Merry Merry Christmas one and all!

What a lovely holiday we have had here in Wellington! Christmas Eve day was spent waiting for Jacob to finish a short work day, listening to christmas songs, and reading The Night Before Christmas!

Christmas Eve was pretty icky weather, rainy most of the day, gusting winds, but Jacob being a brave cook, headed out to the BBQ for some tandoori chicken and an oven roasted terakihi for the fam. Odd combo, but so yummy!

Our first whole fish! Love it! And I think we'll be seeing more of them! The rest of the evening was getting ready for a lovely Christmas... Washing hand-me-down wooden blocks, decorating chalkboard toy boxes that Jacob built, drinking wine and snacking on mince pies.

So, the next morning...

Then off to Auntie Lisa's for an amazing day of feasting, beautiful weather, and warm family fuzzies...

Santa Etta

Silas opening a rather important gift from Opa

Monkeys all around!

Hendrik loves his monkey!

Timmy may be a bit over Christmas...

Cheese of the addictive variety

Etta's Adventures in Cheese Appreciation

Opa and Silas

Yes. Turducken.

Layer upon layer upon layer....

Thank you Lisa, Paul and Jeremy for an amazing meal!

And somehow I ended up on the wrong side of the camera. A rare sight.

A little playtime before...

... an beautiful Christmas dessert!

We hope everyone has had an amazing holiday filled with joy, love, family and the warmth of summer!

xo

 

It's been a week of..

Over a week has gone by since Bruce moved in with his new family. I chatted with them Friday and it sounds like he is doing well. We are all having to adjust I guess. Timmy has been a slightly different dog since Bruce left. I think he's just happy to be the only-dog-child. For example, we all went to pick up Jacob from work, me, the boys and Timmy. Timmy walked with us slowly up the steps, off lead, followed us to the car and happily jumped into the boot. I don't think he would have done that if Bruce was tagging along. It's an adjustment, but we are getting on slowly.

It's also been a week of Willem crawling! He's taken a few days to get the hang of it, but is rocketing around the house now. Now that he's moving as well, he's been following Hendrik from room to room, Hendrik's little shadow. But they are starting to play together which is awesome! I've been sneaking in on them playing and chatting to each other, kicking their feet in sync to crazy little tunes on their toys.

Strangely, with only one dog and the boys keeping themselves busy, I'm actually finding time to do things around the house and finishing them! Cooking has stepped up a notch! I'm loving it more than ever. Mexican pumpkin soup, potato and onion frittata, and my new love it bread making!

Well, more on that soon!

X

 

Bitter-sweet Goodbyes...

I'm never a fan of goodbyes. Especially when it's someone you know and love and looked after for the past 4 and a half years. But I think we are all ok with it, as sad as we are...

Bruce has found his new home! A lovely family has taken him in with open arms! And yes, they are perfect for each other! We're are so happy he will get the one on one time he needs. So happy, but still so sad.

We'll miss the sound of him running down the hallway when he hears someone in the pantry and his inspiring optimism. We will be visiting them again soon to make sure it's all going well. But at least for now, knowing he is the happiest dog he possibly can be is making this all ok.

That and the knowledge that he will always be a part of our family, no matter what.

We love you, Brucie!

xx

Heartbreak called Bruce.

Beyond heartbreak. Beyond sad.

We have, so sadly, made the descion to re-home our beloved Bruce. Even just writing that sentence has made me break down in tears. I think it's the hardest decisions we've ever had to make.

We found Bruce, then known as Henry, at the Lost Dog's Home when we lived in Melbourne. We needed a playmate for Timmy when we worked during the day and not long after Jacob found Bruce on their website. We were stoked to see that he was part Baseji like Timmy and his photo really made me smile.

Riding to the beach!

We went to see him at the Home and I totally fell in love. He was so cute and soft and such a nuggety little dude, he was perfect. He and Timmy got on like brothers do. Adventuring out together at the dog parks, going for walks, sleeping next to each other and rumbling like true siblings.

He was 7 months old at the time. And still such a puppy.

Cooking lessons

4 years later, he is still the Scrappy-Do he has always been. After moving to NZ, we started going to a new dog park where he is a hit among the dogs. Everyone loves Bruce and remembers his name.

Timmy & Bruce

Now, with Hendrik and Willem here with us, sadly we are unable to give him the amount of attention he actually needs. Timmy has adjusted, but Bruce struggles.

Loving the sunshine

If you know of someone in Wellington or somewhere close that would be able to give Bruce the love and attention he craves, please let us know. He needs to go to the right person/family.

Sylie & Hugo helping Bruce with his wardrobe

He is about 5 years old now. He's a Basenji and Jack Russell mix. Chipped and up to date on all of his vaccinations. We is registered with the WCC until next year.

I am so unbelievable heartbroken having to write this. But we have to do what is best for our beloved Bruce...

xx

 

The Boys

Our boys, Timmy & Bruce, aka The Basenji Brothers.

One of the highlights of my day, is getting home from work after a 45 minute bike ride and being greeted by two very lovey boys. (And a bigger lovey boy, aka Jacob) They are troublemakers in their own right. 

Timmy has a fondness for chewing anything paper, pens, books, (watch your homework kids!) and has a habit of making monkey sounds from the parcel tray when we go for rides. He's a bit scared of bigger, darker dogs, and no he's not racist.. just a bit unsure. But we love him either way...

Bruce is a bit bow-legged but runs like a whippet when he wants to. Hmmm. "When he wants to..." pretty much explains Bruce. He's started to mellow out as he gets older and FINALLY enjoys a good cuddle. He also enjoys eating poo and anything that fall on the floor in the kitchen. (Hey, no man is perfect!) He's the peace-keeper at the dog park, never afraid to lay down the law with other misbehaving dogs. 

It makes me happy to think that in less than an hour - I'll have two dogboys wagging and jumping to greet me at the door! 

I love our little nuggets! 

A lovely warm weekend...

This past weekend was absolutely gorgeous. If you were not in Melbourne, I pity you. In the nicest way possible of course!

We spent the weekend mowing, weeding, fixing bits and pieces around the yard. Saturday late afternoon spent laying on a giant picnic blanket with J and the boys drinking a couple beers. The sun was shining and warm. The air was still slightly cool... It was perfect.

J, T and B. Oh the chaos...

Thursday night I took down my exhibition. It was sort of a relief, but sort of sad. It all went so quick! I'll be posting some of the images here, but will be selling some originals and prints on Etsy. I'll keep you posted!!

In other news... Don't forget that the 13th of October is Ride to Work Day!!! I've signed up and am trying to get some of my co-workers to get on the bandwagon!! It's taken a promise of cupcakes to possibly get some people on board!

Don't forget to sign up and get on your bike! 

*autumn loveliness

The nice cool air, the changing of the leaves, it's all to perfect...

Walks down the laneways on Sunday afternoons...

Sleepy, sunny boys...

Yummy Fish and Chips in the Park...

Handsome Bruce waiting for a chip. Or a fish. Or anything that may fall on the ground.

Hoover boy aka Garbage Guts. That's our Bruce.

And one more good thing about autumn...
Harvesting things from the garden.
This is only part of the peppers and capsicum that decided to randomly grow.. Love it!