21st February 2010

Amaryllis in Flower
Originally uploaded by spinoneuk

Here is the amaryllis in full flower today. See the photo I took on 9th February to see it in bud.

20th February 2010

Little Egret in Flight
Originally uploaded by spinoneuk

The little egret was back today and I was better prepared. Watched it for a while and managed to photgraph it in flight.

19th February 2010

Little Egret
Originally uploaded by spinoneuk

Not many people can have had this as a bird in their garden! A little egret came today and I just managed to get a picture through the window before it took off again.

18th February 2010

Daffodils
Originally uploaded by spinoneuk

I planted a couple of hundred daffodil bulbs last year. Delighted to see they are starting to show through as it was August so completely the wrong time of year.

17th February 2010

Victoria Embankment
Originally uploaded by spinoneuk

I noticed the trees along the Victoria Embankment today were covered in spiky shells. Not a brilliant picture but a reminder to find out what they are.

16th February 2010

Goosander
Originally uploaded by spinoneuk

Back from our tour, we spotted a Goosander on the lake. One male and one female, stayed overnight but then moved on.

15th February 2010

Mabel
Originally uploaded by spinoneuk

The beautiful Mabel, Hochopepa Am I Bovvered, posing for the camera. Her mum is the lovely Ethel (Hochopepa Don't Look Ethel) and dad is Little Ben (Michiamo Baradello).

14th February 2010

Buca
Originally uploaded by spinoneuk

We went for a lovely walk today to the Monsal Viaduct. Very hilly and Buca failed to negotiate a wall (with steps provided). Eventually we had to find him a lower bit to scramble over. He even made quite an ordeal of it and needed lots of help and encouragement.

13th February 2010

Chez Mabel
Originally uploaded by spinoneuk

Our tour moves north to Derbyshire where we stayed with Mabel and her family. She was very generous giving up her sofa to visitors. Typical spinone scene.

12th February 2010

Hudson's Island
Originally uploaded by spinoneuk

Joan's kitchen has a lino floor and Hudson still has a thing about shiny floors. We had to put down a few mats and towels so that he could go Island Hopping to get around. Here he is sitting on one of his islands looking very sorry for himself.

11th February 2010

Visiting Joan
Originally uploaded by spinoneuk

Hudson, Buca and Alice on tour, first stop Kirby Muxloe to stay with Joan for a couple of days.

10th February 2010

Dorset Apple Cake
Originally uploaded by spinoneuk

My first attempt at a Dorset Apple Cake. It took double the time expected to cook but tasted great.

9th February 2010

Amaryllis about to flower
Originally uploaded by spinoneuk

I bought an Amaryllis just before Christmas for £1 because it was already in flower. I didn't expect it to grow another flower stem and new buds. Bargain.

8th February 2010

Hudson & Alice sharing the sofa
Originally uploaded by spinoneuk

Hudson and Alice share the sofa today. Hudson is being amazingly well behaved considering Alice is in season.

7th February 2010

Smile
Originally uploaded by spinoneuk

A trip to Towcester today, Gaynor and Jon posed outside the Saracens Head Hotel for my photo of today.

6th February 2010

A Walk in the New Forest
Originally uploaded by spinoneuk

A lovely walk in the New Forest with Gaynor and Penny. From left to right Alfie, Sid, Murphy, Ruby, Fraggle, Bobby, Kiri, Buca, Norman and Frank.

5th February 2010

Rhubarb
Originally uploaded by spinoneuk

I found this stalk of rhubarb sheltering under the dead oak leaves. It's about 5cm tall at the moment. It will be interesting to watch its growth rate.

4th February 2010

Spring Snowdrops
Originally uploaded by spinoneuk

Spring Snowdrops. More signs of spring, the snowdrops are out in force now. They are amazingly tough to survive the cold winter and look so delicate when they appear

3rd February 2010

Signs of Spring
Originally uploaded by spinoneuk

Signs of Spring. New buds are emerging on these primulas, a welcome splash of colour in the garden.

2nd February 2010

Red Eye
Originally uploaded by spinoneuk

Red Eye. A different view of the London Eye today, a little fuzzy but the colours make up for it.

1st February 2010

Spinone Footprints in the Frost
Originally uploaded by spinoneuk

Spinone Footprints in the Frost. We had a heavy white frost last night and Buca has hot paws!

31st January 2010

Brrrr
Originally uploaded by spinoneuk

A shetland pony covered in frost, taken on Kingston Common, Ringwood. Having a bit of a bad hair day too!

30th January 2010

Kingston Common Lake
Originally uploaded by spinoneuk

A very cold but sunny day, taken near the bench on Kingston Common looking across the lake. If you look closely you will see a heron just taking off. I only had a small compact camera with me so the heron isn't very clear unfortunately.

29th January 2010

Buca Alice Bobby
Originally uploaded by spinoneuk

L-R Buca, Alice & Bobby relax on the sofa.

28th January 2010

Buca Gets Stuck Again!
Originally uploaded by spinoneuk

Buca features again .... and gets stuck again. Buca has a thing about narrow gaps.

27th January 2010

Sunrise Over Kingston Common
Originally uploaded by spinoneuk

A beautiful sunrise this morning over Kingston Common.

26th January 2010

From Blackfriars Bridge
Originally uploaded by spinoneuk

Worked in London today, a trip out at lunchtime to snap this sign over the railway line at Blackfriars Bridge.

25th January 2010

Norman - Hochopepa Mr Grimsdale
Originally uploaded by spinoneuk

Norman (Hochopepa Mr Grimsdale) at Manchester Ch show yesterday. Mum is Ethel (Hochopepa Don't Look Ethel) and dad is Little Ben (Michiamo Baradello).

24th January 2010

Jaylynne Phoebe - Italian Spinone
Originally uploaded by spinoneuk

I went to Manchester Ch Show unexpectedly today, Marie had broken her wrist and couldn't drive. We had a lovely day out and saw Phoebe, one of Jaffa & Ben's puppies. I haven't seen her since she was a tiny puppy. She had a great result winning 2nd in the Minor Puppy class which qualifies her for Crufts 2011. It was her first Championship Show too.

23rd January 2010

Flooded Fields on Kingston Common
Originally uploaded by spinoneuk

A beautiful day after the greyness of yesterday. This is the view across the fields from Kingston Common over the river Avon to Avon Castle. There are a few swans in the distance and a couple of cygnets with them.

22nd January 2010

Colour on a Dull Day
Originally uploaded by spinoneuk

A splash of colour from this red stemmed acer brightens up a really grey day.

21st January 2010

Rose and Rose Hips
Originally uploaded by spinoneuk

This rose was given to me by Betty & Ted, and is still in flower despite the bad weather. The bloom is actually frozen. This rose stays in flower pretty much all year round, there are new buds waiting to emerge already. It's a great way to remember Betty and is probably the most photographed plant in my garden.

20th January 2010

Emerging Camellia Flower
Originally uploaded by spinoneuk

Is this the first sign of Spring. A camellia flower starts to emerge. The only one on the bush. All the others are tightly closed.
The only other flowers in the garden today are a yellow primula which has somehow managed to survive the winter, Betty's rose which is looking a bit bedragled, and I saw the first snowdrops today too.

19th January 2010

St Pauls from Blackfriars Bridge
Originally uploaded by spinoneuk

St Pauls taken from Blackfriars Bridge, a crane looks like it is about to take the lid off St Pauls.

18th January 2010

Kingston Common Sunset
Originally uploaded by spinoneuk

A beautiful sunset on Kingston Common, Ringwood, Hampshire.

17th January 2010

Frozen Over
Originally uploaded by spinoneuk

A walk on Kingston Common shows that the water is still frozen although the surface is strangely pitted.

16th January 2010

The First Michiamo Puppy
Originally uploaded by spinoneuk

No photo opportunities today so rewinding back 6 years when the first Michiamo puppy was born. Mum is Fraggle (Kenmillen Fara del Michiamo) and dad is Rocco (Goldfly Dollie Fooled Again at Cobbets). Her puppy name was Stella - yes after the lager! We kept her and the puppy known as Tex from the litter. She became known as Kiri (Michiamo Candolini). Tex became Buca (Michiamo Zambuca). Our KC names had a Liqueur theme.

15th January 2010

Bluetit Feeding
Originally uploaded by spinoneuk

We've been keeping the bird feeders well stocked during the cold weather and see lots of blue tits come and feed on the peanuts.

14th January 2010

Coconut Kernel
Originally uploaded by spinoneuk

Split open a coconut today and the kernel stayed in one piece.

13th January 2010

Photo Mosaic
Originally uploaded by spinoneuk

Little Ben at 5 weeks old, as a photo mosaic.

12th January 2010

London Eye
Originally uploaded by spinoneuk

Worked in London today and snapped this scene when walking back to Temple tube station.

11th January 2010

Wordle is Wonderful
Originally uploaded by spinoneuk

Photo opportunites were a bit limited today so I thought a word cloud example showing the names of our spinoni would be a good alternative. This was created at http://www.wordle.net/.

10th January 2010

Foxes on Ice
Originally uploaded by spinoneuk

Foxes on Ice! The lake is frozen solid and all the ducks have gone elsewhere. Today while talking on the phone, I saw two foxes walk across it.
The went into the field on the other side and were searching for food. I watched them for a while and then something spooked them and they ran off.

9th January 2010

Riva's Anniversary
Originally uploaded by spinoneuk

Today we bend the rules a little and use a picture taken 1 year ago, on the day that we had to say goodbye to Riva. It was a lovely sunny day and she decided to have a snooze in the sunshine on a bed of dried oak leaves.

8th January 2010

Buca Gets Stuck
Originally uploaded by spinoneuk

Buca provides today's photo. He follows his sister into a fenced off area of the garden but can't get out again. Being Buca he screams for help. The noise was awful, I'm sure the neighbours thought he was being tortured. This is fairly typical behaviour for him. He has a bit of a spatial awareness problem and won't go through a gap if he thinks it is too narrow.

Today the utility room flooded as the washing machine outlet pipe froze.

7th January 2010

Bobby's Icicle
Originally uploaded by spinoneuk

It's so cold today that even Bobby's beard has frozen. A beautfiul sunny day but not warm enough to melt the frozen snow that is left on the grass.
I ventured out today, the puddles at the end of the track have built up ice walls around the edges making them seem deeper than they really are. The local roads were all fine, but we haven't had much snow here. Due to be colder tonight and tomorrow.

6th January 2010

Molly & Buca
Originally uploaded by spinoneuk

Buca is staying away with his friends for a few days. He slept in till 8.50am ... typical. He has had more snow than us so he sent today's picture of himself and Molly enjoying themselves in the garden. We had very little snow today, no more than a centimetre. It has settled a little but not much to photograph so I tried a panoramic stitch which turned out ok but more practise needed!

Thai curry tonight following Nigel's visit to the oriental food shop.

5th January 2010

IMG_0614_05.01.10
Originally uploaded by spinoneuk

It's very cold this morning, the temperature reached -10C overnight at Hurn. Today's picture is the sun rising over Kingston Common. Heavy snow is forecast for this evening. 30cm or more. Camera batteries are charged and ready.

4th January 2010

IMG_0612_04.01.10
Originally uploaded by spinoneuk

A thrush visits the garden looking for food before the snow arrives. It is about 6 feet from the patio windows and Alice is going nuts.
The RSPCA and a fire engine are called out to Canford Magna Golf Club to rescue a deer that is stuck in the middle of a frozen lake. A missed photo opportunity - Nigel didn't think to take one! A real life Bambi on ice.

3rd January 2010

IMG_0064_03.01.10
Originally uploaded by spinoneuk

We are going to try and take a photo every day for 365 days, our own Project 365.

This is our first one of Buca and Hudson wrapping up ready for the snow that is forecast this week.

Hudson Announces

I am pleased to announce that my new hip has satisfactorily passed the "Worktop Surfing Test". I managed to steal a boiled egg which had been safely stowed at the back of the worktop.