thebellagreyhound

2009-12-15T15:02:00.002+10:00

"Those that bring sunshine to the lives of others cannot keep it for themselves" - James Barrie

Remembering Tracey and the sunshine she brought to so many people.

For Tamale - the Original Snorkelface

2009-12-03T23:47:00.005+10:00

Tamale lets Zinzi 'the mini pitpull' balance on her head.

My favourite picure of me and Tamale. It was a great day at the beach with great company and great hounds and a great mini dog!

Poor Zinzi - she tried so hard to make her little legs keep up with the hounds!

Me and Puss leaving no room for Matt.

Puss liked to eat in a particular way at our house - away from the others and with her bowl on a bed. As if anyone would have argued this point with the Puss.

They would have gotten the stinkeye real fast.

Puss taking my side of the bed quite happily.

Me and Puss sleepin'

Tamale with Cathy her first owner and Mat her first foster carer. Even after months appart she always greeted them with huge kisses. And Tamale was not a kissy dog so this was an honour bestode on few ( I must confess I did get a few Snorkels out of her....mainly through food).

Tamale - this was the look she gave me when she wanted something. And she always got what she wanted. Usually to be allowed onto my bed or to share whatever I was eating.

A sleeping Puss. Such a lady when she wanted to be....

A 'not happy having a bath' Tamale. She alwasy forgave me as she got treats.

"She dies as she had been born and as she had lived, in my care,

surrounded by those that love her." - Vickie W. Foster

Tamale was one of those dogs that everyone loved. I was lucky enough to share part of her life and to be Aunty Brooke to her and to Omo. Just before she left us for the bridge I was due to go into hospital so (just before I took them home to my house) I spent a few days alone with them in their house. We hung out, ate bad food, watched bad television and basically had hound time. I let her on the couch, the big red couch she is not supposed to be on and she loved it. The day I took them back to my house I had to vacuum it as it looked like a big red lamington.

They both stayed at my house with all of my hounds so that Matt could care for them whilst I was in hospital having an operation. The morning that I left the house I kissed them all goodbye. Tamale had managed to con her way into the walk in wardrobe in our room (this is a prized area and she must have not taken no for an answer because Iris does not really like sharing it with anyone), so when I gave her a kiss she looked very pleased with herself. She did not bother to get up off her bed, she knew I would bend down to her. She was like a super model, she knew she would get what she wanted. And no one ever complained because, well because, that was just the way she was and we loved her for it.

Sadly, two days after my operation I heard that she had decided to take herself to the bridge. I know that she did this to cause the least amount of trauma to Katy and Mark. Tamale was an independent old soul and she made her own rules. She would have hated the fuss of being sick so left on her own terms. She said goodbye to Mark and Katy and a few hours later left on her journey. She will be, and is still dearly missed by all of us. But there are so many good memories there will never be a moment that we can't think back and smile about her.

And thanks to a funny little Snorkelface hound, I have a dear and treasured friendship with Katy.

Banjo

2009-11-24T00:02:00.005+10:00

For Banjo - my big beautiful yellow dog

2 July 2004 - 3 November 2009

Dogs have a way of finding the people that need them,

Filling an emptiness we don't even know we have. - Thom Jones

Bella

2009-06-02T14:54:00.002+10:00

at peace 16/05/2009

When the time is right I will be able to post about my beautiful girl. Bella would have been 16 this year. She was such a huge part of my life that I am not able to put into words the loss that I feel. A broken heart is not a cliche. My heart is in a million pieces and at the moment I can not imagine life without her in it.

2009-05-12T19:18:00.002+10:00

for Tracey

and for the people that loved her and miss her everyday

For Karma

2009-04-02T20:26:00.003+10:00

At peace 2 April 2009.

Much love to Sian and her family who will forever miss their

sweet, beautiful hound.

For Kea

2009-03-27T23:27:00.002+10:00

15 and a half years ago I took a tiny Staffy puppy home for Christmas. I put a big tartan ribbon around her fat tummy and presented her to mum who fell in love with her instantly.

This week Kea joined her best friend Roxy in heaven where together they can be free of arthritis and eat as much cheese as they want.

Our Sweet Kea loved everybody but she especially loved mum. When mum was in hospital recovering from heart surgery Kea was completely lost. She roamed the house everyday looking for her until she would sadly give up and go and curl up on mum's pillow to sleep and dream of mum coming home.

A visit to mum and dad's house will just not be the same without a silly Staffy jumping in your lap to cover you in slurps. Kea's other best friend Lousie the greyhound now divides her love between mum and dad and with a heavy hound heart must take on the role of the sole canine carer. Both Kea and Roxy know that Lou is up to it though because they were very good at teaching her to be a lap dog and how to sneak under the doona in the middle of the night.

Sweet Kea, you brought so much life and love and laughter to our family that there will forever be a space missing under the table at dinner time.

The family that eats Chinese together.....

2009-03-24T18:52:00.002+10:00

sticks together

Dad, Uncle John, Mum, Aunty Janette, Scott, Me, Matt, Lyndal + 1 and Mat

Mum and Dad just celebrated their 40th wedding anniversary. So in in true Liddle style we had a slap up feast of Chinese. We gave the table's lazy susan a workout that it will never recover from. I think that at one point there was smoke coming off it as we fought each other for the sweet and sour pork. You should have seen the wrestling that went on over the prawn crackers.

When mum was not looking I made sure that Dad got 3 serves of dessert. She was too distracted trying the deep fried ice cream that she claims that she has never had before. I know full well that she has tried it before because I fought her for her serve at the last Chinese Smorgasbord Liddle Family Extravaganza.

After 40 years I figured that Dad can eat as much ice cream as he wants....

My next dog

2009-03-17T20:59:00.004+10:00

Her name was Kitty - she even purred.
Pick me up! Pick me up! PICK ME UP NOW!!

Come closer...I WILL lick you...

I um bewdiful und Iwant to snorgle wiz you

Quite taking pictures and let me love you.

GAP had a promotion on the weekend at a Pet Expo. I fell in love with the French Bulldogs. They just love everyone. They come up to you and just start to lick and snorgle. That is the kind of dog I love. One that likes to pash on a first date and is not afraid to do it in public.

More Hats...

2009-03-17T20:47:00.003+10:00

Yeah I know - it is fecking ridiculaous what she makes us do.

Oh god please make it stop....

I wonder if she broke her arm could still churn out this crap?

They pretend to hate it. But really they LOVE IT.

The hat model

2009-03-12T21:48:00.002+10:00

I am madly knitting for the arrival of my niece. Iris gets to model everything I make. Snorkel is just glad that she gets out of dress ups as she is already wearing enough stuff.

Some Snork News

2009-03-12T21:12:00.004+10:00

Fancy 80's inspired crop top.

Banjo taking care of his sister.

The closest that Gracie has ever come to wearing a racing vest!

Baby Pie gives licks and kisses.

Iris trying to work out if she will fit into the new designerwear.

Peanut Butter + Valuim = Smile

Gracie gettin some Uncle Matsie snorgles.

The Snork is getting better.....slowly. Under her neck and shoulder where they needed to cut out the dead tissue she has open wounds that must be dressed every couple of days. She is being a very good sport about the whole thing and has not complained once. I think that this is because the vet nurses spoil her rotten. As she soon as she gets there she throws herself at them and leans all over them and demands attention. It use to take two nurses about 20 minutes to bandage her but now they have it down pat and can do it in 10.

The nurses have been having a great time choosing different coloured bandage for her. The even went on the internet to find out what number a yellow vest was so they could get it right! She just loves them and I am relieved that when I have to leave her there she is loved and taken care of. The other day after a session Hayley offered her a treat and madam did not want that treat and promptly stuck her snorkel into the jar to choose something better. I told her off for being cheeky but they love her and let her get away with whatever she wants.

She is still running a temperature so they have started her on a course of different antibiotics. They are liver flavoured hence I do not need to coat them in a tablespoon of peanut butter before I shove them in her gob every morning and night. Poncho cottoned onto the peanut butter caper and now will only take his Valium if it is covered in a mound of it. I am sure that they are addicted. Not to the drugs. They NEED to chase the 'peanut butter' every day.

A wild night in for the boys

2009-03-12T20:55:00.004+10:00

It has been pretty hectic around here lately. Gracie is still on the mend and requires her bandages to be changed every couple of days at the vet. There never seems to be enough hours in the day.

Uncle Matsie has been spending the weekends at our house helping with the hounds and pretending to that he does not like me mothering him. A few weeks ago they boys had a few beers and attempted to watch a movie..... it was not even late it was like 8pm!

I was drawn to their state of slumber by a sound that was not unlike a huge chainsaw hacking up gigantic chunks of lumber. The hounds had fled the room for the serenity of any room in the house that was not anywhere near them. Even Bella, who is almost deaf, had left the room for the comfort and peace of the backyard.

It was almost as if in unison they were saying - we are men hear us roar...but only from the couch as we are too tired and fragile to deal with anything else.... and whilst you are busy watching us and taking pictures can you please bring us a blankie?

I don't think they even finished a beer each before it was nuh night lights out. I was going to wake them and then figured it was more fun to take pictures of them and have full control of the remote.

Iris helps Gracie

2009-02-19T21:24:00.002+10:00

Iris big and brave on the track

This is what an Iris sookfest looks like...

Gracie was still pretty sick this morning and so my vet thought that it might be a good idea to give her some more blood. Since Banjo had already given blood this week I took Iris in so that she could help out her sister.

Iris was pretty brave when we got to the vet but when I picked her up tonight she was pretty unimpressed. I think that she might have thought that she was going to the day spa but soon worked out the vet was not all fun and games and spent all afternoon sleeping off her sedative. Baby Snorks is looking better and gave Iris a big sniff and a tail wag when we arrived.

Gracie is looking better tonight and Mike the vet thinks that she might able to come home for the weekend. She is going to have to go back next week but for now she is making progress and that is a good sign.

Iris got hand fed 2 steaks for dinner and sooked off to bed. She told me that she would only donate blood again if she got a pedicure at the end of it.

Gracie Update

2009-02-18T19:35:00.002+10:00

Gracie had another operation this afternoon to remove all of the dead tissue around her wounds. The blood transfusion appears to have made a difference as some of the bruising has gone down. Melissa the vet nurse reports that she is in good spirits and has been a very special patient. Apparently she has been a very good girl and put up with all the poking and proding and not complained once. Melissa lay on the floor with her this afternoon and had a snuggle so I am very sure that she is being looked after with much love and attention.

Gracie the Snorkelface would like to extend many snorkel kisses to everyone that has wished her a speedie recovery. She said that she feels very special knowing that so many people care and when she gets out of the vet she will tap out a personal message to everyone.

In the meantime she is going to continue to watch Louie the one eyed surgery cat with interest and keep snorkeling all of the vet staff that are making a big fuss of her. Melissa said that so long as she keeps 'talking' to Louie that they know that she is still very much herself and things are going OK.

Gracie is a sick Snorkelface

2009-02-17T20:03:00.003+10:00

Her front leg was double its normal size.

A pelican Snorkelface.

Banjo catching some down time after a good old fashioned 'bleeding'.

About 10 days ago Gracie and Banjo were playing in the backyard and both of them got a bit carried away and they gave each other a bit of touch up. Banjo came off without a scratch but Gracie got a couple of holes in her side and under her neck. There were only small holes and did not appear to need the vet so I patched her up and she seemed fine. Last week the holes became infected and I took her straight to the vet who opened them up, cleaned them out and then stitched her up. She bled really heavily after the operation and the drains they put in her were seeping a lot. This eased up a few hours after she came home so the vet was not too concerned about it.

After a few days later she was not getting better and her face and neck became very swollen and she came out in a bright red bruise. The vet removed the drains in case they were making the wounds worse and put her on more antibiotics. On Monday morning Matt dropped her to the vet as the wounds had opened again and the tissue was weeping and smelt really bad. My vet was baffled as to why she was not getting better so he kept her in to run tests. She was so swollen she looked like a pelican not a beautiful Snorkelface.

Her blood test have shown that she is low in protein and iron but they still can not work out what the underlying problem is. Today they decided to try giving her a blood transfusion to see if that would help the healing so Banjo stuck up his paw to go and help his sister out. Mind you since he is the one that caused the problem he was giving her blood whether he liked it or not. According to the vet nurses he loved every minute of being at the vets and was not phased at all by getting a big needle in the neck. He had a lovely day out and got to sit next to Gracie's cage and eat treats that he conned out of everyone that looked at him. Plus he got to eye off the cat that lives in the surgery and is spolt rotten. Mind you the cat is way smarter than he will ever be and he was muzzled the whole time so who knows what he thought that he would get away with a surgery full of people watching him. He is pretty but not so bright. I might add the surgery cat only has one eye and is still more on the ball than he will ever be.

Gracie wagged her tail and cried when we came in and she looked very happy to see us. She still has a puffy little snout and her neck looks raw and very sore. The vet nurse reports that she is in good spirits considering everything and has not lost her appetite so that is a good sign. All of the blood tests have come back OK (nothing sinister showing up) so at the moment no one can work out what is happening to her.

I miss my little Snorkel. I just want her home with us being a spaz, running around the house with one of my bras in her mouth looking all smug and pleased with herself for finding a bra.

Hurry up and get better Baby Grace because Banjo needs you and he is very sorry that he played rough with you. He promises that you can have all of the brain that you share with him whenever you want it. Besides, he has model looks so a brain is no good to him anyway.

Sleep Over = Riot

2009-02-03T17:55:00.004+10:00

Tamale with the original 'stink eye'.

Omo did not have the stink eye. He actually kept his hat on for hours....well at least 5 minutes.

After 10 hours sleeping Tamale was still in this position on the end of our bed.

What do you mean move?

Tamale snorgeling with B1.

Omo likes the home made touch and goes for the knitted toys. He is such a hippy.

No store bought toys for him.

This why we love getting to stay at Aunty Brooke's.

She makes us wear stupid hats at Christmas and in return we get to do

whatever we want whenever we want to do it.

It really is a win win situation

Kiddies

2009-02-02T20:02:00.004+10:00

Lyndal my Sister-in-Law with Jessica.

Jessica does not believe that there is a baby in Lyndals tummy.... Well little Miss know-it-all you are going to b WRONG in a couple of months.

Me and Jessica. She has been wearing that dress for 3 days straight.

I told her she was a grot but I was proud of her.

Jess trying to work out why her mother will not let her hold the budgie. I saw what she did to the guinea pigs and I understand why her mother will not let her near anthing small and fragile. She likes to show her love by sqeeeeeezing things.

Billie trying to work out the same thing. He is just unco. Bless him.

Or he would try and feed the bird to the cat.

A rare moment of sibling love with no fighting! And no biting.

In true ranga style Icca has a temper and knows how to use it.

Me and Billy - he is already a ladies man.

A few weeks ago I got to spend some time with my god kiddies. Every time I see them I ask them who their favourite Aunty is. If they say someone else it is getting logged away in my memory so when they want to borrow my car or get me to cover for them when they want to go out on dates I will say - Hmmmm let me see, I seem to remember that at least once in 2009 you answered - "Aunty Emma is my favourite". So then I will say - "Go call Aunty Emma in England and see how much help she will be to you".

Not such a favourite Aunt now is she? Hmmm?! I am evil but it is important that they get their priorities right now. After all, I was the one that bought them each a bottle of Scotch for their 1st birthday with strict instructions that it is not to be opened until they turn 21. So that we can enjoy it together. Or they can put it on eBay and buy themselves what they really want like a bass guitar or a trip to Nepal. I mean Scotch that will age nicely is a way cooler present than a poxy pair of knitted elephants or a crap jigsaw puzzle. Priorities. It is all about priorities. And ME getting to be the favourite.

Shallow? Moi?

Just imagine what I am going to be like when my niece comes along.

I am going to be out of control.

For Mufasa

2009-02-02T18:18:00.002+10:00

I know that I like to make out that my life is all about me, but really without my peeps it would be dull and boring. In fact it is my peeps who get me through the day when I am feeling 'special'. They point out that I am not going to put back on 20 kg just because I skipped the gym and drank wine with them, and they understand that some moments in life can only be expressed through the wonder of interpretive dance.

A couple of weeks ago one of my main peeps decided that he needed to teach me a lesson--a lesson about life and how precious it is. Mind you, I am pretty sure that he sees it from more of a 'manly' point of view; he thinks that he just taught me a lesson in how to harden the feck up.

The story goes like this. He was having one of those days where his veins pop out of his head and his eyes change colour. I am not kidding. They go from blue to lime green in a matter of seconds when he is pissed off. I knew that he would not bother to eat dinner that night, so I popped over to nag and mother him and basically piss him off a bit more until he had no more fight left in him and let me win 'bestie of the year'. He was so stressed and cranky that you could almost feel the waves of anger coming off him. I knew that nagging was not going to help, so I did what all good women who can not cook for shit do--I went and bought Thai take away and a six pack.

After dinner he was still simmering, and I knew that this hissy fit was a good one because he did not even enjoy South Park. Usually SP makes everything in the world good again, but on this night it was not even causing a smirk. About 9.30, he started to complain that he had pins and needles in his left hand. Within the hour, he had it in his foot ,and it was spreading up his leg. He tried to pass it off and be a bloke about it, but in the back of my mind I remembered an email that I read ages ago about the signs of stroke. I made him smile at me (nuh, no lopsided grin). I made him say his name and date of birth (nuh, he knew those). He rolled his eyes at me a bit and then told me that he was started to feel numb and he had a headache. He also told me he felt dizzy. At this point we immediately went to the ER.

At the ER he got his chest shaved into patches and sticky heart monitor type things stuck all over him. They drained litres of blood out of him, and he had a CT scan and chest x-ray. He had every person with the letters '-ologist' after their name poke and prod him. He had an MRI, an ultra sound on the veins in his neck, and a stress test on his heart. After 24 hours of probing, he was admitted. All of the specialists gathered around him and said the words that no person at the age of 39 wants to hear --You have had a stroke.

He was lucky, it was a 'mini stroke'. It was the stroke that they call a warning sign. Kind of like a good hard slap in the face with with a giant piece of frozen cod. It was the warning sign that said, "if you continue to stress, smoke, not exercise, not eat properly, have high cholesterol and blood pressure and generally live your life like you are 25 and full of piss and vinegar, you are going to die. And you will die soon because you will have another stroke, and it will be the Mt Fuji of all strokes."

After a few days he was lucky enough to get most of the mobility back in his arm but his left leg is still a bit gammy; he still needs a walking stick. He had lost some vision in one of his eyes, and this was also slow to return but is almost back to normal. The physios in the hospital did not hold back on him because of his age and gave him a 'fun' exercise routine that involves such items as green putty and and a green piece of rubber that he had to do various things to.... like throw at me when I make fun of him for being a cripple. The putty he uses like a stress ball to get his hand muscles working. The dogs thinks that this is the best piece of exercise equipment ever; they like to stalk him when he has it in case they get to 'taste' it.

The hospital let him out after a week because they figured that he might go insane with boredom in the rehab ward with all the other stroke victims who average around 85 years of age. But they would only let him out if he had someone where to go where he could be watched in case he fell or had anther stroke. So, he won a nice, relaxing stay at Karana Downs, and the hounds thought that all the Christmases had come at once because he was home all day with them feeding them Schmackos. For the first time in a long time, I was allowed to nag and lecture, and he had no way of escaping or ignoring me. Nor could he stick his fingers in his ears and yell "la la la I'm not listening!" He did try to smack me with his crutch a few times, but I got him back by reminding him about how the physio made him tuck his jammies into his undies so she could see the movement in his legs better. She was a hot blond sassy physio so I am pretty sure that it hurt him more than it hurt my stomach muscles from laughing when I recalled this series of events.

He is on the mend now and back home in his own unit with a fridge full of my cooking (ie ,one container of pasta and sauce) and bathroom full of medicine that I call daily to remind him to take. I can be cynical about a lot of things, but I know that there was a reason that I needed to go and see him the night that he had the stroke. Maybe I had a feeling in my waters....or maybe there is a power bigger than all of us that sent me over there to make sure that he was going to get to hospital in time. All I know is that life is short, and our bodies are just like cars. If you don't put the right stuff into them and look after them they will cease up and breakdown at the worst possible time.

I love my best friend. Watching him struggle to get up and walk that first day in the hospital was like being punched in the guts and keeping a big happy smile on my face. Watching the most capable person in my life struggle to open a bottle of water broke my heart and still I kept the smiles up. I waited until he was passed out from exhaustion and then cried my eyes out in the family room. A nice old lady sitting near me told me that it was going to be OK because God was taking care of us. I explained to her that he was not my husband but my best friend. For the first time someone seemed to understand the concept that boys and girls could be best friends no matter how old they were. The hospital staff were completely baffled by our relationship. Even the hippy social worker gave me curious look when I explained that we were 'besties'. And this is what the nice old lady told me -- She told me that she believed that life partners were not just people that were married. They were people that shared their lives and would continue to share their lives until they were old and grey just like her. The more I thought about this comment the more it made sense to me. Life peeps are the people whose names you can count on one hand. They are the people that you dial the most on your mobile phone and the people that are allowed to see you at your very worst. They are the people that you let hang your undies on the line when you are too sick to do it yourself.

I have one life partner that is going to get snorkeled to death if all of my (and the doctors') nagging does not make him change his life. If he ends up in hospital again, I will so be taking pictures of him in the rehab ward with his bum crack showing and his jammies tucked in his undies, and those pictures will be going straight to Facebook. Just try me, Mister. I am NOT joking. And these photos? They're going in as is. I'm not touching them up like the ones of me in Bad Girls with Good Dogs.

NYE - the undies know how to party

2009-01-11T23:09:00.002+10:00

The traveling undies came to our NYE party - they drank a lot of red wine, ate steak and chatted up a nice pair of boxer shorts.....they are soooooo going to hell for having 'lose morals'....

Then and Now - Me and my Dad

2009-01-07T22:54:00.005+10:00

2007

2008

What a difference one year and 25kg's make...

I feel like a show off but when I look at these pictures I feel as though

I have earned bragging rights....

Tag!

2009-01-07T22:25:00.002+10:00

Poncho - sleeping with one ear up and one ear down.

He has his back to me so he was probably in a bad mood after having his nails cut.

I was tagged by Alex (Katy had to help with this as I am blogtarded and am bad at computers (folder? like what folder? like a folder on my desk or a folder inside the magical computer)!

I now tag the following to post the 6th picture of their 6th folder and give a brief description of the picture:

ihatetoast
itscharacterbuilding
geminiandchristie.
nuttinbuthounddogs
genjiscorner
gorgeousgreyhounds

Go forth and tag you crazy greyhound bloggers!!

Aunty Brooke

2009-01-07T22:17:00.002+10:00

This is my niece or nephew..... Or niecphew!!

Gallstones Suck

2009-01-07T20:08:00.007+10:00

Uncle Matsie - you can all have a smacko because none you have GALLSTONES

gross gross gross

I have Gallstones. I am in pain. I am in big, serious freaky pain that makes me pass out and then wake up with a greyhound licking my face. They are not being kind I might add, I am usually in the shower and they think that this is a fun game.

I went to my Dr but as I was too busy freaking out thinking about how my body has been invaded by something as gross as 'stones', I did not really concentrate on what he said. So when I got home the only things I had to offer as a reason for my pain was 'Gallbladder and Gallstones' and I had no idea what it all meant so I did what all good children with ADHD do - I googled it.

Gallbladder
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia (or the encyclopedia

for people like me that can only sit still for about 5 minutes)

The gallbladder (or cholecyst, sometimes gall bladder) is a small non-vital organ which aids in the digestive process and stores bile.

See NON-VITAL! I knew that little fecker could come out and I want it out.

In medicine, gallstones (choleliths) are crystalline bodies formed within the body by

accretion or concretion of normal or abnormal bile component. A gallstone's size varies and may be as small as a sand grain or as large as a golf ball.

OMG - that sounds foul. Crystals should be on fancy brooches. Not inside your organs. And I am sure they are NOT grains of sand they are the size of a softball.

I have been fighting it for a few months now, trying to be brave but Sunday night found me passed out on the floor and I was forced to call Uncle Matsie to come and rescue me because I was fairly sure at that point that I was going to give birth to a gallstone the size of Africa. Matt had gone to see a gig (a gig that I was supposed to be going to and I was pissed off that I was too sick to go) and since Banjo and Gracie are useless in a crisis, Matsie was the only one who could talk sense into me. Actually he kind of yelled at me... it went like this...

(Uncle Matsie fights his way through the hounds that are bouncing off the walls to greet him to find me spread out on the floor in the hallway)

Mat - right get up off the floor I am taking you to the hospital

Me - no I am alright just get me a wheat bag

Mat - shut the feck up you are going to the ER

Me - you can't make me la la alala I'm not listening

Mat - (yelling) you are going to the hospital RIGHT NOW YOUNG LADY DO NOT ARGUE WITH ME (big booming army like voice)

Me - ok

I then faffed about for about 10 minutes trying to find a suitable ensemble for the ER. Mat's face went purple so I quickly put on my gym pants and headed out the door before he tried to throw me over his shoulder wearing nothing but boxer shorts and a bonds t shirt (me not him, HE had time to dress accordingly for the hospital).

A couple of hours later I got a shot of morphine and was secretly glad that I listened to Uncle Matsie. Even though he did tell me to 'toughen up' when the nurse tried for the third time to find a vein. I have sooky veins that disappear the moment I set foot in a hospital. Mat has been trained in the army to stick needles in people and offered to give it a go. Fortunately at that point the nurse found a whopper of a vein and I was hooked up for the goodness of sweet sweet pain relief.

So 2009 has started with a shot of hard drugs and a gallbladder full on runes. It can only get better from here....

Out to dinner

2009-01-03T18:28:00.002+10:00

Brooke, Gill (Mom in law), Matt and Uncle Matsie
They were actually trying to mum a bunger off Matt but I told them they
were too young to smoke...

Matt's is visiting for a few days and we decided to hit the local gold club for a slab of steak. The precious poodle undies decided they felt like a night out too. I offered them a bite of my steak but they were more interested in getting their picture taken in public. They are so 'it's all about me'.

Where to next.....stay tuned.... Unless Katy comes and stabs me with one of her knitting needles and the next place they show up is at at my wake.

Murphy has a Blog!

2008-12-27T14:01:00.001+10:00

http://murphyslaw-bronny.blogspot.com/

Xmas Undies Part 1

2008-12-27T13:39:00.004+10:00

I am dead sexy. And drunk.

On their tree!

In the room where my niece or nephew was conceived!

The undies came with us to Xmas dinner at my brother house in Keperra. They were there for the big announcement...I am going to be an Aunt! Scott and Lyndal are expecting their first baby in June. The undies had a bit of a pose around their house. They really liked me 'modeling' them. They said that they like a women with a bit of meat on her bones. Katy does not have enough junk in her trunk.

I got to have Omo and Tamale hang with my hounds for Xmas. Snork is in love with Omo. Tamale said she does not mind sharing him because she has her eye on Banjo....

2008-12-18T20:52:00.002+10:00

HangingInTheKitchenUndies

KoalaUndies

ILoveLampUndies

KFCFridgeUndies

I wonder where the undies will be this weekend.....

Have underpants...will travel....

2008-12-17T21:01:00.008+10:00

TamaleHatUndies

Weiners + Undies

MacUndies

LampUndies

PoachedEggUndies

OmoUndies

OmoCrossdressingUndies

PepperUndies

PepperThinkingAboutWearingThe Undies

Katy was silly enough to ask me and Matsie to house sit for her and Mark. AS IF we were not going to get up to all sorts of MISCHIEF. We were trying to come up with something when I came across the perfect thing....On the deck she had FOOLISHLY left some washing to dry. And what did I spy..... a pair of her undies that show she is a traitor! YES! Undies that say 'PRECIOUS POODLE' not PRECIOUS GREYHOUND! Omo and Tamale gave me the full thumbs up to create PAYBACK! They said they have been pissed about those undies for a long time. Especially when Katy wears them when she makes them have a bath. That behaviour ESPECIALLY pisses them off.

Oh yessss Missy...I know full well that you can get GREYHOUND UNDIES in AMERICA! And where are you now hmmmm? IN AMERICA! I expect your bag to bulging with thongs with greyhound pictures all over them to replace the TRAITOR nickers that you have been wearing.

In the meantime....here is a taste of what is to come over following weeks until you bring me and yourself some SUITABLE greyhound underpants. (G's for you, big ones for me please because G's are just all WRONG on someone my size).

Let the journey of 'Katy's travelling Poodle underpants' begin! I wonder where they might end up tomorrow? Mark is jetting off to China in a few days so that means that Matsie and I will get another crack at house sitting....Oh the humanity....

2008-12-15T13:32:00.002+10:00

For Tracey

12 May 1974 - 15 December 2007

Believe in the power of your inner strength

To inspire hope, may hope ride on the

Wings of an angel

A Day at the Farm

2008-12-13T14:23:00.008+10:00

Here chook chook chook

The start of the chicken empire...

Guzini - that is Vanessa running next to her - she is a mega horse (Guzi -not Vanessa)

They like me because I gave them treats. I was VERY brave.

It was love the moment I got to pash them...

Last weekend I went to visit my friends Vanessa and Corey. They live on acreage and have lots of animals so I was pretty much like going to Disneyland for me. The most exciting part was getting to pat the horses Jess and Guzini. I have not been too keen on horses since one put me in hospital when I was 4...OK so it was not exactly a horse but a Shetland pony and it was an evil little fecker and it took an instant dislike to me and sent me to the emergency room...so ever since then I have steered clear of anything bigger than a Great Dane.

Guzi and Jess however are just beautiful and I really wanted to pat them. I knew that I needed to get over my horsephobia if I was going to be able to continue going to their house without breaking out in fear hives. However they were so funny and so full of character that I instantly forgot that I was supposed to be scared of them. Jess is the older of the two and she is the boss and she made sure that we all knew that buy pushing Guzi out the way every time she got attention. Guzi is only 3 and the biggest horse I have ever seen in my life (16 and a bit hands!). She is enormous and still growing. They were both on the best behaviour around me so I even ended up feeding them bread and kissing them on the snout. I mean nose. Horses have really lovely soft noses, not snotty snouts like greyhounds do.

Corey has been breeding chickens and has another 90 eggs in the incubator ready to hatch. I got to help pick up some of the baby chickens and move them into an outside pen. Corey never does anything by halves. He is planning on having at least a 1000 chooks by this time next year. I am pretty sure that Vanessa might out her foot down before then. Corey wants me to take all of the 'special needs' chickens to my house since I knows that I have a few 'special needs' greyhounds. I a, pretty sure that this is a mix that just would not work. Poncho would probably drop dead with excitement the minute he saw them.

After I fed the horses and they licked me I was pretty much over any fear I had of them. Vanessa is going to teach me to ride... or at least sit in a saddle without wetting myself....Corey said that will be a hilarious photo opportunity. I told him that he was not invited to riding lessons. I figured that any animal that licks as full on as a greyhound can't be all bad.

I think I want to move to average now. I would not mind a horse...but a Shetland pony is still definitely out of the questions.....no matter how good it might be at licking me.

An early Christmas present for GAP QLD greys...

2008-12-05T18:23:00.003+10:00

More Freedom for GAP Dogs: Compulsory Muzzling Laws Abolished

A great step forward in the assimilation of greyhounds into the pet community has taken place, with the abolishing of mandatory muzzling for GAP greyhounds in public.

This has become official through the Animal Management (Cats and Dogs) Act 2008 which was passed in State Parliament on Wednesday, December 3.

As of July 1 2009, we will all be able to enjoy walking our GAP dogs without muzzles. The reputation of greyhounds in the pet community will be improved immeasurably by this Act, and members of the public will see first hand how happy and gentle greyhounds really are.
As members of the GAP community, I am sure you will all enjoy this new-found freedom, while also maintaining the ethos of responsible pet ownership.

Here are some friendly tips to ensure we can enjoy walking our GAP dogs without muzzles for years to come:
· Ensure your greyhound is wearing his or her green GAP collar;
· Walk your dog with a lead – Off leash areas do not provide a suitable environment for greyhounds.

Thank you all for your continued support of overturning the old muzzle laws – and for your dedication to spreading the word about greyhounds as loving pets!

Kirsty O’Brien

GAP Coordinator QLD

Shop without leaving the house this Xmas!

2008-12-04T20:08:00.003+10:00

Go to http://www.saltpotdesigns.com/ !!

(dont worry Matt, Matsie and CP - she does not do 'bloke' accessories.....yet........

you still get a 'manly' gift)

"Saltpot Designs is a Brisbane based company started by me, Lisa Salter (no not me Brooke - my friend Lisa I am way to unco to make this kind of stuff!!). I have decided to leave being a lawyer behind to try making a success out of what I do for fun, designing and making jewellery and accessories.

The company is only new and as you can see, the web page is still under contruction, but I am working hard to deliver a page that will be easy to nagivate and allow you to view my jewellery from the comfort of your own home.

If you would like to contact me in the mean time, please email me at lisa@saltpotdesigns.com or on 0412 010 749."

Shiny Happy Puppies

2008-12-04T19:07:00.004+10:00

hmmmm waiting....waiting...waiting.....where is my dinner...hmmmm

Look at us! We are sleeping on Uncle Matsie's clean clothes....so much better than dirty clothes...

Pepper - aka Arseface

Food! On the bed! How bad are we!

nomnomnomnomnom

Omo - doing his best impression of a seahorse

Just because I am clean does not mean I am happy.....or any less of a mank at heart.

Why aren't the laser eyes making you stop bathing me?

Let's pash! And maybe you will forget about the bath...

I am not going to pash you Brooke. Forget it.

Katy and Mark have been busy eating their way across Texas. They were silly enough to leave me and Uncle Matsie in charge of the house and the hounds..... Stay tuned.... we got up to all sorts of evil things... Omo and Tamale were allowed to do whatever they wanted....they are now delinquents....

Pepper and Zuni are still cats. We tried to turn them into greyhounds but the magic spell backfired and now they can talk and open the fridge by themselves. We renamed Pepper Arseface. Because he is. Not in a bad way, just in a 'cat' way. He likes to use his evil cat mind power to make me cuddle him even though I am highly allergic to him. Zuni at least is a lady and only gently dabs her cat fur on me.

We decided we had to punish Mark and Katy for running off to Texas and boasting about eating bison because the moment they left the dunny stopped working. Mat made me dig a latrine. I refused to use it and drove us to McDonald's for McToilet breaks. So we have planned something special for them...something that involves an item of clothing that belongs to Katy....something that will make them glad they know us.....something that will make it's way all over the world....stay tuned!

A nest fit for a Pie

2008-11-02T20:48:00.003+10:00

Pie in her nest

Today I went to Church with my friend Mel and her family. It is was a special day at their church called 'Soul's Day' where families can light a candle for someone that they have lost over the last year. The church is beautiful, it is over 150 years old and is a really peaceful place to be. Plus they have women priests so it felt just like being in the Vicar of Dibley's parish. I kept waiting for Alice to come fumbling out of somewhere.

We all went up and lit a candle for Mel's mum. I also lit one for Tracey because in a few weeks it will be one year since she left her family and friends.

After church I went running. Not a little run, a long run. I ran for an hour along the river. It was as peaceful as it was in church. The sight of the candles burning so brightly but for such a short time got me thinking. And, as I ran I became aware that I needed to be more focused on the fact that each day is new and that each day is a blessing.

When I got home I cleaned the house and hauled the hounds off the bed so that I could change the sheets. I went into the linen cupboard for a set of clean ones and I spied a set of brand new sheets that I had been given last Christmas but never took out of the packet as 'they were too good'. They are beautiful thick cotton sheets with a thread count so high that it makes the colour of them so rich they make the bed look like a huge vat of cream. And there is lace of the edges of the top sheet and pillow covers, delicate intricate lace in the design of hundreds of tiny flowers.

I put the sheets on the bed. I even did hospital corners.

I came into my room tonight and Iris had made a nest on the bed. The new sheets had been christened. I should have been mad but I wasn't because what is the point of keeping a sheet set in the packet forever. My life is never going to change, I am never going to have a show home where dogs are not allowed on the bed. My life is all about the dogs and they love me no matter the thread count of the sheets.

Life is too short to keep things in packets. Let your hounds make a nest on your bed and stand back and admire their handy work. I promise that it will bring a smile to your face and you will feel alive and loved.

Banjo is da lol greyhund

2008-11-01T19:35:00.005+10:00

Cancer is only a word

2008-10-27T20:35:00.003+10:00

The hydobath mistress makes sure that not one spot is left dry and dirty.

She had her work cut out for her. Old hound = smelly hound.

Feck is it over yet?

I have no idea what the hydrobath mistress is up to back there but I am feelin' the love

Poncho went back to the vet son Friday so that my vet could check to see if the cancer in his spine had progressed. He has had 2 sets of x-rays taken over the last 6 months and they both show a hideous bump in the bone that means cancer. The good thing is that it appears to be progressing very slowly so maybe the old bugger may just live long enough for me to have to wait on him hand and paw. Mind you, he still seems to think that he is 5 and runs around the yard in a frenzy with the other hounds until he passes out in a coma in the air con.

These pictures were taken on Father's Day. He got a hydrobath (which he hated) and to spend the day with Mat (which he loved). Plus he got to eat his body weight in liver treats and lamb puffs so in all it was a day he will never forget.

He is on pain and anxiety medication so right now he is kicking back like Elizabeth Taylor and does not have a care in the world. So long as I can stop him from marring some weird hussy who is clearly not into the opposite sex I think that the rest of his days are going to be very pleasant indeed.

Angel finds a home

2008-10-26T11:51:00.003+10:00

Angel came to stay with us a few weeks ago with a view that she would be here forever. Angel is 12 and it is hard to find homes for really old dogs. We did not mind the old bag tottering around the place because she fitted in perfectly.

She made it known that she MUST have breakfast of peanut butter on bread and if dinner was not served by 6pm she would bark and stamp her feet.

Two of our GAP volunteers recently lost their old grey Katie and fell in love with Angel the minute they met her. So Angel has gone off to live with them and their other grey Gina and I know that she will be spoilt terribly. If it had been anyone else I might not have given her away so easily but I know that Karen and David will give her a wonderful home for her retirement.

Plus I made them sign a contract that gave me access visits whenever I wanted and I get her whenever they go on holidays. I think that is a pretty fair deal although Angel could not really care where she goes so long as there are plenty of scratches and attention!

Puppy Play Day

2008-10-23T19:22:00.006+10:00

On Sunday we had Puppy Play Day at Coominya Lodge. We invited all the GAP peeps along to experience the joy and wonder of the baby greyhound. Katy and I went early to bath the pups. We were happy about getting to bath the puppies. The puppies were not so keen on the idea. It was their first experience in water and although they were a bit wriggly they were actually quite well behaved. I think that it might have been because there were in shock.

Katy and I needed to change clothes after the whole bath experience as the dirt we scrubbed off them ended up all over us. Plus it is impossible to stay dry when the puppies decided that we were better than towels and rubbed themselves all over us frantically in a vain attempt to get dry.

Katy made the mistake of getting into the puppy pen and was mauled. They thought she was tasty and an excellent new toy. Particularly when she started to squeal. That just excited them more and made them pull harder on her pigtail.

By the end of the day my biological clock had kicked into overdrive. There is something about wee baby greyhound puppies that just makes me weak at the knees. Maybe I am barren for a reason. Imagine if I liked kids as much as I love squiggly wiggly greyhound puppies. I would be the Angelina Jolie of Karana Downs.

2008-10-14T20:35:00.002+10:00

Ellie

at peace

12 October 2008

Nicola's Ellie taught many foster a greyhound how to be polite, well mannered and to know their place in a home. She showed them how to walk politely on a lead, that naps are an important part of the day and that 'a lady does not beg for treats'.

Ellie will be missed by all of us in GAP who had the pleasure of giving her a cuddle and a scratch over the years. She was always happy to greet the new greyhound arrival even when they stole her bed and chewed her toys. Her gentle, calm demeanor rubbed off on many a hound and I know that she made them all the better off for knowing her.

Ellie really was a queen. She has retired now to a place where dogs never get sore hips and they can eat as much as they want and never gain any weight. And I am sure that she is keeping the hounds in line...

Here Pup Pup Pup

2008-10-05T18:58:00.005+10:00

Boob=Milk!

Katy and the puppy she stuffed in Clare's bag
Grrrrr
We named this one Uncle Matsie
Double the pups, double the love
Twins! 1 week old
A mound of Puppylove
Even Matt could not resist
Mmmmmm puppies smell good....like puppies

An armful of Puppies!
My favourite wee gal
Bottle fed baby
Awwww she wuvs me

Katy, Matt and I took Katy's step kiddies to see freshly baked puppies at Coominya. It was like being at a Cadbury factory and being allowed to eat whatever you wanted. Katy's ovaries were first to squeak. And then mine screamed. There is just no way you can be in a room full of squirmy wriggly greyhound puppies and not feel 'something' stir in you. Unless you are my friend Michelle who once told me - "Brooke, yes that puppy loves you, but about 2 minutes ago she loved her empty bowl just as much, so you do the math." I make Michelle hold puppies and she pretends to remain aloof....yeah right....

There was a whole lot of greyhound lickin going on, so maybe we caught worms. Maybe that was what was stirring in us....I doubt it. It was the ticking of our biological clocks going off like Big Ben. So in order to get over this, we went down to the kennel block and hung out with the teenager puppies that are so feral, that you can't go in their pens for fear of EMO music and being scratched to death. Once they hit about 5 months of age, you need life insurance to go in with them. I once went in for a dare and they broke my glasses and tipped me on my arse. They do not play fair at that age and they are sneaky and suck you into the pen with them (because they are cute!) even though you know you will get mauled so badly, that people will think that you went through a windscreen.

On the way out Cathy, who owns the kennels, frisked us. She knows that Katy and I have no shame and would happily stuff a puppy into the step kiddies' bag and claim "we knew nothing about it".

Best Friends are Tops

2008-10-01T21:04:00.002+10:00

Betsy, Mel and Me

I am glad that they have OCD....

I am bad at keeping house. It is all just too much for me. I try, I really do but whenever I start to feel like I am getting on top of things it just seems to fall apart and I am drowning in boxes of stuff from high school, old bent muzzles and clothes that are ugly and too big (note too BIG not too small).

Betsy and Mel came over tonight and helped me to start to get my house in order. Betsy tackled the pantry and Mel and I hit the walk in wardrobe. They were actually excited about coming over tonight. Betsy was even going to come on the weekend as she was beside herself about being allowed to rearrange the bottles and jars in the pantry. As for the Tupperware draw, that is something that she has been dreaming about....

After two hours Betsy had made a small hole in the pantry mess and you can actually see a shelf. Mel and I managed to haul 4 bags of clothes out of the robe. I now have a whole shelf that Mel dedicated to 'fitness/casual apparel'. Who would have ever thought that I would own enough Lycra items to fill a whole shelf? Betsy and Mel did as they have been nothing but supportive and caring through my quest to see myself thinner and fitter.

Another reason that they are tops girlfriends is that they don't judge the state of my home and are always ready to accept my explanation for things. For example -

Betsy - Brooke why is there a plastic bag with hair in it in the pantry?
Brooke - That is dog hair that I have been collecting and I am going to get Katy to teach me to spin it.
Betsy - OK dude. Whatever floats your boat.

and this

Brooke - Mel do you think that I will ever wear this shirt again?
Mel - No. It's fucking ugly.
Brooke - Yeah you're right. Into the Vinnie's bag for that one.

At the end of the night I fed them chunks of Koko Black. They even want to come back and finish what they started. They might be a bit mental but I am glad that they are my kind of mental. If they did not come back the bags of clothes would never make it out of the hallway and the big pile of old pasta that Betsy dedicated a whole area of the shelf to 'must be cooked for the dogs as it is out of date' would probably stay there for another 2 years.

Awww bless 'em.

Bellah

2008-09-30T21:14:00.012+10:00

Have to make sure that they are nice and clean for the puppies....need a stool though, 'cause I am not tall enough yet to reach the sink all by myself.

Get out of the way Dad! I can play AND clean! Bugger the water restrictions!

Bellah makes sure that the hounds' dinner are nice and mixed in and squishy. Got to hide those beans under the meat in case there is a fussy hound

(I doubt it though - hounds love baked beans!)

Bellah - model/style guru/chef

Oh this is wayyyyy more fun than playing in the sandpit, because I get to make more mess!

Bellah tells the pups how much they are going to win by.

This is Miss Bellah. Otherwise known as the cutest kennel hand on the Northside of Brisbane. Bellah's Mum and Dad have greyhounds and like all of the greyhound people I know, they spoil their hounds rotten. Bellah is going to have a new baby sister soon. She can't wait to show her how the kennel works, how to whelp puppies and how to load up the hounds to go to the trial track. In fact, Bellah had applied for her attendant's licence so she could catch hounds at the track for her Dad. Unfortunately, the meanies at the club said that she had to be out of nappies before she could get one and be big enough to carry a lead all by herself. Go figure. I think that they knew that me and Bellah would get up to no good in the catching pen.

I love these pictures, they make my ovaries ache. If my ovaries actually worked I would be blessed to have a Bellah. Particularly one that is good at preparing hound dinner and doing the washing up. Bellah need to come to my house and show Matt how it is done as she is pretty much an expert and he is yet to master it at 36...

Two years ago at the Ipswich Puppy Auction, Bellah was still cooking away in her mum's tummy. Last year, she was actually at the auction and I showed her some puppies and she helped me sell raffle tickets. As if anyone could say no to me when I had Bellah on my lap. This year, there is another baby cooking in mums tummy but I don't think that she is going to make it to the auction. Apparently, it is all systems go and kennel hand number two just can't wait to be born!

God = Koko Black

2008-09-29T21:39:00.004+10:00

If you have ever doubted that there is a God then you have never received a 1kg block of Koko Black chocolate. Each piece is about 10cm x 10cm and takes about an hour to suck on. You can't eat it quickly or you go into a Koko coma. I nearly had a Koko coma last time Katy brought me back some when I house sat. Luckily Mat C was there to revive me with champagne and Tamale's breath.

The reason for the Koko block of happy magical fun time yahyahyah oh orgasm chocolate? Matt drove Kirsty and Craig to the airport at 5.30am and then picked then up a week later at 10.30pm.

Matt and I are now Koko whores. Whatever you need just ask. All you need to ensure is that there is a block of the good stuff coming our way.

We are shallow. But we don't care. Koko Black is fecking excellent.

Kennel Lovin

2008-09-22T20:01:00.006+10:00

HA! No more baths for me! I am the Queen of Skank.
DUDE! There is mud AND food in here. WICKED!

Otis and Me sharing a waltz
Otis - aka Stuntman Mike

Has nose, will use it

Otis - cuddle power

After a long day of testing new greys for the program I got to hang out with my greyhound boyz and gurl. Otis is now looking as though he going to be a small horse and fast approaching the 40kg mark. He just goes nuts when he sees me and covers me with love. He is one of those greys that puffs his cheeks and talks and is just a delight to play with. He is really hard to photograph as he never stands still so I had to hold him in a head lock to get the snoz shot. Ohhhh I love that nose. I don't care if other people think that he is ugly. I think he is just perfect....and I am his mother so I should know what a spunk he is. I am Lorelei and he is Rory. Except that we talk slower and don't drink as much coffee.

Otto has moved back in with Owen and Mary and loves his new digs. This is because there are great big puddles of mud everywhere and it took him all of about 2 minutes to discover them. He also had what appeared to be a whole cow's rib cage in this run so I am sure that is going to keep him more than occupied. Delilah no longer looks like 'Little Miss Best In Show" and had great joy in jumping all over me and spreading her muddy love around. She is my Rory that will never go to Yale or have nice manners. Otto is in the run next door so I can just see two brown festy dogs tearing up and down all day telling each other how great I am and how lucky they are to have me as a mother. As if they would be talking about anything else. I mean, Rory just loved Lorelei to bits and pieces.

Murphy is an International Star!

2008-09-18T18:26:00.003+10:00

http://www.virginiagreyhounds.org/

Check it out! Murphy from GAP Queensland made it onto the Virginia page! He is such a pose!Just checkout those gorgeous legs! If he was a girl and a human he would be Elle McPherson.

Best in Show

2008-09-11T20:13:00.004+10:00

The start of her career at the top! Always got the best boobie!

Yep this is way more fun than sleeping on the floor... And more boobies!

What? It is time to go on? But NO MASCARA YET!

My brain hurts a little bit. It is hard work being the 3rd best.

Proud show mommy with Banjo aka Eric Zoolander

Can we go now? I am am missing the mud at Coominya. I am too clean.

And the crown hurts my head

Look mummy I am tired, and the cuteness is leaking out of me all over the couch...

You can never get enough of the 'show mommy' feeling!

A few weeks ago we had the Ekka and it has taken me a while to come down off my proud show mother perch. You see not only did Delilah win 'Best Puppy Bitch' but Banjo got a third in the Neutered class!

Delilah got to stay at my house the night before so we could bath all the mud and grime off her and make her look white again. Greyhound puppies are feral and love nothing more than to roll around in the muck all day. Owen my trainer told me not to spoil her....yeah right as if! I had her on the couch with me all night. I had to give her the 'you are a winner talk' and it was best to do it under a doonah with Schmackos. All show dog people know this rule. It is a prerequisite to winning anything. I even do it before fun runs but replace Schmackos with gingernut biscuits.

Anyway, I digress... Del had never even had a collar on let alone a lead, so by the time she got to the dog pavilion she was over it. She refused to walk. She is as stubborn as her mother and Iris. I had more of a chance of Banjo winning the neutered bitch class than her walking on lead. All the show people thought it was hilarious. The greyhound people knew that I was not above carrying her around the ring because, goddammit, she is a star! And I have no shame...

Anyway, the little cow decided that once she got into the ring that she would walk and she would walk beautifully. She even stacked like a pro. We were up against another puppy named Slushie who also refused to walk but she is all blue (not one bit of white on her!) so she gets props for being gorgeous. I have known her since she was born and Kathy and Ron at the kennels have had to fish her out of her my bag a few times after cuddling her.

So Miss Delilah Cherry Darling was crowned first and now I am a fully blown glitter and sequin hair sprayed and Lycra show mommy. I would have wept fake tears but I did not want my false lashes to come off.

Banjo was completely confused by the whole event. Especially when I put mascara on him. Since I had to handle Delilah a greyhound groupie named Harriet handled him. Harriet is 13 and not allowed to get a greyhound till she grows up so she hangs out with us at promotions to get her greyhound fix. Way getter to be on a greyhound stand than down the skate park talking to smelly boys I say. What is the worst than can happen...she gets addicted to greyhounds and turns into moi?!

Banjo has never raced - he looked at Ron and said 'hey it might even be FUN but I'll never know because I can't be bothered to even try'. He was more interested in sniffing all the other dogs' bums than to be keen on the lure. I think that he secretly knew that he was going to end up at the greyhound manor sleeping on my head, so he acted dumb from an early age. But in the show ring he pulled out all the right moves and was crowned 3rd! Everyone said that he would not get a place because he has a small willy (desexed really early so the pee pee is wee wee). Seems that he has a touch of the Eric Zoolander.....he is really really really good looking. I hope that no one ever challenges him to a walk off because he would probably sniff their bum and lose.

Being a show mother is hard work. But I think that I have the required 'drama queen' in me to pull it off....

Iggy

2008-09-04T19:28:00.002+10:00

I found an Iggy at the Ekka named Pinot that needed my love and attention. Gracie turned on her laser eyes and made me give her back to her owner. Gracie is NOT going to share being the cutest dog in my life with anyone else. Especially NOT with an Iggy. Gracie has all kinds of issues. Sensitive, self esteem type issues. I think it goes way back into her puppy hood where the other puppies made fun of her snorkel. Getting that close to the Iggy sent her way over the edge. Gracie just does not understand that sometimes other dogs are cute and I may want to hold them. I may even want to give them big kisses and pose for photos with them that will end up on my blog. She thinks that by using her laser eyes and mind control she will make me do what ever she wants. She has not worked out that I am way smarter than she is.

When the Iggy left, Gracie promptly removed herself from the couch where she had been for the last 8 hours and peed on the stand. She did not even bother to try and get to the concrete toilet area, she just dropped her bum on the carpet and let 8 hours of wee go. Yes, Gracie has issues. And I am so glad than she is all mine.... And sometimes I think that maybe she just might be smarter than me. She got her own back for me playing with the Iggy. Next time I will need to wear a disguise when I get some Iggy lovin'. Gracie will never recognise me in a blond wig.

Pepper

2008-08-31T20:10:00.005+10:00

Tamale eyes a piece of freshly shucked cod

Omo eats his fish batter and all

Pepper aka catwhore extraordinaire

Katy and Mark went to Noosa last weekend to fun run and since I was out with a cold and could not run myself I house sat for them. Everyone in the universe knows that I am not a cat person. They make me sneeze and my eyes water and I just don't get them. I try to pat them like a dog and I always end up getting bitten.

Katy's cat Pepper has not read the memo about me and cats. He deliberately climbed all over me, licked me, got his motor running and did everything in his power to lull me into a false sense of security. Just when I thought that I was getting the hang of cats he would bite me. I would throw him off my lap and 5 seconds later he would be back and I would forgive him and the whole lulling process would begin again.

This went on all weekend and I lived on a diet of antihistamines and Koko Black chocolate. Katy knows I will do anything for Koko Black. Even put up with Pepper the catwhore. Tamale and Omo acted happy I was there but only because I brought Uncle Matsie over to visit them. Apparently he scratches better than me and can scratch the two of them at once. Plus he peels all the batter of the fish we had for dinner as Tamale only likes her fish plain. Omo ate his own body weight in chips so a good night was had by all.

I did end up sneezing so hard that my brain fell out. Not to worry though, Pepper just climbed on top of it and kept it warm until I could squeeze it back in.

Katy, Augusten and me

2008-08-31T19:39:00.005+10:00

Katy, Augusten and Brooke - one day we will tell our grand greyhounds about this moment

Brooke and Katy pose with a big boat before the signing

Some people get excited about meeting famous people and Katy and I are no exception to the rule. Months ago Katy managed to get tickets for us to go and see Augusten Burrows and we have been besides ourselves ever since. We were going to make costumes with scissors sewn all over our running outfits as a homage to his book 'Running with Scissors' but we were worried we would get thrown out for being weird. Nothing was going to come between us and getting to meet one of our favourite authors. We even got there 1 and half hours' early to make sure we got as close to the front as we could. We are uberfans.

After listening to him speak about his latest book (and wiping the drool of our chins) we got to line up and have books signed. And then to top it all off we got a photo. Not just any photo but a photo which he was genuinely happy to have taken with us. He smelled good and we squealed like Hanna Montana fans. I am not sure if Augusten is used to fans squealing but I am sure that he is not going to forget the 2 crazy ladies from Brisbvegas in a while.

Greys walk for Breast Cancer

2008-08-20T19:24:00.008+10:00

Me with Iris and Chloe in the CWA Hall - hounds were allowed in for a special occasion

I I thought that it was going to be like the running of the bulls.....
seemed all she was interested in was the hay

Iris catches up on beauty sleep

Chloe and Iris - workin it for the camera

Brooke - crap ballerina

Mel - excellent ballerina

Brooke and Mel and Iris - pretty in pink

On Sunday, Iris came with me on a walkathon for Breast Cancer research. Iris is a huge fan of dressing up so I thought that she would be the perfect hound to take along for a stroll. I was wrong. We were supposed to walk 12km (it is winter and we could walk slowly) but at the 3.5km mark she dug in her heels. I think that it was because she saw that the other greyhound on the walk (a sprightly 10 year old named Chloe Maree decked out in a hot pink stretch vest) had stopped and was getting a lift back in the car. So we hitched a ride and went back to the start where Mel and I bought lots of cake, made by sweet little old CWA ladies, to make up for the fact that we had not walked very far. Iris got plenty of attention from the ladies on the walk and was suitably impressed when we had our photo taken for the paper.

After the walk we went Mel's dads house where Iris passed out on the floor. Being a drama queen is hard work. I should know, because I got to feed a cow. When I did this I asked her dad -what do I do if it tries to gore me? Then I tried to call the cows in by yelling - HERE PUP PUP PUP like I do at the kennels to get the greyhound puppies to come to me. Mel's dad screamed with laughter. He knows I was trying to be a little bit country but failed miserably at it.

It was a great day out. We wore pink tutu's, had a stroll in the country and raised money for a very worthy cause. And some little old ladies at Lowood got to meet a couple of greyhounds up close and personal and were won over by their style and beauty.

Mystery Solved

2008-08-12T20:04:00.003+10:00

Bronny and Russ could not work out why foster Jake was so lazy. Greyhounds are lazy, but this boy goes way beyond that. He gets to a promo and promptly goes into a coma for 8 hours straight. Not even stinky loud kiddies poking him in the eyes and pulling his lips around will wake him up. He could probably sleep though the whole Olympics were it not that he needed some sustenance once a day. And he is only two! He is worse than Poncho and Iris and Omo and Curly all rolled into one giant greyhound sleeping machine.

And then they worked out what the problem is. Seems Jake has the dreaded Alien Brain Slug. In fact I think that it is a sneaky slug....I am pretty sure that it has been in the heads of all of my hounds as well as they can give the sport of marathon sleeping a pretty good nudge themselves.

I wonder if the slug can be lured out with Smacko's.....

And now for some more about Pie

2008-08-08T19:50:00.005+10:00

Oh yeah ....this is THE face like thunder that Iris has perfected

The uni had STRICT instructions that she was to be stitched by someone that could stitch... like a professor...

After many years of my putting it off Iris has finally had her girlberries removed. She was not impressed about that at all. I mean, REALLY NOT HAPPY NOW WAY I AM PISSED OFF unimpressed. She was a pretty good race dog and we toyed with the idea of breeding with her but I figured that there are enough greyhound puppies in the world. Plus I would have wanted to keep all the puppies as there would be no way I could part with any of them.

She had to go to the uni to have the operation done and this meant that I had to drop her there on a Thursday night. She trotted off down the hall with the nurse and then turned around and realised that I was not there.....and then she gave me the death stare. She knew that she was in for a 'not fun' time. I nearly cried....

She had to stay until Saturday morning because at the uni the vet students have to look after them a bit longer to learn all sorts of vet type stuff to make them vets. I just wish that they would teach vets the art of 'greyhound smootching'. They are badly in need in some of those classes. A pat on the head does not work with a grey. In fact it is almost insulting.

When I picked her up on Saturday morning she RAN to me and was all cuddles until she remembered that she still had the shits with me and ignored me all the way home. She had a face like thunder for about a week, and she milked it for all it was worth. She even got hand fed in bed and lifted on and off the couch. She was the Diva to end too Diva's. Every night she lay in bed with me with her head on my chest watching me with those big baby seal brown eyes - I could just hear the drama going on in her head, it was that loud that even the neighbours heard it and came over and asked how Iris was. Anyone would have thought that she had one of her legs removed the way she carried on.

After a week the stitches came out she she decided to love me again. At this point I told her that she would never have to have her period again so she should in fact be very pleased with herself. She thought about that for a moment and then asked me if she was going to need HRT as there was NO WAY she was going to get all fat, and hot flushy and lose her models looks.

Yup she is a Diva alright.

Off for a dental

2008-08-07T21:48:00.003+10:00

Banjo is showing in the Ekka this weekend in the neutered class. I have no aspirations that he will be anymore than that ADHD child that is supposed to dance along with the rest of the class for the end of year Xmas production but instead runs around the stage yelling ' look at me I'm a reindeer!' and head butts anyone in his way with a whisk he has sticky taped to his head as sparkly antlers.

He got a dental this week. This was the before shot. He is only 3 and already missing teeth from where he chewed his way out of the the kennels. There is a word for Banjo. And that word is 'special'. Some might even say 'touched'.

The dental came up good so I will not be completely ashamed of him in the ring....but I know that he will wee or poo on something so I just can't wait for that moment. I just hope that it is not on a judge. My guess is that it will be and it will be long and runny.

Happy Snot Day

2008-08-07T21:25:00.002+10:00

Watch out boobies! Lycra is flammable !!

Hee hee hee I am 35 and wearing Lycra and not as a joke!

It was my birthday on the 3rd and anyone who knows me knows that I think that birthdays are a really BIG DEAL. I LOVE THEM. I especially love presents and I especially love being able to say ' I can do what ever I want because it is MY birthday. I got good presents this year - sporty presents like gym bags and gym clothes and a mega running watch and pink gloves for pump class and Skins! Well not the brand Skins but Katy tells me that they are just like tissues - just because they are not Kleenex does not make them tissues. I got a long and a short pair. I am going to be running like Teflon next race - nothing will be able to stick to me. Not even those peskies kiddies that like to run beside me shouting 'run fat girl run'. Damm young people. Go play in the traffic.

This year I was struck down with the cold to end all colds. I mean, fluro green snot type of cold. The type of cold that makes you climb into bed and and not care that you have been in the same PJ's for a week and they are all manky but you just can't be bothered to try and find a clean pair. Lucky the hounds love me no matter what I look or smell like. They don't even care if there is slime flying out of me. In fact I think that it makes them love me more. It gives them something to play with.

I did manage to get out for dinner with friends before the cold took hold and morphed into its own person with a butler that brings more snot on command. I fully intend to have another birthday celebration when I am well enough to actually be able to shout with all my might ' It's my birthday and I can do WHATEVER I WANT!'. My friends are soooo looking forward to that soiree.

Some Pictures of Bella

2008-08-06T08:54:00.005+10:00

Just because I gots no teeth does not mean that I can't gum this bone to death

Ladies cross their legs when on the couch...and they do not like to share

Snug as a bug in many rugs

She chewed up a a stuffie and then fell asleep in the snow left behind

These are some of my favourite picture of Bella. As you can see pretty much did all the things that made her happy - sleeping and eating, whilst she was with us. No matter how many times I cleaned her face as soon as I looked at her again it was dirty. She was a dirt magnet! Since she had no teeth she drooled a lot so I figured that was a good excuse to be manky. She hated being clean, the more dirt she had on her the happier she was. She hated me taking her jacket off too so that pretty much stayed on her 24 hours a day. She was like a cranky grandma - 'yes I know my cardigan is dirty but I am old and I will do whatever I want! Get out of my way you young folk I needs me sleep!'

She might have only been with us for a few weeks but she certainly left a lasting impression in our hearts.

Park 2 Park

2008-08-06T07:56:00.008+10:00

Brooke and Sassy Sister In Law Lyndal - winners are grinners...and eat mandies...

Veronica Me and Jo - the Public Trustee's answer to the Dream Team

Have time chip - will travel

Lyndal's got back....and booty

The family that runs together

The Park 2 Park is a pretty popular fun run in Ipswich. It raises money for the children's ward at the hospital which is a good thing. The bad thing that it is well known for the hideous hills that are part of the course. A few weeks ago I went along on a training night and tried to run the course and broke down half way - I mean I literally fell apart. I could not keep up with anyone else and called my support crew (Matsie, Veronica and Katy) in a state of hysteria - I was convinced that I could not do it. In fact, I was ready to quit. Hang up my shoes. Game over. Back to being a connoisseur of the couch.

After some harsh words from all of them that included lines such as - Harden the Feck Up and stop being such a sook, I tucked my tissues into my bra (these would come in handy in case of pooage at a later date - see Katy's blog for more info on that subject) and got on with my training.

The morning of the race I was nervous, really nervous. I had managed to little trip to the toilet to relieve myself of the fear of crapping myself mid run (again see Katy's blog) so that angle had been taken care of. A lot of the people I know from the gym and from work were going in the run so I was worried I was going to be the one shipped out of there in stretcher at the 1km post. Lyndal my sassy sister in law was cool and calm. She was wearing her skins and was pretty sure they were going to help her over the line. We both had our Ipods tuned to funky beats as I was pretty sure that the Ipod was going to be the thing that pushed me over the line. When I get all caught up in a song I can do anything - even housework.

The next thing I knew we were off and running. The first part of the course is a massive hill that feels like it goes forever. I got to the top and realised that I had run up it and was still running so kept going. The Ting Tings were going off in my ears, I was still running and at the 2km point I had no stitch in sight! Lyndal had pulled in front of me so I kept sight of her cute little bum to make sure that I was staying at the right pace. She is a better runner than me so I figure that if I could keep sight of her I was doing OK.

And then another hill came along - it was long and brutal, people were falling down screaming in pain all over the place with their legs on fire, fire crews rushed in to help. I told my legs to harden the feck up and kept going. I reached 3km and thought 'well nearly there might just stop at the next water station for a latte and muffin' but NO another hill was coming and it was even worse that the other ones. I slowed to a jog and then power walked for a while because I was afraid with all the smoke coming off my legs they were going to catch fire and the fire men were not all that cute so I had no desire to meet any of them.

Lyndal was still ahead and I could still see her so I figured that I was doing OK. I ran down a hill and thought - hey this track is not so bad....and then there was another fecking hill! To make matters worse there was kiddies zooming past me so I knew that I had to keep it together so that I did not become the subject of one of their show and tell presentations - "Here is a picture of the lady that caught fire in front of me on the weekend at the Park 2 Park...".

And then came the 4km mark, I could have wept tears of joy, had I had any spare fluid in my system that was not being made into sweat. I could see the finish! I started to run really fast and sprinted the last 200 metres, leaving a path of surprised kiddies behind. Lyndal made it in about minute before me, she already had her time chip off and was heading for the water and banana tent. I always worry that the time chip is not going to register so I jump around on the finish line just to make sure. I have no shame - I want a time even if it is slow!

I met up with some girls from work that had been in so long they had ordered coffee. I did not care if I had come in behind them, I had finished it and I had run the whole away. Well there was that little patch on the death hill that I walked BUT everyone else was doing it so it does not count.

I did it. I ran 5km. I can add 'Fun Runs' to my resume and know that it is not a lie. I can in fact run a fun run and plan to do many more. Unless my legs catch fire in some horrible unexplained run run spontaneous combustion disaster that not even Skully and Molder can work out.

2008-07-28T20:23:00.005+10:00

Now - ready to run 5km in the Park 2 Park

Then, just like Opera - I thought the bigger the person the bigger the hair needed to be

Here is a picture of me before our work Xmas party 2007. I don't even remember being this big but apparently I was and when I had to sit on Santa's lap I fractured his femur. Eight months later I feel like a different person. Eight months ago the thought of walking further than the distance from the front door to the car broke me out in a sweat. Eight months ago I could not find the energy to even think about getting off the couch let alone to a gym. Eight months ago I was overweight, unhealthy and unhappy.

It has taken me eight months to turn my life around. I always knew at some point I would lose the weight. I just never thought that I could do it all by myself. No gimmicky diets, no starving myself, no quick fix from the Dr - just hard work and sensible eating. I never thought that I could feel this good. 35 is the new 25. Mind you at 25 I could not run 5km so 35 is wayyyy better.

I go to the gym daily (sometimes twice a day!) and I can run. Thanks to the support of some excellent friends who believed in me and told me to quit sooking when I though I couldn't do it, I can actually run a fun run and not have a heart attack. I even know that I can run a 10km fun run and as such have registered for not one but two! The new me is a little full on...

I don't think that I am ever get to the point that people confuse me for one of the greys. But the main thing is that I have enough energy to keep up with them....for the 10 minutes day they actually use their energy. In fact the other day they were all lagging after we got half way around the block and told them to quit sooking if I could do it they could do it!

It must be nice...

2008-07-27T18:57:00.004+10:00

Nicole, Mr Rudd PM, Kirsty, Lewis and Trinny at the Morningside Festival

Today I ran my PB over 5km in the Park to Park and Kirsty got to meet the Prime Minister Mr Kevin Rudd.

Some days are diamond. Some days are gold.

Farwell Baby Bella

2008-07-21T13:26:00.003+10:00

Bella - at peace 21 July 2008

This morning Baby Bella was very sick and I took her straight to the vet. At 15, she was already weak, so I made the decision that it was time to let her go.

My sweet old girl went to sleep in my arms with a deep sigh, her head on my shoulder.

I know that she was thinking of couches, and cheese, and lollies, and sardines and walks on the golf course and of her family that loved her if only for a short time.

Banjo gets confused...

2008-07-17T09:12:00.004+10:00

This smells like a treat....but it does not look like one...

The close Banjo will ever get to a bunny....

Banjo met some stuffed animals at the Pet Expo at the conservation stand. He had no idea what was going on....The looked like animals....and smelt like animals but they were not moving....and he was allowed to get close to them but they still did not move.....

No wonder Banjo is confused a lot of the time...

Up close and personal

2008-07-17T09:07:00.002+10:00

Giddy Up Trinny!

Trinny made a new friend at the Gold Coast Pet Expo....a 6 month old Iggy named Bella.... She was way cute....and a licking machine!

The Family that runs together...

2008-07-15T21:23:00.002+10:00

After a big sook early in the week where I was convinced that I would never be able to run anywhere Lyndal (sister in law) and I ran the Rail Trail 3km fun run on Sunday. We were perhaps the oldest people in the 3km run as it seemed to be mainly made up of bouncy 10 year old in crop tops. But we hauled our old arses along and managed to do it in less than 21 minutes. I was convinced that all the kids were going to beat us in but we proved to them that wearing big costumes to win the $50 costume prize would not help them run faster it would just make them hot. And tired. And grumpy.

So this is me -
73 - this is the place I ran and the year I was born!
0629 - my number
BROOKE LIDDLE - oh my name YES its me!
Karana Downs - the suburb I live in - we like to refer to it as ' The Downs' as it sounds posh
00:20:44 - my smokin' time (I let Lyndal come in front of me so that I had room to do the happy dance at the finish line)
FEMALE - yes I am a girl believe it or not
32 - HA! wrong I am 34...nearly 35 but it was nice of them to put the age that I look....

So this coming weekend Katy has convinced me to do another fun run. I will be on my own as she will be out with the real runner doing a half. I will be with all the other geeky runners doing a 5km. And I use the term 'runner' lightly when it comers to me as there is a fair bit of walking added in. Lyndal will be off being romantic with my brother as it is his birthday so I will just have me as cheer team.

Katy recons that it is OK to go slow as there is always room beat your PB! OMG I have a PB.... and it does not involve the number of slices of pizza I can eat in one sitting.... HOW FUNNY!

The Family

2008-07-09T19:19:00.010+10:00

Me and Lyndal - farting for the camera

Smile Josh...

Josh's smokin' wummun Alison, Mumsie, Hot Cuz Monique, Moi,
Crazy Aunty Janette
and Lyndal running beastlett

Here are all the girlies in my immediate family. We are spunky. And strong willed. And bossy. And stubborn. And funny. And not so crash hot at croquet.

My cousin Josh just got engaged to Ally. They had their engagement party at a croquet club where all tried to behave and act less like "Liddles and MacLeods" (ie loud). I wonder if Ally remembers the story I told her about catching Josh eating stock cubes in the pantry when he was a kid. ... Nah he is a top kid now. And he is a pilot! So he is not so much of a kid but a grown up who can fly a plane.

I like to think that I am a grown up too. But then I remember that there is no food in the house except for a freezer full of chicken mince, we have no clean towels and I am blogging instead of being a housewife.

So... once the dogs are fed the chicken mince, I will bathe myself with the handy moist towellette that comes with a snack box from KFC and ask Matt how he intends to feed and clean himself since I have used up all the supplies in the house.

Welcome to the family Baby Bella

2008-07-04T07:35:00.002+10:00

This is Bella. She is 15 and only has two teeth. We have opened our home to her so that she can spend the rest of her life in a house and not in a kennel.

She is hilarious. She stands in the lounge room and barks her head off until she gets fed and then goes straight back to bed. She is the ultimate cranky old bag but we love her.

Happy Birthday Baby Banjo

2008-07-04T07:28:00.003+10:00

mmmmm donut.....

Banjo has just turned 4! We thought that he might start acting like less of a 'special needs' greyhound but alas he is still challenged in many areas. He still likes to climb into bed with me and put his chest on my head and he still likes to wag his tail so hard that it bleeds and spreads splashes of blood all up the walls of the house.

I have tried to pay people to adopt him. I will give him away but his reputation proceeds him..... No, only joking. He may be an acquired taste but he is our taste and we love him. Bad teeth and all.

Captain Cranky

2008-07-01T08:08:00.002+10:00

Poncho is not happy with the cold weather. He likes to wear his pajamas all day. He also like to spend all day on the couch. In fact he will not even get off the couch to eat his breakfast and needs to be coaxed down with the promise of sardines.

I guess that since he is nearly 12 he is allowed to be Captain Cranky. Mind you, he forgets that he is that old on a regular basis and does 10 laps of the yard. We then need to get his oxygen machine out to help him recover. He reminds me of Frank from Everyone Loves Raymond - if he had pants he would undo the top button, and demand food all of the time.

Awards Night

2008-07-01T07:39:00.003+10:00

Well me may not have won but we looked pretty! It was a great night and good to meet up with some people that are as passionate about dog welfare as we are. Some people attending may have had a little too much wine to drink....and since I was the designated driver it was not me...

Well we did not win but it was a fun night and great to meet some other people that are as passionate about their dog causes as we are. And

And the Winner is...

2008-06-23T20:16:00.002+10:00

I have been nominated for Foster Carer of the Year and GAP has been nominated in the rescue / rehoming category. Kirsty and I are putting on a frock and heels for the awards on Thursday night. We are not sharing the same frock. We have one each.

If I win I am going to have to hold myself back from turning into Sally Field accepting her Oscar for the film 'Places in the Heart'. I have told Kirsty she is allowed to punch me if I do that. She will probably punch me anyway in an attempt to be the boss of me. I will get her back though. If she tucks her dress into her undies after a visit to the loo I will make sure that I neglect to tell her for at least 2 hours.

2008-06-23T20:08:00.003+10:00

In Memory of Marj

I am sure that Mar has already started a knitting and beading group in heaven. And the angels now all wear red and remember to put on their lipstick.

2008-06-13T22:23:00.002+10:00

Run Forest oops I mean Brooke RUN (this is so a picture from google images...) There is no water near me...or cliffs...appart from that it is ALL me...

Now that Katy has created a running monster out of me she has seen fit to tag me in this running questionnaire. How funny.

1. How would you describe your running 10 years ago? Ummm well 10 years ago the only running I did was from responsibility. I was fit though because I was not long out of being a hospitality whorrre where I walked about 20km a day around the restaurant I managed. When I met Matt one of the first things he asked me was if I was a swimmer as I had broad shoulders and looked a little like a member of the Chinese Olympic swimming team. Must have been all those heaving plates of overprices crap I hauled around in order to beg tips. So 10 years ago I was a tidy piece of assss but there was no running involved. That came later...way later... Lucky for me Matt was not scared easily and learnt to love my freakish manframe.

2. What is your best and worst run/race experience? Well since I can only count one real race then it was the Mother's Day Classic in which I whipped all the old people in wheelchairs or on crutches assssses and ran 4.5km in 42 minutes. Man I was smokin'. The smoke may have come from my big fat thighs rubbing together and sending out a smoke signal - save me am too fat and unfit to run this what was I thinking... Actually it was my best running experience and has inspired me to book into the Rail Trail at Lowood, the Park to Park in Ipswich and the Bridge to Brisbane. I don't have a worst race experience but I am sure that at some point that something hideous that has happened to Katy is going to happen to me (note to self - do not carve a whole in your bikini line the night before a race with scissors. Get a Brazilian. Do not scare the little kiddies). Running for charity is good because as soon as you start to wuss you just tell yourself that there are people that really need you to finish this so shut the feck up and run goddammit.

3. Why do you run?I run to support my eating habit. Yes Katy says it all. So eloquently. Actually I run to prove to myself that you are never to old to do something that you thought you were crap at. And I like the way I look in Lycra. OK now I am just being silly. But since it has been a long time since I wore Lycra I am going to embrace the tight pant and be a show off.

4. What is the best or worst piece of advice you've been given about running? Everything from Katy and Mark has been good advice. This includes - get good shoes, have a poo before you run and if you need to poo when running there is no shame in finding a dunny. They are all classss just like me. The worst advice has been - fat people should not run. Well I was fat and I ran and I did not explode or have my knee caps fall out. But I followed the best advice of - do not overdo it and only do what you can. Oh and anti-inflammatories are sweet sweet candy.

5. Tell us something surprising about yourself that not many people would know. Ummm... I am a wuss. I am not as tough as I make out. I have a soft spot for watching the Olympics. I am scared of horses but am learning to get over that by feeding Sam the 37 year old horse at the kennels every time I visit. Licorice makes me gag. I have a love/hate relationship with banana's. I can only eat them when they are the right shade of yellow. I hate musicals but love interpretive dance. I did ballet until I was 13 and all the other girls were a size 2 and I was a size 14. But I got my own back.... I don't have kids and still have my girlish figure and can do whatever I want whenever I want and not have to pick anyone up at soccer practice or sew a stupid hat for French week.

Tomorrow I hit the gym again after being sick for a week. Gotta get my gams ready!

Matt turns 36

2008-06-08T19:15:00.008+10:00

Brooke and Kirsty halfwaythrough a bottle of bubbles

Gill and Matt after eating finishing a bottle of red between them

So we went out to dinner at the poshes place we could find in Ipswich. That was a pretty hard thing to do as Ipswich is not known for its fine dining. We ended up at Platform 9 at the International Hotel. 'International' is a bit of stretch but since they slapped some paint on the walls and added mood lighting it is not bad. One of the most exciting parts of the night was the deep fried crumbed Camembert with cranberry sauce...all sorts of diet rules were broken with that dish but it was sooooo good that I will not complain when I need to run 5km to burn it off.

Matt had a very nice birthday and was spoilt rotten and he was very pleased with himself. He loves it when his mum comes to stay as he is only child and always gets lots of love and attention from her. So do I as she loves having a girl in the family and always spoils me with lots of various girly products and treats. She is the best MIL ever. And the dogs lurve her. Poncho has not moved off the couch since she arrived and loves to snuggle his head on her lap. Smiley has not left her alone either and the other night we found her asleep outside her bedroom door.

Matt's mum also has a way of getting Matt totally motivated and since she arrived he has swept the driveway, bought bulbs for the lights that have blown and cooked a roast. I want her to move in permanently. And she likes wine. I am sure that it would be a win win situation

Another Sleep Over

2008-06-07T22:31:00.005+10:00

Twinkling - why are there no cows in your front yard?

Smiley only has about 4 teeth.

And she is not embarrassed to let it all hang out.

My greyhound trainer Owen has been very ill in hospital. The silly old bugger decided to make sure that we were all paying attention to him by nearly dieing. Seems that he got all the attention he needed in ICU for 3 days and then decided to get better.

I took his two old brood bitches home to stay with me until life at their place gets back to normal. I love them, I think I want to keep them. They are bit like the Golden Girls - Twinkling is Rose and Smiley is Estelle.

Twinkling was pretty stressed for the first few days and had to be hand fed (both would only eat Home brand chicken and ham sandwich meat cut into small pieces (think mega processed gross fake meat that drives the kiddies wild)). Smiley (who is Iris's mum) hardly batted an eye and decided that sleeping in a house was much to her liking. As was being hand fed. She did not need to be hand fed, she just decided that she was not going to miss out on hand feeding action and pretended that she was not going to eat. She is a sneaky minx. Much like her daughter. Now I know why Iris is such a pain in the arse.

And I know for a fact that they eat real dog food at home as I have seen Owen tending to the meat himself....a few hours after it was alive and running around a paddock. Those two probably eat more steak than I do. Tamale and Omo would love it at Owen's....mmmmmsteak.

Now that Owen is on the mend, his wife Mary wants her old girls back because she misses them. I told her I thought they should stay for a few more days. Everyone needs an occasional dose of old greyhound to get their life back into perceptive.... Ditto for nearly losing someone who could never be replaced.

Sleep Over

2008-05-30T19:55:00.003+10:00

Tamale - what no steak?

Omo - no but there is cheese!

Last weekend Omo and Tamale came for a sleepover at our house. Their mum and dad were off running in the country. Last year I would have made fun of them for going away running all weekend. This year I wanted know all about it so that I can go with them next year. Katy seems to think that the hounds will hold our drink bottle and watch. I know for a fact they will all be in the motel jumping up and down on the bed and having pillow fights.

Twelve months ago we nearly lost Omo so it was very special to have him and the T'Puss for the weekend.

Omo got his nails cut and he did not raise so much as one grumpy groan. Tamale had one nail cut, screamed and ran for cover. Omo slept on whatever surface did not have a human or hound on it. Tamale only wanted to sleep in our room on the dirty washing. She is all class.

It has been a long week but have managed to keep going to the gym twice a day. I like the fact that my brain turns off when I am in there. Matt looked at me the other day and said 'OMG you have abs!'. 'Yes, I know' I replied with a smugness that only a women that spends 2 hours a day at the gym can have.

Omo and Tamale liked it better when I had more padding. I was softer to lie on and had a constant supply of human treats like chips and lollies to share with them. Both of them rolled their eyes at a recent offer of some protein bar..... probably was a bit too much like being at home...

Bad Advice

2008-05-27T19:35:00.004+10:00

Someone has lied to me. Cupcakes do not make everything better.

Lucky that running does. And so does getting a snorkel in the face. As does going to the shoe repair man to have another notch put into your new belt because it is now TOO BIG....

Stars of the Brookfield Show

2008-05-19T19:22:00.004+10:00

Banjo - what? where? who? what am I doing here? oh oh oh what? where? why? i'm hungry. where's gracie going without me? what? you want me to do what? look intelligent?

I am pretty not smart or well behaved!

Always a crowd pleaser because he has no idea what is going.

Gracie the Snorkel Face - who could resist that snorkel?

Always a crowd pleaser because she has no idea what is going on.

It's Official

2008-05-18T17:42:00.004+10:00

ummm....I am somewhere towards the back....

Yep, I officially finished the fun run.

866 - 1849 -BROOKE LIDDLE 00:41:55

I actually placed somewhere! I was place number 866 and my category place for women aged betweeen 18 to 39 was 337.

The 2008 Mothers Day Classic held on Sunday 11 May attracted record crowds across Australia with over 65,000 participants walking or running for breast cancer research.

I did not come first, I did not come last. I ran in a fun run for the first time in my life at the age of 34. I ran because I have a choice to run. Some women, including a women that meant the world to someone I know, don't have that choice anymore.

Now the next run is the Ipswich Park to Park in July to raise money for the Ipswich Hospice. I am seeing a trainer at the gym tomorrow to start to get ready for that one. I would like to tackle the half marathon but I know that from little things big things grow so I am going to aim for the 10km. Then perhaps I can go for the half at the Gold Coast later in the year....

Ohhhh face paint...

2008-05-11T14:08:00.002+10:00

This is me with make-up. I have new glasses. I have stopped walking into things. And I can see the time board at the track without squinting. That is pretty important. Otto hates it when I tell him that he came 3rd and he actually came 5th. But he gets over it as soon as he gets a pie or a fish cake.

Owwwww

2008-05-11T13:57:00.002+10:00

After months of planning, debating, consulting my tattoo artist Ross, having it drawn and redrawn this is what the end result. I was very brave...well actually not really. It hurt and I was a wuss but it was worth it because it came out better than I could have imagined. It is right between my shoulder blades so that means that I have to pull my shirt up when I show if off. And lucky I am not shy because everyone has seen it....whether they like it or not.

Happy Mother's Day to Me

2008-05-11T13:18:00.004+10:00

Otis (aka Stuntman Mike) let me know how much he loved me last weekend. I got my Mother's Day lovin' a week early.

This is Banjo's Mum! I told her that Banjo was still 'special' and she told me that she suspected that he was going to stay that way....I told her that I loved him anyway and she was glad that he had found another mother that had more patience than she did.

I can't have any kids. I just have a heap of hounds and they make me smile everyday.

Mother's Day Classic

2008-05-11T12:55:00.003+10:00

After month's of training, the finally came for me to run the Mother's Day Classic for Breast Cancer. It was 4.5km and my goal was to run it in 45 minutes and I came across the finish line in 42. I know that 4.5km is not very far for most runners but I have never run anywhere, let alone in a fun run. But I had a reason to run this one, it was for Tracey.

Delilah my Cherry Darling

2008-05-06T21:30:00.006+10:00

Monday was a sad day. I put on a brave face and made a beeline for my hounds. Nothing can lift my spirits more than some quality time with my kids. Even on days when it is hard to put one foot in front of the other, a hound will love you so much that you feel like running again.

Zac had a booboo

2008-04-29T20:07:00.006+10:00

Ronald's grey Zac gave us all a scare this past week when he decided to eat a pair of sunglasses. Needless to say the sunglasses did not agree with him and several hours of emergency surgery were needed to fix the damage.

Zac now has a very cool new haircut on his belly, lots of stitches and is a few kg's lighter after a week in hospital. I got 'Aunty Brooke' visiting and Zac showed off the fact that all the vet nurses not only knew him but were in love with him.

Ronald could have bought himself a few thousand pairs of sunglasses for the cost of Zac's vet bill but nothing can compare to a big dose of Zac love.

Ronald will now be charging us all $10 if we want to pat Zac and $20 if we get a cuddle. It is worth every cent...

Farwell Jackson

2008-04-12T16:09:00.005+10:00

Jackson
at peace 11 April 2008

It is with a sad heart that I have to let you all know that
Jackson went peacefully to heaven on Thursday night. He had
been sick for a couple of days and I decided that it was time
to let him go whilst he still had his dignity.

He gently drifted off to sleep in my arms and he died
knowing that I was with him and that he was dearly loved.

When he came to us we were told he had kidney failure and
that he only had a couple of weeks left. The fact that we
had him for 5 months is proof that love, a good diet and as
many soft beds as you want can certainly help prolong life.

He made it to Xmas and then we were blessed to have him at Easter.

In true greyhound style he preferred to sleep in our room at
night to be near us, was always the first up for breakfast
and was not afraid to help himself to food on the kitchen bench.
And if the pantry door was open he was the ultimate stealthy food
pinching machine.I lost track of the amount of packets of hot cross
buns he devoured.If you caught him in the act he would give you that
old man look of'what - I was not doing anything that I should not
be doing - if I can reach it then it is fair game!'.

Dear sweet Jackson taught us that you are never to old to fall
in love with life.

Go out and eat the biggest creamy sugary bakery treat you can find
today and know that Jackson would fully approve that all diets can be
blown just for him.

Up close at Kirsty's

2008-03-24T18:14:00.006+10:00

Banjo is art

Leo sees all

Little Pie does cute like no other

We had a BBQ at Kirsty's today. The dogs came too and annoyed the feck out of Corey. He is not use to greyhounds sharing the love the way we are. They sensed his displeasure at being drooled all over so they drooled and panted on him even more. Little Pie even climbed into his lap.

To get them back for their antisocial behaviour he took photos of them.

As if this annoyed them...they just lapped up the attention and farted in his direction. Hounds are all class.

An Easter Feast!

2008-03-24T17:31:00.005+10:00

Carve it up Kimmie
Sweet Potato Surprise!
Ohhh send me to heaven - another dish of dressing that has oysters and sooo much butter
Close up Sweet Potato dish oh lurve
Not me doing this - Kimmie took charge as I am way useless in the kitchen. My nails would have poked holes in the skin.
Stuffing a go go
Get in there stuffing IN IN!
A whole lotta meat....

Tiger's mommy Kimmie asked us over for a traditional thanksgiving turkey dinner as I have been nagging her for ages to show me how to cook one. Knowing how totally bad I am in the kitchen she asked me to her house where she could guide me through the gentle practice of zen and the art of turkey stuffing.

I helped to cut stuff up and stir but the real Iron Chef was Kimmie. She is a wizzzz in the kitchen. And she is way patient. Not even when I ran from the kitchen screaming - 'eugghhh I am not stuffing my hand in that thing!!' did she bat a Southern eyelash. She is a laydee and was not going to let me get away with kitchen histrionics. I did not stuff anything but I am now a dab hand at mashing sweet potato and sprinkling sugar on things.

This was a meal loaded with more butter than I have ever had in my life but it was worth every km I will need to run to burn it off. And after all these years one of my dreams came true - I got to eat a dish made with sweet potato and marshmallows. It was pure joy. I am easily amused and addicted to American culture so this was high on my list of ' things that I want to try before I die'.

I wonder if Kimmie and Colin will get as much joy when I 'cook' them a dinner of take away Chinese food?

And more about Me

2008-03-22T00:31:00.003+10:00

I stole this picture from Katy's blog. She owes me. She knows why. Don't let that girl near you with a camera. She will take all sorts of unsavory pictures of you and post them...!

I like this photo as I appear to have a waist lol. The grey between my legs is Snooks. She is one of the dogs that my trainer put on the program. It is great to see a dog that I have known since she was a puppy end up in a costume on her way to a home. Every grey needs a costume. Just like every girl needs handbags and new shoes and new frocks.

I am in training (yes folks training) to do a fun run for breast cancer on mothers day. It is 8km. Yup 8km. That sounds like a whole lot of hell to the old Brooke. To the new Brooke it sounds like a challenge.

Greyhound of the Year

2008-03-17T21:50:00.009+10:00

Me and Uncle Mat. Uncle Mat hates having his photo taken. I made sure that Corey took lots of photo's of us that night. Poncho was way jealous that I got to spend time with Uncle Mat. So was Jackson.

Me and Corey. Corey is the track photographer and responsible

for the great shots of my race dogs.

He also is responsible for making me blow my diet

so that I can eat vast quantities of asian food with him.

Me and Kirsty. We can not see anything.

Not because we have drunk too much...we are vain and were sans glasses.

Kirsty and I slapped our faces on and put on a frock and high heals for the recent Greyhound of the Year. A few people did not recognises us because we looked like girls.

We had a great night, not just because we consumed our own body weight in champagne. GAP was awarded the Top Simbi award for achievement in greyhound promotion. It was a huge compliment to be awarded this and to know that GAP's efforts are recognised by the greyhound racing community.

I know that we had a great night. Because I suffered for it the next day. We even ended up in a club that was inhabited only by people under the age of 25. I showed them though. Old girls can still shake their booties.

Billy

2008-03-16T21:56:00.003+10:00

My godson Billy came to see me at the Pet Expo. He was not really all that impressed with all the animals but he seemed to be a littlle bit impressed with seeing me. I think that is beacause that he knows that one day I will let him borrow my car, stay over at my house when he has been out all night drinking beer when he should be home and talk his mother out of grounding him when he gets busted with a girl in his room.

The Art of Being in the News!

2008-03-16T21:35:00.002+10:00

Who are you being?
12:00a.m. 17 March 2008

If you ever wanted to change the way you live, then you’ll be interested in meeting up with this talented trio of women.
When three talented, humanitarian, artistic and aware women came together 18 months ago, they pushed through the barriers that had been blocking a dream and discovered the art of being.
These days that is quite an achievement, because life has become so busy it is never easy to find enough time to just be.
And invariably, as these three women can attest to, when we do find a few minutes to sit and truly reflect on our lives, most of us don’t really have any idea of who or how we want to be anyway.
Speech pathologist, NLP (Neuro Linguistic Programming) and EFT (Emotional Freedom Techniques) practitioner Jo Johnston said she had been pondering the curious question of states of being for some years.
She contemplated how we, as individuals, would like to be, reflecting on her many conversations with people – which were building into a large list of different states of being – and how being leads to doing and doing leads to having.
But she wanted to create something with this that would help other people. “I had started with an idea because I loved inspirational cards,” Jo says.
“I got stuck and it wasn’t going anywhere. But then I rented out an office to Aimee (Stanyer) and we started talking about our dreams and our art.”
Enter social worker Aimee Stanyer, a dedicated, compassionate therapist who had been working in mental health in Cooroy in an office that was about to be relocated to Tewantin.
Like Jo, Aimee too had been dreaming, and her dream was to combine her art with her work in a meaningful way to create a tool that would help people.
As is often the way, the universe had obviously conspired to bring these two women together.
The office that Aimee was relocated to turned out to be Jo’s office in Tewantin.
So, as the two women started working together in the same office, they naturally began to share their dreams, only to discover they shared almost the same dream.
Once Jo and Aimee realised they were kindred spirits, Jo invited Aimee to get involved in her project.
“Aimee said she would like to be involved and told me she had a great friend, Deb, who would love to do it too,” Jo explains.
Next came Deborah Hookham, another social worker and an artist with many exhibitions under her belt. Deb was a friend of Aimee’s, who was also sitting on the same dream.
“It was this beautiful synergy where I was completely stuck and said it would never work out and I had to put it on the back burner,” Jo admits.
So the three women got together and their project, the art of being, evolved over an 18-month period. They made a list of 69 states of being and each took 23 to paint, creating an incredible collection of small original canvasses in oils and collage that went on to become a set of inspirational cards for everyday use, which encourage people to just be and focus on the bright side of life.
The range also includes T-shirts and prints of the original canvasses with more products to come. “We have 60,000 to 70,000 thoughts a day.
Most of us have a tendency to think negatively due to our experiences, our upbringing and our conditioning over time,” they explain.
“This lays the foundation to our current set of beliefs, values and view of the world.
“The good news is that a thought is just a thought and it can be changed.
“Once a new thought becomes believable, it can promote a better way of feeling.
“The fact we have all come from the healing professions and we all paint was amazing,” Jo says.
“We are all on the same path to use our art and integrate it with our work practices – to have a stand-alone product anyone can use.”
The trio launched their range of products with a successful exhibition in Noosa recently, and their next dream together is to become a global company with an office called “The Beehive”.
http://www.theartofbeing.com.au/

2008-03-16T21:21:00.002+10:00

GAP QLD with Dr Harry Cooper

Gracie in Space

2008-03-16T21:11:00.003+10:00

This year we had the theme 'Greyhounds in Space' for the annual pet expo.

Gracie was one fine looking intergalactic alien hound!

2008-02-22T20:44:00.003+10:00

2008...

The horror that was me 2007

OK... well we were at an 80's party but that is no excuse for how I looked. Three months later, 2 hours of exercise a day, no white sugar, cake or chocolate... I have morphed into a healthier person and have dropped two dress sizes.

I still have about another 10kg to lose but I feel as though I am on the right track. I played soccer at 6am this morning in the park with a fitness group. Some days I go to the gym before and after work. Most of my friends think that I have been abducted by aliens. Today Katy gave me advice about running shoes and said that she would come on a 5km fun run with me. Weird. Sooooo weird.

Last year I heaved myself out of bed at 8am everyday and was lucky to be at my desk by 9.30. Now I am up when it is still dark and when I feel like going back to sleep I just roll out of bed and into my gym clothes. Iris loves that I get out of my bed for her as it means that she has more room to stretch out. My weight loss program is all about her after all...

Nambour Dog's Breakfast

2008-02-11T22:10:00.000+10:00

Rusty, Marla, Pie and entourage

As if I am going to sit on the wet grass...

Oh yeahhh this is my best side

Rusty the Super Spunk

On Sunday IPF and I drove up to Nambour to do a promotion. Pie was in (suprosingly) good spirits. Probably becasue she was adored by complete strangers.

I met up with Marla and Rusty and their new familes. Marla had a great time showing off to the crowd. She won a competition to be a calender girl for a dog food company and is Miss December! Rusty was his usual happy hound self. When he came into GAP he needed to put a few pounds on and his new mum has suceeded in filling him out! I fostered Rusty and he was one of my favourites.

Aimee my BF lives on the coast so she came along and helped out and Pie got to spend some quality time with her favourite Aunt.

It was great to meet up with our new Sunshine Coast GAP parents and a fun day was had by all. Pie slept all the way home. Being fawned over is exhausting,

2008-02-11T21:25:00.000+10:00

A proud mother smiles

Six wriggling puppies asleep

Miss Holly Hotpants

2008-02-11T20:24:00.000+10:00

A tiny pink mouth

Asleep gently dreaming

A gentle sweet breath

Oh look at that nose

Breathing the scent of mother

A sigh from within

The suction is strong

Tongues grapple curling around

Asleep falling leaves

2008-02-10T21:47:00.000+10:00

Puppies in a row

with tiny mouths

they clamour for milk

Freshley Baked Puppies

2008-02-10T20:05:00.000+10:00

Holly and babies

At 3.30 this morning Holly Hotpants gave birth to 6 healthy puppies via caesarian. Her parents, Ryan and Sam have been keeping me posted on her pregnancy and I was invited over to see the wee ones this afternoon! Holly was an excellent mother, licking and cleaning the pups and looking for them when they would wriggle under the paper in the whelping pen.

I took Iris with me and she stood at the side on the pen with a confused look on her face. She then went looking for a bed. She is soooo the single ' I am so glad that I don't have any of those as they would ruin my figure' kind of gal.

And now for more puppies

2008-02-10T19:12:00.000+10:00

After the rain the puppies climbed onto the timber around the fence

and snuggled into the vines.

Last Sunday we brought another 5 dogs into the kennels to go into foster care. The weekend before 7 happy greys went to their new homes so we needed to get some more in to help restock our hound pantry.

It rained so hard that at one point we could hardly see what dog we testing. Lucky that the GAP shirts are blue otherwise there would have been a whole lot of wetshirt action at the kennels. The hounds had no concept that rain makes them wet and were happy to run about in it as we put them through their paces.

There are puppies galore at the kennels so I got to bask in the warmth of puppy breath for a while. Nothing makes a long wet day at the kennel go faster than some time in the puppy pen.

Otto is (even more) Famous!

2008-02-05T22:33:00.000+10:00

Is this my best side?

Otto, Hope, Trinny and Phoebe on the set

Otto was in a commercial! Apparently he was very excited at the filming and would not stay still. No wonder, they were at one of the busiest intersections in the middle if the city!

http://www.triplem.com.au/brisbane/shows/thecage/features/cagecommercial.html

By the time Otto retires he is going to be even more of a drama queen than Iris is.