Primary school is a dog's life | Stuff.co.nz

via stuff.co.nz

Nice article if you click on the link... about having a dog in the classroom. The teacher said the students were calmer and working together better when he was in the room. Now he is a regular class member, with the children taking it in turns to be responsible for him in breaks.
Nice idea...
Poppy likes being in my class too - she had only completed her first full day of it before the earthquake hit... but she has started coming to our new venue and also came to Kaikoura on our class dolphin trip. It is great socialising for her and I like seeing her having fun with everyone, except when I am teaching; then she sleeps under the desk.
Does your school allow dogs?

Posted via email from Four Paws and Whiskers

Primary school is a dog's life | Stuff.co.nz

via stuff.co.nz

Nice article if you click on the link... about having a dog in the classroom. The teacher said the students were calmer and working together better when he was in the room. Now he is a regular class member, with the children taking it in turns to be responsible for him in breaks.
Nice idea...
Poppy likes being in my class too - she had only completed her first full day of it before the earthquake hit... but she has started coming to our new venue and also came to Kaikoura on our class dolphin trip. It is great socialising for her and I like seeing her having fun with everyone, except when I am teaching; then she sleeps under the desk.
Does your school allow dogs?

Posted via email from Four Paws and Whiskers

A taste of summer in Christchurch

Hagley Park - Band Together from press.co.nz

Sun and music and a public holiday - bliss.

Started with a huge free concert in Hagley Park on Saturday..  all day, hot sun, alcohol free, great music, enjoyed by over 100,000 people there and many more watching on tv at home.
See more pix at http://www.stuff.co.nz/the-press/news/canterbury-earthquake/4266161/100-000-of-us-banded-together

Heat control!

The aftershocks held off during the concert, but yesterday we got a good one - interesting because it was a strong 4.7 shake, centred just offshore to the East not far from our home - completely the opposite direction to the usual ones. Hmmmm!
http://www.stuff.co.nz/the-press/news/4269091/Big-offshore-aftershock-rocks-eastern-residents

You can see more info on this, and all the quakes at Christchurch Quake Live.

Today we decided to celebrate a day off and take Jessie to the Waimakariri  River for a walk... and landed up following it east into Brooklands that you can see at the top part of the map above. We have been avoiding the area because of the damage and to avoid being rubberneckers but just landed up there - eventually we found somewhere to stop and explore the river.. but less of the water and more of the cracks and liquefaction!

Not sure if this was new from yesterdays shock nearby, but there was plenty of damage and damp mud around.

We made our way back to the boat ramp - lots of activity and fast flowing water.  There are still notices everywhere to remind us of possible post-quake sewage contamination, but it looked nice and the guy on his jet ski was having fun :)

Great weekend - and lots of time with family and friends as well.
Contentment.
Hope you all had a great weekend :)

A taste of summer in Christchurch

Hagley Park - Band Together from press.co.nz

Sun and music and a public holiday - bliss.

Started with a huge free concert in Hagley Park on Saturday..  all day, hot sun, alcohol free, great music, enjoyed by over 100,000 people there and many more watching on tv at home.
See more pix at http://www.stuff.co.nz/the-press/news/canterbury-earthquake/4266161/100-000-of-us-banded-together

Heat control!

The aftershocks held off during the concert, but yesterday we got a good one - interesting because it was a strong 4.7 shake, centred just offshore to the East not far from our home - completely the opposite direction to the usual ones. Hmmmm!
http://www.stuff.co.nz/the-press/news/4269091/Big-offshore-aftershock-rocks-eastern-residents

You can see more info on this, and all the quakes at Christchurch Quake Live.

Today we decided to celebrate a day off and take Jessie to the Waimakariri  River for a walk... and landed up following it east into Brooklands that you can see at the top part of the map above. We have been avoiding the area because of the damage and to avoid being rubberneckers but just landed up there - eventually we found somewhere to stop and explore the river.. but less of the water and more of the cracks and liquefaction!

Not sure if this was new from yesterdays shock nearby, but there was plenty of damage and damp mud around.

We made our way back to the boat ramp - lots of activity and fast flowing water.  There are still notices everywhere to remind us of possible post-quake sewage contamination, but it looked nice and the guy on his jet ski was having fun :)

Great weekend - and lots of time with family and friends as well.
Contentment.
Hope you all had a great weekend :)

Saffy 2000-2010

Sorry, but blogging has not been a high priority recently... I guess 2010 will be remembered for the many occasions when we got hit with events that made it feel like the world had stopped for a while. The dawn arrival in June of the police at the door announcing Arch's sudden and tragic death and more recently, a morning phone call to share the scary news that Phoebe's mum had been diagnosed with a possible brain tumour. ( you can read some more follow up on that here).

As we coped with all of this we had another rude dawn awakening to a 7.1 earthquake and since then 1500 aftershocks which still rumble away regularly, even another 5.0 last week, .... and finally, last Saturday, the sudden death of our beautiful Saffy. She is back home now; ashes in a tasteful wooden box... on the windowsill of our bedroom, near her bed. We have shed many tears. The house seems so empty without the blonde bombshell and we particularly miss her wrinkly smile as she greeted us when we came home. It took me many mornings to realise I didn't need to straighten her bed in the morning or my partner to realise he didn't have to walk round her in the dark... . Jessie is quiet, but is finally eating again, tempted by meaty foods and cat biscuits.

My friend is going to buy me a rose in a pot ( yellow of course) so I can put her ashes in it and remember her each year when it blooms....

Meanwhile, I have been finally been able to look through all the photos and remember her in pictures. A very small consolation.... these things take time; lots of time.
Miss you Saff xxxx

Saffy 2000-2010

Sorry, but blogging has not been a high priority recently... I guess 2010 will be remembered for the many occasions when we got hit with events that made it feel like the world had stopped for a while. The dawn arrival in June of the police at the door announcing Arch's sudden and tragic death and more recently, a morning phone call to share the scary news that Phoebe's mum had been diagnosed with a possible brain tumour. ( you can read some more follow up on that here).

As we coped with all of this we had another rude dawn awakening to a 7.1 earthquake and since then 1500 aftershocks which still rumble away regularly, even another 5.0 last week, .... and finally, last Saturday, the sudden death of our beautiful Saffy. She is back home now; ashes in a tasteful wooden box... on the windowsill of our bedroom, near her bed. We have shed many tears. The house seems so empty without the blonde bombshell and we particularly miss her wrinkly smile as she greeted us when we came home. It took me many mornings to realise I didn't need to straighten her bed in the morning or my partner to realise he didn't have to walk round her in the dark... . Jessie is quiet, but is finally eating again, tempted by meaty foods and cat biscuits.

My friend is going to buy me a rose in a pot ( yellow of course) so I can put her ashes in it and remember her each year when it blooms....

Meanwhile, I have been finally been able to look through all the photos and remember her in pictures. A very small consolation.... these things take time; lots of time.
Miss you Saff xxxx

Tina Humphrey - Dressage for Dogs

via youtube.com

Some things just bring tears to my eyes.... and after years doing dog obedience and watching my daughter do dressage with her horse, seeing the two combined was fascinating.
If you want to see more, do go and follow this up on youtube as there are lots more of this pair in action.
If you have never watched freestyle horse dressage... then watch this astounding pair in action - sadly, this beautiful dancing mare, who was retired in 2009, broke her leg recently and has been put to sleep. RIP Blue Hors Matine.

Posted via web from Four Paws and Whiskers

Tina Humphrey - Dressage for Dogs

via youtube.com

Some things just bring tears to my eyes.... and after years doing dog obedience and watching my daughter do dressage with her horse, seeing the two combined was fascinating.
If you want to see more, do go and follow this up on youtube as there are lots more of this pair in action.
If you have never watched freestyle horse dressage... then watch this astounding pair in action - sadly, this beautiful dancing mare, who was retired in 2009, broke her leg recently and has been put to sleep. RIP Blue Hors Matine.

Posted via web from Four Paws and Whiskers

Hard to beat cake mix!!!!

Hard to beat cake mix!!!!

Bangladesh journey drawing to a close...

James and Jess are winding up their time in Bangladesh with a week long holiday, a conference, and in early December, on their third wedding anniversary, they will leave Bangladesh and head off on a meandering journey to London, New York, spending Christmas with my brother in Vancouver, and then home via Australia. No idea when they actually arrive back in New Zealand, but sure the plans will filter through in time :) I think it is Febuary! So still four months away. They have put up some great photos - do check out their blog entries
http://jamesandjess.synthasite.com/news/malumghat-paradise-in-bangladesh#
http://jamesandjess.synthasite.com/news/new-photos-

Darling Phoebe has been very ill this weekend, requiring a trip last night to the Starship Children's Hospital in Auckland to be rehydrated. A worrying time for everyone, but she is home today, and a nurse will be visiting her to check that she is alright. Not sure what the cause is - hard to tell with babies and viruses and bugs... but she is a tired wee girl, as are her parents!
Sure they will write about it when they have caught up on some sleep - watch out at: http://treacytravels.blogspot.com/

While my partner worked last night, I had a girls night with my friend, and we rewatched the wonderful Divine Secrets of the Ya-Ya Sisterhood. It is a great story of not only the support of female friendship, warts and all, but a brilliant illustration of how we need to appreciate that our mothers were people, with their own lives and dreams and aspirations, before we were born, and hold a horde of stories that we may never know about, unless their friends make sure we hear them! So, today, I am going to have a lazy Sunday and catch up with my parents...who knows what I might learn!


and just because - my smile for the day is:

Bangladesh journey drawing to a close...

James and Jess are winding up their time in Bangladesh with a week long holiday, a conference, and in early December, on their third wedding anniversary, they will leave Bangladesh and head off on a meandering journey to London, New York, spending Christmas with my brother in Vancouver, and then home via Australia. No idea when they actually arrive back in New Zealand, but sure the plans will filter through in time :) I think it is Febuary! So still four months away. They have put up some great photos - do check out their blog entries
http://jamesandjess.synthasite.com/news/malumghat-paradise-in-bangladesh#
http://jamesandjess.synthasite.com/news/new-photos-

Darling Phoebe has been very ill this weekend, requiring a trip last night to the Starship Children's Hospital in Auckland to be rehydrated. A worrying time for everyone, but she is home today, and a nurse will be visiting her to check that she is alright. Not sure what the cause is - hard to tell with babies and viruses and bugs... but she is a tired wee girl, as are her parents!
Sure they will write about it when they have caught up on some sleep - watch out at: http://treacytravels.blogspot.com/

While my partner worked last night, I had a girls night with my friend, and we rewatched the wonderful Divine Secrets of the Ya-Ya Sisterhood. It is a great story of not only the support of female friendship, warts and all, but a brilliant illustration of how we need to appreciate that our mothers were people, with their own lives and dreams and aspirations, before we were born, and hold a horde of stories that we may never know about, unless their friends make sure we hear them! So, today, I am going to have a lazy Sunday and catch up with my parents...who knows what I might learn!


and just because - my smile for the day is:

Maltese terrier on dangerous dog list

via stuff.co.nz

I have always had West Highlander Whites up there on my own dangerous breed list... along with a few other more traditional, larger usually breeds. Another little white dog, the Maltese Terrier, now takes it's place on this roll, according to Australian research.

I know bites from Labradors are becoming more common - the breed that was always so steady and reliable. So why is this happening - this breed, and other little white dogs, are currently popular pets ( Maltese, Bichon Frise and Poodles are often crossed with other small dogs to create "designer breeds" ) - so are they just more commonly owned now, or is it the repeated breeding for their looks at the expense of temperament? Where do puppy mills, breeding large numbers of poorly handled/socialised puppies play a part too?

A large part of it is purely the owners failing to teach them the rules of good canine conduct. To quote some animal behaviouralists... "there are no problem dogs; only problem owners.".

Posted via web from Fiona's posterous

Maltese terrier on dangerous dog list

via stuff.co.nz

I have always had West Highlander Whites up there on my own dangerous breed list... along with a few other more traditional, larger usually breeds. Another little white dog, the Maltese Terrier, now takes it's place on this roll, according to Australian research.

I know bites from Labradors are becoming more common - the breed that was always so steady and reliable. So why is this happening - this breed, and other little white dogs, are currently popular pets ( Maltese, Bichon Frise and Poodles are often crossed with other small dogs to create "designer breeds" ) - so are they just more commonly owned now, or is it the repeated breeding for their looks at the expense of temperament? Where do puppy mills, breeding large numbers of poorly handled/socialised puppies play a part too?

A large part of it is purely the owners failing to teach them the rules of good canine conduct. To quote some animal behaviouralists... "there are no problem dogs; only problem owners.".

Posted via web from Fiona's posterous

Save the planet: time to eat dog?

via stuff.co.nz

I found this article quite interesting - and they are not advocating we eat our dogs, despite the recent incident of this here in New Zealand!!!

They do however say -
The eco-pawprint of a pet dog is twice that of a 4.6-litre Land Cruiser driven 10,000 kilometres a year, researchers have found. Victoria University professors Brenda and Robert Vale, architects who specialise in sustainable living, say pet owners should swap cats and dogs for creatures they can eat, such as chickens or rabbits, in their provocative new book Time to Eat the Dog: The real guide to sustainable living.

"I think we need animals because they are a positive in our society. We can all make little changes to reduce carbon footprints but without pointing the finger at pets, which are part of family networks."

The eco-footprints of the family pet each year as calculated by the Vales:
German shepherds: 1.1 hectares, compared with 0.41ha for a large SUV.

Cats: 0.15ha (slightly less than a Volkswagen Golf). Hamsters: 0.014ha (two of them equate to a medium-sized plasma TV).

Goldfish: 0.00034ha (an eco-fingerprint equal to two cellphones).

damn... i have the dogs, the cats, the fish, a small SUV, the plasma.. and the cellphone - which shall I give up!!!! Somehow keeping rabbits and chickens doesn't hold any appeal... and life without the techno seems unimaginable! No blogging, no facebook....
What would you do?

Posted via web from Fiona's posterous

Save the planet: time to eat dog?

via stuff.co.nz

I found this article quite interesting - and they are not advocating we eat our dogs, despite the recent incident of this here in New Zealand!!!

They do however say -
The eco-pawprint of a pet dog is twice that of a 4.6-litre Land Cruiser driven 10,000 kilometres a year, researchers have found. Victoria University professors Brenda and Robert Vale, architects who specialise in sustainable living, say pet owners should swap cats and dogs for creatures they can eat, such as chickens or rabbits, in their provocative new book Time to Eat the Dog: The real guide to sustainable living.

"I think we need animals because they are a positive in our society. We can all make little changes to reduce carbon footprints but without pointing the finger at pets, which are part of family networks."

The eco-footprints of the family pet each year as calculated by the Vales:
German shepherds: 1.1 hectares, compared with 0.41ha for a large SUV.

Cats: 0.15ha (slightly less than a Volkswagen Golf). Hamsters: 0.014ha (two of them equate to a medium-sized plasma TV).

Goldfish: 0.00034ha (an eco-fingerprint equal to two cellphones).

damn... i have the dogs, the cats, the fish, a small SUV, the plasma.. and the cellphone - which shall I give up!!!! Somehow keeping rabbits and chickens doesn't hold any appeal... and life without the techno seems unimaginable! No blogging, no facebook....
What would you do?

Posted via web from Fiona's posterous

Dolphin Football - dolphins toss jellyfish sky high!

via youtube.com

One of the best parts of our annual dolphin trip is following the dolphins as they swim with the boat.. they are so agile and sleek. So I was interested to see this video in which they appear to be playing football with the jellyfish in the water... perhaps like humans they just can't resist kicking the ball in their way or the stone off the footpath... but they do it too often to be pure coincidence...

Looking forward to our next dolphin trip to Kaikoura in March 2010... ( see http://www.dolphin.co.nz/) but in our case, preferably without all those jellyfish in the water!!!

Posted via web from Fiona's posterous

Dolphin Football - dolphins toss jellyfish sky high!

via youtube.com

One of the best parts of our annual dolphin trip is following the dolphins as they swim with the boat.. they are so agile and sleek. So I was interested to see this video in which they appear to be playing football with the jellyfish in the water... perhaps like humans they just can't resist kicking the ball in their way or the stone off the footpath... but they do it too often to be pure coincidence...

Looking forward to our next dolphin trip to Kaikoura in March 2010... ( see http://www.dolphin.co.nz/) but in our case, preferably without all those jellyfish in the water!!!

Posted via web from Fiona's posterous

World's tallest living dog ???

via stuff.co.nz

They intend to enter this dog to the Guinness Book of records as the world's tallest dog.
Whether they are successful or not, I am just relieved it is not drinking out of my kitchen sink! Mind you, if it had vegetarian tendencies, it might clean up some of the stuff that gets left in our sink after our resident vegetarian has prepared their meals...and perhaps it would do the dishes while it was there - I could use some help!

Posted via web from Fiona's posterous

World's tallest living dog ???

via stuff.co.nz

They intend to enter this dog to the Guinness Book of records as the world's tallest dog.
Whether they are successful or not, I am just relieved it is not drinking out of my kitchen sink! Mind you, if it had vegetarian tendencies, it might clean up some of the stuff that gets left in our sink after our resident vegetarian has prepared their meals...and perhaps it would do the dishes while it was there - I could use some help!

Posted via web from Fiona's posterous