Dog

No, this isn't our dog, but Jo and I are dog owners as of today. Photos to follow over then next couple of days.

The Brisbane City Council organised a dog walk in conjunction with the Heart Foundation today. Jo asked them if she could set up a trade stand which they agreed to. So this morning we went along to a park in Manly, tantalisingly close to the boat ramp (nuff said). About 70 people turned up with their dogs, which gave me plently of blip opportunities.

This fellow and his/her owner weren't involved and turned up a little later. This dog however got my vote for dog of the day. It is a RSPCA dog and quite large. A staffy cross, apparently, and surprisingly calm. The owner obviously cares for which is good to see.

So anyway, Jo and the team from her work had a display with lots of giveaways, including a lucky dip for the kids. We were all astounded when a mother and 3 boys moved in and promptly set about double, triple and quadruple dipping the lucky dip. They weren't even sly about it. The mother was actually sending the kids back and even helped herself on one occasion. We were all amazed. Jo actually ended up standing guard which really only slowed the family down. Appalling. The rest of the morning was fun though.

So the other news it that we are now dog owners. Jo and I picked up Jo's Dad's dog, Jassie this afternoon. It is going to be a big change for both her and us. Jassie has had no discipline at all and at 4 years old she has got some serious training ahead of her. Also she is going to have to learn to be an outside dog. On the other hand she will have plenty of input from myself and Jo. She is a very good dog though and had a hand in saving Dads life two years ago. So to us she is a hero and will get all the love and care she deserves.

On that note, I went to visit Dad this afternoon and took some new clothes along. He is looking good but was adamant theat he wants to go home. Luckily he wasn't angry and I managed to get him to sit down and chat with me. Basically I spent an hour or so rambling on about my week. It was good to have a chat with him and I gave him a hug when I left. I think he is going to be fine but it will be a while before he accepts that this a permanent move.

Spare a thought folks for those people caught up in the bushfires down in Victoria. I have been distracted with other things today and was horrified to see on the news that 76 people have been killed. Well, I say that but there are conflicting reports on the body count. Some say 60, and others say 60 with a number of people missing. You just can't trust the news these days. Needless to say there have been many deaths. Not a nice way to go. Amazingly, while the southern states are sweltering in a record heat wave, up north they are havng record monsoonal floods. In Brisbane we are in the middle of a big continent. Yes, it is hot here but because of our climate, prevailing winds and the humidity but we are for the most part immune to really extreme weather
Lets hope the conditions change soon on both the north and the south of the continent.