Our Briards.

With all the mentioning of the briard beads & the briard earrings - I forgot to mention the actual briard dog - apologies to you my dear audience! A briard is a rare breed of dog, with first real records (read: tapestries) being kept of the breed in eighth century France: http://www.briard.com.au/briard%20history.htm

Iggy

Our briard litter sisters, Misses Iggy & Coco, came to us in 2005, from the last litter bred by our now very dear friend Irena (Trilby Briards) in NSW. They arrived together via plane, bundled up in a crate, two tiny little bear cubs, who were just so sweet & snuggly. Briards have a need to be with their humans at ALL times, preferably on top of you - I don't think they realise (nor do they care) how large they actually are.

Coco

The history of the breed in Australia is very interesting as it only commenced in 1974 - if you are interested have a look at: http://www.briard.com.au/briard%20in%20australia.htm for further information. Given this short space of time, the breed has quietly established itself, but thankfully not to the popularity levels of other breeds. Briard litters are never advertised - it's all word of mouth from people in the know, or by people who are interested in the breed tracking down a breeder (also not very common) & placing themselves on a very long waiting list.

Misses Coco & Iggy having a ponder at Moggs Creek Beach

The Eucalyptus Ficifolia - A Survivor!

This is an update to my previous blog post about my favourite tree falling down (July 2009). If you look back at the photos, my tree looked pretty much dead & gone. But, look at it now!

We were just devastated by its "loss". However, luckily for us, we were too lazy at the time to cut it up for firewood - because it has continued to live! It still flowers even though it's lying on its side, & it continues to grow new branches. I cannot believe our good fortune.

The root system had just bent with the tree & there is still enough soil over the roots to protect it. It even survived last summer really well in this condition as the photos show. The dogs quite like to shade in it, can't say that I blame them as the flowers are beautiful.

We have planted out the same species en masse along our neighbours fence line to create more privacy, & the majority of those ones appear to be surviving quite well, even with the drought & water restrictions. One day, a full row of them in full bloom will be a sight to see.

The Dogs Clearly Love Me.

Look at what I came home to tonight. I even managed to step over it whilst carrying a water bucket without realising it - but I sure managed to see it on the way back to the house. How can I be that blind? Amazing.

Talk about a PANIC, but thank goodness it was really, really dead. It was however right at the back door, so the dogs were just being loving I guess. To me it looks like an ex-brown snake & it was about a metre in length, but I have had it confirmed by an excellent source that it is indeed a juvenile copperhead snake (thanks Jeff xx)

I found a really long stick to grab it & put it in the bin. It was so beautiful - I don't think the photos do it justice, but the colour of it was just spectacular. It had a light green belly, such a golden brown hue on the topside. Poor thing, it was probably out for a nice afternoon meander. Betcha it got a helluva fright.

Roy the Devon Rex - Master of the House.

Roy rules this house with a little (but lethal) iron furry fist. We do whatever he wants, and are grateful for the privilege. Even the dogs are terrified of him and he does terrorise them regularly. He seems to resent any time the dogs have with us, and he is known to chase the dogs (who are significantly bigger than him) away from his people to get all the attention going.

The boss cat.

He loves playing soccer with marbles, which is delightful to hear at 3 am on the kitchen slate. He hogs the bed, often jumping in and out several times, with never a care or concern in the world about the humans trying to sleep. He can catch mice well, but will only eat the head and then vomit the head up next to the body, next to our bed, for us to find at times when we least expect it.

Roy & Jeremy enjoying a sunny morning

He loves a good pat in the sun, we can slap his bum, shove him around and he thinks this all a universal decree to make is day bliss. And he is probably right about that in all honesty - we live to serve Roy.

Check him out at : http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6PMZWaODvbI

The lazy black dog.

The lazy black dog is named Coco, and she is hilarious.

Yesterday I washed her bedding and put it in the sun to dry. I also out some frozen bones out to thaw for her and her sister Iggy.

Coco couldn't be bothered doing anything too vigorous, so she grabbed her frozen bone, lay on her wet bedding in the sun, and licked her bone gently until it was warm enough to eat. She didn't even have to lift her head!

This all takes brains I'm sure. Please say yes!