having heaps of fun on a hot morning

So, it's still hot in Melbourne. But that doesn't mean Penny can't have fun, as long as we go out early.
The shadows are long and the grass is burnt brown, but there are still patches of green to investigate. I wonder why this nice-smelling spot is green?

We hurry along to the swimming spot and Penny fetches her Whirl Wheels. The river's brown, but here's hoping it's not polluted. (The Yarra is always brown; that's why some people call it the upside-down river.)

But wait! Someone's coming. Penny is aware of the newcomers before her human notices.

So now she's not going to swim. She will sit at the top of the embankment and guard her toys.

But that doesn't mean the others can't have fun.

 We went for a walk and Penny raced around on the grass chasing her toys - who'd have thought, all those years ago when she had her cruciate repaired, that one day she'd be running free once again?

Then we headed back for a last swim. A lovely morning that her human would have spent lazing in bed if she didn't have a dog to get her out on a hot summer's morning.

Thank Dog for dogs!

a dog and some sticks in the muddy Yarra River

As I said in my previous post, Penny had a swim in the Yarra the other day. The river was running fast, so I threw her sticks quite close to the bank.

But all of a sudden a really interesting, delightfully large stick came speeding along on the current and Penny wanted it.



She followed it along the high bank, looking down and wondering if she could jump that far. And I followed her, hoping she wouldn't do so, but interested to see what she would do about the problem.





But then the stick upped the ante by drifting into a dangerous clump of branches sticking out of the water and Penny began to gather her legs under her, preparing to leap.





It was time for intervention. So I hurried back to a safer entry spot and threw another stick in (a little one was all I could find) and - thank Dog - Penny ran towards me and jumped in to get it.



It must have been a good one, because she carried it all the way back to the car.