Things My Dog Says

 

At 8 and a half years old and having been with me since 6 weeks old (yes, young, I have explained before that it was recommended by the vet), I have worked with him from day one and he's always been extremely intelligent.
He has known well over 100, maybe even up to 500 words (it's difficult to count because he understands so much and for example knows all of his toys by individual name etc) for many years, however, about 11/12 months ago we decided to get him some recordable talking buttons to communicate his basic needs with us.

We aren't interested in having a room full of buttons for him to make full sentences, we know he could, we literally just want his life to be as fulfilled and the least stressful it can be for him. So right now he has 12 buttons which include, Play, Balloon (his favourite thing to play with), Yes, Bed, Toilet, Settle, Sweetie (what we call treats), Dinner, Oops, Baker, Water and Help.
These are specific to his daily routine that he is always very set on and allow him to let me know what he needs or wants when he needs or wants to. There are a couple of others that could perhaps be added, like 'No' and 'Hugs' but for now, we manage how we have all his life by body language, facial expressions and general intuition.

Anyway, we've found he can be rather creative to get his point across. So for the past month or so I have been noting down things that stand out as funny or extra clever! See them below...

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Baker loves balloons, I don't know when the obsession started exactly...but it did and it is exactly that, an obsession. My Mam was given some that light up and he loves these more than anything. On these balloons, there is text that reads 'Party Time' and one day once he'd ran downstairs from his nap and grabbed the balloon I started saying 'Parrttyy Tiimmee' in a funny voice. He didn't seem amused, stopped playing, put down his balloon and went to his buttons where he firmly slammed his foot onto the play button and glared at me. I took that as a 'Shut up and just play Mam!' haha.

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With having a limited range of words to use to get his point across, Baker will occasionally press whatever button he feels is closest and gesture to get your help. He struggles with allergies and sore ears during the change of seasons and has some natural drops he uses for relief. When he gets his drops in I always give him a sweety for being good, so when this particular morning he pressed sweety then shook his ears I asked him if he wanted his drops in and he ran to the cupboard to get them. 

At first, I was confused because unlike most dogs he doesn't tend to overuse the sweety button, rarely getting sweets in the morning. This, alongside his gesturing, helped me to realize what he needed. He now has a 'Help' button for these instances.

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You'll see that most of these tend to relate to his balloon haha! He'd been playing with it earlier when the balloon landed on his water bowl. When we came to play with it again half an hour or so later I asked him 'Where is your balloon Baker?', he responded by pressing 'Water'. It took me a second to realize that his balloon was on his water bowl! 

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After getting brushed in the garden, we were playing chase and I ran after him into the house saying my usual 'I'm going to get your bum!'. He ran straight to his help button which gave us a chuckle.

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Baker is very particular with routine and seems to have a strict body clock. After a certain time of night, he likes to settle down before going up to bed at around 8.30, just before us. Apparently this one evening Josh and I were being a little annoying, talking and being a little too rowdy for his likely so he told us to 'Settle'!

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As bedtime approached this evening, Baker knocked his balloon behind the TV by accident. He cried for it but we told him that he could have it in the morning as it was time to settle down. As soon as he got up the next morning and ran downstairs his immediate communication was 'Help Balloon' so that I could help get it from behind the TV.

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On this morning I told Baker I wasn't feeling very well so I was going to have a sit-down. He went to his buttons and pressed 'Settle'. I asked him was that an 'Oops' press, did he mean something else? He went back and pressed 'Settle' again to which I asked if he'd like to come to have a cuddle with me and he replied 'Yes'.

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Jokingly I said to him 'Can I help you?' as he had been sitting bolt upright staring at me. He very seriously told me 'Yes'. Which again made me laugh!

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Baker and I had been on the webcam with my Dad and Baker went off to play with his balloon. My Dad asked him 'What have you got?!' and he again firmly pressed 'Balloon'. Duh Granda, it's my balloon!!

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As of yet, I've been unable to get any of these interactions on video because we don't have a specific camera set up and like most people he 'talks' at random moments with no pre-warning for me to start filming. He isn't a performer though and as long as he is helping me to help him that's all that matters!
I hope you enjoyed reading what Baker has been saying recently and if you are interested in starting to communicate with your dog - go for it! So many people have said that their pet is too old, too young, too stupid, and I'm telling you now that if you personally put in the time and effort no breed or age should be ruled out. 'Blame the owner, not the breed' can also be attributed to training situations as well you know haha!

2021 Book Un-haul

 

Usually, we're buying books and these types of posts are hauls of piles of new books (don't get me wrong, we're still buying books though not as many) but today is sharing a super stack that we're saying goodbye to. 
Every so often we go through our bookcases and take out books we've read and didn't enjoy, books that have sat there a very long time and we don't think we will get around to reading, or sometimes even books I've bought purely because I collect certain things. This makes more room for new incoming books as space really is running out!
Out of these four are being passed on to my Mam and the rest will be taken to a charity shop...which is where many of them have come from in the first place!

Disney Inspired Vegan Meal Ideas

 

Oh gosh! I can't believe it's been since way back in January for the Veganuary posts that I last posted a vegan meal idea post. I have a folder accumulating photos of meals that I haven't shared before etc for another 'Easy Vegan Meal Ideas' post, and today's post has been in the works almost as long...well since the very beginning of  March.
I'm not sure how it's taken so long for me to come up with this but it actually ended up coming about by accident when I made the first dish you see below for my tea one night. I swore it was a thing and then it clicked where I'd heard of it before. Hence this whole idea being sparked. For now, we have 5 dishes whose usual counterparts aren't all normally vegan but I made them super easily as fully animal/cruelty-free! 

Broccoli Pizza inspired by Inside Out
This was the item that started it all! And I can hand on heart say it was so delicious!
I always make my own pizza base with a very basic recipe of strong white flour, yeast, salt, water and oil. When I make a batch it is enough for 4 pizzas so after Mr H and I have one each, I freeze the other 2 balls of dough for future use. That means if you have pre-prepared dough this is a very quick and simple meal! For these toppings, I have a small amount of vegan cheese, broccoli, spring onions and chilli flakes.

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Spaghetti and Meatballs inspired by Lady and the Tramp
Can you think of foods from Disney movies and not think of this?! From such a famous scene, it had to be recreated.
We always use gluten-free pasta due to my slight intolerance, so the spaghetti is gluten-free which so some reason makes it look very yellow in photos! The sauce I made with tinned crushed tomatoes, tomato puree, onion, garlic and seasoning. Finally, the 'meatballs' were a store-bought vegan alternative (Mr H had the meatballs and I just the sauce so I can't vouch for their flavour).
Another fast, fun and simple, filling meal.

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Spinach Puffs inspired by The Emperor's New Groove
Spinach puffs aren't exactly something I'd usually gravitate towards, nor is The Emperor's New Groove one of my favourites, though after researching other options for this post I had to give these a go.
Luckily it's 2021 and there are so many more options that meant I could use a non-vegan recipe as a base just substituting vegan alternatives. My main ingredients were ready-made puff pastry (Jus-Roll Chilled Puff Pastry Sheets are accidentally vegan!), vegan cream cheese, vegan bacon and spinach.
My filling looks much darker than many other examples online and I account this to my subtraction of the use of feta cheese or similar.

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Ratatouille inspired by Ratatouille
Would there even be the point in this post if I didn't include an already vegan dish?!
I've only ever had Ratatouille once...that was in Bistrot Chez Rémy at Disneyland Paris, so the expectations for my own recreation were not high. I don't usually like aubergine or tomatoes and seeing it in the pan I wasn't exactly excited for tea. However, I was pleasantly surprised once it was time to eat.
Something I'd like to mention is it is nigh on impossible to plate Ratatouille to look like it did when Remy made it haha!

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Succotash inspired by The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh
Although only mentioned very briefly, it was in a Disney movie none the less and that's enough for me! 
There were many other dishes much more prominently featured in their movies but with my picky palette, why make something that isn't going to be eaten? So Succotash it is!
Originally a Native American recipe this dish can have many variants, though is always based around corn. We used Sweetcorn, Red Pepper, Green Pepper, Edamame, Red Onion, Green Onions and seasonings.
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What do you think? Would you try to make any of these vegan versions of popular Disney movie foods? What other Disney foods come to mind when you think of the movies? Keep an eye out for more posts like this in the near future!

Mr H's Goodreads Year in Books 2020

 

So what a year of books! This is the second year doing a post of this kind and this year has so many more books read. I think it's great how Goodreads/Mrs H composes this breakdown of the books with the covers and everything on it.

40 books! 13,918 pages. I can't believe how many books I got through this year. So many of these were great books I got through 2 of the Mistborn trilogy, most of the Harry Potter series and one of my favourite reads Farmer Giles of Ham. I wonder what I will read in 2021... I doubt I'm going to get to 40 books.

Photo An Hour - A Day in My Life [April 2021]

 

We're throwing it back to circa 2014 and busting out the old school 'Day in My Life' posts again!

As someone who has to check the 'housewife' box on forms that ask occupation, yet not having children to drive me crazy all day, I often feel that other people (and myself to be fair) think I do nothing all day.
With 10 animals to take care of, a 3 bedroom house to clean and home-cooked vegan meals to prepare every day, some days I don't actually stop at all. However, when Mr H asks what I've been up to that day I usually respond 'nowt really' haha. 

Hence today's post! At the start of last month, I decided to pick a day and take a photo every hour. I even had a notebook where I jotted down most of the things I did within that hour but I'm pretty sure I still forgot a few things. Anyway, for a peek into our day, here is a Photo Per Hour from Thursday the 8th of April 2021!

6am - Wake up! I pull my clothes on, make the bed, brush my teeth, wash my face and put my moisturiser on. I also pop in to check on the reptiles every morning before heading downstairs. 
I check my emails and the security camera alerts on my phone from overnight (we do not take any phones upstairs), then put my shoes and mask on.

7am - We leave the house around 6.40 and so at 7am I am still driving until about 10 past when I drop Mr H off at work. I turn back around and head home again! 

8am - It's feeding time at the zoo! Well, not for everyone just yet. I prepare a mix of food for the birds, put that out and top up the birdbath. Then it's Aurora and Eos' turn to eat. If I don't immediately jump into housework I will read for a little while and today I popped the washer on then did just that.

9am - Our dog is very routine-oriented and sticks pretty strictly to his sleeping/napping schedule. He also has his own bedroom where he sleeps in a cage and he will not sleep anywhere else. (I tried to get him to sleep in the bed with me a couple of years ago and he hated it and took himself back off into his cage). I mention all that so it doesn't sound weird or seem cruel that after I have already been awake 3 hours I am just getting Baker up at 9am. 
We come down the stairs, go outside for a bit, then come in to play! 

10am - At just after 10am I went to get changed into my workout clothes and hopped up onto my trampoline to start a run using the Ring Fit. Both of these things have been some of the best purchases I've made in years!

11am - Today my workout was 70minutes so at about half 11 Baker and I had another little play session before he got his dinner and I headed off to see the cats. Sadly, our cats and dog don't get along - they were brought up in separate households and just because  Mr H and I decided to come together doesn't mean they should have to. That being said we disagree with 'getting rid' of your pets under any (most) circumstances, so we work around it. The layout of our house means that they can all be kept safe and happy without needing to ever see each other.

12pm - Time to freshen up after all that sweating. I'm more of a bath person, but showers are definitely quicker and that's what I need with so much still on my to-do list. I also had to put the washing on the screen because it started snowing...

1pm - Thursday's are our soup day so I got to work making the Leek and Potato soup for tonight. I also did the washing up and cleaned the kitchen.

2pm - The last rush before leaving the house again. I checked the reptiles, topped up their water bowls, fed the cats again, played with Baker some more and then took him outside before he popped up to his room for a nap. 

3pm - At Mr H's work waiting for him to come out I get a chance to get some more reading in. Today he was pretty sharp out so not much reading at all! 

4pm - Home again and we sit down for tea. Plates are cleared.  Baker gets back up and yet again, it's playtime.

5pm - The girls take themselves off up to our bedroom but before they can settle down for some lazy time, Aurora makes sure to shout on me so I remember to give them their sweeties. 

6pm - You can tell from the past couple of hours that this is when our day slows down quite a bit. This is when we sit to watch something. At this time we were between Lost (re-watching for the 4th time for me, 2nd for Mr H) and goodness knows how many times viewing The Big Bang Theory. 

7pm - I don't do this most nights, but I quickly popped onto the laptop to edit a couple of photos and get caught up with my daily photos. Still watching some Big Bang!

8pm - The bedtime routine begins. Mr H cleans the litter trays every evening, the Guineas get fed, Baker goes outside then up to bed and the cats have their supper. We brush our teeth, wash our faces and say goodnight to the reptiles. 

9pm - Finally, once all the previous steps are done we get into bed to read. Usually, it's 30-45 minutes or until we are falling asleep around 9-9.30pm. And that's how our day ends. 

So yeah, that was one day in my life as 'just a housewife'. Every day is different. Cleaning tasks are different, animal care is different, food prep is different. Mr H finishes work at different times, anywhere from 2.30pm - 8pm. That all means that there are rarely two days the same. Sometimes I get the chance to do some blog work, edit photos or watch some Netflix and sometimes I do way more than I did this day. 

Like when I used to do these posts monthly, this will be nice to look back on in years to come. Right now I will cherish these days and the time I get to spend with our wonderful animal family. 
Until next time...!

Dawn Chorus Day at Holywell Dene

 

Technically International Dawn Chorus Day was observed on Sunday the 2nd of May this year, however, Mr H works all the time haha. So we 'celebrated' early, out in the woods on Friday the 30th of April when he actually had a couple of days off. 

We are always early birds and get to watch and listen to the birds every single day but it's still nice to intentionally appreciate the sights and sounds of such beautiful creatures. On this morning inparticular, we headed out to Holywell Dene, somewhere we haven't actually gotten to visit since April 17th 2019! 
While there I also got the opportunity to hide some of the stones I painted way back in November.
Here are the photos I took.