So, firstly, the pictures. Becca from the nursery took these. Apparently, bouncing on the trampoline is his favouritest thing in the whole wide universe:
Then, the comics. They haven’t been processed for the comics page yet, but they will get done eventually.
We had to get Tolstoy shaved because, minger that he is, he doesn’t goom his fur and won’t let us brush him so he gets dreadlocked and it just looks painful. We took him to the vet to get a good brushing under sedation (we have to do this once a year or so) and when we went to pick him up, the nurse said “we had to shave off a bit more fur than expected, but don’t worry, he’s fine”.
We have a poodle. The only things that are not shorn are his head, tail, lower paws and a bit around his ass. The rest of him is gone. His tail is wider than his actual body. The thing is though, ever since we got him done, he’s been like his old self again and has gotten uber clingy. He’s taken to sleeping on the bed with us most every night. It’d be cute if he didn’t weigh so damn much. He’s small, but it’s all muscle.
In other news, the beastie was in a Christmas play in the nursery yesterday. All the small kids were random nativity-esque animals. Ours was a donkey (though the only requirement was to be dressed in grey). We were quite proud of him. He didn’t cry (he seemed to enjoy the attention, in a bemused sort of way) and he clapped enthusiastically at all the right places. Katy could have burst something she was so proud.
I’ve seen some horrible shit online. I’ve grown blase of the grotesque.
But this…
…this just makes me want to cry.
In 1993, Kevin Carter, a freelance photographer, was in Sudan to photograph the rebel movement in the famine-stricken country. Seeking relief from the sight of masses of people starving to death, he wandered into the open bush. He heard a soft, high-pitched whimpering and saw a tiny girl trying to make her way to the feeding center. As he crouched to photograph her, a vulture landed in view. Careful not to disturb the bird, he positioned himself for the best possible image. He would later say he waited about 20 minutes, hoping the vulture would spread its wings. It did not, and after he took his photographs, he chased the bird away and watched as the little girl resumed her struggle, panting. Afterwards he sat under a tree, lit a cigarette, talked to God and cried. Nobody knows what happened to the child.
This image won Carter the Pulitzer in 1994. He killed himself from depression a few months later.
I know I’m not in a good frame of mind these days. I’m far from my happy place. But this reminds me that things could be a hell of a lot worse, and that maybe I should be thankful about that.
The beastie wasn’t feeling all that great this weekend. His temperature spiked on Saturday night and has been up and down since, and our nights have been less than peaceful. Still, he seems to have had a better day today so hopefully he’s starting to get on top of whatever bug he’s picked up.
Sunday was a truly shit day, weather-wise, so we spent it inside putting up the Christmas tree. I had a helper (though he was more interested in trying to eat everything in sight so we did most of the trimming while he was taking a nap).
I’m amazed that the tree has been up for two days, so far, and the cats haven’t been at it (yet!). Still, go tree!
Katy’s parents were over for the weekend and we managed to:
- install stair gates at the bottom of the stairs and in the kitchen, because Doofus has officially started to crawl
- put up some Christmas decorations
- clear out some weeds in the garden and rip out more of that bed liner crap
- plant our tulip and crocus bulb
- put the sleepers back around the empty pond
We also got our FU DOGS!!! Woot!
I’ve been going crazy trying to find a pair of fu dogs for the garden. It took me 6 months to find some. And now we have them! Behold the glory of Elvis and Jeff.
I’m so happy I could burst.
Reenie also showed off her tree climbing skills and I managed to snap a few pictures of the gorgeousness.
It’s been getting colder these days, which is nice. The beastie is also starting to go back to his happy, non-permanently-pissed-off self, for which we are thankful.
I tried this last weekend, as a practice run for our xmas roast.
Start with a 2.5 kg turkey breast from our local butcher and cut it open.
Stuff it with 500g of sausage meat and one envelope of Paxo stuffing.
Roll it and tie it back together and season with pepper and rosemary.
Top it with latticed bacon and give it a good glug of lemon-infused olive oil and leave it overnight in the fridge.
The following morning, put it in a roasting pan, add about an inch of water to the pan and put two large pats of butter on top of the roast to keep it moist while cooking.
Make a tent out of foil and place it over the turkey breast to hold in heat for even cooking. Remove it during the last hour of cooking for a nice golden brown colour.
Check the water level periodically and add more water if needed.
Cook in a pre-heated oven at 170oC
The typical turkey breast cooking times for thawed turkey breast in a conventional oven are:
* 2 to 3 pounds – 1.5 to 2 hours
* 4 to 6 pounds – 2.5 to 3 hours
* 7 to 8 pounds – 3 to 4 hours
Cook until the internal meat temperature is above 165oF and the juices run clear. (Took us about 2.5 hours in a fan-assisted oven)
I took the beastie for a walk on Saturday to give Katy a bit of quiet time at home so she could study. Beastie was just getting over the worst of his fever, so he zonked out as soon as we were mobile.
I just love the BenBen deathgrip he has on his bunny :)
When we got back home, the beastie went down for a nap and when I came back downstairs, I saw that Reen-pig had adopted the bunny for her own.
The beastie was feeling a lot better yesterday (he’d been running a bit of a fever for the past few days) so we were able to go out and about for a while.
We went to Scottsdales to start buying some Christmas decorations. Yes, I know it’s still early, but we’ve made a deal to not put anything up until Guy Fawkes has passed, and the tree can’t go up until December. Besides, it’s fun and the beastie seems to really enjoy garden centre Christmas displays.
Which brings us to this.
Who the hell thought disembodied, shrunken Santa heads would make for good tree ornaments? I mean, wtf?!?? Just look at the eyes of the one in the first picture. Doesn’t it just say “please, kill me! I beseech you, let this torment end?”
Then, there was this.
Don’t get me wrong, I love Meerkats. I think that Aleksandr Orlov and Compare the Meerkats is one of the best publicity campaigns I’ve seen in a very long time. But what the hell do Meerkats have to do with Christmas???
But there is a happy ending.
The beastie, he is getting very excited about Christmas.
Amused
Sad
Tired
Busy
Happy
Full
