I'm not much of a holiday person. In fact, it wouldn't be a stretch to call me Scrooge or Grinch on the holidays.
I roll my eyes every time I see ridiculously overly decorated homes. I don't put up a tree, but I'll decorate the house a bit with lights, holiday colors and candles.
Rather than run around rushing to get things decorated, cards sent and gifts piled and wrapped, I keep things pretty simple and try to stay grounded rather than rushed and exasperated.
Instead of a tree, I'll find some fun flowers and fill our rooms with a few bouquets of holiday inspired flowers. Not to mention they are a heck of a lot easier to take down and toss away over any tree.
While I don't fuss over a lot of decorations, I do like gifts. Who wouldn't? Even Buddha gets on his holiday cheer as a stocking holder.
"Hm. I detect a fat guy was here. He smells like a bottle of Cote de Rhone."
It seems Santa runs his operation on a 3-strike policy. Juno had two strikes going into Christmas week: another trashcan mishap and stealing and consuming a whole frozen 500 gram meat sausage. It seems she made it by the hair of her chinny-chin-chin.
"Well Santa certainly has good taste in gifts and nommys. This is a whole basted ham bone!"
"I got one too Princess!"
I guess Santa wasn't too pissed off at Loki's recent holiday indignities: peeing on Frosty and barking at Pere Noel.
"That was so not Pere Noel Mom. I had to make sure he wasn't impersonating the real dude like that Grinch fella in the horror movie!"
"Besides I think Pere Noel likes to keep my chompers in tip top shape so I can watch his back. That's why he gives me this delicious nommy bone."
"Dude, you are so delusional. Pere Noel gave both bones to meeeee! I'm just feeling generous today and letting you have one."
"Liar! Liar! Jodhpurs on fire, Juno! This bone has my name on it!"
"Santa can you bring him a muzzle next time?"
After gift giving, we went for a walk on the Trout Trail.
Mr. Wild Dingo and the dogs pose at NitNot Bridge.
After the walk, I decided to tackle my very first challenging recipe, Boeuf Borguignon. I've never been much of a foodie, and until recently, I haven't really had time to learn how to cook interesting meals. Now that I am cooking, I'm actually eating so much healthier and snacking less. So by the time the first bite hits my mouth after hours of preparing and not eating junk, it feels like heaven.
Braising is my new sport. Anything braised is better. These are miniature onions going into the Boeuf Borguignon and they were amazing.
After five challenging hours, here is the final dish. Sadly it took only 20 minutes to eat. But Mr. Wild Dingo said I outdid myself. Which is a big deal since he's also not a foodie. Not to mention he's bit stingy on compliments.
Of course the dogs partake in the holiday celebration as well and supervise Mr. Wild Dingo preparing their bowls.
Patience... "You are a cruel man Pop for making us wait."
Juno, the ever competitive husky, always checks out Loki's dish to make sure she wasn't gyped.
"Pop gave me more boeuf than you Big Boy. He likes me way better than you."
"I'm not looking Cupcake! Nom. Nom. Nom..."
I also had a birthday this week. And after swearing we'd never get another one, this is what Mr. Wild Dingo got me for my birthday:
Happy Birthday to me! A Mini Cooper Clubman, S-model baby! Because why would you get anything but an S?
Before we found out we were moving here, I wanted to turn in my Mini convertible for a Clubman because the convertible was horrible for dogs. But Mr. Wild Dingo adamantly said no. Then when we found out we were coming here, he said no again because this is Switzerland and everything is more expensive here. Then he tried to use the excuse that expat wives here didn't have cars. Can you believe that Internet? Finally he gave in to letting me get a car but told me to look for a car in the $8K range. Do you see what I have to live with Internet?
Then something occured to us. There wasn't a whole lot of options for the size of our garage. We needed a car for the dogs, but anything that would be good for the dogs would NOT fit length-wise or height-wise into the garage. The station wagon (they call them "breaks" here) that we were driving wouldn't fit into the garage at all. And shorter SUV type cars were too tall to clear the garage door.
The dogs fit in nicely with a bit of room to spare. Loki is a bit unsure of the new car so he moves next to Juno for some emotional support. "Move over Big Boy, you're crowdin' my jodhpurs!"
So when Mr. Wild Dingo saw some Mini Clubman's for sale we went and looked and bought one the same day. He told me it was my birthday gift. Can you believe that Internet? He tried to get out of giving me a proper Birthday gift. So I reminded him that I was forced to sell my other beloved Mini because he dragged me kicking and screaming to Switzerland and I would have not needed a car if it wasn't for that. And that it should be a replacement car, not a birthday gift. Then he reminded me that he also had bought me my Mini convertible. The rat. So for Christmas I gave him a gift card.
I know what you're thinking. Feel free to send him an email letting him know how lucky he is to have such a generous wife.
Despite our Grinchy-spirit, everyone at Wild Dingo wishes all of our readers a relaxing and enjoyable holiday season!
Joyeux Noel!
Loki clearly has not learned where the invisible line is in the car, but we totally get Juno's need to check everyone else's bowl to make sure things are equal.
happy birthday mrs wild dingo!!! And happy holidays to all over at casa de dingo!
Happy holidays!You cooking looks delicious!
Your cooking...
When I was a little girl, I enjoyed the Little House on the Prairie books. I was especially impressed by how thrilled Laura Ingalls was to receive an orange and a little piece of maple candy for Christmas.
When we don't overcrowd the holidays, we can really enjoy the simple pleasures--a good meal (and it looked yummy!), our animal friends, a nice walk, and pretty candles.
Glad you enjoyed your Christmas!
Happy Birthday!
Santa seems to be able to overlook a lot for certain dogs! That, or certain dogs have some sort of Santa radar cloaking device...
Happy Birthday + Happy Holidays = Happy Dogs!!
PS That 5 hours of cooking looks tres manifique!!
Hey! That was totally my kind of holiday. Noms, walkies, and a good times ride in the loki-mobile. Yuh, the foodables looked great, but momma says five hours labor for 20 minutes of noms seems like a lot.
Slobbers,
Mango
Wooooooo, that Boeuf Borguignon looks scrumptious! I see a ham bone in our stocking next christmas celebration....
jack & moo
Kudos to Mr. Wild Dingo for trying double up on a gift. Christmas and a birthday. I see big trouble and possible dog house duty in the future. I wouldn't advise following through with the thought. -Mr. Taleteller
I totally agree with the whole holiday thing being over done. Finally! a like minded person.
Apparently you are still blaming the poor Siberian for the evil deeds of those darn squirrels! Seriously, you really should check your house for where they are getting in to do all that destruction!
I think your gift to Mr. Wild Dingo was very generous! Most husbands would KILL for a gift like that!
BTW, LOVE the car!! But, I don't think I would fit in it.
Holly
Jealous of the Mini. Yeah, we've got a Porsche in the garage, but it's not exactly a run-to-the-grocery-store-kinda-car. Totally jealous of the Mini. And I think your gift to Mr. Wild Dingo was very appropriate - I'm assuming that that was a 'no spending *on frivolous things, where frivolous things do not include winter undergarments, winter outer garments, boots, and anything that needs replacing due to mastication' gift, right? 😉
We aren't big on the decorating thing either, for a number of reasons, but my Mom decided that we had to have a tree of Some Sort, so they (my parents) sent us a 2' fake tree - perfect, as it was pre-lit, and took about 5 minutes to decorate (including the 4 minutes it took to find the ornaments), looks nice with the lights on, and will take 5 minutes to put away until next year. My sort of decorating!
So... Have you been snowshoeing yet?
Happy birthday, holidays, etc., etc.!
-Dr. Liz, et al.
Wow....pretty new car. Looks like you guys had a great Christmas 🙂
Wait... your birthday? I missed it! Dang! Sorry Julie. You should have told me earlier, I could send you some pine nuts (unsalted???) and unsweetened Cacao as your birthday present.
Happy Belated Birthday!
Love,
Homer and Missus
PS: Are you very positive that they don't have unsweetened cacao in CH, the land of chocolate???
Snikhker...
Snikhker...
Snikhker...
No spending...
SNIKHKER...
Hugz&Khysses,
Khyra
PeeEssWoo: Me thinks he knows better than to believe THAT one 😉
We share the general skepticism over Mrs. WD's gift certificate [there's a tiny asterisk, isn't there? and of course it doesn't say "no credit cards", just no money spending and everyone knows money means cash, not credit], but then the Mini is not only a replacement car, it's actually FOR THE DOGS, isn't it. 🙂 So it all works out somehow. And Loki & Juno have a new Dingomobile.
So Happy Birthday, Mrs. WD. And Happy Motoring, Juno & Loki. And Happy New Year to the whole Dingo clan.
Jed & Abby
You and I have similar Christmas spirits! But, Santa Paws still always visits!
Love the mini! Surprising that both dogs fit so well! And, I love the gift certificate - but don't give Mr. KB any ideas or I might get one next year!
We are very glad to see that Juno and Loki still got presents since they were being framed as naughty when they are very nice.
We never have a Christmas tree because when Wilbur was an only child, he broke a bunch of ornaments and then the next Christmas, we were around and Mom decided that if Wilbur alone was disaster for ornaments, Wilbur + Siberians = Mega Disaster. It's fine though because our Aunt Kari has 7 Christmas trees in her house. That's right. 7.
Steve and Kat