Summer, apparently

The first week of summer, well, wasn't. But then the warmer, drier weather of summer doesn't really seem to start in Tasmania until January. Then it runs through to the end of March. We've had a lot of rain and wind this week and temperatures down to about 4 degrees. On one of our morning dog walks this week, all three of us got completely drenched in the pouring rain. So when David spotted dog coats for sale at the local pet store later that day he snapped one up in XL for Gretchen. It's even in the Tassie state hi-viz uniform, you can't miss her. We thought she may object to it, but to our surprise, she really seems to love wearing it, even seems a little proud! She's given passing drivers a laugh too... but she doesn't seem to know she looks a bit silly. At least it saves a lot of towel drying.

Bernese Worldwide Walk 2019 - Hobart

Yesterday we finally made it to the Hobart edition of the Bernese Worldwide Walk 2019. We've missed previous years due to other commitments and dear old Baerli being unable to walk very far in her last couple of years. This year, there were 16 of these beautiful, good-natured dogs and their owners. We gathered near the Cornelian Bay Boathouse for a short walk and a photo opportunity of course. Gretchen was such a good girl, we weren't sure how she would go with such a large group of dogs without Baerli to follow. Amazingly at 8.5 years she was the oldest Bernese Mountain Dog there! There were four 18 month old ones from the same litter, oh boy, they were boisterous and funny. We had a lovely couple of hours, patting all the dogs and meeting all their owners. It's hard to say if Gretchen enjoyed it, but fair to say she enjoyed the trip to Willie Smiths on the way home, more specifically the tiny piece of ham that "fell" from my cheese-and-ham toastie.

Bärli 30/10/06 - 8/3/19

I'd forgotten how grief creates physical pain. There's now a great aching hole in my heart, shaped like a Bernese Mountain Dog. Yesterday was a very rough day for us, as we said goodbye to our beautiful girl Bärli , after more than 12 wonderful years. I've already said all I wanted to in a post on Facebook, reproduced below, but wanted to share it here too, so that when I print my next annual blog book these beautiful photos of her will shine from the pages. Next, I plan to write down the happy memories, the small things, in case I forget anything. I don't want to forget. RIP my bear.

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Today we said goodbye to our beautiful girl Bärli (“little bear”), originally Zanzebern Q T Pie, aged 12 years and 4 months. That’s a pretty good innings for a Bernese Mountain Dog, but it doesn’t make it any easier to lose her. She was a grand old lady but in the last few days life had become a struggle for her and we had to let her go.
Our late friend Alan once said that I look at Bärli like a mother gazes at her newborn – and he was right. I absolutely adored that dog. She was my first dog and the best cuddle ever. She was funny, gentle and placid with many facial expressions and not an aggressive bone in her large 54kg body. Many people (even folk who know Bernese) mistook her for a male due to her size – she got that from mum Orsa and dad Denzel, both gorgeous Zanzebern dogs. Thank you to breeder Nicole for letting us have her.
Bärli had a happy life, first in Sydney then in Tasmania since 2010 where she got to enjoy the snow like a proper Swiss dog. She loved the water too. And car rides, head out in the wind. We thought we’d lost her a few years back but thanks to some quick action from the kind vets at Southern Tasmanian Vet Hospital we got to enjoy another three years with her. Much of that time she spent on the lounge, as you’ll see in these photos! The second you turned your back she was up there, even during her very last night.
Bärli was on TV, in the paper and magazines and even in an advertisement for chicken coops (see photo). She once won a “greediest dog” competition in a group of around 30 Bernese, because she gobbled up celery and snow pea sprouts that other dogs spat out. She’s had millions of pats and cuddles from us and thousands more from strangers, especially hordes of little girl fans everywhere we went.
Goodbye sweet girl. We love you so much.

 

 

 

Warming the bones

The flannelette sheets are gone from the bed. We're wearing fewer layers of clothing - no more "double pants", as we call it when you wear tights or thermals under your trousers. No more puffy jackets. The sunny days have been perfect for getting outdoors. We've had to start watering in the garden again, which I kind of enjoy doing in the longer evenings after dinner. Yesterday, we were able to tick a job off the list that required a dry and sunny weekend: staining the chook shed to protect the wood from the elements.

Every single one of our young fruit trees has flowered this year: the quince, the medlar, the plums, the peach, the cherries, apples, pears and even the apricot tree that we've had no luck at all with so far.

 And best of all - the warmer weather is perfect for a beer in the garden with the dogs at the end of a day of getting stuff done. Hard to beat.

New season, new trees

Last week, a man with a digger came and leveled out some bumps in the yard that made mowing difficult, and removed some large rocks that were jutting out enough to damage the ride-on mower. We decided to fill some of the holes left behind where the rocks were removed with some new trees, so a Saturday morning trip to Greenhill Nursery was in order. They have a huge selection of plants and very helpful staff. Even better, the trees are grown in a climate similar to ours, so we know they will cope with the local weather. We bought a couple of elderberry trees (I want to use the flowers in some recipes I have), a lipstick maple, a crab apple, an ornamental pear and a little blue spruce. Fingers crossed they all do well and didn't mind the snow covering less than two days after they were planted. I was unable to take a photo of the newly graded bank in the garden without being dog bombed, as you'll see. Thanks, Gretchen.

Fleeting snow

The forecast was for snow down to 400 metres. We settled in on the lounge to watch a movie (Hunt for the Wilderpeople - highly recommend) and by the time it was over the flakes were falling thick and fast and the garden furniture had a lovely dusting of snow. This afternoon, the snow is melting and clumps of it are falling off the roof with a great thud. The first snow of the year won't last long but it was pretty! And the dogs love it.

Summer dogs

On this last day of summer, I thought I'd share a few photos of our beautiful girls and what they got up to over summer. Just because... well, they are beautiful. And so was summer.

A long awaited return to Kingston Dog Beach

Swim, roll in sand, repeat

Making friends on Australia Day in Franklin

Cooling off in the Huon River

Hanging out in the evening sun

Waiting to be handed a snow pea through the fence

Coffee break with lap dog

This is known as dog sandwich. Best cuddle ever.