Finn

We recently celebrated Finn’s third birthday with a trip to one of his favourite river spots, where he loves to run, explore, swim and chase sticks. I made this scrapbook page for his album, which is filling up fast.

Here are some close-ups of the details.

I love to layer papers.

The burlap gives it a natural feel.

I used collage elements and did some chalking through stencils.

Washi tape and ribbon co-ordinate with the colour theme of water and nature.

This pretty sticker was from Graphic 45’s Botanical Tea collection.

 

Beach Wall Hanging

This little wall hanging was inspired by a recent visit to Waimarama Beach. I rummaged around in my stash of fabrics for blues and golds to accent the colours in the photograph. I sewed them onto a burlap background with wavy lines of stitching, then sewed on strips of ribbon and trim, and added some buttons and some driftwood and shells from the beach. Hanging from the bottom are vintage tassels I found at a recent antiques fair.

Finn had a wonderful time chasing his toy, then burying it in the sand. He even found a playmate. Although he loves to swim in the river, he has always been a little hesitant about going into the ocean. But on this day he was happy to follow Nick into the water, and to retrieve his toy from the shallow waves.

Quiet Time

I love this photo that Nick took of Finn during one of our puppy’s quieter moments.

Life with Finn

 

Our puppy, Finn, is 9 months old now and has become a beloved member of our family. He is very different to our last dog, Cody, who was very gentle and affectionate. Finn is much more strong-willed and demanding, but he has great character and is an awesome, fun-loving little companion. In the last few weeks he seems to have calmed down a little, and sometimes, now, he will even let us sleep later than 6 a.m. in the weekends!

One of my favourite toys!

In the mornings I take Finn for a walk at a local reserve, beside a creek, where he sometimes meets up with his furry friends, Jess and Sam. They have a wonderful time playing together and it is a good opportunity for him to socialize. Finn is very friendly and loves to play with other dogs, but he hasn’t learned yet that some dogs are old and don’t want to play. He can be a little over-boisterous, so I have to keep him on his lead until I can be sure that other dogs we meet are happy to play with him.

Now that the days are longer, we take Finn to the river when Nick comes home from work, where we can let him off his lead, there is nobody around for him to bother, and he can run and run to his heart’s content. He loves the water and has learned to swim, although he is still a little hesitant about going in out of his depth.

In the weekends we go for long walks in the country, along rivers, or sometimes to the beach. During our explorations, we have found lots of new places to take him.

Are we there yet?

 

There’s lots of space to run around here!

We have a beautiful sandy beach about a forty-five minute drive away, and if we go there on a weekday, sometimes we are the only ones there.

Hurry up and throw the stick!

I wonder if it’s safe to go in and get it.

That wasn’t so bad!

I think I might bury it now.

We still have a long way to go with training him not to bark at the hose, the vacuum cleaner, or the neighbours, not to jump up on Grandma and Granddad, not to dig holes in the lawn, chase baby birds, steal socks, or chew the edges of rugs, toes, or watering cans.

Yes, he is a handful, and can be challenging at times, but we wouldn’t be without him.

This is a nice sunny spot for relaxing after a hard day’s play!

 

Autumn Journal Page

I love to pick up fallen leaves when we go for walks with Finn. The autumn leaves are such beautiful colours. There is just something about them that I can’t resist, although I am never quite sure what I will do with them once I get them home. More often than not, they will end up being tossed away again. This year, however, I was determined to use some on a journal page.

Although the leaves were already dry when I collected them, I pressed them under a pile of heavy books for a week to flatten them before I used them.

I painted the background of my journal page with watercolour paints, in autumn shades of golds, reds and orange. Then I glued a photo of Finn onto the page and surrounded it with the leaves. I glued the leaves down, then covered them with a layer of mod podge to protect and preserve them. I used scrapbooking letters to spell out the word Autumn.

Beneath the Bilobas

One of the parks where we walk Finn has a row of Ginkgo Biloba trees. The soft fruit-like seeds that fall on the ground are very smelly, but the fan-shaped leaves, which turn bright yellow in autumn, are quite beautiful.

 

 

Ginkgo is one of the longest-living tree species in the world and can live for more than a thousand years. Ginkgo extract, usually made from the leaves, has long been used to improve memory and cognition. In recent years there have been several studies carried out on its effectiveness in treating dementia and Alzheimer’s disease, with conflicting results.

On a cold winter’s day, it is cheering to see the lovely golden carpet of leaves on the ground.

 

Fun at the Beach

We have had amazing weather this autumn. There has been very little rain, and until a couple of days ago, the temperatures have been up in the twenties most days. Last weekend we took Finn to one of our local beaches. He had a wonderful time chasing sticks, digging in the sand, and investigating all the different smells and debris that had washed up onto the beach. He was a little wary of the water, but I’m sure it won’t be too long until he ventures into it.

 

 

 

Peanut Butter Dog Biscuits

Peanut Butter Dog Biscuits

As someone who loves food and enjoys cooking, I like to know that what I am eating is healthy and is made from good ingredients. I also want the same for our dog. Our puppy, Finn, absolutely loves his food and I want to make sure that he has a good diet that is nutritional, as well as tasty.

I have been trying out different dog food recipes for dog loaf, dog stew, and biscuits, which I have found on the internet and in books. After playing around with several dog biscuit recipes, I have adapted them to come up with one that Finn really loves, and which includes lots of healthy ingredients for him.

This recipe makes about 40 small biscuits. I keep them in the freezer so that they stay fresh, and take out a few each day for his lunch.

1 beaten egg
1 cup vegetable stock
2 cups wholemeal flour
1 cup rolled oats
1 Tablespoon olive oil
1 Tablespoon virgin coconut oil
3 Tablespoons peanut butter with no added salt
½ cup chopped parsley
1 Tablespoon nutritional yeast flakes

Combine all ingredients and mix well. Form into small balls and place on greased or paper-lined oven tray. Flatten with the back of a spoon. Bake for 45 minutes at 150ºC.

More please!

Meet Finn

We have a new puppy! His name is Finn and he is 10 weeks old. He is a Jack Russell/Foxy cross and he is very adorable (except for when he’s hanging onto me with his needle-sharp teeth!) He loves to curl up on my lap while I’m working at the computer, and he loves to play with cardboard boxes. We’re all looking forward to when he’s had his final vaccinations so we can start taking him out for walks to run off some of his boundless energy. He starts puppy pre-school tonight. Hopefully he won’t be too naughty!