Love From Lulu

Woof, Woof, thank you to everyone who left lovely comments about me not being too good. Millie & MOTH sprung me from Puppy ICU last night & brought me home, & boy it's good to be back. I've been doing a lot of sleeping since then, but I'm sure I'll be back to my regular puppy self in the next few days. Dr. Sophie said that I was a cat's whisker away from having to go to surgery, so I'm glad that she could do other things to make me better. I've attached a picture of the culprit that caused all the trouble. Ever since I was a little puppy, MOTH's always shared a cooked corn cob with me, it's yummy & I love it. Well I'm not allowed to have one ever again, as in my excitement to woof the kernels down on Monday, I must have bitten off more than I could chew & swallowed most of the hard cob as well.

Millie says that at $692.00 it will be the most expensive vegetable she's ever bought. But that's the breaks when raising a sweet little puppy like me. It's the weekend, so go enjoy. Love from puppy Lulu. xx

Puppy ICU

Dramas here at The Hedge with puppy Lulu. She was not her normal OTT self this morning & by lunch time was very unwell. A dash to see Dr. Sophie has resulted in an admission to puppy ICU with what looks to be a nasty bowel obstruction. Like any other young puppy she is a chewer, but we've been pretty careful to keep most things out of her way. She was desexed nearly 2 weeks ago & had a bit of a complication during the surgery, but she's had a good recovery. So not sure whats happening, the IV's up & the XRay's are being done. I'm about to take her favourite blanket & toy down to the Vet's as she's staying the night. She's taken The Hedge by storm since she arrived 4 months ago, she is such a personality & we already miss her heaps. She's in good hands, so we'll just have to play the waiting game.

Birch/Laurel Loop

Another quiet couple of weeks at The Hedge the blog, but behind The Hedge it's been pandemonium! A nightmare week at work with everything that could have gone wrong doing just that & MOTH's crook back still giving him heaps. We've just got back from our Sunday walk & I thought you'd like to see where we've been.

A couple of years ago I took you with me on my regular walking route on a hot Summer day. The foliage on the trees obstructed the view of most of the gorgeous houses, but today Winter's last hurrah means that the houses can be seen in all their glory! St. Vigean's is the jewel in the crown & the first house on the Birch Road/Laurel Road loop.

Love that verandah & the decorative wrought iron to bits!

Yep, it's MOTH & Lulu out enjoying the Hills air.

There are still lots of Winter creeks running on properties.

Here's Dunfuin in all it's Edwardian glory.

It's probably still too cold for sitting out on the verandah with a late afternoon G&T.

I'm always captivated by the terracotta tile work on Dunfuin's roof.

Oak Tree House is quite a different style for the area.

But still very pretty in it's unique way.

My favourite style of Hills gate.

As MOTH would say 'There's a heap of Angry Pantha's happening there Mills!'

This incline always gets the heart racing.

Copperfield & the resident guard cat.

What's got MOTH's attention?

The enclosed deck on this house that's just been completed. MOTH's been watching the Builder's do their thing & taking notes for months.

And here's my very favourite house Redwalls.

Complete with quite the most amazing clipped Ivy bank I've ever seen.

And matching detached garage.

Round the bend into a part of the loop where the houses are of a much older vintage.

I don't know the name of this house, but it's on a huge piece of land & a massive amount of restoration has been conducted over the past few years. If it's yours, do let us know!

Byethorne Lodge sits next to it.

It must have been the Gate House for the previous house & I've always thought what a wonderful little Hills retreat it would make.

Love Stirling's tall trees & the other 2 in this pic as well!

Another Winter creek on the way home.

Our neighbour's sweet little cottage.

Home again - & yes, it's camelia time here at The Hedge & one of my faves by the front door. If you follow me on Twitter, you'll know that it's goat curry for dinner here tonight. I'll tweet later & let you know how it tasted. I've only cooked with goat once before, so I had to wing it a bit with this one, but as I opened the door, the aroma drifting up from the slow cooker certainly indicates it will be OK! Have a wonderful week dear Hedgies.

A Letter From Lulu

Hello dear Hedgies, Lulu here. Another week has gone by at lightening speed & here's what's been happening in my world.

• I turned 12 weeks old, have gained 1.4 kg. in 2 weeks & am becoming a fat little pudding.



• Went to my first Puppy Pre-School class on Thursday night & didn't disgrace myself or my Mama or Papa. I networked over free play & quickly made friends with Honey, Lexie, Mieke, Bonnie, Maggie & Lily. I'll be adding them to my LinkedIn page very soon.



• I'm still dividing my time between sleeping in front of the fire & playing outside in the garden looking for the biggest sticks I can find. Then I use all my strength to drag them in & proceed to chew them to bits on the floor. Mama says the Dust Buster is working overtime & will turn its toes up soon with overuse.



• I've finally learnt to go through my new doggie door with confidence. I wish I'd had my doggie camera handy to film my Papa lying down on his stomach on the floor for hours trying to teach me how to push the door with my nose. My Mama says I might have prolonged the exercise somewhat just to keep seeing Papa in such a strange position looking like a dork, but that's just not true.



• I've been a good, good puppy & not had any 'accidents' inside for 2 days now. Of course I'm lulling Mama & Papa into a false sense of security & that will end tomorrow.



• Mama is looking very tired & I heard her telling Papa she's finding her new job challenging. Something about her Boss's odd ways, the strange corporate culture & a few other things I couldn't understand. Papa just told her to toughen up & I saw her blow her nose a few times & wipe her eyes with the same things she uses to clean out my ears.



• Of course I've still got Mama & Papa wrapped right around my little paws & Papa has even given up his favourite chair in front of the fire for me. Thats me sitting on it in the picture, although I think my Mama's a bit tough making me sit on a couple of old beach towels & not the lovely white linen covers I've coveted since I arrived here.

Mama says Hi to you all & she says she misses you all too much.

Love Lulu xx

Saving Bunny

........bunny rugs that is. Yep I knew if I saved them in the linen closet for long enough they'd come in useful. The last time they saw the light of day was probably in 1984 when Son #5 turned one & no longer needed them. They've had a hard life wrapping up all the boys as babies, & copping all the associated baby 'spillage'. Now they're keeping Lulu warm in her puppy bed & she loves them.

Work is still full-on & them some & I've had a run of 5a.m. starts, so I'm tired & cranky & need some Millie time. Even though I haven't had a second to call by your blogs, I think about you all so much & I miss you lots & lots! Bear with me dear friends, this will pass & I'll be back to the wonderful world of blogging very soon.

Welcome Lulu!

Lulu came home with us yesterday a week earlier than expected & it's been bedlam! We quite expected some separation anxiety as she's been part of a large litter of 9, so has had plenty of puppy company. All was well until 3a.m. this morning when she woke & wouldn't settle back to sleep. After a 1/2hr. of pitiful crying & yelping, MOTH spent the rest of the night in one of the lounge chairs so she could see that someone was around & she hadn't been totally abandoned. We want to set the ground rules from the start, so we resisted the temptation to put her basket in our bedroom. It will be interesting to see what happens tonight!

She is personality plus, a real character & of course we are besotted. She bounces around like she has little springs embedded in her paws - too cute for her own good really! The kids are coming over tomorrow to meet her, so I'll try & take some better pics. These via my Crackberry are not good - sorry.

The first week at my new job was exhausting & I'm soooo glad we have a Public Holiday tomorrow to celebrate our Gracious Majesty's birthday. I miss my old clients to bits, & the challenge of undertaking a whole different group of products is testing me to the max. My new Company's corporate philosophy is taking some getting my head around as well. It appears that I am the most laid-back & relaxed employee they have, so I guess that means they will be on a bit of leaning curve too. Maybe by this time next year everyone will be mini-Millie's in their approach to work, now wouldn't that be something!!

It's A Girl!

It's been nearly 3 years since we said our sad & tearful goodbyes to our dear old girl Miss Chloe. We knew the right time would come when we would be ready to welcome a new fur baby into our hearts & lives & that moment came yesterday. We have 3 weeks to puppy proof the house & garden & then we can bring our sweet little girl home......we can hardly wait!

Image: Dog Beds

Tazzy Goes To Work

Son # 5's gorgeous girl Miss Tazzy is now one & quite the work dog. She goes along with her boy every day to jobs & is loving it. Although MOTH came home the other day shaking his head & laughing, as he was helping Son #5 at a client's house & Tazzy spent the entire day running around the backyard trying to round up all the planes that were flying overhead (North Adelaide's right on the flight path into Adelaide Airport). That Border Collie instinct runs deep. I was delighted to get this pic of Taz with her very own reflective safety jacket. Good on her very conscientous Owner. Isn't she growing fast!

A New Addition To Our Family!

I just had to share our exciting news - MOTH & I are going to be grandparents of this gorgeous little bundle! Son # 5 is picking her up tomorrow & he's as nervous as any new Father I've ever seen. She's an 8-week old, Tri-Colour pure-bred Border Collie as yet un-named. He'll be a wonderful doggie Daddy, very responsible, careful, kind & loving & I'm sure she will be in good hands. And if you need another hit of puppy love head over to see Anna's gorgeous new arrival Ned at Absolutely Beautiful Things - he's such a cutie.

It's a dog's life!

Image My Dog Blog

Image Robin Stubbert

This is a quick weekend post for 2 reasons:

Tanya over at SUNDAY BAKER has a beautiful corgi called Sophie. I found this photo recently & thought immediately of Tanya & Sophie - so hope you enjoy it girls!

I've recently discovered a fantastic blog on the adventures of Winston the Westie. This gorgeous Westie puppy has recently come into Michelle's life & her blog My Dog Blog is a daily account of Winston & it makes for compelling visiting. He is just the cutest little boy & he's having such fun! In the absence of our own dog (our ancient cat Miss Chloe has forbid such an intruder into her domestic bliss at this stage!), Winston has become our surrogate puppy!