Alan Almost Completes his Jigsaw

 Kia ora tamariki ma, whew, my task is almost done! This is the most difficult jigsaw I've ever done! It's taken me all of lockdown to not quite complete - obviously I wasn't working on it all the time but I was surprised at how hard it was! It is a thousand pieces but that's actually not what makes it hard. It's the rather limited range of colours there are and how detailed some of the flowers and butterflies are. Also the background is basically different shades of black! 

Still it's nearly done now - I am a champion jigsawer (I'm not sure that is actually a word .....but you know what I mean!) 

Hopefully the holidays will see me complete it - I guess I used up valuable time going for my walk today - look where I went! My favourite place after my house - my workplace. Of course I was just outside...but I'm sure we will be back soon!

Almost but not quite!

Look where I am!

Keep safe and be kind.

Nga mihi.

- Alan 🐾

Alan's Challenge of the Day (30 September)

 Morena tamariki ma? Time for my challenge of the day again! A very tricky one today but I'm sure it's not too tricky for my Glen Taylor friends.

What type of dog is constantly aware of the time?

Ha ha - I'm so funny!

The answer to yesterday's riddle is : A barking lot! 

Keep safe and be kind.

Nga mihi

- Alan 🐾

Alan's Challenge of the Day (29 September)

 

If you know a good dog joke let me know!

Alan and Hunter

Kia ora tamariki ma, remember when I showed you photos of my children? You all seemed to think they were pretty cute and of course they are because their dad (that's me) is so good looking. 

A few of you asked to see photos of my children now they are grown up. That can be quite difficult as it's hard to keep in touch with all of them but I did manage to get a photo of Hunter. As you can see he is very handsome and he has a lovely nature as well. He ended up being a great pet for a lucky family and lives a very happy life in the countryside south of Auckland.

Hunter was born in late January 2017 which makes him  just over 4 and a half  years old. 

My favourite thing - free run on the beach!

Time for a rest after my walk.

I have my dad's smile!

Keep safe and be kind

Nga mihi

- Alan  🐾

Alan Checks his Flowers

 Kia ora tamariki ma, I'm very excited today as it's been quite a while since I admired the pansies growing on our deck and decided to preserve them by pressing them. So, I think it's time to check and see how they are doing. I wonder if they are ready or whether I will have to continue pressing them for a longer time.

 Well, when I checked them my flowers were definitely nice and flat but still not dry enough to be preserved so back into the middle of the pile of books they went. I might check them again in another week. It's a slow process isn't? Exciting though - I can't wait to see how they turn out - I promise I will show you photos next term!

Keep safe and be kind.

Nga mihi.

- Alan 🐾

Alan's Challenge of the Day (28 September)

 Morena tamariki ma. time for today's challenge of the day!

Where do dogs park their cars?

Hmmm - tricky! Dogs don't actually drive cars do they?? I'm not allowed to although I think I'd look very cool whizzing along in a sports car!

I like jokes that Lance tells!

 

The answer to yesterday's riddle: A shampoodle!

Keep safe and be kind.

Nga mihi

- Alan 🐾

 

Alan Meets Some Cows

Kia ora tamariki ma, I hope you all had a lovely weekend and got outside for lots of fresh air and running around while still keeping safe. I got taken on a few nice long walks in the weekend. My favourite one was the one wear we walked past a field with a cow in it!  I like cows because they seem so friendly  - although Mrs Cox tells me they might not be quite so friendly if I went into their field! The only place we can do that is at Churchill Park in Glendowie where you can be in the same field but, as it's so big, not too near them. Even then I have to be on my lead apparently.... I'm glad Mrs Cox is so interested in keeping me safe.

Me and my new cow friends

I'd love to hear where you have been going to when you are getting fresh air so don't forget to drop me a line to tell me!

Keep safe and be kind 

Nga mihi

- Alan 🐾

Alan's Challenge of the Day (27 September)

 Morena tamariki ma, this week I thought for our challenges I would tell you some jokes and you could guess the answer!

I tell jokes even funnier than Mr Herlihy's!

Here is today's riddle!

What kind of dog washes it's hair every day?

Tune in tomorrow for the answer! (and your next riddle).

Keep safe and be kind.

Nga mihi.

- Alan  🐾

Alan Enjoys Helping

 Kia ora tamariki mai I hope you have a great week and are all set to relax over the coming weekend. During the weekend Mrs Cox usually catches up with the housework so of course I like to help! This week I decided I would do the vacuuming. Mrs Cox was a bit dubious about that. As she pointed out I am actually a bit scared of the noise the vacuum cleaner makes. However I came up with a brilliant solution! Earmuffs!

It worked a treat and the carpet is beautiful and clean! Mrs Cox was so thrilled and gave me a special dog treat afterwards! Yummy!

If you have been helping around the house I would love to hear about it!

 

As you can see, not all dogs are keen to help with the housework......

Keep safe and be kind

Nga mihi

- Alan 🐾

Alan's Challenge of the Day (24 September)

 Morena tamariki ma, last challenge for the week but of course the answer will be revealed underneath the next challenge on Monday. So make sure you have a go! 

The answer to yesterday's challenge is: Yes, it's one of my toys - Mr Monster! I love his bright red colour - it's so cheerful and of course it reminds me of Glen Taylor's uniform!

Keep safe and be kind.

Nga mihi

- Alan 🐾

Alan Dries Flowers

 Kia ora tamariki ma - I was having a look around my garden this morning and noticed lots of spring flowers poking up especially in Mrs Cox's pots of pansies. I think they are so beautiful and it made me think about pressing some of them so I could keep them - because flowers don't last forever do they?

I did some research and found out how to preserve flowers by pressing them. You can buy flower presses but they are expensive and there is no need because you can do it without them as long as you have a few heavy books. So that's what I'm going to do! You could try it too - remember you may need an adult to help. 

1.Choose some flowers to preserve

2. Pick the flowers you want to preserve

3. lay a piece of absorbent paper on a book and place the flowers on top

4. put another piece of paper on top

5. put some more heavy books on top

Now, put the pile in a safe place and leave for about a week. Then carefully lift the books and paper off the flowers. If they are not thoroughly dried out put everything back carefully. Keep checking every few days until your flowers are dry. When they are dry the should have kept a lot of their colour. Enjoy!

Once they are dry they are delicate so handle them carefully. You could use them to make a card for someone special or put them in a frame to enjoy.

Keep safe and be kind

Nga mihi

- Alan 🐾

Alan's Challenge of the Day (23 September)

 Morena tamariki ma - it's time for my challenge of the day again and today I thought I would pick something colourful! I hope you have a go and don't forget to look and see if you got yesterday's challenge correct. Even if you didn't it doesn't matter, it's just fun to have a go!

The answer to yesterdays challenge is: it's a corn holder! If you haven't seen one before - you use them in pairs and poke the prongs into the ends of your corn on the cob so you can hold onto them and not get your hands on the corn - especially good if you like butter on your corn cob like Mrs Cox does. Unfortunately we don't have any corn to put in the photo.

 

Keep safe and be kind.

Nga mihi

- Alan 🐾

Alan's Children

 Kia ora tamariki ma, I hope your week is going well - I'm certainly seeing a lot of fantastic work being done across the school. Tino pai!

As you know I've been looking through my photo albums and today I thought you might like to see my beautiful children.  I'm so proud of them because not only are they gorgeous but they have lovely characters. Ka pai!

Keep safe and be kind.

Nga mihi

- Alan 🐾

Alan's Challenge of the Day (22 September)

 Morena tamariki ma, hope you are having a good week and enjoying my daily challenges. This one has food associated with it! No wonder I chose it! 

The answer to yesterday's challenge is: a fan! We had had a few nice days lately but generally the weather has not been that warm. We use our fans a lot in summer but I can't remember the last time we needed them!

Keep safe and be kind.

Nga mihi

- Alan 🐾

Alan's Jigsaw

 Kia ora tamariki ma - as you know I have been working on on jigsaw for what seems like forever. Next time I might pick a slightly easier  one but I am determined to complete this one before we go back to school. I try and do a little bit everyday and I'm gradually getting there! Can you see how close I am to getting finished? I'm getting to a really really tricky part - the background! It's just about all the same colour - the shade just changes a little bit. So I can't try and match the colours - just the shapes. Can you count how many butterflies there are? 

Whew - this jigsaw is not easy but not impossible!

I might just go and do some more now!

Keep safe and be kind.

Nga mihi

- Alan 🐾

Alan's Challenge of the Day (September 21)

 Ata Marie tamariki ma, did you get yesterday's challenge right? Don't worry if you didn't - you can have another try today. We have several of these in our house but we haven't needed them very much lately!

 

The answer to yesterday's challenge: It's a toaster! Yummy I love toast but I'm not allowed it because bread isn't great for dogs to eat. (A little bit wouldn't hurt but too much isn't good.)

Keep safe and be kind.

Nga mihi

- Alan 🐾

Alan's Family

 Ata marie tamariki ma, I hope you all had a lovely weekend and managed to get safely out into the sunshine with your whanau and enjoy the fresh air.

I've been spending some time this weekend looking through my photo albums and I saw these photos of my brothers and sisters. You might remember that I have three brothers and four sisters! Quite a big family! 

I thought you might enjoy seeing these photos of us when we were very small puppies wearing our very first red coats. When guide dog  puppies wear their red coats it means that they are in work mode. It is very important to not touch or talk to a guide dog when they are working as it is distracting for them - it is very hard work being a guide dog so they need to concentrate. But don't worry - they get plenty of time off to play!

Have a great week everyone.

Keep safe and be kind.

Nga mihi

- Alan 🐾

  

Alan's Challenge of the Day (September 20)

 Morena tamariki ma it's a new week so it's time for Alan's challenge of the day! I thought you might like to guess what some close up photos are so here is today's object! Can you guess what it is? The answer will be at the bottom of tomorrow's challenge.

The answer to Friday's challenge is: 

If you thought of a different way to solve the puzzle let me know!

Keep safe and be kind.

Nga mihi

- Alan 🐾

Alan Bakes Dog Treats

Kia ora tamariki ma, hope everyone is having a good week. I'm looking forward to the weekend and decided I'd like to bake a few treats for myself to enjoy as a bit of a reward for working hard this week.

Miss V had told me about some really good dog treat recipes so I read through them and decided I liked the sound of the peanut butter and kumara treats. They had egg and oats as well which sounded both yummy and healthy so I decided to give them a go!  I checked to see if we had all the ingredients and we did so off I went.

I made sure to wash my paws before I started and then got all the ingredients and all the equipment I needed out before I started. I do like to be organised! also I turned the oven on to the temperature I needed so that by the time I had the biscuits ready to bake it would be hot enough - the sooner they're cooked the sooner I get to eat them! 

Mixing was quite hard with my paws but Mrs Cox helped me a bit so it was okay. 

The hardest part was waiting for them to cool down so I could eat one!

Trust me - they were delicious!

Keep safe and be kind.

nga mihi

- Alan 🐾

Alan's Challenge of the Day (17 September)

 Morena tamariki ma, it's Friday again! I'm really looking forward to the weekend but here is my final challenge for the week. It might last you all weekend. If you like sudoku  you will especially enjoy this. I can't wait to see your answers so get busy!

Have a lovely weekend and don'r forget to go to online assembly today. Junior school (years 1-4 ) 12pm and senior school (years 5-8)  at 11am.

The answer to yesterday's challenge is:

Keep safe and be kind.

nga mihi

- Alan 🐾

Alan Checks up on his Friends

 Kia ora tamariki mai. I'm missing seeing my friends during lockdown - except seeing some of them at a distance when we are both out walking - so I  thought I would get in touch online with a couple of them to see how they are doing. 

My friend Patch (she's a one year old guide dog in training) said she's been going for heaps of walks - probably even more than me! She loves spotting flowers and interesting paintings on the streets - I think she's seen some interesting things, don't you?

Loma is older than Patch (nearly ten) so she's been taking it a bit easier and spending a lot of time relaxing around the house - including lying on the couch which she isn't really supposed to do!

I'm glad my friends are taking care of themselves and I'm looking forward  to catching up with them soon - but not as much as I'm looking forward to seeing my Glen Taylor School friends again!

Keep safe and be kind

nga mihi

-Alan 🐾

 

Alan's Challenge of the Day (16 September)

 Morena tamariki ma, it's challenge of the day time again! I thought it was time for another mystery object. To make it easier I've included two photos of the mystery object! Don't forget to have a think and let me know what you think the mystery object is! Good luck!

The answer to yesterday's challenge is:

Keep safe and be kind.

nga mihi

- Alan 🐾