I'm in Trouble!!

Crikey ….. I’m in BIG trouble ….. I ran away from Dad … TWICE and once from MUM!!!  I’m getting too big for my boots according to Dad. Crikey …. I’d better watch my step or I’ll end up in the bad dog’s home.

Our first day in Rutherglen was spent quietly. We just explored the general area and had a walk around the neighbourhood. Two blocks down the road are 2 sheep. Not on a farm …. Just in a backyard!!! AND they are very friendly. I really wanted to get to them but I wasn’t allowed. Mum really needed my straight jacket to keep me in line but keep me in line she did. After our walk Mum and Dad visited a winery where they had, what they said, was a VERY nice lunch. Beautiful food in a beautiful setting. 

Some pretty gum nuts Mum saw on one of our walks.

The building at the end of the road is the winery where Mum and Dad had lunch. Dad put the car where it is because there were 2 garbage bins on the street. He put me on the bonnet of the car. What does he think I am?  Can you see me?

The garbage bins.

 I wasn’t allowed ….. well … I was but if I went Mum and Dad had to sit outside and they reckoned it wouldn’t have been as nice so I had to stay home. IN MY CRATE!!!!!!!! Hmmmmmmmph!  I ATE MY BED!!!!  (I always do). They now go to the local op shop to buy my crate beds (doonas). They get used, but clean ones, for a few dollars instead of new ones for lots of dollars. They think one day I’m going to get better ….. I’M NOT!!!!! When they got home we went for a drive to a little village called Chiltern where there are lots of antique shops. Yeah …. You guessed it …. Mum went looking for pushers!! There were 6 antique shops in the village (precious little of anything else) and Mum went into all of them.  NO PUSHERS!!!!! The last shop she tried was the BEST!! They left me in the car for a bit while they went and checked it out and Dad came to get me while Mum was still in the shop talking. I knew where Mum was and as soon as Dad opened my crate door I jumped out of the back of the car, before he even had the tail gate down, and took off at a rate of knots, across the road, and into the shop to Mum. Just as well there was no traffic in Chiltern, aye??? (RUNAWAY No. 1). Now this was real funny too because this shop was something else! Mum had been talking to the owner, a real old bloke, who really liked a good chat. Unbeknowns to Mum and me he had his best mate, a Jack Russel Terrier, under his desk. When I ran in the JRT came at me with everything happening ….. all teeth flashing and growly and OMD I thought I was dead. You’d have been proud of him Mr. JF Sir. He was very unwelcoming. Crikey what a commotion!! Took him all of ten seconds to calm down and then we were best mates. Crikey he was dirty and SMELL …. OMD I don’t think he’d ever had the misfortune to suffer one of those bath things. Lucky bloke!! Anyway the shop was amazing. It was filthy too and there was STUFF everywhere. The old bloke (don’t think he’d  had a tub in a while either) didn’t think he had a pusher but he didn’t know and said to just have a look around. Well look around we did. Yeah … me too! Great smells and Jack helped show me around.  Mum had been having trouble with the door of my crate. It was real hard to open and Dad found an old tool he thought might help him fix it and the old bloke let him use it. It worked too so Mum doesn’t have to struggle any more. We didn’t find anything to buy but Mum did see a whole heap of little dishes she liked. They were Noritake and in real good condition. One in particular was very pretty and she asked the old bloke how much it was. Four bucks and you can have the lot he said. Four bucks …. That’s ridiculous!! How does this bloke make any money? Mum gave him 6 bucks and took them off his hands. Most people barter down …. My Mum barters up … Too funny!! We went round the corner to another shop with everything clean and beautifully displayed and there was one of the little noritake plates with a price tag of 8 dollars on it.  Rip off merchant said Dad and walked out of the shop …. Fair dinkum!! Mum wanted to go back and give the old bloke more money. Back home to a quiet night and bed.

Pretty, aye? The one Mum liked and asked the price of is the one at the front with the pink rose.

The next morning Dad got up early and decided to take me for a walk to get fresh bread from the local baker for brekky. He opened the front door before putting my lead on and I was OFF! Remember those sheep?  Well I sure did …. I was off and running, down two blocks, to where the sheep were with Dad, yelling and screaming at me,  in hot pursuit.  Hot pursuit ….. what a laugh …. He’s got  2 bad knees …. Cold pursuit is more like it. (Escape No. 2). Again just as well there’s no traffic around here, aye?? I didn’t reach the sheep … I stopped and looked back cause Dad had gone all silent. Where was he???? Decided I’d better go find him. He was hiding behind a tree and when I saw him I jumped all over him. Crikey …. I thought for one horrible moment he had gone!! Before I knew what hit me that lead was snapped onto my collar.  I’ll have to get those sheep tomorrow, aye??

After brekky we headed off to explore Albury/Wodonga. Some more shopping and sightseeing. We found a great dog park and some gardens to wander around in and had a very nice day before heading back to our Rutherglen house. Dad went outside the front door for some reason or other and Mum went to get something out of the car and didn’t worry about me. After all Dad was already out there and I don’t go away when they are both together. BUT … I spotted a dog, walking with his owner, off leash, across the road. See ya Mum …. See ya Dad. Hullo new friend. He was real nice ….. we had a big play and run around … My Mum was yelling at me and my new mate’s Mum was yelling at him. We didn’t listen. Thank goodness there’s no traffic in Rutherglen, aye?? (Escape No. 3). The one and only car that did go past would have got me but Mum saw it coming and threw herself in front of it to save me. NOT REALLY ….. only joking!!!! She did wave her arms about, like a mad woman, at the driver, though.

Crikey … what an exciting day.  Do you think I’m headed for the bad dog’s home? Don’t think I’ll be getting that icecream in a hurry, aye?? If I do it’s back to one only …

Wanna run …. Love, Charlie!!

Pushers and stuff!!

Well I found out what the Dandenongs were. Not very exciting. It probably would have been but when we woke up it was raining. Not only raining but pouring. Melbourne weather is ridiculous. Everyone in Australia knows that and, believe me, it’s true. You can wake up in the morning and it can be cold and raining  but not too bad and then a big wind can get up and it can be REALLY cold and then the sun can come out and it can be so hot you think you’re in Hawaii or somewhere like that. Our Dandenong day was a bit like that.  We headed off in the wet and cold and travelled through heaps of traffic again until we got to the road up into the Dandenong ranges. It was a very windy road and very pretty ….. if we could have seen it, that is. It was misty and foggy but still it was nice. There were real pretty little houses with beautiful gardens and the villages were just lovely. Lots of beautiful craft shops. Yeah …. I know …… yaaaaawn!!!! But the Mum’s and Momma’s love ‘em, aye, Zoe?????  I wouldn’t let Mum take any pictures of the craft shops. She’s not taking over my blog. Those little girls’ dresses in my last blog is as far as I will let her go. Besides it was too wet to take piccies. Mum wanted to go walking in some of the gardens but they weren’t open.  We wandered the shops in some of the villages and had a Devonshire tea at a cute little cottage and headed back down into Melbourne. I got a teeny bit of scone with jam and cream but NO ICECREAM! There were some lookout points on the road down and it was so foggy you couldn’t see a thing and about halfway down,  would you believe, the sun came out and so did the heat. It was sooooooo hot. Mum was rugged up like an eskimo and was really sweltering so we had to go straight back to our house so she could strip off a bit. We went to dog park for my afternoon run and then back home once more. Tomorrow we leave the big smoke and head off to our next destination, Rutherglen, Victoria. A small country town known for its fortified wines. It is also supposed to be extremely dog friendly. I sure hope so!

Well we made a final visit to the dog park before heading out of Melbourne. Crikey it will be good to get away from all that traffic AND those trams. What a nightmare but all in all Melbourne was fun. Dad and I had a good time and I think, in her strange way, so did Mum. It wasn’t a very long drive to Rutherglen but for some reason, known only to me, I was not the happy little vegemite I usually am these days. I started barking very soon after leaving the built up traffic area and Dad stopped the car and let me out thinking I might need to ‘pwivacy pwease’. Well I did …. But no sooner was I back in the car than I started barking again. Now Dad wasn’t a very happy little vegemite. He thought we’d never get to Rutherglen. Mum and Dad decided to leave the big highway and stop at another little village and give me a big walk around thinking that would calm me down. This we did. We stopped at Benalla and Mum spotted an antique shop. She collects children’s pushers. You’ve probably never heard of them but Mum had one when she was a little girl (who knew she was EVER little?) and she still has hers and for some reason or other she started collecting them. She hasn’t got all that many and they are the only thing she collects but whenever she sees an antique shop in she goes to check if they have any.  Mind you she has been to heaps of stores on this trip and had no luck in picking one up but you guessed it …. At Benalla …. Thanks to my barking ….she found a really nice little pusher for $5. Thankyou VERY much Charlie ….. now where’s my ICECREAM???????  Hmmmmmph … still no icecream but we did have a big walk around the gardens and river at Benalla before heading off once again and … thank goodness (said Dad) I settled down nicely and behaved for the rest of the trip. 

The pusher

We travelled through lots of wheat and sheep country again but it was looking a lot greener than it did on the way down to Melbourne. We did have quite a bit of rain whilst there. Mum took some photos whilst driving along to see if they would turn out. She thought as Dad is hard to stop once in driving mode and the pictures of Melbourne turned out all right she might be able to get some photos that she would otherwise miss. 

This is the one Mum took whilst driving along. Turned out ok, aye? She'll take more now.

As we got closer to Rutherglen we started seeing signs to wineries and also lots of grape vines. 

Vineyards!!

More vineyards but this had a nice old house!!

We found our new little house and I set out to explore it. Crikey …. How good is it?? Another garden for me to discover. Well it got my stamp of approval and Mum and dad like it too. There’s heaps of room and it is VERY clean and tidy. 

Our Rutherglen house!!

Exploring the backyard!

Smelling the roses!! Always a good thing to do ...

Yeah ... I think it passes!!

This beautiful gumtree is growing next door but Mum took this from our yard!! Pretty, aye??

Wonder what we are going to do tomorrow!!!!!

Wanna run …. Love, Charlie!!

The big smoke!!

Crikey today was an exciting day. We went into the heart of Melbourne …. You should have been there!!! My Mum doesn’t usually get out much. She’s a bit agoraphobic. If it wasn’t for Dad, me and my two legged sisters she’d go nowhere. Dad makes her do these road trips. She’d much rather stay at home. She enjoys them a lot once she’s on the road but telling her about it before hand freaks her out. Well Dad told her yesterday that we were going into Melbourne today. I think she dreamt about it last night. She was dreading it. Crikey it was funny! Dad had studied the map and was very confident, as Dad always is, about finding his way. We headed off and there was a lot of traffic. Not only cars but trams AND at one stage trolley buses and PEOPLE, people, people everywhere. Fair dinkum Mum was a mess. She started shaking and then she got all hot and sweaty. She put the air conditioner up as high as it would go and poor Dad froze. She might have been in a trembly, sweaty mess but in some sort of ridiculous way she was having a good time. She got all excited and started raving on about how good everything was. Too funny!!!!! She was trying to take photos whilst driving along. What with the dirty car windscreen, the shaking hands and the fact that we were moving along at the time I don’t think the photos will be any good but take them she did. She couldn’t believe the number of people. They were like ants she reckoned. You’d think she’d never been to a big city before. Well …. She has …. She’s been to New York for goodness sake!!!!!!! Surely Melbourne hasn’t got more people wandering around than New York. To listen to her today you’d have thought Melbourne was the BIGGEST city in the whole world. She also lived in Sydney for many years when my two legged sisters were little. She’s a real nut case my Mum. Anyway it was very funny ….. Dad couldn’t stop laughing at her.

Can you see the tram? And lots of people, aye?

Ugly tram wires and tracks, aye??

Lots of people!!!! What's that bloke in the hat trying to do?

Crikey this was funny. Mum said 'look at all the motor bikes. People must ride to work on them and they are ALLOWED to park on the footpath. How good is that?'  Dad killed himself laughing!!!! It was a motor bike shop. Nutcase my Mum!!

More trams .... more people!!

Can you see me??

More people!!

Whoops ... don't know how this got here.  This was taken at brekky this morning. Mum and Dad get to eat. I have to be good and I am.

We got to this really nice shopping area and I had to stay in the car for a little bit while Mum and Dad went to look at the shops. (They promised to bring me an icecream on their return).  Apparently that was a riot too. She couldn’t believe the shops. She goes shopping at home with my two legged sisters but there isn’t any real good shopping at home like there is in a city. She wanted to buy EVERYTHING!! Not for herself but for the Grandkids. She never buys anything for herself.  I think they must have gone into every kid shop they could find and she was beside herself with all of her finds. She does get excited my Mum.!!!!  The little girls like dresses with sparkly, arkly’s (as they call them) on them and she found heaps. They are almost impossible to find at home. 

Crikey .... this happens a lot. Sorry but I don't know why. They are the right way up when I start. You get the idea though, aye??

The little girls are going to be VERY happy when we get home. The little boys prefer to buy things themselves so they will get some money to do that instead of presents so they will be happy too. Crikey it was a funny!! We spent most of the day wandering around Melbourne. We went for a walk in the botanical gardens. They were very impressive and then we headed for home and another run  at dog park, dinner and bed. I was exhausted again!! Oh! I forgot ….. I DIDN’T get my icecream as promised …. What’s with that … THEY BROKE A PROMISE!!!!! Does that mean the next time I promise to be good I can break MY promise.  It’s off to the Dandenong ranges tomorrow whatever that is …

Wanna run … Love, Charlie.

Some dogster stuff and some more road trip!!

Crikey … I think Dogster’s gone mad!!! Two DDP’s in a row and for just one diary entry. Now, that just can’t be right. I feel like an imposter. C’mon Dogster there’s lots of really good diary entries out there. Please give someone else a go. Not that I don’t like getting them … I do … but 2 for one diary entry. That’s just not right.
I have to say a big thankyou to EVERYONE that sent me pressies and congratulations. You blokes and Sheila’s are so special. Thankyou, thankyou, thankyou! Mr. JF Sir and  Nina and Family sent me lovely congratulation pictures. Mr JF Sir sent 2, one for each day. Too much!!!!!!  I really appreciated it but it’s too much work for Growlmy.

From Mr JF Sir .... look .... parrots!! I love it!!

From Mr JF Sir ....the beach .... I love it too!!

From Nina and Family .... How good do I look??? Thankyou Nina and Family ... I love it!!

 Our last day in Beechworth was a good day. No more excitement, thank goodness but a good day none the less. Dad went to listen to some music at a folk festival in a nearby town called Yackandanda (funny name, aye?) Mum and I went with him the day before but we were musiced out so he went by himself while Mum and I went for a big walk in the bush around Yack.  We followed a small track down to a beautiful little river that was the site of a gold rush many, many years ago. We found this beautiful little gorge that was dug out of the granite by the gold rush blokes. It was all done by pick and shovel …. no machines in those days and it was fascinating to see and think about what it must have been like all those years ago. I had a great time. Mum was a bit worried that we might see Roos and I might take off but all was good. I behaved myself beautifully. There were some great smells and I did get a bit excited from time to time but my straight jacket is really doing a good job. Mum did relax and put me on my stretchy lead so I could really have a good old fossick around. Bit like the gold rush blokes, aye??

This is the main street of Yackandanda during the festival. It's a bit mad!!

 

Setting out on the big walk. No people ... just us .... the way Mum likes it.

 

Something caught my eye .... was it a roo?

The gorge the prospectors dug out with pick and shovel.

 

I guess this is where they looked for and found gold.

 

How far is this walk????

 

Ahhhhhhhhh! Pretty and I'm thirsty.

 

Drink time .... I wanted a swim but Mum wouldn't let me.

The next day we left the beautiful cottage we were staying in at Beechworth (and the garden of eat’n) and drove to the big smoke ….. Melbourne. I don’t like cities but so far I’ve been having a good time here. It’s VERY dog friendly which really surprised Mum. We are staying in a nice place again. There isn’t much yard for me to run in but there are some really good dog parks very close by. It does have a swimming pool but I don’t think I’ll be using that. Today we just went exploring around the area we are staying and Mum and Dad did a bit of shopping. I was even allowed in some of the shops. That would never happen in Sydney. Mum bought some pretty dresses for the little girls. She always likes to take something home for the Grandkids when she has been away.
We found the BEST dog park. Crikey it was good. There were heaps of dogs and I had the best time. I got to run with a kelpie and ANOTHER whippet.  They couldn’t catch me …. Not even the whippet!! I ran so much I got VERY tired. Mum reckons I never know when I’ve had enough. She had to stop me running and make me have a big rest. I did rest for a little while but only a little while.

Crikey this was a fun park!!

After dog park we walked and walked. Melbourne is nice for a big city. Tomorrow we are going to explore the botanical gardens and the heart of the City. Don’t know how that will go. Driving around the suburbs was a bit of a challenge for Dad. Don’t know how he’ll go in the heart of town. S’pose we’ll just park somewhere and walk and knowing Mum …. We’ll walk AND walk AND walk AND walk. We drove and walked all day today. S’pose we’ll walk all day tomorrow too. I’m exhausted by nightime. What with my big runs in the dog parks and then Mum’s walks . I sleep like a log.

Once again …. Thankyou all so much for the pressies and congratulations. You blokes and Sheila’s are the BEST. Thankyou!!!!!!

Wanna run … Love, Charlie.