A Life of Crime and Chocolate

heyjude

Making my own sunshine
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I've never been bit by a horse, but I imagine that it hurts a lot. I used to work on a farm when I was a kid and one day, we had put a cow in a stanchion and I was tying its legs down to clip its hooves, it kicked me right in the chest. It knocked me back onto the ground and I had a hoof shaped bruise right on my sternum for about a week.

Ouch! Yikes. No fun!

HJ, glad to see that everything is okay with you. I really hope it starts to feel better soon though. It sounds really painful.

Thanks. It really doesn't hurt as bad as it looks. Great for sympathy though! :D
 

French Maiden

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Off topic sorry - My baby girl - Freya my dog - is turning one next month and I was wondering if any of you celebrated your dogs/cats birthdays?
I bought her a present the other day - I plan on getting her a few more toys and some long lasting chews. And I'm wanting to throw her a little party. She's getting to invite her 2 friends, Shadow a Retriever cross and Jaffa a Ridgeback cross.
I'm going to do a treasure hunt and have doggy bags (the dog equivellant of lolly bags at kids parties).
I was going to make her a cake adn was wondering if any of you had or knew of somewhere I could find good recipes for cakes that are safe for dogs to consume.

Thanks x
 
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Shakesbear

knows a hawk from a handsaw
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I always celebrated the birthdays of my cats. My mother started the 'tradition' with the first family cat we had. He was a tabby called Jinx. His birthday was about Passover/Easter time and mum always made him a giant fish cake for his birthday. Spudcat who was my very own cat was born on August 15 1974. His birthday was celebrated with prawns for breakfast and new cat nip mice. He also had parties, especially when I lived in Stratford-upon-Avon. All the neighbours would be invited and they all gave him gifts which ranged from tins of food to a gold lame mouse! Muzzcat also had parties - some of which he would provide his own food for!

FM - no idea about a cake for a dog - could you do a meatloaf? Would Freya eat it?
 

French Maiden

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Yeah I thought about meat loaf. Freya would eat just about anything if I let her. I just wanted to decorate it with treats and chews and write Happy Birthday in liver treats and dont know if I'll be able to do that if it's a meat loaf which is quite dark.
 

Shakesbear

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You could use chicken which would be paler than red meat. Cover it with foil to stop it getting too brown. Also - leave out the onion! Food that is cooked with onion in it can give cats anaemia, not sure if they have the same effect on dogs.

You do realize, FM, that we will expect photos?!
 

French Maiden

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Hehe, yes! She is more protograghed than my poor boys. And she knows it too.

Thats a good idea with the foil. Yep, no onion it can cause liver failure in dogs. I was thinking about chicken. I think I'll do chicken mince with beef cubes through it, to give some diversity and nice chunky suprises for the girls. I might even make it like a terrine and wrap it in bacon. Ooh this is getting fun :D
 

GailD

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Okay. This is starting to sound so good FM, I wondering how to wangle a dinner invitation.

Well, it sounds better than my cooking. :D
 

Shakesbear

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FM - depends how good the dog food is. Does Freya share?
 

Zelenka

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My cats always get birthday parties. FM - I have seen 'dog cakes' in some pet shops here, made out of dog food but dressed up to look like donuts, cakes etc. No cat cakes though so my two spoiled brats just get their favourite dinner cooked for them on their birthdays.

Tomorrow I fly out to Australia! It's going to be so nice to get away from the snow. This will be the furthest I've ever gone on my own and I'm not sure what I'll be walking into when I get there, but I'm so looking forward to catching up with friends. One lady I haven't seen for about three, four years and the other I've known for more than ten years online but never actually met!

And, it may be nerves about the trip spurring me on, but I actually wrote a little on the WIP last night. Only about 300 words but that's the first in about two months!
 

French Maiden

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Freya is a very good sharer. She just doesn't share with cats unfortunatelly.

I'm hoping the food is good. It's be a shame if I made it for her and she turned her nose up at it - It's never hapened befrore, but there's a first time for everything.

Zelenka, I havnt seen anything like that here in Aus, well not where I am anyway.
Where abouts in Australia are you headed to?

Here in West Australia we had a lovely storm last night. And apparantly we're meant to get another one on thursday. t's ben so nice, I didnt even need the aircon today, I just used the fans.
 

muse

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So as it turns out it was green because of something about white blood cells and the healing process and all is well. Er, as well as it can be with a horrible horse bite. Who knew?! But he said the bruise (currently down past my elbow) will reach all the way to my hands, causing pain. No fun!

OUCH! That sounds so painful, HJ. How's the arm today?:Hug2:

Tomorrow I fly out to Australia! It's going to be so nice to get away from the snow. This will be the furthest I've ever gone on my own and I'm not sure what I'll be walking into when I get there, but I'm so looking forward to catching up with friends. One lady I haven't seen for about three, four years and the other I've known for more than ten years online but never actually met!

And, it may be nerves about the trip spurring me on, but I actually wrote a little on the WIP last night. Only about 300 words but that's the first in about two months!

Great news on the WIP, Zelenka. Here's to the next 300 words.:poke:

Safe flight tomorrow, and have a fantastic time in Australia.
 

Zelenka

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FM - heading into Sydney for a day, then off to Adelaide for Oz Comic Con (yeah, another sci fi convention!) then back to Sydney for a couple of days then home (via Hong Kong).

Muse - Thanks! Got a few more words done today too. Suddenly realised two of the characters knew each other when I hadn't known that before...
 

French Maiden

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FM - heading into Sydney for a day, then off to Adelaide for Oz Comic Con (yeah, another sci fi convention!) then back to Sydney for a couple of days then home (via Hong Kong).

Muse - Thanks! Got a few more words done today too. Suddenly realised two of the characters knew each other when I hadn't known that before...

Have heaps of fun. Sydney is amazing!
 

lizmonster

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I've always wanted to go to Sydney. I love exploring cities. If I can get away without a car - even better. :)

So, here's a question: I know a bunch of us have Russians wandering around our novels, but does anyone actually speak Russian? I have a three-letter acronym in my novel that needs a definition, and I want something a bit more meaningful than I'm going to get from an on-line transliterated dictionary.

If anybody is willing to help, drop me a note. :D
 

tarak

for certain qualities of "sane"
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I took a semester of Russian in college, but I can only remember a few words. So not likely to help at all.

Didn't make the next cut in the Amazon contest. So I'm determined to send out a query today.
 

lizmonster

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Didn't make the next cut in the Amazon contest. So I'm determined to send out a query today.

Ah, I'm sorry to hear that. :Hug2:

And if it helps: :e2cookie:

They do not know what they're missing, and good for you for sending out that query. That's where the rubber meets the road, as they say.
 

onesecondglance

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Bad luck tarak, but that sounds like the right attitude.

Sorry liz, I know about as much Russian as my cat knows about eating sensibly.
 

GailD

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No Russian, Liz. Sorry:(


Now if I just had a quarter of Zelenka's frequent-flyer miles....


:D
 

French Maiden

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Too bad Tarak!

No Russian here either Liz. I do know 3 words of indonesian, cow, pig and thankyou. But unfortunately, I dont think that'll help you in any way.
 

muse

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Didn't make the next cut in the Amazon contest. So I'm determined to send out a query today.

Sorry to hear you didn't make it to the next round, tarak.:Hug2:

I like your attitude, though. Get that query out there!:D

So, here's a question: I know a bunch of us have Russians wandering around our novels, but does anyone actually speak Russian? I have a three-letter acronym in my novel that needs a definition, and I want something a bit more meaningful than I'm going to get from an on-line transliterated dictionary.

If anybody is willing to help, drop me a note. :D

Sorry, Liz, my Russian is non-existent. :Shrug:

FM - heading into Sydney for a day, then off to Adelaide for Oz Comic Con (yeah, another sci fi convention!) then back to Sydney for a couple of days then home (via Hong Kong).

Muse - Thanks! Got a few more words done today too. Suddenly realised two of the characters knew each other when I hadn't known that before...

Typical characters, springing surprises like that on you.;)

Sounds like a fab trip, Zelenka. Enjoy.:Hug2:
 

Shakesbear

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Muse have you thought of contacting the Russian Embassy and asking their help? I find that many Embassies have staff that are very willing to help with an understanding to their language and culture.
 

tarak

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And just because I have to illustrate how subjective things are in this business, these are two comments from the reviews left by the folks who judged my excerpt.

From one - "having one of the agents a musical theatre nut is a good touch."

From the other - "I do not understand references and jokes about musicals and Andrew Lloyd Webber. What does all of that has to do with the plot?"