A New Tomorrow – Welcoming 2012
I would like to share this inspiring poem from a blog I share with my wifey, Keely. I don’t know who wrote it but I am trying to find out.
Sunrise
Tomorrow Begins Today !
If tomorrow seems uncertain, know that there’s a plan.
A purpose to accomplish; if you believe, you can!
Today begins your future, don’t let it slip away.
You can have tomorrow, what you believe today!
Some will say “You’re dreaming; it can never be”.
But stay strong, be encouraged, and one day you will see.
Your words about tomorrow, help prepare the way.
You will see tomorrow, what you say today!
Find a hurt and heal it. Today help fill a need.
The things you do for others, will grow like planted seed.
Harvest time is certain, and you will get your pay.
You will reap tomorrow, what you sow today!
Today you feel rejected. Tomorrow you’re a hit.
As long as there’s tomorrow, tough people never quit.
If your strength is failing, take time to rest and pray.
For you will be tomorrow, what you prepare today!
Tickle my Bunnybone !!
We realised that we haven’t published a “Tickle my Funnybone” for a while so thought we would show you some funny Easter pics *giggles*
Please help yourself to an Easter Egg while you’re here.
But first, this comes to greet you with wishes sincere, for a very glad Easter and joy through the year !
Aussie Road Trip – Ladies on the Move!
We are awfully excited and very busy … some of our lady furriends have had enough of their winter weather and are headed this way on an Aussie Road Trip to enjoy our summer weather for the weekend! They are Lola & Bo @BoBubbles (Ireland), @Cricket1230 (Texas USA), @IamDaisyDoo (Massachusetts) and @MeisRoxyThePug (Ohio USA). Our pal the lovely @Charshy_pup from just down the road (Melbourne) is going to join the Trip too:
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| Clockwise from top left: Lola & Bo, Charshy, Roxy, Cricket & Daisy |
My brofur Raja and I will be carrying out extra patrols for the ladies, just for their peace of mind (and to make sure no crawlies get near them).
Upon arrival, each lady will be greeted with a cold rose champagne cocktail and nommy cake at the main house while their luggage is taken to the Summer House:
And in their rooms in the Summer House they will each find a bouquet of Australian flowers, a gourmet doggy gift basket and a genuine Akubra hat for their own:
We have cleared a picturesque area in one of our paddocks and reconstructed our popular Summer House. There are six separate bedrooms, each one boasting a fabulous sitting room, walk-in-robe, ensuite and private balcony:
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| A private balcony, luxurious living room and king sized bedroom for each guest |
The Summer House is also equipped with a brilliant Olympic sized swimming pool with wet bar service, and an award winning 3 star Michelin restaurant which is open 24 hours a day to cater for room and pool guests:
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| Top: Fully stocked swimming pool wet bar Bottom: Award winning nommies |
And when the ladies need a pick-me-up, our onsite Spa should help lift those lagging spirits and renew their energy levels. The Spa’s luxury gift pack is complimentary to all guests who stay:
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| Top: Relax in the Summer House Spa Bottom: Luxurious Spa gift pack |
We are all ready now for our lady furriends to arrive at their leisure via the Google Earth Jet. I have my pawses crossed that my darling @Keely_Bobs is able to visit during the weekend too. She has been very busy with our wedding plans but I know she would enjoy a short break away:
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| My darling Keely & me wearing our Akubra hats |
Backseat Driving
We love going out in Pop’s car. Once our collars are on (which is a whole different story: Collar Crazies ) Sam & Raja race each other to Pop’s car while Elisabeth & I herd him out of the house and to the garage as fast as possible. And then we’re off!
We have a special “Back Seat Buddy” which is a strong doggy seat cover that latches to the back of the front seats and keeps us safely in the back. We don’t often travel on the motorway, but when we do we are (usually) buckled in safely. And when we reach our gravel road, Pop always releases us so we can hang out the window:
An American Doggy in Queensland
My bestest friend in the whole wide world is Dakota (@DakotaBDog) who lives on the other side of the world in the USA. His mama was going away and so let him come spend the weekend with me!
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| Raja, Elisabeth, Dakota & Me |
We decided that we wanted to camp in our paddocks so we set up our tent in the driest spot we could find. Pop also helped us set up our very own BBQ for noms *drools*.
My brofur Raja and sisfur Elisabeth joined us during the days but they slept at night in the house with Nan.
In this pic of us all, my mama Sam & my Nan are in the background, checking for snakes & creepy crawlies. Dakota and I are brave members of the #BadBoyzOfTwitter but we draw the line at crawlies.
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| @doglvr4evr (Lori) tent bedroom |
Our dear human friend Lori (@doglvr4evr) also came over to camp for the first night, but we didn’t think she’d want to spend the night listening to me & Dakota snoring so we set up a tent especially for her. Very comfy.
Dakota arrived quite late that night so after a quick intro to the family, a whirlwind tour of the place and then some BBQ noms, we crashed in our tent. We both slept pretty soundly, even Dakota despite the unfamiliar creepy night noises. They didn’t seem to disturb him – he snored his way through the night, hehe.
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| Elisabeth (left), Tom (back) & Dakota |
As you might know, we’ve experienced a lot of rainfall here lately, so much in fact that our turkey dam filled to capacity and then burst a wall and the water rushed down the hill, eventually washing away the tarseal from the road at the bottom.
Pop decided to go ahead and rebuild the dam wall this weekend before more rain fell, and we pups of course had to help.
But we weren’t of much help to Pop – we were having too much fun playing in the muddy water!
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| Dakota in his Aussie hat |
It took most of the day to fix the dam and by the time we had cleaned ourselves up we were famished. Dakota & I got the BBQ going again and sat down to nommy sossidges while we discussed our plans for the rest of the day.
The weather was hot and sunny and as Dakota had forgotten to bring his cap, I presented him with his very own special Aussie hat. Not only does the Aussie hat protect you from the sun, the little corks help to keep the flies away from your face!
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| Me & Dakota on the RV |
We decided that it just wouldn’t be right if Dakota didn’t get to ride on our RV so later that afternoon we went for a spin around our paddocks.
Dakota drove our RV like a professional – he has had a lot of practice driving his Mama’s car and his neighbour’s snowmobile, hehe.
It had been a long day for us, so we had an easy night after our BBQ dinner. Nan gave us her guitar and it turned out that Dakota was a natural and could strum out just about any tune you liked.
We spent the evening in sing-a-long around our campfire, our loud music-making and laughter competing with the angry noises the bats were making above us in the trees.
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| Dakota posing with a kangaroo |
After another good night’s sleep and nommy BBQ breakfast, we went for a walk through our paddocks. There were a lot of smells that were unfamiliar to my buddy so we investigated thoroughly – he was especially taken with the kangaroo poo and fox pee.
We were lucky enough to pick up the scent of a some local kangaroos and went off on the hunt, eventually tracking them down and getting a snapshot of them for Dakota.
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| Me & Dakota acting ape |
We’ve got a lot of trees on the property, and Dakota & I climbed almost every one of them over the weekend.
Sure, we lost some fur and scraped some skin, and sometimes we were met by angry ants. At one tree we even disturbed a very unhappy and nimble goanna, but we met these challenges face on and conquered every tree we attempted to climb.
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| Me Dakota, you Jane |
Some of our trees have vines weaving their way through them and we had great fun climbing and swinging on them.
Personally I think Dakota might be part monkey ‘cos he was swinging through those trees just like Tarzan (or George of the Jungle, hehe).
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| Dakota holding a Koala Bear |
While we were playing at jungle tracking in the paddocks a little later, Dakota spotted a lone bundle of fur making its way down one of our gum trees.
The little bundle turned out to be a friendly koala bear who was happy to take a picture with him. I was really pleased that my friend got to see one of our koalas because we don’t get very many passing through – we don’t have enough of the type of gum tree they feed on.
The afternoon was turning out to be rather warm for Dakota – not unexpected considering he was experiencing winter at his home and was therefore wearing his winter coat!
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| Dakota caught the one that didn’t get away |
Pop suggested that to cool off we go fishing or swimming in our dam. Dakota & I decided we wanted fish for our BBQ dinner that night so we tied a hook on and threw a line in. I got a few nibbles but it was Dakota who landed the big one!
That evening was my friend’s last with us so we all shared the BBQ fish and sat around the campfire talking and laughing into the early hours of the morning.
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| Dakota as a Wallaby (Rugby Union) |
We wanted to give Dakota something that would remind him of us whenever he saw it. And so after much debate between us, we got him an authentic Wallabies rugby shirt.
Early the next morning saw Dakota leave on the Google Earth Jet. I ran through the paddocks waving as my buddy zoomed away back to his home, knowing how much I was going to miss him. We sure had a great time and I sincerely hope he comes back again soon – but for longer! (we might keep him)
Queensland Floods (3)
Pop has been out today, helping our neighbours down the road whose houses were caught in the flood that came down from Toowoomba. He also took some video clips. This one shows a road in Minden where the water went through:
A swim in the dam
We love being taken down to our dam, and it’s even better when there is water in it! Our dry season is roughly from May to September (the cooler months) so summer usually sees our dam filling a few times:
Queensland Floods (2)
After a night and morning of more rain, we took advantage of a break in the weather to take a couple of videos of our property:
Our dam is often dry but sometimes has enough water in it that the dogs can paddle and/or swim. We have never seen it with this much water in it
We are basically OK here, in that we have to deal with surface flooding which could come in the house, but we are on top of a hill and the likelihood of high flood waters reaching us are remote.
Queensland Floods (1)
Australians are battlers. They come from a long line of battlers, many of whom fought crippling heat, burning sun and withering droughts to carve out a home and living in what is often an inhospitable but beautiful land. And between times of sometimes barely endurable conditions, Mother Nature often threw in a deluge of water big enough to fill Sydney Harbour so many times over.
Some news video footage on the Toowoomba flash flood 10 January 2011
Some news video of aftermath of same Toowoomba flash flood 10 January 2011
Toowoomba is at the top of a mountain range. At the moment there is a 7m high wall of water coming down that mountain and towards the small towns below, eg Gatton, Lockyer. And the news is reporting huge mudslides crashing down the Toowoomba range.
It has been raining for days now but the long term forecast is good and shows easing. We are OK in these floods as we are on top of a hill. But our heart goes out to our neighbours who have been affected and we hope they & their animals stay safe and out of harm’s way until the waters recede.
Tropical Evening Chorus
Sometimes during this time of the year there’s no point in Nan & Pop having the TV going ‘cos they can’t hear it for the songs of the frogs, toads and crickets. The noise is even worse after rainfall and during the evening. Nan & Pop like the noise though because it is a sound of the tropics; reminiscent of balmy evenings, salt pools and palm trees.
Nan has taken a video just so that you can listen to these tropical noises for yourself. She stood just outside the family room sliding door. This is what we hear. Make sure you’ve got your sound on!
It took some time and a number of reference books but Nan has identified the types of frogs and toad responsible for those noises.When she can she will post their names and pics.
About me
My proper name is Thomas. I was born on 21 February 2007 and I live with my human Nan & Pop on a 20 acre block off the Warrego Highway near Blacksoil in Queensland, Australia.
Other members of my family living with me include my mother (Sammy), my litter brofur (Raja), my litter sisfur (Elisabeth), 2 cats, horses and a multitude of wild birds.
I have been raised with devotion, care and attention, and I am intelligent, friendly and playful.
What I am like?
Well, for one thing, I love to herd. I herd Nan & Pop, and our chickens. I am very active, so it is lucky we live on 20 acres. My favourite game is catching the frisbee, which I’ll always bring back to your feet for another throw. I am very intelligent, loving and gentle, but I do not particularly like anyone (including Pop) getting close to Nan, and I will put myself in between.
At 4pm every day we feed lots of wild birds (like cockatoos, galahs, lorikeets, corellas etc) and I have learned not to chase or scare them away. We also have a few horses here but I am a little bit scared of them – if they come my way when I am out in the paddocks, I will go inside the house.
I love a car ride too. When Pop is going out in the RV ute, I know that I am going too if Nan puts my collar on, and I get extremely excited and stick to Pop like glue, herding him. But if she doesn’t put my collar on, I know that I’m not allowed to go with Pop this time and instead I go up to the front gate to wait for Nan to open it for Pop to go out.
We are Pop’s “In-car Security System”
My favourite games are frisbee and soccer, and I loves my tennis balls. I also have a glow-in-the-dark frisbee so we can play at night. Makes it easier to find when Nan throws it into the trees, too. I almost always catch the frisbee, even when Pop throws it a long way. Sometimes my sister Elisabeth beats me to catch it, which means I have to chase her around to get it off her. But I always bring it back to Pop to throw again. After we play with the frisbee, we usually have a swim in the pool to cool off, as we get quite hot (Nan & Pop call it “long tongue”).
I love a game of soccer, too, playing with all the other dogs to get the ball and run for a try. We have 15 soccer balls and 11 tennis balls to play with.
We are funny with the pool. When it is sparkling clean, we have to be encouraged to swim and we usually just walk around in the shallow end. But when it is dirty (like a swamp) we leap in and swim around, just like the dam at the bottom of our block. Strange.
Nan has a special tune on her mobile phone that only Pop’s number activates, and we dogs know that tune. As soon as it plays we get excited, because we know it’s our Pop calling. We try to herd Nan up to the gate to open it to let Pop’s car in, which we are allowed to get in for the short ride to the garage. If Nan is out of earshot of her mobile when Pop rings, we will find her and let her know that Pop has rung.
I am devoted to my sister, brother and mother. In fact, I eat from the same bowl as my sister. When we were very little, Nan tried to give us a bowl each but we both got very confused and ran from one bowl to the other, and ended up eating from the same bowl together. So we got a big bowl and we share our meal.
We have two cats now, and I consider them a part of the family. I always give way to them and have never chased them. I love their food and I used to sit waiting patiently until they have eaten their fill, then move in to clear up any leftovers. My brother Raja was usually right there with me in this activity, seeing which of us could get it first. Both of us also used to like to get the empty cat food tin so we could lick it clean. But I suffered Pancreatitis in November 2010 so we no longer get any fatty treats, including cat food leftovers *looks sad*.
Where in the world are you?
puppynumber7 