An umbrella for the sun

Why don’t people use an umbrella to shield themselves from the sun when they’re out for a walk? It’s a perfectly natural item to use if rain is falling from the sky, but if it is the UV radiation of a sunny day, there’s none to be seen.

A screenshot of the weather forecast showing it will be 19C - 20C today under clear skies.

It felt weird, but I took my dog for a walk and I used a black umbrella. OK, it felt more than weird. It felt stupid. I mean, it wasn’t raining. There’s hardly any cloud in the sky. I had an SPF 50 mineral sunscreen on already.

DIego, a chihuahua lying down in his blanket

But, you know what? I realised I was a lot more comfortable than I normally would be. My dog, Diego, sniffs around in the grass, forcing me to wait around on the other end of his leash. There are trees about, but not enough shade. I had a black umbrella over my head, covering my upper torso and arms. I took my baseball cap off because I didn’t need it. It was nice.

Diego was happy, reading the unseen and unsmelt messages we humans can’t perceive.

On the way back, he stopped, and wagged his tail slowly when I asked him if he wanted to be picked up. He is a 2.5 kg chihuahua, after all. He lay on my arm, and cooled down in the shade cast by me and the umbrella!

I’m not a huge fan of the sun. You’ll never find me sitting in a chair soaking up the rays, so when I do go out in it, it’s nice to be prepared.

PS. I realise 19C (66.2F) isn’t that hot, but I’m melting here!

1:51 of utter cuteness

If you’ve had enough of SOPA, PIPA, ACTA, bailouts, the Euro defaulting, rising oil prices and the rest of the bad news you’ll enjoy this video.

By chance we have a Shitzu at home and a black and white cat (daughter of this cute little fella). They’re friendly but not like these two!

I expect this video will be pulled from Youtube just as soon as the copyright holder matches the song.. Oh well. 🙁

(via)

Can dogs tell when a woman is pregnant?

Sorry, yet another pregnancy related post but it’s been a strange day. Our dog Oscar has always been protective of my wife Jacinta. He has always preferred her company to mine or anyone else’s, but recently he’s become a lot more agitated.

My sister and her boyfriend called over this afternoon and Oscar was on edge the whole time. Instead of playing with the ball he would growl and almost even bit me when I made to take the ball off the ground. Later he growled and bit at my shoe when I sat down next to Jacinta at the dinner table, an act for which I punished him with a few minutes outside the kitchen door.

This evening we took him for a walk and instead of running or walking quickly he walked near us, looking back the whole time, then walked behind and next to us, staying with us as we walked slowly up the road.

I’m convinced he knows the baby is on the way. These answers on Yahoo Answers to the question, Can dogs sense when a woman is pregnant? are fairly unanimous that yes, dogs can tell. I don’t think pets are psychic however!

Here are a couple of great tips and answers to some pregnancy related questions.

Does my dog know that I am pregnant?
What reactions might my dog have to my pregnancy?
What can I do about any negative reactions I see in my dog?

I really need to get Twitter’s number into my mobile, just in case..