party brunch on the Sunday, by Monday I was completely exhausted.  I even had an afternoon nap a couple of times last week. 

In between snoozes I've been looking for the perfect puppy to replace our darling German Shepherd Rosie, who died last November at the grand old age of 11 years and 11 months.  Not bad for a dog who was given a life span of 4 to 6 years by the Vet because she constantly suffered from skin and gut problems and bouts of pancreatitis.  Initially we planned to take a 2 - 3 year break from dogs as we believe no new dog could live up to Rosie's vigour, spirit and intelligence.  Unfortunately the reality is we are missing our "pup" too much - there's a great big hole in our lives and our hearts where she used to roam.  So I've taken the big decision (and thankfully Catherine agrees) to find a replacement for our beloved Rosie.  Naturally we are looking for another German Shepherd and I'll hear tomorrow if I've been successful in my bid for our first choice in pups.  If that bid fails it's on to Plan B where there are 2 female pups up for grabs.  So this blog is soon to be plastered with photographs of the new puppy.  Before that happens I'm going to post a few more photographs of our wonderful old girl Rosie - from puppy to seniority.

Leaping Lizards

Well finally back from Sydney.  Good Friday today - and we were at my sister's house for Prawns, Chilli Tuna Bake and lots of wonderful salads.  What a beautiful day it was in Brisbane.  Sun shining, birds singing - good company, good food and wine and laid back music.  I realise I'm not writing nearly as much as I thought I would on this blog - funny thing is usually I've got lots to say, but once I set up this blog I seemed to get lost for words.  However, I am still taking lots of photographs, so will keep posting those.  Dalveen is beautiful at the moment.  The Autumn chill has arrived.  As soon as dusk arrives it settles in and we have to get under cover quick before it seeps into our bones.  Unlike others who visit us at Dalveen, I don't believe its cold enough yet for a roaring fire.  Give it a couple weeks more I say.  But being a good host, I have been stoking up the fireplace in the lounge.  Everyone sits close while I take up a chair almost in the next room to get away from heat.

The cooler weather has finally brought some respite from the ever growing grass.  Once mid-April arrives I can usually do a final mow and then settle back on my laurels late September or sometimes even mid October before I have to launch into the grass mowing activity once again.  But there's no rest just because the grass has stopped growing.  Once I've completed the final mow of Autumn, I have to start cutting into usable lengths all the fallen branches and trees that have accumulated since last winter.  The chain saw will run hot for a couple of weeks.  I also have to get the brush cutter out and slash back around the dam face and into the thickets in and around the trees.  This year the blackberry has reared its ugly head once more so that will mean lots of mean and nasty slashing and in some places a bit of blackberry poison to try to halt its progress.  I probably should have done it a lot sooner than this but the blackberry crop was great and I was just happy to snack on the berries during my afternoon walk around the property.