The Cottage Smallholder


stumbling self sufficiency in a small space

Min Pin memories and news

 

Photo: Inca nesting inside the duvet cover and considering here next blog post

Photo: Inca nesting inside the duvet cover and considering her next blog post

Years ago, when Dr Quito was attacked by a lurcher on the Newmarket Gallops, we didn’t go out for months as we wanted to give him every chance of recovery. He needed lots of physiotherapy and TLC.

During this time, Danny and I designed our first website. It was called Surfingdog and was filled with small two frame line animations of our little hero. There you could see Quito surfing, working on a computer and lots more. The radio buttons on the site were tiny Quito heads.

We had a lot of fun making the site and even had Surfingdog jingle which we would sing to gee us up. This was before The Contessa arrived. Just the two of us singing this dotty song and Quito lying in his basket on top of a tall metal computer frame.

Unfortunately due to a change of ISP and the untimely death of a hard drive the website was lost. And even worse I forgot to renew the URL www.surfingdog.com and someone else bought it.

Min Pins are great little dogs. Intelligent and almost as independent as cats they are fun and challenging to live with. Having been holed up at home for 18 months now I have grown closer to our dogs. We spend a lot of time in the human dog basket together after all. And they have doled out loads of TLC to me.

I’ve been looking for a new writing project for a while. Something light that can run on the Cottage Smallholder site. I thought and thought but just couldn’t come up with an idea that would interest and absorb me.

Watching the Min Pins playing yesterday I realised that they could be the stars of my new project. So The Cottage Smallholder site will shortly be hosting another blog – the Min Pin Dogblog. Hopefully this will help to brighten up these dank and rather dreary winter days.


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10 Comments

  1. I shall await this doggy blog with interest, Higgins will love it! I keep being told he ought to have is own blog, but I can hardly keep up with my own. I haven’t visited before because I feel so guilty about the state of my veg patch, but maybe you can inspire me for next year! Penny

  2. >>I™m sure the Min Pins have umpteen amusing adventures 🙂

    Idea ! they could do Min-Pin receipe`s!

    for example: “things to do with half a Guinea-pig!”

    😉

  3. Michelle from Oregon

    LOL! Love the idea Fiona!
    I don’t think I’d get to conserned about sameness, one of the primary things that the Min Pins do during their day is observe you.
    Your activites, through their eyes with their commentary? That will be fun!

  4. Fiona Nevile

    Hi Diane

    I’ve no idea how this will pan out 🙂

    Hi Suz

    I’ve just checked out the videos that you mentioned. Strangely Dr Q used to talk to his vet at the hospital like that – never to us though.

    Hi Emma

    Thank you so much! Just been watching Dr Q surfing.

    Hi Magic Cochin

    I wasn’t trained in 2D animation(did 3D stuff like you see in computer games)but I might give it a go as D has given my a new tablet. They’d have to be pretty basic though.

    Love the new Simon’s cat cartoon.

  5. Magic Cochin

    I’ve just tried Emma’s link – hey! Surfingdog lives in archive land!

    Will you be doing animations again Fiona? Min Pins could be the next Simon’s Cat. (have you seen the latest cartoon, the one with the lunch table?)

    Celia

  6. Have you encountered the Way Back Machine? Some of Surfingdog’s former glory can still be seen: http://web.archive.org/web/*/www.surfingdog.com

  7. Suz in LA

    Sounds like fun Fiona. I certainly enjoy the snippets about Higgins on the Planet Penny blog that ToffeeApple introduced me to. I’m sure the Min Pins have umpteen amusing adventures 🙂

  8. Is there a children’s book here? With illustrations in the garden?

  9. In one of my “I can multitask” moments, I have thought of writing a blog and have, in the past, considered writing from the perspective of my two cats. Luckily I realised that most people would find “woke up, ate food, slept above radiator and stretched abit” somewhat samey after a few days…..:0)

    • Fiona Nevile

      Hi Liz

      I was just thinking the same thing when stirring the spaghetti sauce just now. It will be a challenge – but I need a challenge also want to have a bit of fun (still 182 tulip bulbs to go…keep on unearthing boxes in the sitting room. Ongoing mantra “They will look stunning next year”. First post ‘written’ by The Contessa just waiting for Danny to get off our forum and do his stuff. Then I have to do the images etc. and stop the Min Pins stepping adroitly over the keyboard on a rescue mission.

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