my first scratchboard

Sleep my fur baby,for you are loved, in a way that none else have ever been.

Play my fur baby, for you are loved, and i will always,always let you in.

Run my fur baby, for you are loved; then rest your soft head on my lap.

Peace my fur baby, for you are loved, and I will watch guard as you nap.

Grow my fur baby, for you are loved.Grow older,stronger,gladder every day.

Fear not  my fur baby,for you are loved.Even when you have to one day go your way.

Zara, a photo by gomagoti on Flickr.

This is Zara.That was Winston’s bed: look at how proud she looks!

This is Winston. Winnie is a 7 year old cocker spaniel whose family surrendered him because their rental arrangement would no longer allow them to keep him. He is a dear old boy, quite sprightly, very friendly with other dogs and children. Winston adores children, he lived with 4 of them and was originally an autistic child’s dog, so if you are looking for a dog and you have children he is the one for you. He likes to be around people always and emits heartbreaking little whines when left alone, so would suit in a family where someone could be with him during the day. He is quite well trained, will sit,come,roll over and shake, and is fully housetrained.He has a minor ear infection which will clear up with a little treatment. He has a lush coat that will need grooming and clipping. The only bad habbit he seems to have is an insistence to receive a Schmacko every morning.

There are many websites,booklets and pamphlets listing Hobart’s tourist attractions, but on not one of them did I find the Botanic Gardens listed.Which is a crying shame because a visit here was one of the highlights of our trip.

To say the gardens are beautiful would be a massive understatement. The sheer variety of plants alone doesn’t account for their charm.They are split into little bioshpeheres (Chinese garden, Japanese garden, french, native etc.) that seamlessly meld into one another whilst somehow keeping their unique geographical locus unblemished. Thanks to Tasmania’s climate and plentiful waterfall, there are water features aplenty and plants growing, blossoming, spectacular all year round.I would love to visit in spring when all the flowers would be in bloom, but even in late summer there was no shortage of marvellous flora.

The trees were especially impressive.It can be so easy to overlook trees, but nobody in their right mind could ever do anything but stop and stare at the massive golden elm outside the vege patch, , the huge conifers flanking the archway, or the stunted, convoluted dragon tree tucked away in the chinese garden.These gardens are home to Pete’s vege patch, of Better Homes & Gardens fame from Australian TV (which to be honest was, in my opinion, the least impressive display of the botanical gardens) and a subantarctic plant house ,replete with seabird and seal noises and subantarctic temperatures (which, in my opinion, was one of the best displays in the botanical gardens).

To top it all off, there is a restaurant with typical, exceptional fresh Tasmanian food that just inundates you with sheer flavour at every bite (be sure to order more than 2 scones, you won’t be able to stop eating them) and a charming little gift shop with everything from seeds to high end jewellery. The staff of course, were wonderful and friendly: the view across the Domain Highway andover the Derwent river appropriately stunning. Altogether, a place I will be sure to visit again.

See the Royal Tasmanian Botanical Gardens website here.

Here’s an excerpt:

600 people reached the top of Mt. Everest in 2012. This blog got about 3,800 views in 2012. If every person who reached the top of Mt. Everest viewed this blog, it would have taken 6 years to get that many views.

Click here to see the complete report.

Doug is an 11 year old German Shepherd I am currently fostering. This old boy was abandoned, and dumped to die in a pound where he contracted kennel cough and a severe claw infection. He is currently slowly regaining his health whilst we search for a forever home for this handsome and dignified old boy. I can only pray that whoever dumped him experiences a fraction of the despair and confusion he must have felt when they are of a similar age.

Fireworks ont he Hobart waterfront with the Sydney-Hobart yacht race finalists in the foreground

green and gold

when are you going

to learn to grow old

gracefully girl?

without a fight?

you should now know

what is wrong

from what’s right.

-Sarah Ahmed

Thorns may hurt you

men desert you

sunlight turn to fog;

but you’re never friendless,

ever,

if you have a dog.

-Douglas Mallock

“When did these icicles fill my head?

My fingers turn so blue, so dark

The snow drifts fill up in my heart

Ice in my veins, cold running deep

Ice in my lungs, snowflakes I breathe

I stand on slush, it turns to ice

Frigid eyes and arctic bite.

I once knew warmth, heat, sun, goodwill

If I try hard I remember it still

But since you, all I feel is chill.

-Sarah Ahmed

they don’t come much cuter than her.

I love you! I love you!

What more’s there to say?

I love you much more than sunlight loves the day.

I love you much more than the birds love the spring.

You make my heart stutter you make my heart sing.

I love you more than sticks and stones,balls and bones.

I know you love me more than feasts,beasts or tomes.

I love you forever you have my whole heart.

I’ll love you from now until death do us part.

When we meet again you know that you will see.

The person still loving you mist will be me.

-Zara Shabnam Patel.