A woman is inspiring others with her garden skills - with the help of her sausage dogs
Kay Maynard, 46, Carmarthen, runs an Instagram account full of glorious pictures of her pets and blooming garden on @ brook_cottage_.
The stars of the stream are her two sausage dogs - three-year-old Albert and his son Stanley, just eight months - while you can also occasionally spot 14-year-old Bichon Max.
Read more: Runner is training for the London marathon with help from her dog
She told TeamDogs : “We call him the granddad. Little Max, he tries not to get involved. He's quite old now, so he's not out with us as much as he used to be. He's quite happy to have a bit of peace on the sofa when we're all pottering around.”
There’s also twin Rag Doll cat brothers, Tom and Jerry, to keep an eye out for, who were named by Kay's daughters. “It was either going to be Tom and Jerry or Ant and Dec, so I'm quite glad they went for Tom and Jerry!”
It’s quite a menagerie, but Kay says “they all get on like a house on fire.” She adds: “They will sleep together and cuddle up together. I think I'm quite fortunate. I just presumed that all animals got along, but apparently that's not the case.”
The Instagram account started out as a way to share her upcycling projects, but after taking up gardening, she found herself increasingly photographing her pets and plants.
“We spend our lives in the garden. I dug out flower beds and got into it and now I just love it. It's like my happy place. It's just really calm.”
That happiness and calm has garnered her Instagram account almost 4,500 followers, and you can really feel the positivity and joy. Her ridiculously photogenic dogs seem to enjoy the gardening side of things too.
“They're quite good. Stan, when he was tiny, we had to watch him. He loves the gardening gloves."
Although he has been known to dig up bluebell bulbs in the past, they generally just like to chase each other at the top part of the garden.
"I've got quite a large round flower bed and they use it like a little racing track. So they're just quite happy to chase each other and they tend to leave me alone.”
But the pups know that if they pose for a photo, they’ll likely get a treat. “They're very good. They'll jump in and out of buckets. They're just happy, so they just kind of go with the flow.”
So if you need a peaceful five minutes, head to @brook_cottage_ for sausage dogs in bow ties, sniffing sweet peas and cuddling cats. Or go one better and do as Kay has done: “Everyone should have Sausages and Bichons and Rag Dolls.. They’re just lovely.”
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