what a view

sharp eyesight

seeks pleasure afar

to excite

Maggie and I went walking down along the Black Rock coast path late yesterday afternoon. She had grown up in the bushland hills North of Melbourne  but soon took a liking for the sea. Afghan Hounds are sight hounds and have an amazing ability to spot objects, (often small and furry ) at extreme distances. Her latest tricks down here are climbing up onto rocks along the cliff and looking out to sea  or getting up on the seawall to investigate closer. Her fascination for water is becoming obvious  with her water bowl foot dipping games at home. Is she thinking of seeing how deep the bay in front of her is?  I am glad my Pentax DSLR has anti shake as I was holding Maggie with one hand and manipulating this camera with the other. All the while other walkers and their dogs were passing by. Shadows were deep and the light was failing however we managed to catch a couple of candid shots.

I am finally able to contribute to a double challenge again.

First the image for the one a week Photo Challenge word challenge and this week it is Maggie’s eyesight being extra SHARP.  This is my contribution . For this years 52 weekly challenges planned by Cathy and Sandra visit Cathy’s blog at  https://nanacathydotcom.wordpress.com/one-a-week-photo-challenge-2017/

Secondly this is my contribution to RonovanWrites weekly haiku poetry prompt challenge 164 Pleasure and Excite. To read all the other haiku responses to Ronovan’s challenge visit  https://ronovanwrites.com/2017/08/28/ronovanwrites-weekly-haiku-poetry-prompt-challenge-164-pleasureexcite/

 

 

 

gardening

dry winter

garden needs water

possibly

Maggie has a fascination for water. It has to be splashed, drunk, flicked and closely examined usually by dipping a front foot into the water. In Summer we will see if swimming is fancied. In the background a wire fence protects remaining pot plants in  the front yard ( she tried her hand at repotting very early on). Two larger fenced areas perform a similar function in the back yard. Up until this moment as captured in the images the hose and reel had been safe. Well almost. The day before these images I discovered she had unravelled the hose and dragged it across  the lawn leaving the nozzle beside her water bowl. We commented on what an intelligent dog she was and how she may learn to fill her bowl and even help water the garden once the nozzle was mastered. This day she tried to fill her bowl again except the hose became tangled in the holder. Maggie is strong and she gave a few gentle tugs then became more impatient. The viewer can see in the middle 2 images how she finally located the place where the hose was jammed however by then the entire holder had given up the battle . A felt a haiku coming on and raced inside the house for my camera, it was too late to save the equipment. A new holder now lies behind the fence and so does the back yard one.

We may wait a year before training Maggie on the finer points of using hoses and nozzles.

 

 

sun still sets

evening nears

solar eye closing

smothered light

I have still been able to occasionally take photos whilst guiding Maggie’s development. She has visited Ricketts Point many times, we were there this evening. Here is a recent sunset, just to remind visitors to Haikuhound that we have such wonderful sunsets across our Port Phillip Bay most evenings . The changes in colour as the clouds swirled across the horizon were amazing.

 

Rainbows of feathers

proud displays

rainbows of feathers

high and low

Two of our most colourful birds, one obvious and one discreet. The Rainbow Lorikeet here feeding on early Spring blossom is now a common sight in our suburb. The brilliant plumage is clearly evident. The second image is a male Common Bronzewing. These birds are not common in suburban Melbourne. We are fortunate in our city of Bayside to have many golf courses and parks that provide shelter and food for a large variety of indigenous birds. The Friends of Native Wildlife, ( a local government supported environmental group I belong) to have identified a secure fenced area around a golf driving range  that provides  shelter for  a small number of Common Bronzewings. We plant native food ground cover   these birds feed from. We also lead education walks in our parks and were delighted to meet this beautiful male and his mate resting beside a dam in a golf course on a recent bird walk.

dreaming

winter winds

ancient spirits stir

dream to run

Maggie has been with us for 9 weeks now.

For the last month almost all my active time has been taken up with walking Maggie, watching Maggie, playing with Maggie, training Maggie, cleaning up destruction caused by Maggie, driving Maggie, supervising Maggie’s off lead play with dogs etc . Serious training/socialisation/learning  sessions began for Maggie and me on Sunday. There has been an improvement already and I can return to my Blogging again. Being 10 years older from the time Charlie came  to join our family I/we had forgotten the experiences of homing an Afghan Hound pup. Reality has arrived but it is more exhausting now. Both of us came home and  had a nap after class on Sunday. Here is a 7 month old Maggie in an off lead park between chases and on Sandringham beach watching a ship on the horizon.

natural gold

seasons change

golden flecks of spring

wattle blooms

We have been up to Bendigo in Central Victoria looking for the early Spring blossoms and flowers. Wattle is the first significant sign of early Spring . Usually we find Orchids have begun flowering, however this year they seem to be much later. Maggie had her first  experience at our house with large yard on the edge of Bendigo Regional Park. She had  a lot of off lead fun in the yard but strictly on lead in the bush for a year or two.