48hrs = Dog Own Fail

It seems that we are just not meant to own more than one animal. Finn is the last surviving cat from a litter of seven. We gave three away, one ran away and two more got killed on the road. Our attempts to keep goldfish tended to end with small masses of dead fishy matter floating near the top of the tank, despite all our best efforts.We tried several times to bring in new cats to keep Finn company, but she invariably drove them out, turning the house into a mini warzone until we found new homes for the new cats instead.

So why did we think we would have any luck owning a dog?

We have never owned a dog before. Dessert Chef had dogs when she was young, but they were Nan & Obi's, so while the kids played with them, they didn't actually train them and do all the hard work of looking after them. What we weren't prepared for was just how very different a dog is to keep from a cat, and we got a taste of what we were in for very quickly.

As a writer, I much prefer the idea of dogs than I do of cats. There's something about being just a few steps evolved from wolves, something raw and dangerous and unbridled about dogs that lends them a poetic power that cats don't have. Where cats are aloof and condescending, dogs are immediate, rugged, and only ever moments from action. Strangely, even though this is how I imagine dogs, I never considered any of this when we decided to adopt Lucy. I had an idealised picture in my mind of a loyal servant trotting along behind us, chasing sticks and curling up by the fire in the winter. So much I didn't know.

We thought Lucy was a calm, quiet, relaxed dog, but when she came to us, she was as tightly wound as a spring, timid, and nervous as all hell.

A dog is a hunter, looking for every opportunity it can to move up the ranks of its pack by showing it is the dominant animal. Lucy decided straight away that in her new pack Dessert Chef was the boss; that she came second; that she would tolerate but not obey me; and that Isaac was by a long way the bottom of the food chain. Had we known more about dogs from the outset, we probably wouldn't have chosen a dog as big as Lucy. Lucy was as tall as Isaac and 5kg heavier. She first batted him with a paw, scratching his face, and later on that day she snapped her teeth right in his face.

This scared us, and rightly so. Lucy was warning Isaac that she was dominant to him, and it would take a whole lot of training before we could teach her otherwise. In the meantime, it would only take a second for Lucy's snap to turn into a bite, and that was an outcome that we were not at all prepared to risk.

I took Lucy to work with me yesterday, and after consultation with the SPCA, we decided to return her to them. There were other families who had been eager to have her as a pet, so she would be found a new home. It was a tough choice, but it was also the only choice.

So for 48 hours we were dog-owners, and then we were not. She'll have a good home, Isaac won't be at risk of being set upon by a dog who just wants to be the boss because she's bigger, Dessert Chef is no longer stressing about keeping dog and toddler apart, and Finn is back sleeping on my knee again.

Goodbye Lucy. Welcome back status quo.

The Upside of the Economic Downturn

A lot has happened in the last week to keep me away from this blog. What with the election which I have commented on here and elsewhere, and important writing stuff and work stuff and the playhouses and the dog and all, it's been a busy one.

Writing-wise, I have been beavering away on what has probably been the most mature and important thing that I've ever written. After publishing a post on my favourite fantasy author, Hugh Cook, who had just been admitted to a hospice where he was expected to pass away after a long battle with non-Hodgkin's Lymphoma, Cook's family asked that I write his obituary. I was deeply honoured by this request, and put all my energy into doing the absolute best that I could to do Hugh's memory justice.

Hugh passed away peacefully on Saturday morning and was cremated on Monday. The obituary will be printed in the NZ Herald on Saturday the 22nd of November.

Writing this piece has been one of the most mixed-emotion journeys of my life. While I never met Hugh personally, I always felt that I knew him in a way, as a reader can think he knows a writer. Hugh blogged for about 6 years, putting many of his thoughts and ambitions on the internet for his readers to digest, so perhaps it's not such a misplaced feeling. He always made an effort to reply to fans' emails and letters, even in his latter years when his eyesight was failing and writing and reading were both a significant strain for him.

I corresponded on an almost daily basis with Hugh's sister and brother over the past week, and in that time, while they shared details of Hugh's past with me to help flesh out the body of the obituary, I was rewarded with rare and touching insights into this very private man's life. More than once over the course of the week I was brought to the verge of tears by what these people, total strangers, were opening up and offering to me about a man I respect and admire but had never so much as met or even seen from a distance. My own grief for his loss was a strange and distant thing, but one which I will always value, because I was given a chance to give back to him something of the wonderful journeys of imagination that he shared with me and so many other total strangers in his lifetime. Catherine, thank you for giving me this chance. It means more to me than you can imagine.

The 400-word limit which I was given by the Herald was far too short to do Hugh the justice he deserved, so over the next week or two I will write a longer obituary to publish here, on his own blogspot, and wherever else on the net I can find a home for it. Please comment if you have a site and would be willing have a mini-bio for one of NZ's greatest writers published on it.

We got more of the playhouse done on the weekend, and I'll post a photo-journal when it's complete - or at least functional.

Oh, and we got a dog today. The SPCA ran an adoption day out here on the weekend and we dropped in for a look around. Now we are the proud owners of Lucy, a black labrador cross (not sure what with, but something smaller than a labrador anyway), which everyone is pretty happy about apart from the cat. But she'll come around. Lucy was very excited to see Finn, since she has spent her first 6 months in the SPCA home surrounded by other animals, whereas Finn has been queen of her house for several years now and doesn't take kindly to intruders. I'm sure they'll work it out between them.

Was there some relevance to the title? After all the doom and gloom of the economic meltdown and New Zealand's ill-conceived swing to the Right, can there be any good side? Well, yes. Mainly, my lovely Dessert Chef has rediscovered the wonderful world of baking.
As well as fresh bread, DC has been making muffins. Yum Yum Yum! I've already posted her Crunchy Lemon Muffins, and here are some Chocolate Muffins based on a recipe by Nigella Lawson. Apaprently she substituted butter for the oil in the recipe, otherwise it's the same. At a time when food prices are climbing and we really can't be sure what's in the stuff we're buying, it makes sense to be making it ourselves if we can. Hooray for home baking!

Beating the Post-Election Hangover

The sad thing is I didn't even drink on Saturday night. It's the result that has given me a headache.

Here's my rant. I need to get it out of my system, so I can move onto nicer things like Chocolate Muffins and Roast Lamb (again).

So, faced with the most dire economic and environmental crises of our times, New Zealand chose greed over restraint and continued ecological degradation over stewardship for future generations. A majority of NZ voters chose a parliament which represents exactly the policies and practices of the governments so recently ousted in Australia and the US because their citizens had the collective wisdom to see the folly of their policies. New Zealand voted in a leader, no less, who trained and worked in one of the very banking institutions that have brought the world economy to its knees. To make matters worse, the party with the plurality but not the majority (National) is now relying on a party even further right of itself (Act) to guarantee their power. We have elected a government that is pro-war, pro-nuclear, anti-environment and anti-democracy, haunted not only by the ghosts of the 90s era National Government, but also the disastrous economic reforms of the 1980s in the form of Roger Douglas (No, I'm sorry, I refuse to attribute the man his title). At a time when we need bold action from both the grass roots and at a policy level to protect our planet and our food supply, the voices that have been so dedicated to preserving these things have now been shut out. We ought to be ashamed.

Knowing what we know about National's support of GE technology and their policies of propping up big businesses at the expense of people's health and well-being, now would be the time to get out in the garden and take control of your own food supply. You can be sure that National-Act will do nothing to protect you from the vultures of the food production world over the coming three years.

But here's the worst thing: Act are the only party in the NZ political spectrum who continue to deny the fact of Climate Change. And rumour has it that in return for supporting the National Party into government, Act leader Rodney Hide could well be given the portfolio of Minister for the Environment.

That would be a kick in the guts, as well as an oxymoron.

There is a silver lining, however. The Green party vote is up on last election, giving them more MPs in the House, even if they are in opposition. And with the departure of Helen Clark and Michael Cullen from the front ranks (Cullen may have retired from politics, but I'm not sure), Labour has a chance to shed its dead wood and reinvigorate themselves for the battle to come.

In one of the ironies of the election, however, we can see that Green MPs won a lot of the electorate vote even though they didn't get any electorate seats. Several of Labour's stronghold seats were lost to National, but a quick look at the voting numbers shows that this was because the voting left were split between Labour and the Greens. Perhaps the left-leaning constituency has something to learn about strategic voting that the right has mastered. Not that it would have made a difference to the overall representation, as far as I can tell (but other more qualified commentators may tell me different).

But enough politics. When looking down the barrel of three years of right wing rule, the best thing you can do is indulge. No recipes here, just pictures of how we enjoyed a quiet Sunday with friends.

Breakfast: Crispy Waffles
Whipping the eggs - like morning sun on the roof of the world.

Waffles with banana, cream and syrup.

Lunch: Salad Sandwiches
On fresh homemade bread, with salad fresh from the market on Saturday.

Dinner: The Electric BBQ
It would've been a nice day for a BBQ, but we still haven't filled the gas bottle. So we did it the old fashioned way, grilled chicken drumsticks and fried sausages with fresh bread, salad, new potatoes in butter and beer-fried onions.

There were also beers and rum, because what else would you do on a day like that?

Going Green

On my way to work this morning I witnessed something which has made my stomach turn in disgust.

Right across Wellington, the National Party have had their little goblins out overnight stapling up expensive hoardings on the basis that if you repeat something often enough, people will think it's true. What is appalling about this is not that they have done it - we all know that a party like National think they can buy the election, and anyone with half a brain can see that this is what they're trying to do. What I find absolutely unforgivable is that the goblins have hit every available surface - including other party billboards.

Now, I don't like the hoardings anymore than the next guy, but every party has the right to go to the expense of getting their message out there if they so choose. For National to come along in the middle of the night and post their own advertising over the top of other parties' is not only rude, it's plain undemocratic.

This is what this country is likely to see if we are foolish enough to allow National to form a majority after tomorrow's vote: A right-wing party willing to run roughshod over everyone else to push their agenda through. This has been a lacklustre election campaign as a whole, overshadowed by the global credit crunch and the US elections, but the rhetoric that we continue to hear from the Right is all about greed: Gutting the Resource Management Act to favour business over community; Canning the Emissions Trading Scheme because it will cost money (in the short term - another sign that financially driven policy is fatally short-sighted); Scrapping the Greens' billion dollar home insulation fund; and pushing economic growth at the expense of all else.

Economic Growth is synonymous with consumption, and a hundred years of massive growth and consumption have brought this planet to the brink of collapse. Everything that National plans to do if they take the election tomorrow will only push us further towards complete ecological ruin.

The only way to stop this is by getting out there and voting tomorrow. And that vote should be Green, if you care for the planet, or for your children, or for your own health and wellbeing in the future. Don't let all the hard work that the Greens have done over the past 9 years go to waste.

Get out there. Vote Green.

Labour Weekend Lamb

For us Labour Weekend was just that: work.

I'd like to say that we got out into the garden and got rows of corn and tomatoes and carrots and lettuces planted, but sadly, nothing of the sort happened. I did manage to weed a bit around the potato plants (which are coming up nicely, from what I can tell), but the weekend was not dedicated to the garden as it should have been. Rather, we kept building Isaac's playhouse. I'm keeping progress photos, and will post a timeline once we've actually got to the end. Right now the cladding is on,and we still have to do the fascia, the roof, and the windows and door. Then I guess we think about paint and stuff. And attaching a slide, somehow. But that might be a pipe dream (now there's an idea...).

So to reward all our hard work of cutting leftover fence palings and nailing them to the playhouse frame, I cooked up a lovely rolled forequarter of lamb from Wai-Ora. Will I ever get sick of praising these guys? Seriously, if you're in the Hutt, get down to the riverbank market on Saturday. (No, I repeat, this isn't a paid plug nor do they give me free stuff.)

Dessert Chef and I were trying to decide what it was about this particular lamb that kept us coming back, week after week. To her palate, the meat is not as strong as the lamb from the supermarket, possibly because it spends less time getting from farm to the table. In my more self-indulgent way I imagine I can taste the fresh air, the greenness of the grass, the wild clover and thyme, the vibrance and energy of the farm. It's a delicate flavour that needs nothing to mask it or heighten it, which is why I tend to keep my dressing of the meat simple and lightly fragrant.

Rolled Forequarter Lamb Roast

(Serves 4 - just)

Take 1 Rolled Forequarter Lamb Roast.Raid the herb garden, which is absolutely brimming with Spring growth, and chop up a pile of mint, oregano, rosemary, and thyme. Season the lamb with olive oil and freshly ground salt and pepper, then roll in the fresh herbs. Quarter an onion and drizzle it lightly with olive oil, balsamic vinegar, and salt and pepper. Place the lamb and onion on a rack over a roasting tray and leave to rest for an hour. Dress some chopped veges for roasting. Roll in olive oil, salt and pepper, some paprika and the rest of the fresh chopped herbs. Place these on some baking paper on another roasting tray.
Cook both trays at 190C for 1 to 1 1/2hrs, depending on how well you like your lamb done and how small your veges are cut.
I'll let the pictures speak for themselves.

The Slow Descent

Today I learned that my favourite fantasy author, Hugh Cook, has gone into a hospice.

I was writing a post on lamb roast when I read this. Suddenly, the significance of seasoning and cooking temperatures paled.

Hugh was struck down some time ago by a brain tumour. He fought the cancer and survived, and was told that if it ever came back, there was nothing more that they could do. In December last year, he posted this (Warning - understandably harsh language).

I've posted in more detail about Hugh's Work here, and I suspect I will post again when he has passed away.

But very quickly, I want to consider what legacy Hugh leaves us as writers and readers of the fantasy genre. He published a series of 10 novels which grew increasingly edgy and eccentric as they progressed, which his core of fans loved but which failed to take off commercially. Publishers shied away from his 60-novel vision - much to the chagrin of his fans - due to his non-formulaic story and character developments, as well as his tendency to exploit the medium of the novel as much for its poetic potential as its narrative value.

Hugh told stories that weren't always black and white in language that wasn't always black and white. He challenged the reader to reconsider what they knew of the sf/fantasy convention, and he went places that more prudent (and arguably more financially successful) authors wouldn't dare.

Through the lens of fantasy Cook could strain real concepts, from history to religion to philosophy to politics, and explore the darkness within. And all of this with the dryest and most subtle of wit.

From a teenage reader to an adult writer I have constantly reread these books and reminded myself that they are a benchmark for how not to fall into the bad habits of writing hack. He also provides us with lessons of what not to do, but always to ask if we are pushing ourselves and our writing as far as we're able.

As well as being a champion of E-Books and Publish-On-Demand (he got back the rights to some of his works which his publishers had discontinued and made them available over the Internet) Cook posted this, one of the best creative writing guides you're likely to find on the internet for free.
This is the first time I've seen a photo of Hugh, and it has been more inspiring than his sister, who was kind enough to post it, might have thought it could be. I see a normal guy, sitting at his laptop at a table in the evening, grinning.

Much like I do.

May your final journey be a peaceful one, Hugh.

Another Pumpkin Risotto

I've come a long way down the Risotto highway since I first had a crack at making one back in June. Since then I've learned that as long as you have patience, anything goes. Also, once you know the steps in your head, you can prep as you go, so you don't lose all that time getting everything ready beforehand. After all, once you put the rice in, you're pretty much committed for the coming 30 minutes or so anyway.

This one was, by unanimous agreement, my best ever. Better than the Bacon and Leek effort, and even better than the other Pumpkin and Ham one. Isaac wanted more, and more, and more, so it must have been good!

Pumpkin & Ham Risotto (MKII)

(Serves 4)

Finely chop 1 onion and 3 cloves of NZ garlic. Grate up 1/4 of a grey pumpkin. Add the veges to heated oil in a large pan and stir as the moisture evaporates. When the veges become a bit sticky add 3/4 Cup of Arborio Rice. Keep everything moving until the rice starts to turn translucent. Tip in a mixture of 2T Balsamic Vinegar and 1/2C Warm water. Keep stirring.
As the liquid is absorbed, start adding heated chicken or vege stock by the ladel, probably about 2 1/2 Cups in 1/4 Cup increments. Add another ladel of stock as each is absorbed and before the rice starts sticking to the pan.

During this time, chop up a whole tomato, 125g of deli ham, and grate 1/4 Cup of Parmesan cheese.

When the rice is so nearly done you can tell it only needs a couple more minutes, add the tomato and ham and stir through. Check the rice, and when done, remove from the heat and stir through the Parmesan and 3T of cream. Mix in and allow to stand for just a minute before dishing. Drizzle with a little extra virgin olive oil, freshly ground pepper and salt, and a wee grating of Parmesan.

What's the best thing about this meal?

Only one dirty pan.

Excellent.