Puppies by Rodin

The French Sculptor Auguste Rodin (1840-1917) never used Dashchunds in his work and that is a shame. Here are our two old puppies now 4 years old in poses for the morning, called Reflections on an Italian Winter or if you prefer Were is my Biscotti. They being both from Capena in the Lazio Province near Rome is a fitting title.

Pensiero del giorno

dove gli biscotti

Ciao bello

Cosa c'e di piu bello di me? 

New Look for the New Year

2012 is the Year of the Water Dragon according to this year's Asian Lunar or Spring Festival which starts on 22 January, a bit early. If one wants good wishes which comes in the form of a Dragon this year, you should pray to the Dragon Emperor  Ao Guang who lives in the East China Sea. Dragons in Asia are good creatures who bring happiness, prosperity, wealth and many good things. They are more serpent like and fly in the sky unlike the European model who has wings and is associated with evil. You will also find Dragons in Japan and in Vietnam, they are symbols associated with the Emperor like in China. The Han Chinese will say that they are the sons of the Great Dragon, the Emperor. The dragon is the mythical beast iconic to many Asian people. Let's hope that this year of the Dragon brings all manner of good things to all people.

Japanese Dragon

Dragon Gods

Chinese Dragon

I also changed the look of my blog page and added a new icon photo and clock. I love the old wall effect with the paintings and the colour scheme as a background. The pocket watch also has that old elegant look.

Will left on Thursday for London for a few days, to visit friends and go to the theatre. He is staying in Kensington and will dine on Friday night at the Garrick Club, lucky bugger. See website www.garrickclub.co.uk It turns out the David Garrick (1717-1779) was of Huguenot French descent ant the family name was De La Garrique. The Club was opened in 1831 it is quite beautiful and in many ways what a gentlemen's club should look like at 15 Garrick street in Covent Garden.

I on the other hand am snow bound, major snow storm in Ottawa, in fact from my window today I thought it looked like I was inside a snow globe so intense was the dancing snow outside. Well for my dinner this evening I had a black squid ink Risotto Venetian Style with freshly chopped vegetables and jumbo shrimps and a little glass or two of one of my favourite scotch, Laphroaig, single malt from Islay, nothing fancy, all simplicity, the other being Talisker.

Puppies are very quiet and asleep now, they went for their walk earlier jumping in the snow, quite covered in the white stuff, they are obviously getting use to it.

Learning a new language

We went back to school today and so did our kids, Nicky and Nora needed some guidance so we called in Bark Busters. Our teacher Marco is Austrian, we chatted on Austria and the trips we have made there in the last few years. For the lesson we explained the learning problems and what could be done about it we asked. He first explained that Dachshunds do not speak any human languages and do not understand them either despite what Walt Disney has been telling the world for decades in his movies. They guess at what we are saying but most of the time do not understand what we humans are saying. So he told us that we had to learn Dachshund, it is easier than any human language I had to learn and it can me mastered in about  3 hours with a bit of practice and bingo Nicky and Nora now understand everything we tell them. I am quite serious, it works, forget the sit and stay and come and bad boy or whatever, it does not work but start talking dog talk and well you enter another world. Nicky and Nora were astounded that we now spoke their language, you should see the faces, quite unbelieving. The teacher explained how we humans do not understand another person who does not speak our language, any tourist who has been abroad where no French or English is spoken can vouch at how difficult it was to communicate. So we learned all the stock phrases Mommy or Daddy Dachshunds would say to the young ones. We then went for a walk and today being a gorgeous day in Ottawa, blue sky and a few puffy clouds here and there and a pleasant 22C, lots of people on the Rideau Canal walking or running or bicycling and of course lots of other dogs and squirrels.

Nora whose Hungarian-Italian family background has a long list of European Hunting Champion is always willing to kill a few cats or squirrels or whatever for dinner. So we walked by 2 Squirrels who were enjoying some nutty food, usually Nora would have pounced but this time she quietly walked by and there was no fuss after I spoke to her.  Same with Nicky who goes nuts if he sees another dog or person. Now a few words in Dashchunds and bingo, we have calm and civility. So now we just have to work on other behaviour things and we should have a more harmonious household.

As for the Internet campaign around the world to save Nicky's balls on facebook, well it all depends on how well Nicky responds and stops marking his territory in the house. We will re-assess in a few weeks. 

immigrating

Tomorrow our two little dogs will leave their native Italy where they were born for Canada. All their papers are in order and their suitcase is packed. They have only known Capena were they were born at the Casa degli Orsi, our neighborhood streets in Rome and the gardens of the Villa Borghese.

A big new adventure awaits them in Ottawa.

Eleonora della casa degli Orsi aka Nora

Fantastico Nicky, our Nicholas aka Nicky

Remember little ones, no barking and no smoking in Canada.

Spring is here now!

Well the Roman Spring has sprung, in a matter of a few days. Average temperature now is about 20C. very nice and under a Roman blue sky unlike anywhere else.

Our neighbor's garden, orange trees heavy with fruit and this beautiful flowering tree.

In preparation for our departure from Rome in four months time, we have started to clean house and this weekend was cleaning out the library, we give our books away to friends or anyone who wish to read a book. One friend took 35 books that she was interested in. Next music CDs, we have over 900 of those, I am getting rid of about 20 cds not much but there you go, next it will be clothes, all the stuff I no longer wear will be given away, same with bedding and towels, etc... our plants are all destined to one person who has a green thumb and loves plants. I have been doing this all my life, each time we move, we purge, its a good exercise and helps you realize that stuff is just things and if you no longer want it better give it away.

Also this weekend, Will made Asparagus soup from asparagus stems mixed in with cream and chicken broth made from scratch and I made Chicken vegetable soup, using the remains of a roasting chicken and adding celery, carrots, cauliflower and onion.

Italian Ministry of the Air Force, building was built in 1930 under Mussolini.

The dogs had a long walk along the City Aurelian walls basically walking all around the old Praetorian Guard camp which is today occupied by the Ministry of the Italian Air Force.  The site has been a military installation for 2000 years, some things never change, the original stone walls of the camp are still standing.  Nora and Nicky were really tired afterwards, they got a biscuit and water and then went for a long doggie snooze. What a life go for a nice walk, have a biscuit and then snooze on the sofa, not a care in the world.

Piazza Mattei, the Fontana della Tartarughe  (of the tortoises), designed in 1585 by Giacomo della Porta and the Florentine scuptor Taddeo Landini, my favorite in Rome. The four boys have one foot on a dolphin and their hands are pushing little tortoises into the big basin. The piazza is one of the many entrances to the old Jewish Ghetto of Rome, the Mattei ducal family had the contract from the Pope to make sure the gates of the ghetto were locked at night so the Jews could not get out.

Nickolas and Eleonora are home

This morning we drove out to Prima Porta to fetch Nicky and Nora who were visiting family in Capena. We were told that Nicky was kept busy by 3 bitches in heat, he looked a little thin apparently he forgot to eat. Nora also lost a bit of weight which is a good thing, all the fresh air and running around in fields. They also had 3 classes in socializing and playing with much bigger dogs, German Shepherds that is at Lisa T. who is their trainer.
In the car, Nicky slept on the back seat, while Nora was in the front looking out the window and the world going by as we drove back into Rome.

Now after having double rations for dinner and biscuit, they are snoozing away on the sofa, using yours truly as a pillow. The world is perfect.

Tomorrow I was planning to go to Florence for the day to see a cabinet maker of miniature display cases. But since I am a bit tired I will postpone the trip. These cabinets I would use for my ever expanding army of lead soldier. If I ever go to Russia on posting, I probably will get into serious army build-up.
Russia is very well known for its quality lead soldiers and beautiful craftsmanship. When I get close to the one hundred thousand mark, I will let you know.

Easter photos

Our friend Jack is visiting us from Beijing and he has one of those big cameras that take really professional pictures, it's a Nikon D300. He took some pictures of Nicky and Nora, the best pictures so far in their young lives, they are only 14 months old. The eyes say it all.
Our little Easter bunny killers. One has to remember that they are hounds, their parents are hunting dogs. Right now they want to kill every cat in the neighborhood, pigeons, anything basically which they think it good for hunting, nothing personal, that is what wire hair dachshunds do. Nora's mom at 5 kg, can hunt in a pack wild boars who weigh 60 kg.
We took them to the Via Appia Antica to walk on the historical road just outside the San Sebastiano gate for about 5 km. They walked it all right but when we came home, they were pooped tired and slept like logs.