Love and best wishes for the festive season
Sam and Bundy
xxx
PS: He is smiling on the inside
Christmas
Merry Christmas!
Thank you for all the love and support this year, may your Christmas be filled with fun and laughter.
The joy of snow
Living in coastal Queensland means hot and humid summers, very mild winters and lovely seasons in between. We don’t really get to experience the four seasons because they seem to merge together so for us, spending a couple of days in the cooler climes of Innsbruck, Austria was utterly delightful. Both Hubby and I wanted to see snow, and perhaps explore some Christmas markets, the timing wasn’t perfect however we discovered that the markets in Verona, Innsbruck and Berlin opened late November. In the days leading up to our arrival in Innsbruck we kept checking the weather reports and were happy to see that snow was predicted during our stay. Snow is not something we’ll ever experience where we live, Queenslanders complain about the cold if the temperature drops below 20 degrees celsius.
My first visit to Innsbruck was in 1999 and it was summer, no snow then just lots of rain. This time we travelled in late Autumn and I imagined snow covered mountains, Christmas decorations and huge Christmas trees covered in lights, Innsbruck did not disappoint. Hubby was ecstatic! On our second day in Innsbruck it snowed, we woke up to a view of snow covered rooftops and couldn’t believe our luck. The previous night we discovered the joy of Gluhwein, the spiced wine warming us from the inside out and it worked a treat during the day as well especially when combined with delicious food sold at the Christmas stalls. It wasn’t hard to spot the tourists, we were the ones with broad smiles, standing in the middle of the square and taking photos of each other in the snow.
The food in Innsbruck’s old town caters to tourists, the quality might be considered average and the offerings kitschy or old fashioned. We didn’t really care and were looking forward to schnitzel and strudel, dishes that Hubby’s Italian Nanna cooked for him as a child. The lovely staff at the Hotel Weisses Kreuz sent us to a couple of places where we could enjoy a tasty schnitzel and for afternoon tea, apple strudel and hot chocolate. The food was delicious and the hot chocolate incredible, served up was a large ball of dark chocolate that I dropped into a steaming glass of milk and stirred until it melted. The apple strudel was also good, apparently not as good as Nanna’s but I enjoyed every mouthful. There is nothing quite like a good, hearty meal on a cold, snowy day and not a day goes this summer without me wishing I was back in Innsbruck.
Gluhwein and sausage to ward off the cold
Such a beautiful view
The Golden Roof
Christmas Markets outside our hotel
Loving the snow
Really loving the snow
Local church and cemetary
Nativity scene
DIY Hot Chocolate – YUM!
Yummy apple strudel
The Golden Roof at night
Christmas lights
The entry to our hotel
A Merry Queensland Christmas
Merry Christmas to you all from Two Black Dogs! In contrast to the snow and Gluhwein we enjoyed at the Christmas markets in Europe, our Christmas day began with a trip to the beach. Breakfast was baked ham and eggs on toast accompanied by a glass of Australian sparkling wine. Thankfully the weather has been good to us and it is a mild, slightly breezy day with moments of blue sky and sunshine.
Maxi and Bundy love the beach, Maxi returns to her puppy-hood and bounces across the sand and through the water. The dear old girl never looks happier than when she is at the beach. Bundy just enjoys running, sniffing and splashing around, a swimmer he is not. At home they’re sleeping soundly, recovering from an exciting morning and dreaming of their next adventure.
Wishing you a day filled with love and laughter! Be safe and be happy xox
When it wasn’t raining
The end of the year has been a mix of muggy, high temperatures, fierce storms and heavy rain. Christmas was no different. The day started off with a peaceful walk and a swim in a nearby creek and ended with me and my Dad sitting on their front balcony in the dark listening to the rain and enjoying the cool breeze. I took many walks during the time at my parents’ house, being in the country is so refreshing for me and seeing all the different wildlife makes me happy even if I couldn’t capture them all with my camera. A trip to the beach was on the cards for boxing day regardless of whether it was raining or not, the thinking was that if we’re going to get wet we may as well go for a swim in the surf.
Best spot at the swimming hole
Cousins Bella and Zoe
Lighthouse beach
Lighthouse beach
Alplacas
Frangipani flowers
Cousin Soxy in her favourite spot on Christmas Day
Horses and ponies all get a bath
Christmas lady bug
Maxi and Bundy’s fur cousins Zoe and Moscow
Yellow wildflowers (weeds?)
Raindrops
Local swimming hole
Local swimming hole
Local swimming hole
Wallaby
Bago Mountain on rainy morning
Golden sunrise
Dew on spider web
Alpacas in the fog
Golden web
Foggy morn
Wallabies
Big green frog
Cousin Zac begging for a chippy
Wordless Wednesday: festive lights
Dogs in antlers
It’s not Christmas without a portrait of our two black doggies wearing some sort of Christmas paraphernalia 🙂
Merry Christmas from Maxi and Bundy!
Christmas in pictures
Our quiet, but colourful Christmas in pictures. As you can see, the dogs had great fun and I love having lots of candles around.
Solar lanterns hanging in our Poinciana tree
Making Tiramisu for Christmas Eve
The finished product – Tiramisu, it was delish!
Oh Christmas tree
Tealight candles
The Geckos love the lights
Christmas candles on Christmas Eve
Our German Christmas light that we bought in Rothenburg ob de Tauber
Paper lanterns hanging from the roof
Paper lanterns and lights for decoration
Candles for table decoration
Can never have too many Christmas candles and lanterns
A little more lighting with Paper lanterns and string lights
Maxi with her Santa stocking
Bundy with his Santa stocking
Bundy is over Christmas Day already
Maxi with her eyes shut, and smiling. I call this her ‘funny one Dad’ look.
Can you see Bundy?
There he is!
Paper diving, Bundy style
Hard work this paper diving
I got Smurf lollies! Yum
Maxi looking pretty with tinsel
Heliconia flower in neighbours garden
Bundy chilling by the neighbour’s pool on Christmas day
Wishing you and yours a very Merry Christmas!
Only three more sleeps until Christmas, our decorations have been hung, the yard shines brightly thanks to hundreds of solar fairy lights and all the presents are wrapped and under the tree. The only thing left to do is the shopping for fresh food items so that a small, non-OTT feast for two can be prepared, not to mention finding something yummy for Maxi and Bundy to eat, brining the total number of creatures celebrating Christmas at our house to four (visiting wildlife does not count).
This year we decided to stay home and relax for the Christmas holidays, normally we load the car up and head south to spend the holidays with our extended families, it is wonderful fun and we enjoy spending time with family but this year we’re making it about us. 2013 has been a hell of a year, plenty of ups and downs and far too many sleepless night, time at home to rejuvenate our body and souls as well as do some work around the house, is exactly what we (especially me) need because I don’t think 2014 is going to be any less hectic. Christmas morning we’ll both head to the local animal shelter to help clean pens, feed and walk doggies that are unlucky enough to be in a shelter at Christmas and then it is home to our own dogs for a day of doing whatever we like, we may even take them to the beach for a swim and a stroll along the breakwall. What are you doing to celebrate Christmas this year?
To all of you wonderful people following, liking and reading my posts, Two Black Dogs and I would like to say a huge thank you and to wish you all a very Merry Christmas. May you and your families be happy, safe and enjoying life wherever you are.
Best wishes for the holiday season!
The holiday is over
Well, that is it then, holiday over and back to work. Can’t complain too loudly though, with temperatures over 40 degrees celsius in some parts of Australia it is great to be able to work in air conditioned comfort. My poor doggies are melting, throughout the day they move from one cool, shaded spot to another and you can see the relief on their faces when I come home and they can finally lie on the nice, cool tiles.
Christmas and New Years Eve was spent south of the border in New South Wales. My parents live in the country, surrounded by cows, horses and alpacas, it is a very peaceful place to stay and the nights are so dark that you can easily see the stars. The dogs love it there although they’d be much happier inside with us, but their Nan and Pop don’t allow dogs in the house so Maxi claimed the deck and Bundy decided that sitting on the outdoor table was the place to be. Every morning I took Bundy for a walk down to the river while Maxi got to have a walk through the paddock (her legs won’t carry her very far anymore), on the first morning everything was shrouded in fog, it was magnificent to see especially when the sun’s rays started to burn through the fog and throw a little more colour and light onto the picture.
Christmas day was a hot one, after the traditional early morning opening of presents I joined my husband’s family for brunch, watching our nephews playing with their presents reminds me of the excitement I felt when I got my first record player and the soundtrack for the movie Xanadu – I loved Olivia Newton John :-). The heat and the boys desire to try out their new boogie boards drove us to the beach, it was cloudy and windy, the water freezing but we still got sunburned and soon it was time for us to head off to my cousin’s house for a late Christmas lunch. Christmas with my family usually means five types of meat, a tonne of baked vegetables and more desserts than anyone could possibly need, not to mention lots of bubbles and beer. At some stage water is involved, often swimming in a pool however this year it was a water fight using the latest in water pistols (they look more like cannons) and buckets, this is when holding a camera has its advantages.
The 2013 National Beach Volleyball tour kicks off in Cronulla, my husband is part of the operations team that organise the event and work started on Boxing Day, December 26 so that is where we spent New Years Eve. Cronulla is heaven for surfers and beach goers, alot of effort has gone into tidying up the foreshore but this Sydney suburb still feels as though it is made for locals and on New Years Eve it was surprisingly quiet. New Years Eve is also our wedding anniversary, this year we celebrated our 5th anniversary and although in Sydney we celebrated quietly with bubbles and delicious nibbles on our hotel balcony, avoiding the crush of two million people on the harbour’s foreshore. New Years Day was spectacular weather wise, the beach was packed and the temperature soared, the lifeguards were going to have a busy day.
Two Black Dogs 