Dora hits the big time!

She's now on LOLdogz - ihasahotdog.com

and, yes, some do seem confused about gender :)

Saturday night on the town

Well, that might be a bit of an exaggeration, but Dave and I did find some time to jump in the newly returned beach buggy and head up to the Lighthouse to watch the sunset. We lucked out and had a beautiful warm late arvo - I didn't even need the jumper and big blanket I brought along to get out there!

We didn't take a whole lot of photos but will next time - tonight we just kinda played around and drank a little bevvie, ate a little snack.


I love how shiny our car is, everything reflects! And the ever changing colours are just too cool. Amazing to watch this car go from purple to blue to green to gold.



Look, you can even see us!

There's a little quirk (ok, more than one, but only one we'll talk about here right now) with this car...the pedals are so close together, Dave has to take off one of his shoes to drive it as his shoe is too wide and hits the other pedal!

The ride back was a wee bit chillier so I'm glad I had thrown my warm layer AND one of our big fuzzy blankets in. I am such a wuss. But I was warm and comfy.

We got back to the house and had just started to eat dinner when our family arrived after a long drive from Perth. It's awesome to see Ry, Kel and the bub and we're both looking forward to spending some time with them during their short stay in Exmouth.

I got up early again this morning, took the cameras to the dive shop & checked on things, then headed to the beach with the dogs. It was a stunner of a morning and all three of us had a great time. I don't think I've actually run that much in years LOL

There were tons of roos out and about both on the drive to and from the beach. I actually hit a small one right before we got to the beach - stupid animal. Thankfully for both of us, I was crawling along at barely 20km/h so did no damage to the car and Hoppy shook it off and boinged into the bush. On the way back out, there were more kangaroos including several just standing by the side of the road, waiting to jump into the side of my car. Happily they all chose the correct direction this time!


One of them then took up a watching position under a bit of bush further back.

I just know he's waiting for me to drive by again...

Beachy Saturday

Dave and I went out to a friend's birthday party last night for a few hours and it was nice to get out and spend some time with friends that we don't seem to get to see very often. It was a glorious night - beautiful clear skies & not too cold (even for me!) Roz and Rollo put on a fabulous spread...I think they had every kind of dead animal possible on the grill and it was all delicious.

Got up early early today, checked in on things at the dive centre but no one was there yet so headed to the beach with the Girls.  It was a crazy sunrise with the light turning from cool blue, to purple, to bright pink, then yellow, to brilliant orange and finally to a super saturated golden-orangey colour.  All in the space of the 30 minutes we were walking.  I love going to the beach as the sun comes up.





Tilly is so good at the end of our walks. She hops right in the back of the car and waits for Dora to amble over to join her.

Shame that good behaviour doesn't extend to getting home. Again today she jumped out of the car and ran down the street instead of heading to the house. Little cow. I didn't even bother to go look for her this time, trusting that she'd wander back to the house. And she did, about 10 minutes later.

I thought seriously about heading out on the boat this morning for a couple of dives, but we got home a little late from the beach and then Til did her runner so I didn't get organized in time. Oh well, maybe Monday, right? I have a lot to do anyway, so hopefully I can get it all finished this weekend and free up some mornings next week. Cross fingers here!

HOT airfares to Australia

Once again those of you in the US who are looking to come Down Under for a visit are being enticed by incredibly low airfares over a good range of dates.  Shame that the fares aren't available going the other way, too!

So, if you keep thinking about it but haven't decided, check out this link for some super low fares. 

If you can fly out of Chicago, you can get all the way to Perth for about $650 one way. That's a super nice deal.

Fares within Australia have been pretty good to get you to the West Coast, too.  Unfortunately, Skywest - the only airline to serve the Ningaloo Reef - is still stupidly expensive most of the time, but there are some "reasonable" fares from Perth to be had on many dates that match up with the super low international fares.

So, don't put it off - come see us soon! The sale ends on the 2nd of June so you gotta hustle!

Yup, more of the same

I really am pretty much of a one hit wonder - dogs, beach, more dogs, more beach.  Seems that's all I get out to do lately and even on those outings I'm not taking many photos to share!  Oh well, I hope you all aren't too bored with yet more shots from our morning walks...if you are, skip ahead :)

We've had our share of cloudy days lately but sometimes we still get some pretty sky in the mornings...at least for a few minutes before it goes all grey again!

The doggies don't care what the sky is doing, they just love being at the beach with their mom.




Dave's been home for a few days now but we haven't had much time to do anything together. Haven't even gotten out for a ride in the beach buggy we finally got back from Perth. He's been out and about running errands and showing the buggy off so hasn't gotten home early enough for us to do anything. Hopefully we'll get out today or tomorrow and I'll try to take some photos of the slick ride!

I've been slack at hitting the beach for the past couple of days because it's been so dang cold in the early morning but today I was more energetic and it was slightly warmer so I loaded up the Girlies and off we went. The Gulf was flat and the sun made everything gorgeous as it rose.



Dora and MatildaLily were very excited to be on the beach again and ran, swam, played, hunted in the tidepools and generally did doggie things. Dora really had a blast and was running around in that particular galumphing way that Ridgeback puppies are known for - and she hasn't been a puppy for a long while!



I think we have some family coming up from Perth early next week and I'm excited to see them. It will be the first time I get to see their new baby, too. I hope the weather and conditions are perfect for them and that Dave and I can take some time to enjoy having them here.

Dave's home & another week disappears!

Once again I find that the last time I checked in was a whole week ago!  I have no idea where this past week went either.  I know I was busy for the first half, then had a wedding on Thursday and have been sick ever since - I guess it is the delirium of my head cold that has made me lose days!

Dave finally got home from Perth last night and we are all so happy to have him back! He didn't get in too late, but as I was super sick I was already in bed. The Girls got up to greet him enthusiastically and then Tilly cried her little heart out when he closed the door to have a shower. She loves her dad for sure!

I see that he's brought home a carload full of stuff along with a huge trailer packed to the gills, so I'm guessing he'll be unpacking most of today! Can't wait to see what new goodies we have...

The Girls and I hit the beach most mornings last week and it was incredible to see the change. Early in the week there was tons of seaweed pushed up on the beach along with about ten million red bell jellyfish. They simply blanketed the entire strip of sand where we walk.



They are super squishy and really cold on your toes when you accidentally step on them! Gross.
As the week went on there were fewer and fewer jellies to navigate around and the sand became softer and less pebbled, too. Of course, it also became sinkier so walking was more of a leg workout, but that's not a bad thing! I love walking on the beach in the mornings. Not only is it beautiful, but I get such pure joy from watching Dora and MatildaLily just let go and have FUN.






They love to be scary with each other


And in the blink of an eye, they'll calm down and explore quietly together (for about 3 seconds with Til, but still, it's a period of calm!)


This week should be a busy one as I try to tidy up a few things for the end of the month. I hope Dave and I can find some time to get out and do whatever at least a couple of times now that he's home again!

TIGER SHARK!!

I went in to my living room to find this scene:

Ferocious, both of them, totally ferocious...


I've not seen Dora find a stuffed animal, bring it to her bed and snuggle in with it for ages. She is just too cute today.

Where in the world did this week go?

Somehow it's Sunday already.  Last time I looked, it was Monday.  I don't understand how that happens.

This week has been another pretty uneventful one for us.  I worked, I did housework, I worked, I took the doglets to the beach a few times, I worked.  The cycle of life.

I brought bones home for the Girls the other day and that was pretty exciting. At first they both looked at me like I was nuts "This doesn't look like hooman food and where's the pretty plate?" After trying to get them to be enthused about the treat, I gave up and went back to work. Several minutes later I hear NOM NOM NOM noises so figure they must have decided the offering was adequate. I popped out to record this momentous event (I told you life was lacking exciting adventures lately!)

MatildaLily was having some coordination problems with her bone but seemed to be having a good time




She's moderately paranoid about the cat trying to take it away from her and kept a nervous eye on Boof

Boof was doing his best to look menacing


You can see why Til would be scared!

Dora, being older and wiser, had taken her treasure away from the action and plopped down to enjoy her bone with a minimum of physical effort.




We've had a couple of overcast mornings this week and it made beach walking a bit chilly. I'm already in my track pants and a sweat shirt this year ... I hate winter and I can feel it coming on too fast! But the beach and sky are still pretty

and there's still things to see



and there's still plenty of fun to be had