self portrait challenge::26.12.06::red::

even though sitting at the cricket today i found myself shivering for warmth, both shane and i were once again caught out by the power of the aussie sun and have very red faces this evening as a result. i thought my sunburnt face conveniently suited the december self portrait theme of "red" and so i join in the self portrait challenge again, starting one resolution before the year even begins (now i just have to keep it up).

26.12.06

well, the coldest christmas day on record thwarted the all-day-beachfest that shane, julie and i had planned but if there is one lesson i carry from growing up with my holiday-loving mom, it's how to put on a warm, cozy and gut-busting christmas spread. combining aussie and canadian traditions, i threw on the holiday tunes, popped a pot with whole cinnamon and cloves on the stove for a spicy holiday aroma and got to work putting together maple glazed salmon, sauteed garlic prawns, potato salad and a classic green salad. we opted for a light meal, knowing that when the three of us get together, we can put away an amazing amount of fancy cheese, dips, deli treats, biscuits and turkish bread - which we did in fine fashion once again. jules rolled out of here around 6pm, all of us proud of the 6 hours of solid eating that we had accomplished, and leaving shane and i to rub our swelled tummies while watching episode after episode of carnivale.

we woke up this morning to yet another chilly day and bundled ourselves up for a trek to the famous MCG as i bought shano test cricket tickets for christmas. cricket - meh. it was cold, it rained, australia has already won the test so the english weren't exactly putting in a whole lot of effort (from what little i understood abut what i watched for 7 hours today). we did get to see shane warne get his 700th wicket so i guess that was a highlight... ? anyway, even shane was over it by 5pm and i was pretty happy to get home, get on the computer and have a nice warm cup of tea. ahhhhh.

14.12.06

forest fires raging across victoria are filling the city with smoke, not exactly the white christmas i've been dreaming of. it's really like nothing i've ever experienced before - i walked out to the hazy park yesterday morning and looked up to see the sun as a glowing, pale orange sphere in a bed of gray. it was really amazing but by the time i went back in to get my camera it had risen enough that it was out of most of the smoke and more of a bright, blazing orange. i hope the cool change we're supposed to get this afternoon helps to bring the fires under control, keeping houses and families safe, and making everything seem a bit less apocalyptic around here.

life with baxy: a rough guide

written for the lovely emily who will be taking care of baxter next week while we're in sydney.



eating
baxy likes food. a lot. he will eat anything. and i mean anything. he is especially fond of earplugs. and possum poo. and tissues. and anything plastic. we try to keep small things out of his reach which is basically means off the floor as he can’t reach much higher.

as for food he’s allowed to eat, we feed him half a cup of Advance in the morning before work (if you feed him right before you go, it makes the sad eyes a little less sad) and half a cup around 6:30 pm (along with any odd and ends he picks up off the floor while i’m making dinner. loves frozen peas.) he also gets a frozen bone/lamb offcut in the morning as a little bonus to keep him busy during the day. pigsears are also provided if he is driving you insane and you need an hour of peace (great if you have guests around).


bodily function(s)
much like a cat, baxter has been “litter”trained to accommodate our apartment living. he comes complete with a large, aluminium tray and piles of newspaper with which to line it. the newspaper must be changed frequently (like, sometimes twice a day) as bax is a refined beast and doesn’t like to pee on the soiled paper. plus changing the paper often means no yucky pee smell in your kitchen! poo should be picked up with tissue and flushed promptly ‘cause, man, it really DOES smell and is quite gag inducing.

now having said all that, you have a backyard and baxter loves to do his business outside so the tray will probably only get usage during the day while you’re at work. if you let him out first thing in the morning and as soon as you get home from he should be more than happy to relieve himself outside (marking your house and yard as HIS territory, after all).


sleeping
easy. baxter loves to sleep. he has a little kennel that we lock him into (hey, he likes it, okay?), after making him have a wee, which he isn’t too thrilled about because he has usually already been sleeping on the couch for an hour. he’ll trot into his kennel and not say a peep until the alarm goes off and he yelps to be let out. we bring him into the bed and under the covers for a half hour of cuddling until i have to get up. feel free to alter baxy’s sleeping arrangements as you see fit. he can sleep under the covers all night if you so desire or you can do away with the morning snuggling (although i highly recommend it).


the park/walks
baxter loves the great outdoors (are you sensing a theme here? he’s a pretty easy going dog). he’s not too road savvy though so must be kept on leash until he’s in a designated off leash area of a park. he will play with any and every dog around although often bites off a bit more than he can chew with the big dogs and then will need to bolt between your legs to avoid being stepped on after he’s riled them up. if small dogs are irritating him and playing too aggressively, he WILL take them on but only after being goaded for quite awhile. it’s pretty easy to break up the deathmatch, just pick him up and walk away. he’ll more than likely have a great play with the very same dog the next day.

if you encounter stairs, he will need to be carried. really.

11.12.06

trying my hardest to feel christmassy but it's pretty hard when it was almost 40ºC all weekend. i did spend about 6 hours yesterday, holiday tunes blaring, baking up a storm of christmas cookies, recipes courtesy of martha. i made chewy chocolate gingerbread for the fifth (or sixth?) year in a row and this year tried out the carrot cake sandwich cookies instead of my standard shortbread. both very highly recommended, although maybe try to find a day that's not ridiculously hot to have the oven on for 4 hours (my oven is pretty small and i only have two little wee pans that fit in there so the baking took far, far longer than i anticipated). the actual making of the cookies dough was made oh-so much easier for me this year with the help of a beautiful 50s sunbeam mixmaster, dropped off in exchange for future cookies by my good buddies, lou and sandy. it worked like a dream and was so stylish as well, i've been scouring eBay all morning trying to find one all for myself. the only personal little touches i threw in to the cookies were to add my famous (to me) burnt sugar crackle to the gingerbread (melt a cup of sugar in a saucepan and drizzle over the cookies, crunchy and delicious) and to add some vanilla bean paste to the cream cheese icing. again, highly recommended!