My kingdom for a dishwasher

Growing up, we had neither dishwasher nor microwave. My mom used to say that it wasn’t natural for food to be cooked so quickly (hence, no microwave) while my dad used to ponder, “Why would we need to buy a dishwasher when we have to perfectly good ones called April and Fiona?” This, despite the fact that we rarely did the washing up and NEVER did it of our own free will.

At any rate, having a functioning dishwasher in Toronto really opened my eyes to the wonders of this magical appliance. Leaving it was hard, but I thought that it was a love that could easily be replaced.

While our new house is great, it does lack a dishwasher. I know one day I will visit an appliance store and will find love again, but in the meantime there is a hole in my heart that can only be filled by a giant pile of dirty dishes on the counter beside the sink. Needless to say, with Todd’s arrival my housework has suffered somewhat… call it the puppy knock-on effect.

On the bright side, we do have a microwave although it is from the 80s and therefore does not cook food unnaturally rapidly.

If you know of a good dishwasher that likes long walks on the beach, candlelit dinners and meeting new people, would you be so kind as to give it our number?

Mark#44 – Todd and his Monkey

Mark#43 – A Couple More Todd Snaps

For anyone who hasn’t been to our house and already had this explained to them, please excuse the hideous pink carpet – it was left by the previous owners and we decided we’d keep it until after Todd was fully house-trained.

BREAKING NEWS: Canine/feline relations suffer critical blow

As Mark works from home, he has also been forced into a new daytime role: pet mediator.

The cats have been pretty pissed about Todd’s arrival… we have seen some hissing and lots of scrambling to get out of his way as he attempts to engage them in play. Jerry seems to have sussed that Todd can’t climb stairs yet, so often retreats to the safety of the staircase to observe from a distance.

Slowly but surely, Jerry has been investigating this new critter who has invaded his domain. Yesterday, when Todd fell asleep on my feet, Jerry climbed onto my lap for a cuddle and a closer inspection. I thought, “wow… progress!”

However, today Mark witnessed the first real interaction. Todd, again eager to play, approached Jerry to smell his face. Jerry reportedly endured this treatment for a few seconds before taking a huge swipe at Todd’s face!

This apparently resulted in much crying and yelping, as Jerry looked on with an air of satisfaction, having put the interloper in his place. As I told Mark, I’m really glad I wasn’t there when it happened as it must have been so upsetting! Is there anything sadder than a crying puppy???

A footnote to this story is that Joey, our gentle giant (see banner at top of the blog… she’s a lovely gal) has pretty much avoided Todd altogether. My prediction was that she would be less freaked out than Jerry but it just goes to show, you can never predict cats’ behaviour.

We’ll just have to continue trying to win back their love with food.

Apologies to anyone who thinks posts about pet behaviour are lame. I find it totally fascinating and Mark and I are probably more guilty of anthropomorphism than anyone else we know!

Mark#42 – Here’s the Toddster…

This is Todd’s first official photo:

I’m sure there’ll be many, many more to follow…

Mark#41 – Sudo-Q Superstars

A few weeks ago, I told you I am gonna be on TV. Specifically, me and my pal Gooders went down to London to appear on BBC 2 quiz show ‘Sudo-Q’, and we actually did pretty well.

We won 5 consecutive episodes, which is the most you are allowed to win before they make you retire undefeated, were crowned the series champions, and won a few thousand quid. To find out exactly how much money we won, and to see just how well we performed (and what complete idiots we made of ourselves in the process), you will just have to watch the show.

Our first episode is on Friday, March 16th, commencing at 3:15pm on BBC2. The next four episodes are shown Monday through Thursday the following week, at the same 3:15pm time slot.

Gooders and I will likely be organising some kind of a big-screen viewing session for our pals, so watch this space for details.

Eat like an Egyptian: Foul Eskandandy

The Joneseseseses family trip to Sharm El Sheikh was delightful. Despite Phil being stung by a “harmless” (so said the locals) jellyfish, we all came home unscathed – some of us browner than others.

We stayed at the Grand Rotana resort and enjoyed a daily breakfast buffet despite a source of great consternation: foul eskandandy.

Now, having conducted some online research, I’ve learned that “foul” refers to beans. Apparently brown fava beans are a staple of the Egyptian diet. However, searches for “foul eskandandy” (and a variety of alternate spellings) have failed me. To this day, we will never know what it was as Mark refused to eat it.

Actually, we only saw one Russian woman eat it. It looked and smelled a bit like chilli – why one would choose this for breakfast I don’t know – but I cannot verify its contents.

Has anyone ever heard of foul eskandandy before? If you’ve actually eaten it, please comment with a detailed description of taste/texture/ingredients… curiosity is killing me!!!

Mark#40 – Puppy Update: Meet Todd’s Parents

So at the time of writing the last puppy update, we’d got as far as deciding that we wanted a flat-coated retriever…well things have developed rapidly since then.

We found a fantastic breeder and have scored ourselves a pup of the highest pedigree. In fact, his grandfather, ‘Gibson’, is a former international flat-coat champion no less.

Knowing that we definitely were getting a male dog meant we could finally decide on a name. I campaigned hard for ‘Scraps’, but ultimately failed thanks to April’s insistence that he have a more human name. So in the end, we settled on ‘Todd’!

Todd comes home on March 3rd, when he is 7 weeks old and ready to leave his mother, but we did go and visit the entire litter and parents, Jazz and Peggy, a couple of weeks ago.

And now, thanks to the miracle of digital photography, you can meet them too:

Todd’s Dad, Jazz (below):

Todd’s Mum, Peggy (below):

And a sneak peek of the pups (below):

Mark#39 – We’re Off to See the UFC!

I’m SO EXCITED right now. When I heard UFC 70 would be held in Britain, I was thrilled. When I heard it would be held in Manchester, I was practically foaming at the mouth. And now I’ve just booked tickets, well, I’m ready to explode.

I’ve been aching to go to a UFC event for years, but as they are almost always held in Vegas, I’ve always been prohibited by the cost. But no more. Myself, my bro and my dear friend Bongo have booked our tickets – unfortunately we couldn’t afford the £250 floor seats, but we have still got pretty great seats as we are in the second row from the front of the upper tier.

My pal Leona and her husband John were considering coming over from Canada for this, which would have been incredible as Leona is just about the only person I knew who was able to hold her own in a UFC-related discussion (apart from April, who has learned a surprising amount through some kind of TV osmosis), but alas they are already scheduled to go to a huge music festival on the other side of the pond around about the same time.

I haven’t told April that I’ve splurged on this yet though. I suppose I’ll just have to present her with a new pair of shoes when I break the news.

Mark#38 – Manchester Super-Casino…Great News for UFC Fans??

It was announced today that Manchester has beaten off competition from, among others, London’s Millennium Dome and Blackpool to become the location for Britain’s first ‘Super-Casino’!

For sure the debate will now rage about whether a Vegas-style casino will be a good or bad move for the city. On the one hand it will bring investment, employment, rejuvenation to a down-trodden part of the city, and much-needed entertainment facilities. On the other hand casinos are synonomous with vice, corruption and gambling addiction.

But I, for one, am thrilled at the news for one very big reason. As a huge fan of ultimate fighting, I’m hoping that this super-casino will become the UK base for future UFC events!

Apparently UFC 70 will be held at the Manchester Evening News Arena  this coming April (I’ll be first in line for tickets), but surely a Vegas-style arena will go some way to tempting the organisers to have events here more regularly. I wouldn’t be suprised if Zuffa LLC (the owners of the UFC and various casino interests) are already weighing up how to get a piece of the action.