The Three Musketeers

[Chrisdoc]

Just thought I´d share my sunshine with you. I was coming from my friend´s house to mine at lunchtime and it was such a lovely day that I just had to share it with you. The sea looked so lovely and the blue skies are a joy to see. First one is looking towards Malaga from the Costa del Sol and the second is looking down towards the south to Morrocco and Gibraltar although not clear enough to see today.

 

[whitelop]

I'm coming to Spain!

 

[Chrisdoc]

Ha Morgan, you´re welcome any time. I just had to take these as it´s been such a gorgeous day, hard to believe it´s the beginning of January. Hope you got the recipe for the butterfly buns.

 

[whitelop]

I did get the recipe! I will hopefully make then tomorrow. I'll let you know how they turn out when i do make them!

 

[Chrisdoc]

Yes please and some piccies too. I must remember to send you the carrot cake recipe tomorrow, it's now at my house and not here...last night, what a relief :nod

 

[Imbrium]

I'd like the carrot cake recipe as well, if you don't mind - I LOVE carrot cake!

 

[Chrisdoc]

No problem Jennifer, I've made two since I got it and they've both been big hits so I'll send to you both tomorrow when I get home as the recipe is there. :nod

 

[Chrisdoc]

Settled back home now and tried a little bonding this morning but only for a short while so they´re still in their separate areas, Snowy is resting in the enclosure and Bandy and Houdinin are on their mat in front of the window in the sun. I haven´t given up though and will get them back to normal quite soon, I´m sure.

I took some photos yesterday of the special cake they eat over here at Three Kings which is the big holiday. I´ll download them later and tell the story as well.

A holiday today so a quiet one for me with the buns just having a rest and enjoying my own house for a change. Have to do some sorting in the spare room but just can´t be arsed today so that´ll wait until later in the week when I have time.

Another lovely sunny warm day, can´t believe weather´s this good beginning of January.

 

[holtzchick]

Oh wow, lovely pictures! I guess I missed a lot of day, I always feel so out of the loop when I don't post for a while!

Awh, so you're still re-bonding the boys eh? Well, time and patience is key (as you yourself have told me) it is frustrating but it pays off in the long run I guess to have them bonded tightly after a long journey bonding

best of luck to you and I can't wait to hear about the holiday of the Three Kings!

 

[Chrisdoc]

Michelle, yes it is a long road but I´m here for the duration so I´m going to stick it out and make it work.

As promised, here is the Three Kings Ring Cake. It´s eaten in Spain on the 6th January on the feast day and in conmemoration of the day when all the kids over here traditionally get their gifts. In it, there are two gifts, one is a little statue of one of the magi and the other is a bean; whoever gets the bean should pay for the cake. THere is a parade in most Spanish towns on the evening of the 5th January when the three kings get up on their floats through the streets and the kids all celebrate while getting sweets slung at them at great speed. It´s great fun, best come armed with an umbrella and a bag. Umbrella turned upside down to collect the sweets and the bag to store them, you have to learn all the tricks over here.

So, here´s the cake both before we started and half way through, by the way, we cheat and buy:

Here´s a picture of the parade in Malaga, I wasn´t there but it´s a great night for the kids:

And these are my little Snowy yesterday napping on the sofa, had to put them in, he´s just such a little cuddly bun and loves the sunshine.

 

[Chrisdoc]

Just watching the Mentalist on the telly and it´s the one where he gets poisoned and dreams of his daughter and there´s a bunny in the pot on the stove (alive of course) and he follows it to a house.....blablabla and wow, it so reminded me of Monty with the big ears and tail and the same colour...it´s episode 5.2 called Devil´s Cherry is anyone wants to check it out.

Anyway, I bought a little basket the other week from the charity shop cos I thought it might be quite good to put some hay in for the buns. I hadn´t tried it out but tonight I thought I´d try Houdini with it as he´s the big hay eater, prefers that to nearly anything. Took some pics as he looks so cute on his hind legs with his front feet resting on it...he´s there for the long haul, here he is.

 

[JBun]

Both your boys look so happy! Snowy basking in the sunshine, and Houdini munching on his hay. I'm glad your ordeal is over. Hopefully your boys will be back to being friends again soon.

 

[whitelop]

I typed this all out yesterday on my phone, but then my phone had a seizure and froze up.
So I'll try this again, lol.

In American, in New Orleans, Louisiana they have a tradition involving a King Cake too. I can't remember what its about, but its around this time of the year that its celebrated. But inside the cake, there is a small plastic baby, not a king or a bean. Whoever gets the baby from the king cake here, makes a wish or something and has good luck for the year? I can't remember all of it. My dad's girlfriend is Cajan and she celebrates it. (the king cake is really hard to make)
I think the celebration here has something to do with French culture, since most of the people in New Orleans came from French ancestry.

Snowy is so pretty and he looks so comfortable there in the sun! Also Houdini looks so happy with his big basket of hay! I have a similar basket, its bigger though. I use it for baby toys. hahaa.

 

[Chrisdoc]

Morgan, sounds like the same celebration as here. It´s actually the catholic celebration of the Epiphany which is the arrival of the three kings to worship the baby Jesus. It´s a really big thing over here so it looks like it´s a similar thing to the one in New Orleans. And whoever get the figurine has good luck all year.

Snowy is a real sun worshipper, he loves the sun on his face and Houdini prefers hay to anything else and loves his new basket. That´s why I wish we had more variety here as he´s not fussy but the other two don´t eat as much hay as he does.

I need to get hold of Bandy to give him a good groom as he´s shedding quite a bit at the moment. I´ve heard you can pluck angoras or maybe I´ll try to shave a bit of his hair off as you wouldn´t believe the amount he has, it´s amazing. Wonder if I could knit something from him lmao

 

[ukcarolm]

Just read through your blog, I love your 3 they are gorgeous. It's such a shame you've had so many bonding problems. I must admit, when I had Winnie and Doris done I took them to the vets together in one carrier and told the vet to keep them together as they were so well bonded. I'm pleased to say he did, so I didn't have to re bond them. They only had a couple of spats when they were younger and that seemed to sort out who was boss!

 

[Chrisdoc]

It´s been a hard three months with the neuter and unsettling them and then my three weeks at my friend´s house which has unsettled them again but they have been better since I´ve been back so am sure that I can get back to normal quite soon...keep you posted.

Houdini is quite a highly strung bun and although Snowy is really laid back, he´s a bit of a grump when you get on the wrong side of him. Poor Bandy is stuck in the middle, he is so gentle and I´m sure would get on with any bun, he´s just a submissive at heart.

 

[Imbrium]

that holiday really does sound crazy similar to Mardi Gras... except, no offense, but king cakes taste WAY better than that cake looks. well, good ones, anyway. I really miss king cakes! there's a plastic baby hidden in the cake and whoever gets it has to buy the next cake. I got mad at walmart 'cause they're selling the three kings cakes and it made me miss New Orleans and the french king cakes.

one big difference in the two holidays is it sounds like yours is just a two day event, with the parades on the 5th and the cake on the 6th... Mardi Gras is more of a season... it starts on the 6th of January and runs until "Fat Tuesday", which is the day before Ash Wednesday.

 

[Chrisdoc]

Jennifer, well we celebrate Mardi Gras to a certain extent in Spain as well as we have the carnivals especially in Cadiz which is not far from me. In the UK, we have pancake Tuesday which is the day before Ash Wednesday. The king cakes do taste really nice and I´ve tried making one but they are quite difficult to master but it´s a thought, might try next year. Although the Three Kings is a two day event, it comes a the end of a really long Christmas holiday. I tell you the Christmas period here seems to last forever, I was quite glad when it was all over this year.

 

[whitelop]

I have a French king cake recipes and that thing is like 2 pages long! Its difficult to make for sure! We put green, yellow, purple icing on the cakes here, where you guys put different fruit. Every year i say im going to make the cake on the right day, but it always sneaks up on me or i see the recipe and and say screw it! Maybe ill make one in a few days, a little late but oh well!

 

[Chrisdoc]

I don´t have a recipe for ours although I´m sure my friend will have one but they make such a variety over here and it is a bit complicated that it´s just easier to buy.

All three boys out this afternoon although Snowy is on the sofa with me in his favourite spot in the sun, yes the weather is lovely once again.

Another funny episode last night. I went to bed and about 2am I suddenly thought about the new cushion/soft toy my friend bought them last week. It´s like a dog in camouflage with long ears. they seem to really like it and were all playing with it yesterday. I suddenly woke up and had a thing about the eyes worrying if they´d swallowed one. I raced into the room to check and realised that it is a animal toy and the eyes are safe...I must be getting old :cry2

On another note, my car´s steering has been making a real noise for about the last month. I couldn´t take it into the work shop as I was doing the run from my friend´s house to mine so I´ve been putting up with it but worrying in case something serious is wrong with the steering. I mean it´s really been groaning every time I turn the wheel and three point turns...well, sometimes I worried something would fall off. So, I went down just before lunch today to ask my Mechanic called Paco and we went outside so I could show him. I´d been with my friend earlier and she commented on how much noise it was making. Would you believe it that suddenly, it´s gone all quiet and I drove afterwards about 20 miles and it´s as quiet as anything. He only put his hands on the bonnet...wowww, I´m so impressed. The car is so s**t scared of him now, it righted itself before he had a chance to get in the engine....I am so amazed as it really has been noisy for ages....hope it stays away.