Pet Fud

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It was dark and rainy when I left the house this morning. As mentioned previously, this is a regular event for one or the other of us every six weeks or so. It starts with a silly o’clock scramble out of bed on Saturday morning, followed by some bumbling around to find a random assortment of (preferably our own) clothing, whilst trying not to disturb the rest of the household. I usually manage to sneak in a rushed cup of tea before the next step, which is loading a trolley into the car and heading off on a foray to the local meat markets.

Whilst this may seem like a daft thing to choose to do on a weekend, having two dogs on a protein rich diet makes it well worth the effort – particularly since I have an antipathy to commercial dog food. Firstly, it smells dreadful (both going into and coming out of the dogs). Secondly, the sulphur dioxide, sodium and potassium sulphite preservatives in ‘fresh pet meat’ can cause health issues. Thirdly, after having had a few dogs with gut problems in the past, it’s now my policy to feed my dogs human-grade meat products wherever possible – and to have as much input into it’s production as I can.

Yes it is time consuming, but it’s also well worth the effort. With Cassie growing in leaps and bounds and Molly still heading towards her full size, meat consumption is at an all time high. This means that our food production regime has had to be bumped up a notch to keep pace; today I bought 10kg beef mince and 8 ox hearts (no liver this time).

When I got home, I trimmed the fat off the hearts and cut them up into chunks that could be fed through the mincer attachment on our Kenwood. Once this was all done we added the packs of regular mince and 2kg of tinned sardines-in-oil, then mixed it all up together. This is a rather messy process and rather fraught with danger, since the dogs both reckon that the best place to be at food processing time is as close as possible, i.e. under foot. Clearly what they’re aiming for is to nab any morsels that might fall on the floor; what they achieve is to ramp up the general chaos factor several notches. Sigh. #lifewithpuppies!

So the next step is generally to take a break and feed the dogs their breakfast. This settles them down for a while and allows us to package the meat and clean up the mess. We measure the mix out into (a lot of) appropriate plastic containers, pop them in the freezer, then stack the dishwasher – before finally sitting down for a well-earned cup of coffee and (this time) a banana-pecan muffin.

In total we processed 2.16kg of meat/fish this morning. Combined with an appropriate amount of kibble with each meal and occasional added vegies, this’ll feed the dogs for the next 48 days. Total cost for the meat (excluding time) was $84 (meat $72, fish $12). We’re pretty happy with that, the dogs love it – and we’re off the hook for another six weeks!

petfudproduction_14may16

Construction complete

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I started this chicken piñata on a whim a couple of weeks ago, mostly to fill time whilst puppy-sitting. But, as it progressed,  the process started to become quite compulsive. The simple balloon body soon grew a neck, another (smaller) balloon for a head, a tail (constructed in two stages), a beak, plumage and, finally, a pair of very handsome feet.  Wet weather is not ideal for this sort of project, but it can be done. Each stage involved many strips of very sticky papier mâché, followed by some time in front of my hair dryer and/or the heater to dry and harden the layers.

It took us 16 days to shape the body, apply 6-7 layers of papier mâché (some areas needed extra, for strengthening), cover it with two layers of paint, add some fine details, insert strings to hang it up, cut a hatch in the top and then finally fill it with lollies. All in all it took about 40 hours from start to finish.  A long haul, but we both had lots of fun and found it both creative and surprisingly relaxing.

 

pinata early stages

pinata final stages

pinata completed_7may2016

 

 

 

Joy of Sharing

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This week I received a most beautiful and unexpected letter in the mail. Opening the plain brown envelope, I found an actual thought-out, pen-to-paper wonder that left me speechless and teary. It was from a fabulous young man, one I love dearly and who has been part of my ‘pack’ for almost two decades. When I first met him, he was finding his way – uncertain as to his path and about his prospects for the future. It was a joy to watch him become confident in so many different spheres, not the least of which was his welcome in our home. We witnessed him start to build a secure footing in the world and then embarking on journeys both emotional and intellectual that have shaped him over the intervening years. He always showed such promise – and this letter, this beautiful and moving missive, is indicative of just how very far he has travelled. My heart is full.

Rewriting the rule book

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After years of debate and discussion, changes to the Western Australian Associations and Incorporation Act has just about completed its slow move through parliament. The Dept of Commerce anticipates that the Associations Incorporation Act 2015 will replace the current Associations Act as of 1 July 2016.

The changes to this piece of legislation will affect about 18,000 not-for-profits (NFPs) and incorporated associations operating in WA. These organisations range from the tiniest of social clubs (you need minimum of 6 members to be incorporated) all the way up to large ones, such as the RAC.

Since the last time the Act was changed was back in 1987, it’s not surprising that the Department of Communities has been hosting a number of information evenings for groups over the past few weeks. I opted for the session at the East Fremantle Yacht Club, since I thought that’d be the most convenient venue. What I – and the Department of Commerce (clearly) – did not take into account was parking.

News flash: the yacht club has minimal parking and the car park (such as it is) is at the bottom of a narrow little cul-de-sac. This resulted in epic traffic flow problems to augment the ultra-epic parking issues. Much aaargh all round; also a lot of people cruising around side streets trying to find plausible parking within walking distance.

I finally landed the last spot outside the East Fremantle Cricket Club and hotfooted it over to the venue, arriving out of breath but just in time. The presentation started almost as soon as I got there and took about an hour, including question time. In short, the changes relate largely to good governance and to protection – both for members of associations and for the public with whom they/it may conduct business. As far as the associations I’m involved with, the following points appear to be most significant:

  • there will be a requirement to introduce a dispute resolution process into the rules/constitution of every organisation
  • the Register of Members can now include email addresses instead of postal/physical addresses; the choice will be up to the individual members
  • the range of penalties for non-compliance have increased
  • there will be mandatory annual reporting requirements. Groups will be required to update the following information online on the Department website: change/confirmation of address, confirmation of at least 6 members, the date of the last AGM, and confirmation that the organisation is continuing to meet its financial obligations.

All in all it was definitely worth attending the session, despite the parking debacle – but it’s not a venue I’d frequent again willingly… unless someone was dropping me off. Walking back alone in the dark, past the (now empty) tennis club parking lot and along the deserted side streets, wasn’t an adventure I enjoyed – but at least it didn’t rain on me!

Whilst community association/groups will have three years in which to make relevant alternations, I’d urge anyone involved in at an organisational level to take the time to make themselves aware of the pending changes and to stay up to date with them. As first step, you could watch a video of the presentation online and download a copy of the PowerPoint slides  You can also access the Transition Pack, which covers most of the details of the changes and will be a handy reference tool.

Associations Transition Pack1 cover

Huzzah!

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The postman knocked on the door this morning, delivering my mail in person instead of trying to stuff it into our rather small mailbox. He does this from time to time, but it’s a courtesy that always takes me by surprise. This is mostly because our previous Postie tended to simply lug the parcels over the wall into the garden – where they might only be discovered days later… sometimes by the dogs, often after the sprinklers.

Waving my thanks, I scuttled back inside to quell the dogs and check out the mail. At the bottom of the pile was a small carboard covered package addressed to me.  This was an unexpected surprise since most packages that arrive are for other family members, so I was super-curious as to what it might be.

A quick rip and tear later – and there it was: an actual physical book with my name on it… my proof copy of Girdle of Bones, a week earlier than expected. Huzzah!

*does happy dance*   *a lot*

I’m still grinning – and no matter how many little layout glitches I come across as I go through it, I suddenly feel terribly grown up and like a real-proper-actual author 🙂

girdle-the book proof