Puppy School

Sh, so Monty doesn't know that boys aren't supposed to wear ribbons! He is desperately in need of a haircut and I couldn't get a Saturday appointment with the dog's hairdresser until mid July. The hair ribbon was supposed to help him to see, but he got it off about 10 minutes after I took this photo. He is snug as a bug in a rug.....it is winter here.

Our dogs have social problems. They are really aggresive to other dogs when they are out walking - and as you can see they are not really the size to pick a fight! We don't know how to solve the problem so we have called in the experts from "Bark Busters". Ken, the trainer for our area of Sydney, came in for two hours on Saturday. My gosh, the dogs are reformed characters. Apparently I have been contributing to the problem (kind of already guessed that). For instance, I pick them up to try to get them to stop their behaviour - this actually raises their status in the pack because they gain height, making them even more aggresive. Whoops!

Also, Ken says that our dogs our hyperactive. This might be a result of their diet. He has told me they have to be on a raw food diet - a mixture of human mince, vegetable and eggs. I spent half an hour on Saturday afternoon blending the ingredients together in a food processer. Fun! I have made enough for two weeks. I can tell you, given the additional effort - it better be effective.

They are real darlings though, so I think it is worth the cost and effort to improve their behavior. Soon, they should be well behaved enough to take on outings to cafes etc. I can't wait.

Gorgeously Green - Part 1

So, I was watching Oprah the other day and they had Sophie Uliano on for Earth Day. She was talking about her new book Gorgeously Green. She talked all about organic produce. And gosh, she gave a scare about all the chemicals sprayed on fruit and vegetables, aswell as the antibiotics you find in meat. It has made me seriously think about going organic. But for me, when the obstacles is the lack of availability. Just where do you get organic produce from?

Without going organic, one option Sophie suggested was creating your own vegetable spray. Apparently just washing fruit and vegetables doesn't get the chemical residue off. This is her recipe:
1 cup of water
1 cup distilled white vinegar
1 tbsp of baking soda
20 drops of grapefruit seed oil (Where do you get this from???)
Spray on produce and leave for 5-10 minute before rinsing off.

Sophie also talked about chemicals in beauty products....but I'll post more on that later..

What's Cooking: Hummus

My Mum has requested my recipe for Hummus, and since I have to type it up to send to her, I thought I might as well post it here as well.

I am a huge hummus fan...ever since my husband and I travelled to Egypt and had it for basically every lunch. It is just so yummy and, as a bonus, good for you.

Hummus

1. Drain a 420g can of chickpeas over a bowl, reserving liquid.
2. Place chickpeas, 1 tablespoon of tahini, 1 crushed garlic clove, 1/2 a teaspoon of ground cumin and 1/3 cup of chickpea liquid in a food processer.
3. Process until smooth. Transfer into a bowl and stir in 1 tablespoon of lemon juice. Season to taste.
4. Drizzle with a little extra virgin olive oil and ground cumin, if you like. Serve with triangles of pita bread or pita crisps.

I love taking any leftovers to work for morning tea with crackers. Yummo!

Some Pretty Preppy Furniture

So long time no post (story of my blogistence!)....I have been lurking though and reading everyone else's posts....only I do this at work so I don't think posting or leaving comments is a good idea there...

So anyway, about two months ago my husband and I put in some furniture to have it reupholstered. We did it through a design shop in Bowral which is about an hour and a half from Sydney...so long drive to pick it up....the dogs and I had a road trip. Anyway the lady at the shop was really lovely the day we ordered....chatted to Ben about being in the army (apparently her son-in-law is ex special forces)... gave us lots of time to choose our fabrics. Anyhow, the toile fabric we picked was not cheap and she told us we needed two metres...which was duly ordered at considerable expense....but when I pick up my reupholstered chair only 1 metre has been used....a rather vast overestimate me thinks....for someone who does this kind of thing everyday...but anyway I do now have pretty furniture (and I can get something else reupholstered in the future....I just have to find a suitable piece).

Both chair and piano stool are currently residing in the living room as they are to pretty to cast away to their respective homes in bedroom and music room/study....here they are.....

A new top!

I saw this post over on Sippycups are for Chardonnay a few weeks ago and I fell in love with this top.

I had so much trouble deciding which colour to get, but eventually stuck to the aqua.

I ordered it on Etsy and it looks just as good in real life as it does in the photo....now if we could just have some warm Autumn weather so I can wear it out!

And, in a slightly ironic twist.... I went to the Pregnancy and Baby expo on the weekend - no not pregnant just wishful thinking - and one of the stalls was selling cot sets made out of the same material!

Also at the pregnancy expo...I was looking at all the couples and was thinking "I shouldn't be doing this on my own, DH should be here" - then I was like "Hang on Provincial Homemaker, you're not even pregnant!". And, as DH pointed out on the phone that evening, if he had been here we wouldn't have been THERE!

The T-shirt and the Felon

I decorated a skivy as part of the birthday present for my niece's upcoming third birthday. I successfully interfaced the fabric to the top and was quite happy with my puff-paint application - an earlier attempt having gone awry. Not over the top, just some added sparkle. The packaging said to allow 24 hours drying time, so I popped it on the spare bed to dry flat. 30 minutes later I am witness to a dog having a wow of a time rolling all over my puff paint work. She is very lucky to still be with us....I was not best pleased.

Here is the culprit. It hasn't really come out in the photo but she has hot pink glitter paint all through her hair. I hope she is looking foward to a long bath!

The Brontes Went to Woolworths

I have become somewhat of a Virago Modern Classics fiend of late. If I see any I nab them straight away - case in point a recent visit to the UNSW book fair. This title, however, I have been on the lookout for for some time; ever since reading about it in Jane Brocket's The Gentle Art of Domesticity. So, when I saw it at a secondhand bookshop in Newton I grabbed it and expedited it up my reading list.

Rachel Ferguson has created a wonderful mix between reality and fantasy in The Brontes Went to Woolworths. It took me until some way into the book to work out which characters the Carnes actually knew and which they knew only in their imagination.

Amongst the ecletic visitors are Ironface - a doll who converses in French, Pipson - a music hall comic and Judge Toddington, or Toddy as he is better known. Toddy had been studied by the Carne household for some years - ever since Mrs Carne was called to jury duty in his court. They know many of his habits and much about his daily routine. They even keep photos of him.

Things become complicated when Deirdre, the eldest Carne daughterand a journalist, is sent to cover the opening of a charity bazaar. There she meets Lady Mildred, Toddy's real life wife, and a friendship develops between the two families. I loved Shiel, the youngest Carne, who when speaking to Toddy would get very mixed up between what was fact and what had been imagined about him.

And where do the Brontes come into it? The Carnes manage to get in touch with them during a seance in the country, and it seems that the Brontes didn't quite get to day everything they wanted to. They come back to the Carnes city residence to pay their governess a visit.....and then they go to Woolworths.

Loved it! Particularly this line "however modern or sceptic or advanced one may be, there is something about a church more likely to make wishes come true than anywhere else".

____

And, in an update to my last post. DH has arrived safely in Baghdad - though I think the heat and dust are making him rather uncomfortable. When I got off the phone to him just over an hour ago they were in the middle of a dust storm. Just 5 months and 3 weeks left until he gets back!