January is half over already!

The year is already flying by and MatildaLily is growing a mile a minute, it seems! She and Dora continue to create new playtime activities and Tilly is even able to amuse herself in the mornings before Dora decides it's time to get up. Til has unearthed a truckload of toys that were considered lost forever from Dora's young puppyhood - sad to say that Gekko had to be binned today after Tilly pulled all of his little white beads out!

Of course I'm not pulling the grass up!

Maybe one leaf...

What? I'm so cute and good dog!

Inside playing gets a bit rambunctious and we often come home to find the furniture out of whack and the rug all smushed up against the door. Tilly hasn't quite figured out that she isn't allowed to chew on everything - even Dad's feet as he watched tv!

Dora will watch for a few minutes, but gets jealous and has to get in on the action - or maybe she's just helping remind Tilly of the rules...

They even work together as a mighty fine demolition team, with Dora the foreman...

Tilly gets impatient for the work to begin...

Pleeeeaaaasseee can I start now?

OK, you can have a little practice...

It'll go much faster if we both do it...

Well done, kid...

It must be time for a little kip...

Good idea.

Best we rest up for the next adventure!

It's not all puppies in our house. Dave is working hard on Concord, trying to get the boat ready for season so she's up on the hard and it's a dirty, hot job! I'm doing my usual office thing trying to get clients and agents organized as they prepare to make the long haul to visit our beautiful area.

Today I finally got to go out for a couple of dives with my friends, Ross & Mary. These were my first dives of the year and boy did it feel great to be back in the water - despite still having a terrible head cold and feeling really yucky. The conditions were just too nice and the lure of the ocean couldn't be ignored. I figured the worst that could happen was that I had to laze in the sun on the boat for a few hours!

Happily, I was able to do both dives. We visited one of our favourite spots and it was teeming with life! Shooting conditions were a little tough as there is some big chunky food in the water at the moment, but that just means more action! Here are few photos from the day:

Bright Margined coralfish dart here and there as they search for snacks on the reef:

Flabellina exoptata nudibranchs were abundant today and came in all sizes from smaller than the length of a pinky nail to a good inch and a half long:

This flounder was skipping along the bottom as I was descending:

I always love to try to catch a triplefin relaxing on a favourite perch:

These blennies make me smile, what with the little poofy tufts on their heads and the way they sit up so perkily...for .5 seconds!:

What would a dive here be without some mating nudibranchs? Looks like we'll have another bumper crop of Glossodoris atromarginatas!

It's not often you get to see these crabs out in the open...you have to wait 'til they are empty!