Beach time

We live at the beach all the time now. It's pretty good.

Here we are one day last week when we went to Back Beach. It was cold and windy, but sunny.
We had a bracing romp in the fresh, fresh air and the cool, cool water.

And a quick stop at the local co-op on the way home as well.
Nice smelly fish for tea!

Gardening fun

We've been having fun in the garden. First, Neil took out the old orange tree stump. It was huge, like an iceberg.

(I'm happy to report that Neil's right foot survived his dubious hatchet technique!)

 With the stump out of the way, it was time to build some raised garden beds. They started out like this.

Then this.

 3 cubic metres of topsoil are coming tomorrow... that's going to be a BIG pile of dirt to be shifted! Good thing dogs don't have opposable thumbs - we won't have to shovel.

Boxes filled and the start of the Airedale netting in place.

Gracie surveys her world every morning at dawn from this vantage point...even in the rain.

 Yep, garden's secure and no kangaroos in sight.

 She sits really close to the edge.

Who me?

Last run at the park

We sure are going to miss our favourite park down near the Cook River. It is so spacious and green.

 Gracie has my green ball!

 Unfortunately, she is faster than me. Once she has the ball, I can chase her all I want, but she's always one step ahead of me.

She enjoys teasing me I think.

Nowadays, we get to run on the beach every day.  Not as green of course, but very interesting and a lot of fun in a different way!

More packing

The kitchen is a mess today. Everything is going into the boxes.

I don't quite fit in this one.

This one is a better fit.

Just don't leave me behind!

Gracie tried to get smuggled in with the glassware.

Anyone for a newspaper babushka?

Strange goings on around here

There has been some strange activity around here this last week.

A lot of these boxes have appeared and stuff keeps disappearing into them.

Look, boxes in the middle of the kitchen. Very strange.

Even more alarming... the pantry is bare.

The shed that used to be chock-o-block full of interesting stuff...now it's totally empty.

 We are puzzled and a bit concerned.

  We are watching Neil and Kay very closely and follow them around all day.
Can't let them out of our sight, 'cause who knows what will happen next??

Easter Airedale show

We had our annual NSW Airedale championship show today.

This is my cousin, Torch - with Ann, my breeder.

He won Best in Show. You can see why, he's very nice.

This was D'arcy.

Not sure who this youngster was, but look at her go.

A line up of the grrrls.

Gracie and I didn't have to go IN the show, we just went TO the show to see our friends. I'm not so keen on the hours (and hours) of grooming needed to be a proper show dog. Gracie pretty much feels the same way.

Anyway, we had a great day catching up with all our Airedale friends, as well as saying good-bye.

Our house is sold and the removalist has been booked for the end of the month. We are headed for the beach forever!

Airedale grooming day

We had fun at the Airedale terrier grooming day a few weeks back. Two of my younger daughters came too. We got to have good cuddles with Chilli and Elsa.

They are both sweet, good looking 'dales.

This is Elsa, about to be attacked with the clippers. Doesn't she look a lot like me?

Except for the ears, of course.

This is Chilli with Gracie. Chilli is still darker, but she will eventually lighten up the same as Gracie, I think.

She had a funny schnauzer cut when she first came, but we got her looking like a proper Airedale soon enough. So many groomers just can't manage that classic, square dog look.

Gracie and Ginger - they were both being very growly, up on their toes dogs, but the leads were just that bit too short for them to jump on one another. So it was just all bluffing.

The youngsters having a refreshing run when it was all over.

Chillie and Elsa.

Me with Benson - he got such a clip! He was a wooly sheep before and now he looks quite handsome.

Our club secretary and master groomer, showing how it's supposed to be done.

Grand champion Ripley, he knows sooo much about grooming. He's been a show dog all his life. He always looks good.

Gracie, wishing she wasn't still tied up to a picnic table.

Ginger, looking very smart after her grooming.

We did spend a fair bit of the day tied to this picnic table while Kay helped other people with grooming. Luckily there were a constant stream of people who came and petted us and gave us treats. We also got hamburgers on the way home, so a top day out!