A little puppy with empathy?

When I read the puppy books I was told over and over to yelp like a little pup would whenever my girl bit me- well that NEVER worked for me! 

Or did it? 

Stella has had two major issues when she is walking- biting and spinning on the lead and pulling ahead of me.   A few weeks ago Stella was going crazy on the end of the lead, spinning around, biting it and in her confusion she went behind me and I accidentally stepped on her toe! She yelped! Then, out of instinct the next time she put her teeth to the lead- I yelped- loudly! 

She has never mucked around on her lead since, it has truly changed our lives! 

I thought the other day when she was pulling on the lead that I should give the same thing a whirl.  The timing worked well as my partner had been walking her, she was being very silly and he accidentally trod on her toe- so the sound and meaning of a yelp was clear in her head.  

She pulled, I yelped and she turned as if to say "Sorry! Are you ok?" she went on walking and turning every now and then to check on me..and her lead stayed slack the whole time! 

Since then it has continued to work, unlike the first time I still have to yelp every now and then to remind her as the boundaries aren't as clear as they were with the lead biting, but it has been so lovely to walk with her by my side, trotting along and looking out for me.  

What an empathetic little thing! 

Back to School

My occupation has again rocked our world today as school is back in session!  Launching into my second term of teaching I am excited, apprehensive and now...quite tired!! It always shocks me how tired I get after one day of teaching- I think 'How on Earth will I get through the week?'.  Twenty-six kids on your heels all day is a bit of a handful!

So after a big, but wonderful day, I came home to a little girl who had been alone most of the day- and she has been a defiant little one! Geared up to play all evening!

I learnt something very cool today that I thought was worth sharing!

At puppy school on Sunday we were told to pay attention to our body language when giving our pups a command, as they often pick up on little things we say or do.  With simple things like 'lie down' I move my hand from Stella's nose to the ground.  She needs both signals in order to lie down.

My partner taught Stella to fetch a frisbee very early on, she loves them more than balls, but she doesn't quite get the 'drop' part of the game!  So I have been working on it with two frisbees at a time.  I will throw one to get her to drop the other, as she does I say 'drop'...BUT- maybe she'll start to think that 'drop' means 'run after the frisbee' as by the time I say it she is running.  I thought about what else have I been doing when she drops it....and I realised that I click my tongue all the time without thinking!

So I tested her, and sure enough 80% of the time, down the disc would go and into full border collie hunting mode she would go ready for the next throw- Woo!! Perhaps by the time the original frisbee thrower gets home she will really have it down! Success!

Her first experience with a ball in our house! about 8 and a half weeks.

A boy leaves and two girls weep?

As expected when my partner left to go overseas for 6 weeks last week, I shed a little tear or 60 as I squashed my face against the cold, 6am, airport window.  But what was happening in the back of my car in the parking lot?

I don't know if I am misreading her now, or if I thoroughly misjudged their connection a week ago but little Stella is down in the dumps.  

R departed after living with Stella for about 6 weeks, I am really the primary carer, he was busy and not around as much but, she never play bit him like she did me, she always sat at his feet to be patted and only had to hear him turn in bed to go and wait at the closed bedroom door after we returned from our morning walk.  Sure, strong signs of respect from one very little girl, to one very tall man.  

We headed off to the farm after R left, Stella ran,dived into creeks and rolled in mud.  It seems like reality has hit us both now we're home and he is not. Melancholic would be the best way to describe her, a dreamy look in her eyes and a half hearted lope after the frisbee he once threw- oh when will he come back?! 

I wonder, how long will it last? How will she react when he comes home? And oh, does she miss him as much as me?

Stella- 6 weeks in!

This is Stella! She is now 15 weeks old! These are all a bit out of order but you can see by her size where they should be I think! I reckon yesterday was the best day of her life- a farm, a creek and a lot of mud!

The most wonderful thing in the world!

Our little puppy! At our first meeting day- she was a real gem! We just need to wait one week, then it is into puppydom we step, pointers welcome!

Another year....and not many posts more!

It has been a long long time since I have posted to my own blog- shame on me!

Now I am teaching at a little country school and am about to bring home my first puppy...so I may try and keep track of her development on here- might have to change this to the Border Collie gaa gaa blog, we'll see.

Tomorrow is the first day we will meet our girl, she is coming from Borregoperro Border Collies (www.bordercolliestasmania.com)- so far we have been kept in the loop with one picture a week- but that is not enough!

Time for play tomorrow!

Ravioli alla Val Camonica

A deliciously extravagant ravioli from northern Italia!

When I was staying in Val Camonica with my namesake's family, it was Luisa's papa's birthday. Guided by Luisa's mamma we made the family's signature dish! With equal parts bread crumbs and parmesan (300g), some prosciutto, parsley, lemon rind, garlic, an apricot kernel, some mixed spice, stock and some eggs as the filling, the finished pasta is served with a delicious coating of melted lard, prosciutto rind (made nice and crispy), butter and sage leaves and even more parmesan! Talk about woh a! So full, so heavy, so satisfied! Afterwards this is what we had to do..a lovely walk through the Italian country side, dreaming about renovating old Italian farmhouses and living on ravioli and bread and salad and fruit and biscotti....for ever.

It was an intense experience that I tried to recreate in my own kitchen. I replaced the prosciutto with 'not bacon' which worked surprisingly well and instead of using the lard and rind I just coated the pasta in melted butter with sage. It worked really well- I was surprised with myself!

Can you believe we finished off the meal with creme brulee? Also my first attempt, and surprisingly good- just wish I had a kitchen blow torch to caramelise the sugar properly! We were so full!

Miss Saigon Bake Off!

Hello! Did you see Miss Saigon, at the Theatre Royal in Hobart? what a wonderful show it was! And there was good stuff going on back stage too...the Miss Saigon Bake Off! Cast members brought goodness to the dressing rooms nearly every night to keep their tummies happy! The last night was Rowan's turn...so we went mad and made this! And these...a star for each of the stars- yum! Thank you to our friends P and J for their help!

Frustration is rife!

Hello! I am dying to update my blog, I have moved house, created a new vege patch, taken pictures of it with a lovely new camera, felted my first vest but I can't tell anyone about it properly cause I am trying to do assignments! Oh it is heartbreaking! I will be back once this semester is out of the way!

The wonderful place in which we live- Tasmania!

Inspiration for the beginning of the week. A little look back at a wonderful weekend walking in Mount Field National Park- ahhhhh...just to be there now!

Quincey Quincey Quincey paste!

One day recently, I took the plunge, I had never touched a raw quince before but I decided to make quince paste! What a good decision! Yum! My Method! Roughly chop up all the quinces and place them in a large saucepan, cover them with water. Add two strips of lemon peel (1cm/ 4cm, no white pith) (and a vanilla pod if you have one, I didn't though) and bring to a boil. Reduce to a simmer, cover, and let cook until the quince pieces can be broken with a fork (30-40 minutes). Then strain off the water, throw away the vanilla but keep the lemon peel with the quince. Next, you need to puree the quince pieces, I did this with a bamix, of course you can use a blender or food processor. Then, measure the quince puree, this is how you work out how much sugar you need, add as much sugar as there is quince (ie, 5 cups of quince, 5 cups of sugar). Heat the quince and sugar on a medium to low heat. Stir with a wooden spoon until the sugar has completely dissolved. Now add the 3 table spoons of lemon juice. Cook the puree over a low heat, stirring occasionally, for 1-1 1/2 hours, until the quince paste is very thick and has a deep orange pink color. it gets even darker than this, I just forgot to take the picture! Now, once it is very thick, spread it into lined pans, I put mine into a slice tin and into some patty pans. Cook in an oven at a about 50 degrees Celsius, very low, to dry it out and help it set. This seemed to take a long time for me and part way through I moved the paste that was in the slice tins onto flat trays and I spread it out further (to about 1.5 centimetres) as it just didn't seem like it was ever going to set! Once they felt 'right', solid and not very liquidy (I know I use good, proper terms here!) pull it out and let cool. I then wrapped mine up in kitchen paper and now keep it in the fridge- it is the best thing to just have a stash of! I love it! With brie! Camembert! goats cheese! vintage cheddar! it constitutes a meal in itself in my opinion! I hope you make it and love it as much as I do! Wooo hooo!!

Re- inspire yourself.

After a bit of a drought on the felting front, I re-inspired myself with some amazing alpaca that I bought at an Australia Alpaca Day celebration- which was pretty funny in itself! So I made this special scarfe, I really wanted to play with a different way of finishing the edges of the scarfe so I made little holes and loops, which ended up working a lot better than expected if I may say so! It was lovely being back at the felting board! But I haven't been again for a couple of weeks- I have too much homework! But it is winter so it is felting season, I'm gearing up for a good one! The second scarfe I have here is one of the first I ever made, I just realised I haven't ever put it up! I made it for my partner but it was too girly for him apparently so when I saw my cousin wearing a lovely knitted dress and a top that matched the blue perfectly, around her neck it went! Here she is with it.

Explorations with 3D wet felting!

This was fun! I read instructions for making childrens' booties with wet felt, and then decided to go a bit further with the concept and make some random things ...tea cosies...robin hood explorer hats...little dollies, purses, melodica cases..it was great! I really like making my big shawls though as I can create images and feelings and relate more of myself with them, but these were a fun diversion for a while- I will certainly make more booties and I want to make some handbags with the method too!