Bye-bye to the year 2009

I can't believe another year is coming to end. I feel like the year started only a few months ago!

Cookie & Cinnamon's first walk in the year, 1st Jan 2009

I started blogging in January this year, and when I started it I was not sure what it was going to be like, especially because the day I published my very first post Cinnamon was hospitalised for a mysterious illness.

However, despite my concern, Cinnamon recovered well from the illness, and blogging has opened our world so much that we now have friends all over the world! Also, friends who we met through blogs have taught us so many things. Among other things, who would have imagined that we would take on dog dancing as well as making a debut in agility trials! Also, thanks to valuable advice from our blog friends, especially Honey the Great Dane, Cinnamon has become much more obedient. She looks like a different dog!

Cinnamon's first Clear Round, 20th Jun 2009

On the other hand, there was a sad thing as you all know. Cookie left us to cross the rainbow bridge this month. He had always been a great company for us since he came to our house a year after we moved to New Zealand. He brought us lots of happiness and opportunities to meet new people.

Cookie & Cinnamon at Hound Racing, 5th Apr 2009

Finally, we wish you all the best for the year 2010!!

See you in the New Year!!

Belated Christmas presents

On Boxing Day, the 26th December, Cinnamon finally got her belated Christmas presents.

When I was driving out of the carpark of a grocery shop, I spotted a "Boxing Day Sale" sign of a pet shop that shares the carpark with the grocery shop. Then, looking behind to make sure there was no car after mine, I reversed and parked in front of the pet shop.

Look at these!

They were both half price! The stuffed bear, which I thought was a stuffed monkey when I bought it, is called Christmas Bear, but what makes it Christmas is the red hat and jacket only, so it looks like just a bear in red.

There is a reason I bought a new bed for Cinnamon. Until Cookie went, Cinnamon and Cookie slept in their own crates in a small room. But once she lost the comforting company of Cookie, Cinnamon started to bark in her crate at night and didn't stop. In the end, we gave in and allowed her to sleep with us in our bed. But ideally I want her to sleep on her own bedding, so I bought this comfortable looking bed for her. What I have to do next is teach her to sleep alone on this one. Training never ends!!

P.S.
After I wrote this post I realised what I should do with her barking at night is teach her to sleep in her crate alone, quietly... Then, why did I buy a new bed? Never mind...it's pretty anyway.

Happy Holidays!!

Our Christmas day turned out to be perfect holiday weather here in Auckland!!

The temperature has risen to nearly 25 degrees Celsius (about 77 degrees Fahrenheit), but it feels much hotter outside because of the strong sun with few cloud in the sky above us.

Striking red flowers are in full bloom on Pohutukawa trees, often called "New Zealand Christmas Trees."

Well, here is a present from Cinnamon to all our blog friends and readers! We hope you will enjoy it!!

We hope Cookie will be enjoying watching this video too, as he loved practising tricks with Cinnamon.

This is our Christmas

Being non-Christian and having no family in the country, our Christmas is usually very quiet. We sometimes have Christmas parties with our friends but not always.

This year our Christmas season started like this.

My husband decorated the kitchen window with colourful Christmas decoration that my friend from Japan had given us when she visited us on her trip to New Zealand.

I made a Christmas robe for Cinnamon, using a red felt gift bag and a hair band with an angel's ring that I had got from a $2 shop, and some white fake fur I had bought from a craft shop.

Two pleasant walks in one day

We had pleasant walks yesterday.

In the morning we went to the Domain. When we arrived there the sun was still very low and drawing long shadows.

The Auckland War Memorial Museum was celebrating its 80th birthday.

From the Domain you can see the Sky Tower, a landmark in the centre of the city.

In late afternoon we went to St Heliers. We hadn't been to the suburb along St Heliers Beach for a long time since some dogs died from eating sea slugs that contained toxin found in blowfish when walking on beaches around Hauraki Gulf. The beaches were still closed for the dogs, so we had a walk on Tamaki Drive and in a park called Vellenoweth Green.

Who do you think we met in the park? We met Chloe the Beagle and her human by chance!! Chloe is a member of the Hound Racing Club and always ran with Cookie at demos in dog events like Discover Dogs and Pet Expo. We hadn't seen them for a long time, because there was no coursing in winter and when the coursing started again in September Cinnamon was being treated for her hip problem and Cookie was unwell.

What a lovely day it was!! We had two pleasant special walks in one day!