Christmas Celebrations

 Must begin post with a cute puppy photo.

 

 Christmas on the Gold Coast was as usual, hot and humid, yet we still like to decorate the house with wintery , frosty decorations and motifs.

 Maya received a squeaky gingerbread man toy. The sound drives us bonkers.

My daughter made these for the children guests. There are chocolates hidden inside.

Managed to create a low carb(ish) Christmas feast. But, I did cook roast potatoes - don't judge me - I have to eat potatoes at Christmas. Above- low carb pikelets with turkey, brie cheese and cranberry sauce.

 Forgot to take photos of the mains, but here are all the desserts. Low carb chocolate mousse.

 Sugar free jelly layers.

Low carb fruit mince pies.

 

Low carb white Christmas, rum and raisin puddings and chocolate truffles

 Low carb black forest trifle.

 Low carb tropical trifle

 

Low carb strawberry cheesecake tarts.

 

 My daughter made this for me as a joke. It's Miley Cyrus on a bauble wrecking ball!! Where does she get all these crazy ideas from. Must be hereditary.

 We couldn't put our tree up this year, due to a small puppy in the house, so I grabbed some branches from the bush and ended up with my take on a Scandi Christmas tree.

 I made this Swedish horse decoration.

 And crocheted some snowflakes.

 Creative gift wrap.

Snow globe.

I hope all my readers had a wonderful Christmas. xo

Puppy training

 My son likes to carry Maya around like a teddy bear, and she loves it. She stays quiet in his arms and doesn't try to squirm away.

 Maya is a typical border collie - very smart and active, although she has many puppy naps throughout the day. She is always looking for something to destroy! - such as my shoes. She has already eaten through my son's iphone recharger cord.

So far, I have taught her to sit, down and nudge. The nudge will become her alert action for low or high blood glucose levels. I let her have a sniff of a low saliva sample the other day. She knew it was something interesting and sniffed it for a long time. One day she will know it means danger.

We just get so much entertainment value from her antics. I will train her some more behaviours this week for the low and high signals. She also starts puppy preschool next month, and maybe some obedience and agility classes after that. Border Collies need to keep their minds and bodies active!

Maya 9 weeks

 This little girl is the focus of our family at the moment. She is so mischievous and is always doing something funny.  She is going to puppy preschool soon to learn some basic obedience and socialization.

This is the best photo I could take with her Santa hat on.

Maya - 8 weeks

Now that Maya is more familiar with her new family, her cheeky, mischevious side is coming out. She definitely does not like dried dog food, but prefers raw meat and chicken, which is what dogs were designed to eat anyway. And as this is a wheat free house, processed dog food is off the menu. We have taught her to sit on command so far. She is a lot of fun to have around.

Maya home at last.

 Maya came to live with us yesterday. We drove to the airport freight depot to collect her. There were actually a lot of animals coming and going there.  I could hear her crying out in the truck drop off zone. When she was handed over to us over the counter, I started crying, because she looked so scared. My son held her in the car on the hour long drive home.

 We let her outside straight away. We quickly worked out that she loves leaves, rocks, sticks and digging in the dirt. So much for all the toys we bought her!

 She has a beautiful placid, gentle nature. Dainty like a little girl should be.

 She also prefers sleeping on the cool tiles, rather than the bed we got her.

 

 Palm fronds are a favourite.

 Just like a real life fluffy teddy bear. Her fur is so soft and clean, and she has the cutest little nose.

Just like a human baby, she needs naps every couple of hours. Romping around outside is exhausting for her.  She slept in my son's room last night in the kids old baby cot. But, unlike a human bub, I simply put her in the cot, put her blanket over her, and she went off to sleep until 5am. No crying or midnight feeds. Much easier.

Training will begin in a little while, once she is more familiar with her new family.

Maya - 7 1/2 weeks

 Maya's last couple of days with her brothers. I love this photo of her after digging in the garden.

 Glad she loves the cuddly toys. I have a whole basket full of them waiting for her.

 Chasing a chicken.

With her brothers. I feel really bad for breaking up this little family, but her new family will give her lots of love and cuddles. Just one more day.