Friday 15 September 2017

Sun on our noses





that moment when the sun comes out
In between the showers there's still a breath of warmth and sunshine. The bees are making the most of it, visiting the cosmos, always the cosmos, and the dahlias. There a geranium I'm in love with and I want to save it for next year.


It's called Tomke I think. I just adore that deep red colour in the garden, it really speaks to me for some reason.

I'm a big fan of mending things about the home. The hanger in my ancient peg bag broke. I couldn't bear to part with this fantastic vintage flowery fabric. What would I replace it with? Some plastic basket from China? It wouldn't be the same.


So I stitched on a bit of ribbon. It does the job, hopefully it will last another decade or two...


Here's the outtake with a puppy nose in the picture.


He likes to be wherever I am, doing whatever I'm doing. Even if he's sleeping he'll get up and follow me into the garden to make sure he doesn't lose me. If I pop out for an hour he greets me as though I've been away for a month. Every time.



He is very keen on his pheasant. It must awaken some deeply rooted drive to pick up limp things and carry them around. We found a dead guillemot on the beach on holiday (a big seabird). I had images of him trying to bring it home with him. Kept him well away.

As he grows he's become a bit barkier. At night he feels it his duty to warn us of anyone who might be passing or chatting or loitering. And he's very vigilant when it comes to reflections in the window. Will he ever work out he's looking at himself??? Anyway, he takes it all very seriously.

On the subject of seabirds and creatures getting into scrapes, CT has alerted me to two separate seagull incidents in South Wales. They both fell into curry and turned bright orange. This seems a bit of a strange coincidence. Is something going on that we don't know about? Here and here should you need to see pictures. If you can't view it, just imagine a big white bird soaked from head to toe in tandoori sauce. It seems like something that would happen in one of Malcolm Pryce's Aberystwyth novels (Last Tango in Aberystwyth etc. etc.). Can anyone shed light?

20 comments:

  1. Your puppy is so sweet ... can't remember what kind of doodle? We have a giger biscuit-coloured labradoodle, 2 years old and so similar - loves to follow me everywhere, greets my boys rapturously if he hasn't seen them for even a couple of mins! He also used to be fascinated by his reflection, but now he's wise to that... barking, yes, though. they are such lovely dogs, aren't they?

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  2. Lovely post and pictures which had me smiling. Enjoy your weekend. xx

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  3. What is it with the birds and the curry? Don't they know they could be mistaken for chicken and left there for someone to eat? I am loving the brown nose photos, gosh he is adorable.

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  4. Curried seagull sounds very Heston Blumenthal

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    1. Wouldn't put it past him. Where IS he these days..?

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  5. For some reason, your photos won't load for me so I will have to come back and look again another time. Too bad, because I always love your photos. Curried seagull, hmm...that's really weird! I hope they don't wander into any restaurants, haha.

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  6. Don't know how it is possible, but Bertie gets cuter with each blog entry! And are you sure that geranium isn't made of velvet? I do not think we have one that color here in the US and I am envious.

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  7. I love your clothespin bag. It brings back warm memories of my mother hanging out laundry to dry. As a dreamy and shy child, I loved to walk in and our of the blowzy sheets and blankets, both damp and dry...I felt I was walking through clouds. I remember the bag being damp from rain. When my kids were small, I often dried the laundry on the line in the backyard. I really loved the fresh air scent on our sheets and blankets. When my allergies got really bad, my doctor told me this routine was the worst thing I could do. Still...I miss it.

    Bertie is so lovable, and I think you have fallen under his spell. He feels your affection and presence in a reliable way and that's why he follows you. And the happy, sloppy greetings at the door are the best thing about dogs!!!

    Oh, the curry pigeons...I thought you were joking or it was a "British thing", until I looked at the link. Ha! Poor birds.

    Have a wonderful weekend, Clair!

    Jane x

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  8. He looks quite blond in the first pic. Pop never lets me out of her sight either. Sweet. Gorgeous ruby red geranium. Love it. Xx

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  9. Lovely doggy-nose photos for a Saturday morning!

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  10. Curried seagull! Poor things. Unconditional puppy love is great, I can't get enough of it. Jack doesn't get the reflection thingy and he doesn't understand the layout of the house. It is really funny actually, he sees a fox in the front, goes completely mad and races out the back to chase it away. Makes me giggle every time. Have a lovely weekend. xx

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  11. if the ribbon on the peg bag doesn't work here's another tip. Often shoes come on little plastic hangers and these are perfect for replacing broken hangers in peg bags. I have a tall thin locker at Adult Ed centre where I do clay sculpture, pottery and stained glass, very grateful for it but awkward for storing my bits & pieces. So in the Summer hols I made Linen bags and used these little plastic hangers. A cut down wooden broom handle goes across the locker and now I can hang my paint brushes, cutters, sculpture tools, rolling pin, glass tools. What a joy and inspiration for home storage too! Agree with other comments Bertie gets more adorable, where else do we get that unconditional love, welcome, adoration than from our pets? How lovely to be missed purely because we're loved, rather than the addition of Where's my socks, shirt, pens ext? What's for breakfast, lunch, dinner, supper to eat?

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  12. I'm back! I think my computer was running slow yesterday because I couldn't see all of Christina's blog photos either. I love seeing your dog! He's so sweet. His nose is pinker than I'd realized. I would love to have a nice bag for my clothespins. I should make one. Do you know what I use now? A plastic mesh bag that limes came in. Ha, it's silly, but the same bag has lasted outdoors, clipped to clothesline, for about six years! I hope you're having a nice weekend, CJ.

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  13. Oh how I enjoy seeing Bertie. I love your description of how much he loves you. Our dog loves me but when I come home from being gone it's not big deal, but when Dayle comes home he flips out. I received the flex point pen I ordered and it has a new kind of ink filler that you pump up and down and when I did that in the ink bottle it bent the point! EEK! So, I had to call Amazon and tell them I did that and they're sending me a new one right away. Amazing.
    ((hugs)), Teresa :-)

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  14. Woah! I've been away for so long. Not writing much barely reading a single blog post in months.
    Your photos brightened my night - your puppy is insanely gorgeous xx

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  16. That is a very cute little puppy nose! I did laugh at the tandoori birds!

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  17. I'm having a whatever-happened-to moment about my mother's peg bag. It was crocheted and I'm sure I had it. Now I don't know where it is. Those gulls had to be glad it wasn't a vindaloo.

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  18. oh Bertie, my heart! could he get any more adorable? i know, i'm sure he's still something of a trial (Emma-dog's barkiness is a trait i simply can't warm up to...i find it very jarring) but sooooooo lovely with it. :)

    curried seagulls? hmmmm...they've caught on to the whole "golden milk" trend then? :) xoxo

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  19. Bertie is so good at posing for pictures, Tavi would never stay still at that age!Bertie has got the right idea of making the most of the sun! Sarah x

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