labbit99’s blog

Its about 28DegC with an arid norwester blowing so it feels like you are sitting at the mouth of a convection oven. The animals are a little bit too warm and can't seem to find the ideal spot to settle into to sleep out the heat of the day. They are still goading each other and Mik being the heavier weight is using his muscle to dominate the cat. Its not all one way traffic though before we label the puppy "bad" and the kitten "good". I watched earlier as Mik was laying in the garden minding his own business with a stick to contemplate; Jez-kitten wandered over and mioewed in his face then launched itself at him and he just sat there taking it, wagging his tail perplexedly. Although when in full rumble they look pretty serious and the yowls get loud I am confident that even Jez has enough savvy not to head towards danger ; but it does look pretty serious when seen by an outsider. I can only hope that they reach a placid state of gentleness soon. Hmm..I think I live in misplaced utopic myopia! But check for yourselves whether the following little movies show the behaviour of cat-fight-dog... I so, feel for my mother now, as she tried so hard to make my sister and myself stop fighting like the proverbial! Sorry Mum!

 Click on the images below to see the movies

I think Mik is teething at the moment - he is chewing anything and everything including to G's horror a book not placed out of range, any stick he can sneak, his official chew toys, Us and the cat! We really have to try and inhibit the latter two!

Mik is now 3 months old and its the countdown to being allowed to leave the relative safety of the backyard and explore the great unknown beyond the garden gate. He is growing so fast - now hitting 7kg - but still loves being picked up for a cuddle. When he first arrived he couldnt stand up on a chair- last night we were eating outdoors and when i turned my back he had jumped onto a chair and was about to help himself to some venison medallions cooked with a blueberry and orange sauce. He has taste it has to be said!

Jez is doing well but its apparent just how much smaller he is to Mik when you catch him with his head in the dogs mouth! When he has had enough of being the butt of Miks attention then he simply slinks through the baby gate and heads off to our bedroom for some P&Q.

I decided to do a psych test - seemingly I am a "Generous Experiencer"

here's a link to my "personality report"

 

Will try and not blog about the animals for a while lest i get formulaic and derivative. I need to sort out some pics of my garden and blog on that but first here's a little of my days work - no, not the ironing or breadmaking but a little pastry number with apples I concocted from perusing several blogs. I was looking for a pastry base guaranteed not to shrink from its task in hand - namely holding a simple but delicious fillling of apple. I found one here.

So, here is my take on those patisserie apple tarts you get in french bakeshops. We can't get real sour cooking apples here so I usually look for the greenest granny smiths I can find. I made one too delicately thin so when it fell apart as i was prising the base out of the tin (oh dear! what a shame! YEAH right!) there was nothing I could do but sample it.

The base is a short (almost shortbread) pastry, the filling simply sliced apples and the syrup I made from the apple leftovers a cinammon stick,water and brown sugar boiled down and seived before adding a couple of knobs of butter. The green stuff is some little mint leaves from the garden. I only had a recipe for the pate sucree (sweet pastry) and kinda guessed the rest...Secret is to freeze the shells before filling and baking them. I parbaked the tartlets for 15mins then added the syrup and baking them for a further 10-15mins. I think the syrup will thicken significantly after refrigeration prior to serving - vanilla mascarpone as a blob on top do you think?

It is just as the great kennel roof philosopher says.

Well, it looks like the beagle boy is starting to get into a routine of our making. He gets put to bed at night about 11pm by G (he is far more circumspect about saying good night and shutting the door) and then stays pretty quiet until about 6am when I get out of bed and let him out again. We have got him a crate to sleep in and call his own little den. Its big enough to allow him plenty movement but small enough to take away with us if we go camping or visiting. His own secure space that smells of home no matter where he is.
The only serious issue at the moment is watching him carefully because the garden is full of dangers for a puppy exploring with its mouth and stomach...I am probably a little bit protective but would hate for him to ingest something nasty and I know theres plenty of our plants that are not recommended in a beagle garden. Its just a case of deciding whether to remove them completely or just be aware of where he is in relation to them. His love of plastic has me lifting the weedmat since it shreds into long lengths of plastic tape.

The other issue is that he LOVES to chase the cat and the cat seems to encourage him. Or it's just thick. Jury is out on this at the moment! But he has needle sharp teeth and a lot of energy and strength and doesn't seem to realise this; I fear that the cat is no match for his grip if he was to get serious.

The cat has taken to scrambling up a tree to avoid him when he gets too boisterous but will lie in his path, rolling about to taunt him in the first place. It's not always Mik who starts it. But the cat senses I am the human shield and will sometimes use me as such. I am in two minds whether its right to intervene or whether I should let them work it out for themselves.

We took him round the meet the neighbours closest to us yesterday - the three young boys seemed quite taken with him and then (eek!) brought out their new baby rabbit to meet him. Luckily he was too interested in the attention from the kids to notice the rabbit!

We took Mik to the vets last night for his 10week booster. The vet reckoned he might be a little lethargic after one of the jabs but quite the opposite happened. He went mental when he got home. Totally hyperactive and manic running about like a nutter and growling and barking - almost rabid!. He was unstoppable. Until that is, he decided to give the baby gate across the kitchen door an extra hard shoulder charge. How he did it I am still not quite sure but all hell was unleashed with frightened howls as he found himself stuck tight between the bars of the gate. We tried to untangle him but it was obvious that he was in too much of a state to work out an exit strategy so we had to resort to a hacksaw and cut him out. Gordon was not best amused since he had just handed over 50bucks to a colleague for this gate. When we finally managed to free the little monster I checked his ribs for any signs of damage but he seemed fine under my touch (no wincing) but he was totally exhausted and curled up in my lap to sleep. The remainder of the evening was a lot more relaxed.

The new gate is in place this morning and it has far smaller inter-bar gaps so he can't get his head through although the kitten can still slink through. He appears to have a memory of the event though since he is stopping quite short of the bars and tentatively sniffing at them. This has given Jez the kitten new confidence and he will sit on the opposite side of the gate and hiss and take a swipe at Mik's nose when it comes close. Not much of a game for Mik so he headed off to his cushion for his morning nap. The cushion has a wide dark stripe on it and it seems to offend his sensibilities and he is always trying to scratch it out of the way; the only thing to do is hide it with another cover and then he will push this about to make things comfy and finally settle down. These pet foibles eh!

Peace currently reigns in the home and time for that second cup of coffee....except that is, for the sound of snores coming from a pup in deep slumber...

Oh boy! I am so tired. I was up at 3am this morning to pre-empt Mik's contribution to the early morning dawn chorus. Its an "amusing" little choral number in three parts for birds, puppy finishing with a rather irritated solo contribution from the kitten, Jez. I am finding it very hard to get the pup to settle. Or perhaps I am too sensitive to his indignant, attention seeking wails. Anyways, he has been here for a little over a week and in every other way he is a puppy to aspire to. He is adorably cute and rather affectionate when it suits and amusingly aloof when it doesn't. He can fetch, has the rudiments of sit still and walking to heel but he also has a very deterimined little spirit in him and always needs to get the last word in. This he did to best effect when shut away from what he wanted to be amongst! I realised then that I was in danger of being overwhelmed by him and that if he wins life really would become desperate. Domination by a small furry brat? No thanks! But how to re-dress the balance? My problem is that I have no prior experience of training a pup, let alone a beagle one. These are stubborn headstrong beasties but also very smart. And can smell a schmuck a mile off! I was falling into the trap of trying to be mommy to the beagle boy and this is no good. He needs strong discipline and leadership and his respect should, with fair and kind training, follow...oh ok, I don't expect miracles and I realise I will never compete with the scent of a rabbit for his attentions but how often does he expect to chase a rabbit in central Chch. Actually, we better check our fences because I have just realised the little boys next door are all excited with the new bunny rabbit they have acquired......

BUT I NEED A NIGHTS SLEEP SOON, NOW PUHLLLLLEASE! I cannot imagine how I would cope if the baby beagle had been a baby PG instead....I think perhaps my maternal instincts would be extinguished even with happy hormones coursing through my veins!

So, we contacted Janice of Tevra Dog Training and she offered us an hour long session last night. We put him in his travel carrier and headed about 15kms up to Kaiapoi.  When we got there he was interested by the change of scenery and the smells (Janice has 6 champion grade obedience dogs). Janice would not acknowledge his presence and continued to talk to us. Now,when you are the most adorably cute little brown eyed puppy in the world such a snub cannot go uncommented upon. He tries to interject into the conversation, is ignored, a whine of attention seeking that is met with more cold shouldering. Then he decides that being excluded just is not going to work so he whines and barks a bit louder. But Janice is ready and informs us that she will just shoot him and pulls a gun. Luckily, its a water pistol and gives him a quick squirt. He is stopped in mid squack. Tries to open his mouth again, another squirt. Hmm this is the first time he has been treated this way and he really doesnt know what to make of it. So, miracle upon miracles he shuts up and sits there quietly. Round one to Janice! From then on its amazing, he can't do enough for Janice nor even us; with the requisite treats to reinforce his good behaviour. He had been starved from about lunch time on Janice's advice so that bribery wasn't so difficult on an empty stomach!

So, he went to bed quite tired last night and I was instructed to get up before the barking, howling and whining started, take him out and bring him back in with minimal words other than instructions to go "potty" (its him or me i tell you!). I went into the room and he was sleeping and so it was with no little malice or spite I got my own back and woke him up to take him out to a frosty star and moonlit morning pre-dawn. I think the cold must have resulted in a bladder compression so it didnt take long to "go" and I am not sure who was more pleased at getting to go back to bed! At this stage I would love to report that I got a lie in...but alas Mr Woof has not yet had his bark put at a peep...So at 6-30 I was up again. But am not to concerned at this since his clock has already had a week of being programmed thus.

So, boot camp has begun. He is no longer the centre of his little universe here in our little corner of Chch. I was pretty hard on him - limited his formal feeding and used the food instead as the lure/treats for to reward his good behaviour. We want him well behaved not portly!  My main aim is to ensure that he understands and accepts his place in the "pack" as basically the lowest of the lowest mutts. We worked a little and often but I still allowed him time to play a little, sleep but all on my schedule not his. I certainly feel less overwhelmed by him and the responsibility now... and found I had time to attempt the mountain of ironing, go shower, bake baguettes and croissants, do some chemsitry tutoring and not feel like I was not in control of my space anymore. And really, does it matter if there are still muddy paw prints at the kitchen door?

I have been feeding Jez little treats of Miks food in his full view. Making Mik sit there and wait for his whilst the cat is paid lots of attention and he is ignored. He still takes off after the cat but not quite as much as before. I think they might get on better when the pecking order is better defined.

I hope we can make a great little dog from a wonderful little puppy. It would be such a shame to spoil his potential because we couldnt show him tough love eh?

Anyways, was a glorious sunny day here  - nice 27 Degs so we spent the day in the garden. I set up his X-pen in the shade and he was put back into when it suited me. With a little but not too much disagreement from master mik beagle.

I have tried to make croissants from several recipes and failed miserably but when I want to be I can be quite stubborn - I don't always give up with a whimper. Therefore I went a snooping about the the internet on a mission to find a

decent croissant blog. I therefore stumbled upon a little group of bloggers (including Veronicas Test Kitchen) who had set themselves a croissant challenge way back in January. Their recipe of choice was from a book called Tartine and thus I went to amazon to check it out. Serendipity took over and the "look inside the book" was in the croissant pages. So, I promise I will buy it (unless I can persuade someone to buy it for me for Xmas!) since it only seems fair that if I want to use the recipe I get the book legitimately eh? Also, I am intrigued to try their other recipes now...
The key to the success of the croissants seems to be the use of a pre-ferment and also ensuring that the butter is malleable (not so soft as to leak out nor so hard as to break through the dough) and spreadable onto the first roll out of the dough. The method is quite involved but there is a lot of down time for chilling and relaxing (dough as well as baker) so the entire process takes a minimum of 2 days if organised and willing to get out of bed really early or upto 3 days if you are like me. (aside: hmm that was until Master Mik Beagle turned up!)
I have now made the croissants twice and had success both times as well as great compliments from those I have shared them with. I would certainly recommend it. Here are my efforts (supersized for effect!)

A few short movies of the beagle boy doing what he does...click on one of the images below to see him in action.

I had planned to post a blog on my recent successfull experiences of making croissants but something far more important happened in my life and I thought I would share that - croissants can wait; puppies grow up too soon to be ignored.

Well, the beast has finally arrived - all 4.75kg of slobbery puppy mass - most of which is ears and paw. He is a 8.5week old beagle puppy called Mik. He was the runt of the litter but has grown to be as big as his litter-mates because he is quite assertive about getting his way and that was usually as far as the food bowl. His pedigree name is Bairal Don't Ask No Questions!  which is probably because he has all the answers and isn't backwards in letting you know! He is a classic tricolour with the trademark big ears and sad brown eyes that just have that way of looking at you that chastisement is hard. But necessary.. he is a bit of a rogue at times. Not in a bad way just in that quintessential puppy into everything way.
The cat (really still a kitten himself) was in trauma the first few days but appears to be getting more assertive and now walks past the pup at relatively close quarters. If the pup moves towards him and the separation distance is less than 0.81m there is much hissing and spitting. The pup really doesn't know what to make of him - he sits and watches the cat until it breaks into a run which he then takes as a signal for play and chases the poor beast. I am not yet convinced that the cat is so much running away as playing with the beagle's mind (I have images of Garfield toying with Odie)  though. He plays this game of guerrilla jungle warfare - stalking the beagle in the undergrowth confusing it with a random walk of scents to follow then heads off up the 6ft high fence out of reach whilst the beagle goes round and round in circles at the base confused at this disappearing cat-object-thing. I am sure he will suss him out and look up some day soon...But you know beagles - tail up, nose down, brain on autopilot and ears switched off whilst there is a scent to track.

As for the cat he is learning to accept that the kitchen is no longer the kitten playground of old with discarded pingpong balls and champagne corks, and that any toy mouse left under the table is fair game for the brainless one to chew to oblivion. He will go up to the pup when its quietly asleep and sniff it disdainfully (god it needs a bath!) but I think he is curious too - just too sophisticated to be seen cavorting with the lower classes of the animal kingdom.
I am learning that the hours of the day can be interpolated back from "normal time" to "puppy time" which is about 6am at the moment. But being positive there is something quite special about slipping a collar and lead onto this little creature that can hardly (and usually doesnt!) contain his excitement when greeting his jailer. We head outside and the sky is tinged with red and the magnolia tree golden with that early morning light. I have obviously missed out on this natural beauty when wasting my time on so called (but much needed!) beauty sleep.  The joke is that he has his first, sedate walk round the garden, then off the lead for a run around with a frisbee, ball or soft toy duck before he himself, tired from his previous nights chorus of dissent, will head back, of his own volition, to his crate and sleep for several hours. Its a dogs life right enough!
Last night was a real kodak moment - there we all were, watching telly; me sitting on the floor, Gordon sitting behind me on the sofa with the cat both sat on his knee and draped over my shoulder, purring in my ear as he kept an eye on the pup fast asleep curled up on the floor but wedged against my legs. Oh golly I know... enough nuclear menagerie saccharine sweetness to make you heave eh?!
I am a wee bit besotted by the whole experience at the moment but am sure another sleepless night as the pup howls for attention may snap me back to reality and natural cynicism...
Anyways, the beast has retired again back to bed so it might be time to get on with other things when I have the peace to do so...the house looks like a nursery - we have baby gates up, and toys strewn around a floor which needs a wash from pawprints and other not so pleasant little accidents!

Am sitting here in a haze. Unfortunately not the purple variety of 60s kitchens but rather the blue version descending as I type. SOMEONE (me?? No way!!?) left a tray of fatty deposit in the oven before ramping it up to full maulkie and thus discovered a short cut to overcoming the fuel crisis and generating something black and sticky..cue Beverly Hillbillys chorusing "Ah’ve struck oil in them thar ovens…!" It means fraught times as I try to open oven, not choke on acrid smoke, pull out the now white hot pizza stone and iron skillet and then close the oven in one movement before replacing the pizza stone and skillet so I can get on with the bread baking. Am stressing a bit because the oven is not quite up to temperature and am wasting valuable time AND as sure as adamwasacowboy my damn loaves are going to overrise and I will have wasted one of the best doughs I have felt in a while (it is so true its all in the touch)..so with time ticking on relentlessly and the oven about 10Degs too low I take a deep breath and slash the dough three times (not really deep enough but too late now!), spray-mist them and then place in the oven with one hand as the other is scalding on a bottle of just boiled water being shot into the skillet. The rational behind the scalding being that I could not afford to lose any more valuable baking energy with taking water from tap cold to steam hot. So now am sitting here sweating for my breads, hoping that the grignes break open, the oven spring occurs and the loaves rise and the crust forms.

Do I really want to wait for the bread to cool before having a good excuse to open the red wine?

As it is I can show off the "morning smoko" selection now winging its way up to Auckland for UJ.

There are some homemade bourbons, creme fraiche scones and apricot viennese shells for him.

Ok, without any more adieu (another franglais pun i know...je suis tres desolee!)...here is on fo the loaves to go with that glass of red wine.