The Collie who stares at roos

I took Janus for our usual morning walk the other day and he stopped to observed those strange looking creatures. I let him tell you what happened.

Janus here... Yesterday morning I interfered 2 Bigfeet (the Australian Bigfoot version from what I heard). 

 Just checking that there's no more hiding.

 Nope, just those two...

 I just stare at them.

 2 Bigfeet!

There was 2 of them and just one of me, so I did give them the Collie stare to make sure they don't come anywhere near my Mum.They start to feel the fear from my Collie stare! You Bigfeet! Go away and leave my Mum alone! I succeeded and they jumped away. Very proud of myself and no barking required! I just stared at them and that made them fear me. After all, I'm Janus, the Collie King!!! 

I succeeded and they jumped away. Very proud of myself and no barking required! I just stared at them and that made them fear me. After all, I'm Janus, the Collie King!!! 

Janus is such a good boy and he makes me so happy! I took him to dog class last night and we spent  the first 15 minutes warming up by using balance balls, planks, doing superman stretches and 'little Janus' crouches as well as crawling, walking backwards, twirling ect. Anyway, whenever he does an exercise, he gets a treat and as he gets lots of treats on Tuesday night during class, he doesn't get fed that day. After we finished the warm up and discussed the agility course, he always pulled me back to the exercise items and looks at me like he would say "Look at me Mum, I'm doing the exercise - now feed me!!!!" I gave him a couple of treats and he was always going back in between our agility training. Then I stopped feeding him and barked madly at me, like he was going to say "Mum, bloody hell feed me, why do you think I'm doing this??? For fun??? Definitely not!!!" It was hilarious! We all had a good laugh and enjoyed our training session.

this morning, we walked a little later and missed the roos. But we practiced the 'stay' in front of a cow paddic with young heifers on it. Janus was getting a bit distracted and the heifers were rather curious, so I thought it might be a good opportunity to introduce Janus to cows as long as they were still little. We approached them and all but one brown heifer walked away. The brown one was really curious and so was Janus, he was getting closer and closer always looking for reassurance which I gave him and then I saw a black pointy nose and a black round nose closer and closer together until they finally touched and then both of them jumped away! Janus was very proud and so was the brown heifer. And I was just happy, watching these two this morning made my day.

Janus, I know you were sent to me by Hera and Quentin and I'm so grateful that you're part of my life - love you big Fluffball!!!

Spring Cleaning

Spring has well and truly arrived! I sat down outside on the weekend to take a quick break from all my activities and noticed one of my Hippeastrum's has began flowering! Christmas can't be too far off now...

Those are certainly Christmas colours.

Over the last weekend I have been busy. I made myself these bags - one each for the embroidery and sewing machine and one for the overlocker. They look great and are very handy!

The broody hen has been sitting on the fertile eggs for a week now and I keep my fingers crossed she stays on them for another 2 weeks. I'm really curious to see if my eggsperiment works and I end up with little chicks. The eggs of my Indian Ringneck haven't hatched yet. Still not sure if they're developing or not and she's so protective of them, I can't check. I guess I just have to wait and see.

The weekend was reserved for some spring cleaning action. I cleaned the windows, the couch, put new cushion covers on and deep cleaned the rugs. Now all looks nice and fresh now ready for spring and summer.

Mum, you're going to be sitting here soon!!!

I cleaned the kitchen, all lights, fans and air conditioners - ready for another hot summer - hopefully a wet one!!! Also I don't like my chances...

I also deep cleaned the mattress, washed all protectors and the pillows and exchanged the autumn/winter doona to the spring/summer one.

I also checked on my productive garden. I spent last weekend moving cow manure all over my gardenbeds and trees to ensure everything is growing nicely. This is part of my lemon and tomato harvest. I already made a lemon slice, froze juice, started my own batch of limoncello and I still have over a dozen lemons left. More cocktails I reckon! I have dried the tomatoes and marinated them with balsamic onions and feta - that will be my lunch sometime this week.

I'm nearly done with all my chores. My Mum is coming to visit me soon and I'm looking to spend some time with her relaxing and sitting in the garden and talk. By the time she leaves it's going to be pretty warm and the end of the gardening season is near. Over summer I do keep my herbs and any perennial plants going but everything else will be removed, I put the chooks on the area to 'clean' up and then I plant a cover crop to provide nutrients to the soil and to protect it. Depending on the weather, planting will start again in March. I normally plant cherry tomatoes and lettuce in pots in the patio to keep us going over summer. I also preserve all my excess fruit and veggies so we have plenty during the hot weather. 

How are you preparing for spring - or autumn, depending on where you are....

Spring is in the air

A few weeks ago I experienced a willy willy which pushed the bird cage over and moving the dog kennel in the chookpen. The dog kennel is used for protection of the chooks during rain or sun and it was moved about half a metre to the front. One of the chhoks was injured and she has been a bit weird since. Looks like she has some sort of neurological damage since the incident, poor thing.

When the bird cage fell over, Bella, our blue Ringneck escaped. She has escaped previously and always came back but she's about 10 years old now. So we were a bit worried about her. Mr S and I seen her flying around and one day I came home from work he reported he observed her feeding on our Grevillea when a Hawk too her. She was screaming and wiggling and eventually the Hawk let go of her. Mr S checked where she was dropped and she flew on his shoulder. When he wanted to take her to the cage, Janus jumped on him and she flew away again. She was gone for a week and our hopes for her safe return were diminishing.

On Saturday morning I observed her in a nearby tree and went to put a bowl of seeds down for her. She quickly went for the food and I caught her with a net and took her back to her cage. Since then she hardly came out of her Nestbox which she normally used for sleeping only. I checked the box and found 2 eggs in there! Ah well, I wonder what she was up to when she flew away... She had a few partners before but she always killed them and therefore she has ended up alone. I don't know if these eggs are developing, probably not but I would be curious to see what they are... She must have known it's spring...

My 200 x 150 cm study is too small for my sewing so Mr S and I have been thinking of options on where I could sew. Mr S really likes his mancave and he also wants to keep a separate room for Guests, so there's no other option than for me to move into the Patio. I bought a couple of cube shelves and put a door across and voila there's my new custom made sewing desk! Janus approved!

After painting the floor and giving the Patio a good clean, I redecorated. Janus received his 'big-boy-bed', a larger kennel where he can sleep in and rest, I made some mats for his feeding station and organised everything into boxes to keep it clean.

Mr S oiled all of our beautiful timber furniture, so they look like new again.

Love the Patio - it's one of my favourite places to be and now where it's spring again, it's nice and warm to be out here most days.

I decorated the table nicely...

... and even have some beautiful 'Night-Roses' on my sewing table.

The garden is ready for spring as well and this is the first harvest of my 'accidental' eggplants. Accidental in terms of I didn't plant them, the planted themselves in the chookpen. I sold some at work and made eggplant balls (like meatballs but with eggplant instead of meat) , cooked in tomato sauce and served with spaghetti - yum, they were amazing!

I replanted our hanging baskets on the Patio with some colourful plants.

These ones just look so cute!

Janus dropped in for work with me one day, he loves all the attention. Everybody loves having him around, the office seems a whole lot happier with him there.

Janus spending the evening with me on the couch...

He's so placid, loves to play and is just THE best thing which ever happened to me...

And he needs to rest and chew on his leather.

Selfie time!!!

I love my boy!!!

We have been doing Rally O and Janus is actually really good! I still make a few mistakes, but Janus is doing great!

Mr S and I enjoyed a few markets/event such as the Cultural Festival and CQ Eat Street. trying out new food in a nice atmosphere is always a lot of fun!

We need rain - desperately!!! It's really hard to keep everything alive. We haven't had rain since March...

However, I did manage to grow my first asparagus!!! How exciting! Now I need to read up about propagating it.

I'm also trying to grow Rhubarb again, I grew it once before but it wasn't the best spot, so I moved it to a partially shady position this time round. Fingers crossed. I've planted asparagus, rhubarb and perennial capsicum in one gardenbed as they should last for a few years.

I've ordered some 3 m3 of pure cow manure to fertilise all my gardenbeds and then I will water them thoroughly and I should get a successful harvest. This time of the year is great to work in the garden. It's not too hot, not too cold and I can get everything done befor the summer heat starts. I will post a few pics of my spring garden soon.

Happy Birthday to me...

My birthday was actually 10 days ago but I've forgotten to press the 'publish' button. Ups!!!

Today is my birthday and it's not a big fanzy one but it was a great one and I so enjoyed every single minute of it!!!

After breakfast, Mr S presented me all of my presents on the dining table. Ui, so many presents!!!

I unpacked them all, feeling the love of my family as I unwrapped every single item. I got a new bottle of Aperol, ready for my beloved Aperol Spritz and my favourite bottle of red wine, as well as a Mango set from the Body Shop, a knifeblock with sharpener (since i always complain about blunt knives) and a breadslicer (since I manage to slice my bread 2 cm wide at the top and 0.3 cm at the bottom) and a beautiful card from my dearest husband. My Mother-in-Law gave me a really nice smelling perfume.

From my dearest beloved Sister I received handcreme, bathsalts and this beautiful fabric! It's a 'Home sweet home' fabric and it has pictures of so many things we have around our home, from the Kuckuck's clock to the dog under the sprinkler - even the chairs are the same as we have in our home. I absolutely love it and I love her thoughtfulness of giving me something for me to create something really special out of.

My best friend sent me an email with an attachment. I thought it was one of those online birthday cards but instead it was a file so I can embroider Hera my beloved dog I lost 18 months ago. She was with me for nearly 17 years and I still love her so much! Opening up that attachment made me cry and I'm so grateful for this heartfelt present from my dear friend. 

This is Hera at Emu Park Beach. I knew immediately which picture my friend used to digitize my darling girl. Hera loved the beach and the water and this was her last time at the beach, she made me so happy when she 'ran' towards the waves at her old age...  

Mr S and I celebrated my birthday with lunch at the Sailing Club in Yeppoon.

Any more wrinkles???

Lunch was very good and we enjoyed some wine and even a dessert. I had a plastic bag in my handbag so I took the leftovers home for tomorrow's lunch.

Back at home I put on some comfy clothes and chilled with Janus by my side - it was wonderful!

In the evening I caught up with my Grandparents and sister via phone and later on with my Mum via videochat.

I had a great birthday and am looking forward to the year ahead.

Janus turned 1

Hello, it's Janus here. Well Mum is typing - I'm a dog after all and have paws! I turned 1 year old on 31 July and thought I come out here and say 'Hi'. See the picture below? That was me on the day I meet my skin Mum. Old Peter (my breeder as Mum calls him) drove with me to Eumundi. Driving! How terrible!!! It was the first time I was away from my siblings and my fur Mum and i was in this little box in a car which made weird noises and also made me a bit sick. We finally arrived in Eumundi and Peter held me on his arm. I was a bit scared of all the people and noises and there was no other dogs. Weird! Then this woman turned up and Peter handed me over. She smelt nice and was so careful with me. She held me tight so nothing bad could happen to me and I licked her face to say thank you. I think she liked that as she didn't let go off me and her eyes were all teary. Anyway, Peter said I shall go with her now and if I'm a good boy, I will be very happy with my new skin Mum. 

She wanted to let me go to the toilet before we left and Peter put me on the ground. My new Mum was terrified that I would ran away! Well, why would I do that?! The world out there seems to be too scary, I rather stay with them. Mum put me in a small crate and we drove off. I could see her the entire trip and she looked back at me all the time. And she talked to me. She told me about my new life and how happy she was to meet me. It calmed me down and I slept nearly the entire trip. We had a little toilet stop in the park and then went to my new home.

The first few days were pretty turbulent. I had to sleep in a crate all on my own - just with a little teddy. I didn't like it at all! Mum said, this is my little heaven and I should feel secure in there. Well, why wasn't she in there with me?! Anyway, I kept all quiet in there until she let me out again. I had a great big yard to run around but Mum didn't let me walk around by myself. There was lots of people there too. Apparently we were moving in and everything looked different everyday. There was lots of interesting smells outside and I love carrying my tiger around and show him the world.

mum said I was such a good boy! I liked sitting in this spot. I can watch all of our front yard, and the road where people go on their walks, children go to school and cars are travelling past. I still sit here for hours and just watch the world go by. In the afternoon, i watch the cows come up and in the early mornings I see the Kangaroos. It's a very pretty spot - right in front of the front door, so Mum can always see me. She also comes out here every afternoon with her glass of wine and watches the cows. She likes seeing them graze and it relaxes her. On the weekends she sits there in the mornings and watches the sunrise.  Every night before bed she comes out and looks at the stars with me and tells me about her day. I love spending those quiet moments with her.

Mum said I'm pretty smart as I come and sit and retrieve by the age of only 3 months. Then again I'm a Collie... Of course we're smart! have you never watched Lassie?! I started to go to dog obedience in November last year. At the beginning I hated it!!! All the other dogs wanting to play - I just wanted to cuddle with my Mum. She slowly introduced me to other dogs, traffic, water, other people, children, rabbits and then she bought chooks home!!! I thought she did that for my entertainment, so I have something to chase but she said it was to collect their eggs. Yeah right! But one day she left an egg in the gardenbed and I carefully took it and ran away with it. It was great fun but I must have been too rough and suddenly it exploded in my mouth! I had egg yolk running down my throat and it tasted AMAZEBALLS! So, now I don't chase the chooks anymore so they're not scared and lay plenty of eggs. Mum gives me 1-2 a week, sometimes with some fresh meat or some sardines. So yummy!

Well, I've been a good boy in doggy class and graduated with extinction! I now do Rally O and agility. All is a bit scary for me but as long as I have my Mum there, I'm right and I even started to protect her! The other day I wanted to chase some wild pigs away from her and she carried me home. All 23 kg of me!!! See, the thing is when my Mum is scared, I suddenly turn into this Lion and want to protect her. I guess that's why she calls me her 'little lionman'. I love my mum very much and want to make her happy. So when she asks me to do something, she gets sooo excited when I do this for her and I get hugs and kisses and she laughs and is happy. A few weeks ago I ran through a tunnel for the first time and she was sooo happy to see me when I came out the other end, I didn't want to stop running through it. of course it was scary in there - dark and funny noises and it smelt of other dogs. But i knew Mum was waiting for me, so I ran through it as quickly as I could - even faster than the Kelpie in my class! Ha! Whoever said Collies were slow?!

So anyway, it was my birthday and Mum said she's going to make pupcakes for me. She even baked them! I would have eaten them like that but I think Mum worried that I would only eat the peanut butter and the pumpkin and not the carrots, so she baked them and put slices of carrots and blueberries on there which looked like paws. they were supposed to have peanut butter icing but Mum said that wouldn't be good for my weight. Obviously she doesn't know that you can eat whatever you want on your birthday and you don't get fat!

Good effort - they look great!!! I can't believe she made them just for me - how special is that?!

Happy 1st birthday to me!!! The pupcakes were so nice, Mum allowed me to have 3! The other ones I shared with my mates at agility. They loved them too and said their Mum never made pupcakes for them but they would get chicken nuggets instead. Well, we have been to McDonald's after agility and Mum would have a burger and I get chicken nuggets. but she said it's our secret, so i didn't tell my mates.

Delish! I didn't eat that carrot - Mum said her inspiration was a cupcake with an Oreo biscuit on it. I don't know what an Oreo biscuit is but it sounds a lot yummier than a carrot!!! However, I did like the blueberries...

It was my special day and Mum played heaps with me! this ball is one of my favourite toys. mum said it belonged to Hera, my sister. I love listening to the rubber ball hitting the concrete.

Mum likes throwing the ball and she gets all excited when I bring it back to her. Well she is way too slow, so I have to go and pick it up but that's alright, I don't mind at all. I make her happy doing that. Gives me a bit of exercise too - after those 3 pupcakes...

My birthday was full of surprises! I got a new collar and a really pretty new lead, the yummy pupcakes and then a dinosaur bone! Look at how HUGE it is!!! I didn't even know where to start. Luckily Mum put it in the shade for me - I don't think I could have carried that thing across the whole yard!

The day before my birthday, Mum washed me. I didn't like it but she reckons I look stunning. I'm still fluffy (hence my other nickname 'Fluffball') but see that's my puppy coat. I'm 1 year old now and I will be loosing my puppy coat and turn into a beautiful Collie. I reckon I'm the best looking dog in the whole neighbourhood if I may say so myself. the 3 ladies walking past our place every afternoon adore me and the people in the dog club love me too - especially that girl with the 2 Collie ladies. Ha! I bet they've never seen a better looking boy than me!

Anyway, I gotta get back to it, just wanted to let you know how my birthday went. mum said I'm the best pup ever! I never met my brother Quentin and my sister Hera - they died before Mum got me but she said I'm much better behaved than those two. Also she loves them dearly and i know how much she misses them. Til this day, I have not destroyed anything - no toys, no shoes, no clothes (also I do love to take Mum's socks off and run around with them). I listen and the only time Mum tells me I'm naughty is when I'm superexcited to see her and I bite her shoes and give her lots and lots of lovenips. But she says because she doesn't have fur, it hurts her. I don't want to hurt my Mum but i love her so much and then I get soo excited, I cannot stop!

I hate it when Mum goes to work. Nobody to play with me during that time. Mr S is always so busy, he doesn't have time to throw my ball. The best days are the weekends when Mum wakes up and lets me out of my crate. We both jump on the daybed for a cuddle. I normally lay on top of her as she's always cold. We watch the sunrise and then I'm off - waking up the chooks, checking on the neighbours dog and doing a patrol. I have a really good life - I'm loved, well cared for and live at a beautiful place. I'm the happiest pup on the planet and i just turned 1!!!