This item was given to me by one of my American friends, and I treasure it, partly for itself and partly because of the love with which it was given.

And the clues this week?

Not all households will have one. Most households will have something a little like it, but probably very much different in style. It is not something you would typically see in a kitchen, utility room or bathroom – except maybe as a random placement for decorative purposes only – but it would be possible to find it in pretty much any other room. This particular one is in my lounge, though I have others, quite different in appearance, in both the office and the bedroom.

I can’t decide whether this Macro Monday offering is going to be dead easy, or horribly difficult! I guess I’ll have to just wait and see, won’t I? I like my puzzles to be a real challenge, but not so difficult that it is impossible to guess. I do my best, but what with the international nature of my audience, I don’t always get it right. So apologies to those of you who feel cheated. I am always sad to hear that my chosen object is not seen in a particular foreign country and therefore you have no chance of guessing correctly.

Do remember, when taking a guess, that this is a macro shot, and that materials can look surprisingly different when magnified. I should perhaps tell you that this item was a little dusty when the photograph was taken, and also that the clues refer to the whole object, not just the particular part in the picture.

OK – start guessing!

As usual, come back here tomorrow evening (UK time) to find a link at the bottom of this post which will take you to a picture giving you the answer, and as usual, I will answer the comments at that time and add the answer there too. And good luck!

And the answer? Go here!

Several of you got it right this week, or near as dammit, anyway! Well done – you know who you are! I should mention John McDevitt and Andree as the winners I think, because they got what it is, without adding a qualifier which showed they were thinking of something much bigger. Well, I did tell you to remember it was a macro shot, didn’t I?

I’m adding a little more info in the comments, if you care to read.

Johnny Depp in in London today for the Royal Premiere of Alice in Wonderland, his new movie. Tim Burton will be there too, no doubt, and I have a lot of time for Tim, too. He gave me a beaming smile, once, you know!

And I won’t be there.

*Sigh*

Why not? Well, with all my current health problems and worries, I really didn’t feel able to make the journey and weather the trench warfare all by myself, and I had no-one to go with for support, protection, and those all-important ‘I’ll keep your place by the barrier while you go to the loo’ occasions.

Just the thought of carrying a bag containing the necessary stuff (camera, water, lunch, phone, handwipes, gift for the man, should I be fortunate enough to get close enough, folding stool, wet weather gear etc etc) was daunting. I’m still waiting for an MRI, a gastroscopy and a second shoulder repair, and what with the fibromyalgia, and the fact that I’m not sleeping well and my back is killing me, well… I stayed home.

I will be going down to London with OH and a good friend to see the movie on IMAX, but for the first time in years, I won’t be at the premiere of a new Johnny Depp movie.

Sorry to whine, but … Fuck it. And not in a good way.

The picture up there is one I took at the premiere of Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man’s Chest.

See my furry companion up there?  Fast asleep in his comfortable bed as a thunderstorm rages on the other side of the wall just inches from his head.  How fabulous to have a fearless dog!   Unlike the Princess, Sid is completely unmoved by the rumbles and the flashes of lightning.   Poor Princess Renie couldn’t eat during a storm, but as you see, Sid sees no reason to go on a fast.

There he is, finishing a dog biscuit, and not under a desk or behind the couch, but right up against the front door!

He’s a fawn, by the way, a nice light golden colour with a white chest and white tips to his paws and tail.   Pirate Jack was a fawn too, officially a red fawn, though he too had the white detailing.

He wasn’t fearful of thunder, either.  What Pirate would be?  He was over twelve years old in this picture, so he’d almost lost his tuck* and his face had gone white, but on the whole he was still a fit and healthy dog.

One interesting thing about greyhounds is that despite their finely built frames, they eat more food than most other breeds of their weight.   This is because they have a very fast metabolism.   Even though they spend half their lives flat out and snoring …

And they sleep in some very funny positions, let me tell you -

They still seem to need quite a lot of fuel.  Here’s Sid with one of his many little filler snacks. This time the remnants of our dinner in a foil tray.

Of course, Sid does work for his living.  He attends Meet and Greets to allow the general public to fuss and fawn over him and feed him biscuits and so on, under the pretext of being an ambassador for the breed. The dogs who do this insist on a soft bed to fulfill their comfort requirements, and provision must be made for cold weather.  Finicky?  How could you suggest such a thing?

On one of his first forays into the Meet and Greet world, Sid shared a blanket with a fellow fawn.

That pink and blue rug is rather flattering to their colouring, don’t you think?  It was freezing that day, so they really did need it.

The Meet and Greets are primarily to let people know what fantastic pets these dogs make, of course, and it’s a chance for newly retired dogs to get to know a little bit about their new world.

Yes, it’s easy to forget what these dogs did for a living when you see them flopped around the house on their fluffy beds, isn’t it?  Hard to imagine them being fleet of foot?  Just to remind us, let’s take a look at a video of one of Sid’s races.

It’s the official track video, so you’ll have to click the link and go and watch it on Greyhound Data.  Don’t fret, this isn’t the race in which he fractured his leg.  This one was fun for him – go take a look. He’s racing out of trap two, and wearing the blue jacket. And boy, he was fast!

*Tuck – this is the ‘waist’ of a dog.  In a greyhound, it is supposed to be well defined, so that the underpart of the dog goes up in a sharp curve from the end of the ribcage toward the pelvis.  In older dogs, when the stomach muscles are losing their tone, the tuck becomes rather less of a tuck, and more of a ’sag’, just the same as with us.

For other ABC Wednesday posts, click this link and visit Mrs Nesbitt’s ABC blog!

Last week’s Macro Monday puzzle was quite difficult, partly because some of you had never heard of charcoal dog biscuits, let alone seen one, so I tried to find you something more universal this week.

Now, I know these things are found all over the world. They might have a different appearance in different countries, but those which are accessible to the public usually look vaguely similar to this one, so hopefully you’ll all be in with a fighting chance!

Take a good look. This is something which is not found in a house, and in fact, very seldom indoors at all, apart from a few very specialised buildings. Usually they are found in the open air.  I saw this one yesterday while walking Sid.

This particular one is a modern version of something which has been around for a very long time.  According to one source,  it was invented in 1804, which surprised me because I would have thought it was older than that.

Anyway.  Off you go. Scratch those heads, jiggle those brain cells, and post your answer in the comments!  I’ll be back again as usual tomorrow with a link to the answer, and I will also add the answer in the comments at that time.

Have fun!

Well, here we are on Tuesday evening and I bet you’re all waiting impatiently for the solution, aren’t you?  Well, here it is! Congratulations to Mara, who was the first to guess correctly!  Also to Colleen, who holds the record for correct guesses. Well done, you too!

I should also congratulate Tina and Toby, who both seemed to know more or less what it was but couldn’t think what it was called.