Garden Looking Good, Not So Dogs

It's Spring, and our garden is flowering and growing nicely. My husband and I had some strawberries pick and eaten within seconds, as we were standing on our back veranda. Delicious! The strawberries are in hanging pots, up higher than the dogs can reach, much higher.

And I looked at our tomato plants which are in a part of our garden the dog's can't get into, unless we let them - the tomatoes are on the verge of turning red, and I'm hoping the warmer weather forecast for the next few days doesn't damage them, but helps with the 'going red' process instead. Time will tell.

Having dogs is lovely, having a garden is lovely, and having a productive garden is a fantastic thing. So a healthy garden is a lovely thing. Unfortunately, the situation with our dogs' health isn't quite so lovely. One of them isn't eating his dinner, another threw up last nights, and the other one, while well enough, is a very old dog with her own issues.

That's the nature of things though, isn't it? It's the cycle of life, born, live, healthy, sick, healed, to dead. Whether it's pets, pests, wild animals, weeds, vegetables, fruit, flowers, people, everything, sickness and health come and go, and at the end is always death. I know I'm getting a bit morbid here, but it's a fact of life, and I can't hide from the truth of it, it's right there in front of me.

I hope the sick dog thing is better again soon, a trip to the vet of Wednesday for the one who's not eating very well is possibly going to happen soon. Another trip to the vet is going to use up more of our money, but that's the role pet owners have to deal with. You look after them as best you can, feeding them, cleaning up after them, loving them, looking after their health.

We've had many dogs in our lives, and we love having them there, they're interesting, funny, and keep us involved with the natural world. Shoosh, don't mention snakes. Because of course, Summer follows Spring, and with summer can come snakes. Our hounds are hounds through and through, and whenever they're outside, they're lookiing for prey ...

I hope snakes stay away from our place this Summer, but if they don't, oh, more vet bills, and the ever present fear of a fatal snake bite ...

OK, It's Prize Time!

Hi readers, I've decided it's time to get some stories together from other people with dogs who love to do the gardening. I'm looking for honest tales from people, about your gardening dog. It could be one of those diggers, or a dog who loves to do the pruning, or it may be something else.

If you have a dog who loves being in the garden, and has quirky ways to do things in the garden, please share the story here! I'm offering a free signed copy of my book, "Dig It! Gardening Tips For Dogs" to the best tale I receive here. Entries close on the last day of October 2014.

I will announce the winner of the competition in November. Chosen entries may be put together in a collection, which will then be sold to interested readers! I'm excited about this competition, I hope everyone else is too!

If you'd like more information about this, feel free to contact me at this email address: kittycordo@gmail.com

Thank you, and send your doggy stories in to me!

Spring is Waking Up the Hounds!

Well, the sun is shining down (in between spring showers), and the dogs are leaving their sofa far more often, and venturing out to the garden. As I may have mentioned before, Buster is not a real dog, but the dogs he is based upon certainly are real dogs. They piss and shit, dig and race around, just like all dogs do.

Three of our dogs are Pharaoh Hounds, one of them a Standard Schnauzer. So this means the three hounds add chasing things into their mix of daily doings. The Schnauzer, being an older lady, and a sensible dog, leaves the chasing up to the leaner, crazier dogs... Schnauzers were originally created by German farmers to use as general farming dogs. So they were obedient and useful helpers. They were also child-friendly, earning the term 'Kinderwatcher', meaning child minder.

Pharaoh Hounds were originally named something else entirely, in their nation of origin - Malta. The Pharaoh Hound, or Kelb tal Fenek is the National Dog of Malta. They were used by farmers too, but weren't required to be obedient - their role was to hunt rabbits. Having owned this breed for over 10 years, I certainly know about their love on hunting!

Our Pharaohs will hunt any creatures that are available, outside. They've caught and killed lizards, birds, mice and at least one snake. Inside, they tend to ignore the mice, which is soooooo annoying! I've seen our pharaoh hounds snapping at flies, grasshoppers, butterflies and other assorted insects. And I've seen our Pharaoh Hound girls watching Air Force planes as they zoom by overhead ... It makes me wonder what they'd do if one ever landed here!

So, Spring is here, and the birds are all coming down with a dose of Spring Fever. The birds are so busy gathering nest building material, and engaging in the mating game, that I fear they're not always paying adequate attention to their safety. I suspect our hounds have been getting the odd bit of home killed meat, complete with feathers, here and there. I love birds, I love watching them, and it always makes me sorry when one of them falls victim to our dogs.

I love our dogs too, though, and I know it's perfectly natural for them to hunt and kill. The Laws of Nature can seem cruel, but that's just me beeing silly. Nature has many Rules and Laws, and I'm just one person, who is also subject to the Laws of Nature. I can only hope Nature continues to be kind to me, as I endeavour to be kind to Nature ...

Yes, Third Print Run, WooHoo!

Today I visited the printer who I've chosen to do the third print run of my book, Dig It! Gardening Tips For Dogs. Peter, from Bunyip Print gave me three copies of the book, for me to check and to get back to him if there were any changes needed, and to let him know if he could do the printing. (I'm a writer, a self-published one so I have to do all of these things myself. It's going well, and I'm enjoying myself with this!)

I had a quick look at it at Bunyip Print, and it all looked pretty good to me. I was advised by the woman who works there (sorry, I've forgotten your name), that I should take it home and give it a good look, to make sure it was all ready to go.

I didn't really think I'd need to actually do anything, but once I got home today, I fired up the computer and sat down with the book, and my copy of the manuscript that is on the computer. Imagine my horror when I discovered some paragraphs missing in the proof copy of the book!

On checking it back against an older copy, I was able to fill in the gaps, deleted an image that I'd used to fill in a gap, not realising there was a gap because I'd somehow deleted a paragraph of text. I hope I've fixed all of the errors. I changed the text in the caption of one of the illustrations, and in general checked everything.

After I did all of that, I sent the revised copy to Peter at Bunyip Print, with a list of the changes made. I've heard back from Peter, and I have to say, I am impressed by his promptness. I'm certainly going to talk up Bunyip Print - such attention to detail, and promptness is always impressive, and I feel they will do the best for my book, this one and any others I may produce in the future...

Dealing with the local businesses always feels good to me, and when they seem as good as this one, it makes me even happier to be doing business locally!

So Buster the Dog is going into the third print run of his book, and I launch back into promoting his book for him! I think my next move will be to produce some bookmarks, with words of Gardening Wisdom from Buster! Keep your eye out on this website, and please get in contact if you'd like a copy of the book - it will be $10.00 $AUD, with no charge for postage, unless the cost is huge...

Watch Out! Someone Let The Dog Out!

Well, they haven't let the dog out quite yet, but by this time next week, Buster will be out on the streets, and copies of his gardening book will be out there too!

Yes "Dig It! Gardening Tips For Dogs" is having its third print run, has been been reformatted and now has more pages! Yay, good times!

If you have a dog, have had a dog, know someone who has a dog, or know what a dog is, this is the book for you! It's all about dogs, and gardens, and life in general, really. There is much wisdom in this book, written by a dog that doesn't really exist. Or does he?

Buster and Carolyn Cordon produced the text for this lovely little book, Allyson Hean produced the illustrations, and you the reader will produce the huge laughter as you read it and see the pictures! There's no telling what Buster and Carolyn might come up with next, but rest assured, the X rated book some were waiting for is certainly never going to happen. Buster might be up for it, but Carolyn has a good reputation to uphold, and isn't interested in THAT project!

So, if you'd like to get yourself a copy of this great book, leave a message here, and we can discuss the details. The cost will be $15 AUD a copy, with no charge for postage (unless you want it sent to somewhere really expensive. Certainly no charge for postage in Australia.

This Time I Mean It!

I really am going to do that new print run for this book, that I've been promising for the past two years. Honestly I am. I have at least two people who will buy a copy of the book, and surely after those two people, there will be many more!

I'd really love to add a new, unseen by others picture to the book, but I seem to have put it away in that safe place where things go to, and disappear for days/months/years ...

Oh well, I've changed the format slightly, improving it, and making it a slightly longer book. And that's a good thing, more pages, more words, more fun! I'll look into putting the book online too, but not today, I'm not sure I'm up to doing that. I'll copy the doc to a memory stick though, and visit the printer tomorrow, to get the printing going.

So this means that very, very soon there will be more copies of this humourous little book wending their way around the world, sharing love of gardening, dogs and funny stuff. This is a good thing, in our world that seems to be going nuts about war and being horrible to people. When we pay attention to our pets and our gardens, life becomes something worth doing again.

Be like a dog, or a tree perhaps. Be in the moment, whatever that moment is - eating, resting, playing, waving in the breeze. Just be in the moment, and the moment will be with you. This way lies serenity.

Time For A New Print Run?

When a person self-publishes a book, it's up to them to decide when and whether it's time for a new print run. My book, 'Dig It, Gardening Tips for Dogs' had its first print run in late 2009/early 2010. I've sold or given away almost all of those books, and now that my name is out there, I feel it could be time to have more of this lovely funny little books for people to have.

I'm a writer, covering a range of genre, from this book of humour, to my first poetry collection that is serious and sad/to positive, and my current work in progress which is a memoir in verse, about my new life with my new chronic illness of Multiple Sclerosis (MS).

I've written a lot about dogs, and have various articles online at this site, some serious, some funny. I also have another blog, focussed on dogs and family here.

Having this broad range of books, will give something for everyone, at least that's the way I'm thinking. If someone has suffered as a child, I have the poetry book to help them to find hope. If someone thinks dogs are hilarious or if they're being driven mad by their own digging dog, I have the book to help them find the funny side. And if they have MS, or know someone who has it, I have a book that tells them how living with MS has been for me.

So, decision time - obviously, I need to get the money for another print run, these things aren't free. I need to suss out the market for such a book - I know a couple of people who would probably buy a copy of the book, but I need more than just a couple of buyers to make it worthwhile.

So this post is to see if anyone out there thinks they's like to have a copy of my little book. I think it's funny, and the pictures done by my talented artist friend Ally Hean are wonderful, and well worth looking at. The cover picture on this website gives you an idea of her talent, and the illustrations inside the book are terrific. This book would appeal to anyone who's ever known a dog, or had a garden. 

Dogs don't do gardening the way people do gardening, and the chapters in the book should give you a giggle! And if you'd like to know more about me and my writing, click on the links and read what I've written!

If you think this book is one you might like to see, let me know! If I get enough of a response, I'll get the second print run happening. It's all up to my readers!