Meet Noodle

I guess people have all sorts of reasons for getting a dog.  The Boss and I have owned big dogs in the past, we loved them until they eventually passed away, then made the call that our lifestyle meant we didn't have the time to commit to owning another canine or two.  That lead to our love of Maine Coons - the closest cat you can get to having a dog.  Mouse and Dukkah delight us on a daily basis, although I have the occassional MOMENT when one of them decides to go a bit mental (usually around the time of a full moon). I don't know of any other breed of cat that is capable of knocking over a full size lounge chair when they're in play mode!

Anyway, I'd been keeping an eye on Trade Me just in case a wee dog might turn up needing a new home.  The ideal candidate had to be an outside dog since inside is Maine Coon territory.  He or she had to be smaller than the cats, intelligent, not chase chickens, not be yappy,  nor a girly lap dog.  In other words, my wish list was really long to minimise potential carnage.

The Boss was 100 percent NOT keen on the idea of any more animals, especially not a dog.

So what happened?  Something bloody awful to be quite honest.  It's a long story, but basically an obese, abusive total stranger got in my space at the end of the Gibbston Summer Concert and verbally reduced me to tears.  Now I understand that I was simply in the wrong place at the wrong time, and that it was him that had the problem - I did absolutely nothing to deserve what I got.  At the time, and for days afterwards I felt utterly gutted and incredibly useless for allowing the tosser to affect me the way he did. So in response, I did the totally logical thing and got a dog.

When I picked her up she was a townie Jack Russell named Rose.  She was scared of long grass and had never seen a rabbit before. Within days Rose became Noodle, she showed a real love for going rabbit shooting with The Boss and I, and is now able to basically ignore crowing roosters standing beside her kennel. 

Noodle has lead me to start making doggy coats to sell on Trade Me.  Since she's a small, outside dog with smooth hair, I knew Noodle would feel the cold when we started getting frosty mornings, so I made her a really cool retro granny square jersey. Last night I listed seven different dog coats on Trade Me to see what styles would sell. It's been a lot of fun playing with different yarns and designs.

The only way I could get Noodle to stand still long enough to model the clothes so I could take photos was to physically exhaust her first.  Of course that also meant I was totally knackered before the start of the photo shoot, so was happy with any shots that weren't blurred or unflattering.

This is a pretty long winded story to explain how such a little dog came about, and be warned there will be plenty more of Noodle to come.

What I've learnt lately:
1. A large pot full of plums reduces in volume by half if you put it on to simmer then get sidetracked for ages by your friend Google.
2. An upside down wheelbarrow makes an excellent emergency baby chick shelter when the backyard is awash with torrential rain.