Misty Moo

We found a lump.
My heart sank.
Her tail wagged.

All of a sudden I had to contemplate the possibility of her not being here. How could I begin to explain it to the children. She is in old age, but still fit. We think she is 12 years old but we aren't sure because we got her from a rescue home 10 years ago. They said she was 4. We thought she was younger.

She stood out immediately. She was so superior. She wasn't soppy. She wasn't jumping up at us. She just looked at us and then beyond us to the field. We took her for a walk around the grounds and decided there and then she was for us.

When we got her home, she settled in immediately, like she was meant to be there. She made a slightly odd sighing noise when she relaxed in her bed that made people jump. She was top dog.

And then came children. With each new baby, she slipped down a rung on the ladder but was never resentful, confident of her place as part of the family. Our first baby.

The vet was reassuring. A biopsy was quickly done.

I whinced.
She wagged.

And then the telephone call with the results.
All normal. Just a harmless fatty lump.

I sighed.
She sighed.
All's well.

Joining in with Sticky Fingers and the prompt of 'pets' for The Gallery 

Silent Sunday

We went for a walk

We had been cooped in all day (my fault entirely) and we needed some air. Misty Moo was starting to get that look. The look that says, 'Hey you. Owner. You remember when we hooked up and you promised to walk me every day? Yeah, that.'

So the Wee One and I went for a walk.
Not that amazing.
Except.
He is big enough now not to need the pram for a dog walk.
Yes it takes longer. A 30 minute quick walk, turns into 45 minutes or longer.

But I have to stop to let Misty Moo do her sniffing thing, her 'No wait! That there smells amazzzzzing' thing, her 'I know I'm being strangled but I reeeeeally need to sniff that leaf over there' thing.

And the Wee One is growing up.
He runs ahead, excitedly laughing at his own brilliance and daring.
He occasionally looks back to see how far behind him I am, laughs at me, and steams on ahead again. In my mind I can see him tripping over, face planting on the path, gravel grazes on the knees. He will fall, he does fall, but he is tough and moments later is running again.
And yet, when I call him, and he has run out of puff, his warm little hand seeks out my own, secure and safe, happy to be close. He looks up at me, still smiling.

So if we have time, and he has the energy, we are walking, me and my little man.

Silent Sunday

Fitness

I am allergic to gyms. They make me all hot and sweaty. Not natural.
I am not designed for running. What with dodgy knees, weak ankles and bobbing boobs, I would either incur an injury or inflict one.
Swimming is a challenge with 2 non-swimmers in tow and another who only wants to go down the slide.
I have a cycling helmet and a pump but no bike which makes cycling a challenge.
I have a fitness DVD or two but my DVD player is in my living room at the front of my house and I could not stand the shame of being witnessed going for the burn. Yes I do have curtains, and it is dark earlier now but not early enough.

I do, however, have two feet, a dog and a pram.

Admittedly Misty Moo is getting older and less likely to sustain a brisk pace, and is easily distracted by every other blade of grass. And the toddler is not always a compliant participant in power pram walking, preferring a toddle waddle instead.

But I get out into the fresh air and I stretch my legs, and it's now my favourite season for walking, crunching through fallen leaves, my breath visible. My mind can clear itself of the clutter, it can organise itself, and it is fitter, better able to manage this family's life.


Joining in with The Gallery at Sticky Fingers.

Saturday is Caption Day

The Mr has been working away for a week and I thought I would have the pleasure of sole control of the remote. You know, catch up on a few soaps, a chick flick or 2, Revenge ( my new guilty secret that is totally addictive). I'm not saying that I never get to watch what I want but we do have very different viewing tastes. At the top of his favourites list would be comedy and documentaries. On mine is reality TV (with Big Brother a notable exception) and hospital or crime drama.

So, I rubbed my hands together/waved a sad farewell and made a dash for the sofa.

But this is what I found.

He has her well trained.

Can you think of a caption?

Now head over to Mammasaurus, Queen of captions for more.

Sunshine

Where Sunshine meets the Gallery courtesy of Tara.

I have a favourite sunshine photo which I took last week of my sunglasses but I already featured it in my 365project round up so had to find another. I didn't have to look far though. There she was, basking in it.

Misty Moo is a complete sun worshipper and has a few favourite spots but favours the patio. Perhaps it is how the paving stones soak up the heat of the day and then give it back like underfloor heating. Then when she has had enough, she retreats to the hall and the coolness of the terracota tiles.

Oh to be that carefree, and unbothered about burning!

Snap Slappers Crufts Edition

I am a dog lover. Therefore I should love Crufts.
Actually I am not a fan. Most breeds just look plain weird. Take this one for example.

credit: http://www.yummitube.com/photos?id=147

No I didn't create this but I would have if I had thought of it first! Of course my version wouldn't have looked anything like this. Probably closer to a 1000 piece jigsaw after the Wee One had chucked it out of the box, walked all over it and then fed a few pieces through the letterbox.

I don't like dogs that are any shorter than my knees, that have a yappy bark or can't see through their fur. It's just a matter of personal taste but I will always fall for the mongrel, the daft dog with the wonky ears that jumps up to lick your face. So Crufts isn't really my thing, apart from when they do working dog demonstrations and I am proved right that dogs are cleverer than most people.

Take Misty Moo for example.

I'm sure they could be trained to do anything, like an international spy for instance.

See I knew I was right.


Although a lot of the lovely bloggers who join in with Snap Slappers often follow my lead and stick with my theme for the week, there really are no rules about what you decide to tickle with the photo editing brush.
Just thought I would mention it!

So have you been slapping those effects on or just giving your photos a light tickle?
Join in and welcome to the more is definitely more school of photo editing!




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The Gallery - Light

I have so many photographs of sunsets and one or two of sunrises (on those rare occasions when I am up of my own volition not having to see to the needs of a small person) and they are pretty, the colours, the LIGHT! Wow, the light. I surprise myself that I have actually managed to capture the beauty of the sky with its array of yellows, oranges pinks and reds.

But it is actually a picture I took of Misty Moo a week or two ago that I want to share.

I love her fur. She is short-haired (moults like mad contrary to what I had previously believed about short haired dogs) and gorgeously ginger. Technically she is tan but ginger suits her better. Her fur is so soft and if you smell the top of her head, right there, between her ears, she smells of digestive biscuits. Yes, I know it is mad. You expected it to be ginger biscuits, didn't you?

This photo, I think shows off her fur to perfection with the sunlight catching the top of her head and reflecting off her coat. She was sunning herself in the garden when I sneaked up behind her to take this.

Then, of course, I had to nuzzle the top of her head.

Pop over to Sticky fingers and see how other bloggers have interpreted the prompt of Light for this weeks Gallery.

Princess Walks Misty

Today was a first for the Princess. I trusted her to walk Misty for the first time.

Misty is quite strong and Princess is not so the ratio hasn't been entirely in her favour up till now. We didn't go far and stuck to roads we knew but both my girls were very well behaved.

I had a little proud mummy moment :)

My Awesome Photo

The theme for The Gallery this week is to show off the best photo what I took, innit.

With so many to choose from *ahem* *heckling from the back* it took me a while to find one that I would call awesome, that I would be proud off hanging on the wall immortalized on a giant canvas, that would be timeless.

I have some lovely pictures of the children, all individually, which I could use but then there would be the innevitable 'discussion' about why there isn't another giant canvas picture of the other children. The answer 'There isn't room.' would possibly not be good enough.

So not children then.

I have taken a couple of landscapes which I was pleased with but not of anywhere that has deep significant meaning that I wouldn't mind looking at everyday.

Then there is the Moo that is Misty who seems to be featured a lot at the moment on my blog. I think she is making up for lost time.

My ultimate awesome photo of Misty is this one which I edited (of course).

You may recognise it because I use it for all my avatars :)

There is a story behind this picture. I took this late one evening so that I could send it to the Mr along with this message. "Yum! Thanks Dad. Your dinner was lovely!"

Now nip over to Sticky Fingers and admire everyone else's awesome photos.

Snap Slappers Week 4

Back again by popular demand is Snap Slappers!

All you Picnik-aholics out there looking for a vent for your addiction, this is the place. I understand that Picnik isn't for everyone (strange but true) so whatever your photo-editing software choice, add your link below.

Misty Moo is the star of the show this week, caught napping on the sofa and clearly looking very stressed.

I wanted to break with tradition this week and try something a little bit more artistic so I cropped and went all Holga-ish to produce this photo.

Still looking stressed clearly.

Add your link below. Can't wait to check out your creations!




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Walk with me a while...

... along some leaf strewn paths that dazzle with jewel like colours, down a cobbled lane that wrecks your heels, across a river populated with expectant ducks, and past some oddities that catch the eye. Or in other words, our morning walks with Misty Moo.

I took these photos over a couple of mornings which explains the mist suddenly disappearing and Princess's outfit change mid walk (she is not in the habit of taking a change of outfit on our dog walks ordinarily).

Our street is very ordinary so I will spare you the pebble dash semis and start with a little colour, a little leaf action and some rather fetching railings.

And down this cobbled street ...

 ...to the meadows, the river, and the ducks. And I always forget to bring bread for them. I don't think they go hungry though.

Finally a stop off at a couple of local landmarks. Wouldn't stop there for a picnic mind.

Right, who's for a cup of tea?

Bonfire Night & Misty Moo

She gets scared.
She shivers and shakes.
She retreats under the bed.
She tries to hide in the corners of rooms.
Her ears go back.
Her tail is between her legs.

Misty Moo is very very scared of Bonfire Night.

If only there was such a thing as ear defenders for dogs. OMG. There is. Check these out! Darn! No next day delivery. As you were.

It is really hard because we know every year she will have to go through this. If it was just one night of the year we would go somewhere else to stay with her, a long way from fireworks, but it isn't one night is it? Just as soon as the fireworks are on sale you can guarantee someone will set them off that very night.

BOOM.

CRACK.

WHIIIIISTLE.

And away goes Misty to shiver until she thinks it is safe to come out.

And so it goes on for a few weeks until the ultimate weekend when it feels like we are in a war zone.

We can't take the children to a firework display because we can't leave her. It just wouldn't be fair. We have tried hormonal drops, herbal remedies and even bought her an indoor kennel, her war bunker as we call it, but it doesn't really help. We just have to comfort her if she will be comforted and wait for it to end.

She gets scared during the day too. We could have several days even stretching to a couple of weeks when she is too scared to go for a walk. The slightest noise, the lid of a dustbin, a car door, something being dropped in a skip, and she turns tail, pulling and tugging to get home.

I feel so sorry for her because I can't explain it or make it go away. She is 11 years old (or thereabouts) and I worry for her health. She is fit and well otherwise but the term 'scared to death' could easily apply.

I hope you enjoy your firework night but spare a thought for your pets.

• Turn the TV or radio on quite loud to drown out the fireworks.
• Draw the curtains.
• Make sure doors are locked (Misty is a Houdini and can open our front door!).
• Reassure them.

Happy Bonfire Night x

Saturday is Caption Day!

This is oh so simple and oh so much fun so I am setting myself a challenge this week to think up a caption for every single entry on Mammasaurus's blog. I feel like a gigglefest of a Saturday and so can you by clicking the badge at the end of this post.

Just think up a caption for this picture, jot it down in the comments and await your worthy applause!

This week it is Misty Moo who has the staring role.

I'm looking forward to reading your captions and getting involved with all the other great entries over at Mammasaurus.

The Gallery - Animals

This was a surprising tough prompt from Tara this week.
Oh the pressure not to be obvious, to be witty, to try to be just a little bit original...
Misty Moo (our four legged blogger) was getting very excited at the opportunity of taking centre stage on the blog for once. But sorry Mooster my four legged friend, you have been stood down in favour four wheels.

We were at Stamfords Car Fair on Sunday and saw a shining array of animals. Arriving slightly late we missed getting a shot of the prancing ponies but we did see them stampede out of Stamford.

For those less familiar with the emblems there is Mustang, Tiger Racing and of course Jaguar.

Hop over to Tara's blog, Sticky Fingers to see other entries in this weeks Gallery.