Homer's Happy Christmas 2011

Woof! Woof! Arooooo... It's Christmas! As usual, I had a great Christmas Day. But not before the obligatory photoshoot...

...in front of the Christmas tree...

...and with my Christmas cards as a backdrop.

Of course, the best part of Christmas is the fantastic food I get to eat...

...and there it is. The 'Turkey God' in all its (24lb/11kg) glory.

Without thinking, I began to pray, VERY VERY HARD...

The 'Turkey God' is the only deity I worship. (Except, of course, when the 'Lamb God' is in town).

Unfortunately, after a while, the 'Turkey God' mysteriously disappeared. Not to worry, it was soon time for the 'Homer Gift Unwrapping Ceremony'.

Look at all my presents!

Ta-da! Here they all are unwrapped.

Wait a minute, what's that I smell?

Woo - hoo! The 'Turkey God' is back. This time with a suntan, and with his 'disciples', the 'Roast Potato', 'Carrot', 'Broccoli', 'Mushroom' and 'Yorkshire Pudding?!?' gods.

Oh My Dog! Looks yummy!

Finally, the 'Missus God' took over and prepared Yours Truly's Christmas dinner. Doesn't it look scrumptious?

Here I am waiting to get tucked in...

...and then I was off!

It didn't take long for me to finish off this helping. But don't worry, there was plenty more of the 'Turkey God' left for later.

Merry Christmas everyone!!

Homer's Christmas Card Photoshoot 2011

For the last few weeks, I have been trying my best to get the right photo for this year "Homer's Christmas Card". It's been a challenge to get the ideal shot as I always set my standards pretty high. (If you don't believe me, check out some of my previous years' Christmas Card efforts here and here). 

Anyway, here are some of the 'out-takes' I had to discard before settling on the 'winning' one for this year's design.

Missus thought this cape (it's actually the cover for the base of our Christmas tree) might give me a 'festive' appearance. Unfortunately, it just made me look like the Pope...

...my nose is too big in this shot. Everyone can see into my flaring nostrils!

Now this might have been the 'choosen one'. Alas, the darn photographer cut the corner of my head off!

By the time we took this shot, we were all getting tired and frustrated. We were desperate to get the right picture. But, hiding my face in Santa's hat obvoiusly doesn't make the cut...

...While I was having a rest from the photo-shoot, my humans thought it would be amusing to use some of the Christmas tree decorations to produce a 'kinky' shot. Look at my shiny 'crown jewels'. Hmmm... a bit too tacky for a Christmas card though.

After what seemed like a million out-takes, we finally managed to get the right one...

And this is the final result...

...TA - DA! This is it! Me so booti-ful!

Voila! For those of you who haven't yet received the original version (and those of you who Missus (not me) forgot to post one to), this one is especially for you. 

Also, I would like to say a big thank you to those who have sent me a card. They are booti-ful and I love them all! 

Merry Christmas to everyone!

My Booti-ful House in Singapore

As I mentioned in one of my earlier postings, we've recently moved in to our new home in Singapore. Let me show you around... 

This is me outside the main gate. Houses aren't the norm in Singapore (we mostly live in high-rises) but, wherever we go, Missus always tries to find a garden for Yours Truly!

And voila - here it is! It's not very big, but there's still space for me to do my zoomies!

And there're plenty of other things to keep me occupied outside, like fishing in this fountain pond...

...or 'strutting my stuff' in the long backyard...

...or lounging around like 'Caesar' in the patio. Life is a bliss! "Feed me another grape, slave!".

Inside the house has...

Stairs, stairs and more stairs! There was a time when climbing stairs filled me with dread. Not anymore though. I first cracked the technique in Holland and then perfected it in Italy. Now I'm an expert!

Best of all, our new home is located right next to a fantastic nature reserve...

Here's me and Dad setting-off from the house to check it out.

Look at all the space and greenery! Wow!

"Are we nearly there yet Dad?"

Dad decided it was time for a rest. (We'd only walked a hundred metres - that's our house in the background! Sheesh!)

Of course I'm as fit as a fiddle and I was raring to carry on.

There's lots of wildlife in the nature reserve. This includes monitor lizards, snakes, squirrels and ...

...MONKEYS!

Oh my dog! The cheeky monkeys are everywhere! They're driving me mad! Arghhhh...

We finally (actually, after a minute or so) reached the entrance to the nature reserve.

Some dogs have to be muzzled here...

...but luckily, my 'mug-shot' is not on the 'WANTED' list.

Apparently, while in the reserve, you're not supposed to feed Dad...I mean the monkeys. (Hee... hee...).

As far as I can see, it doesn't say anything about not feeding me though. "Mmmm...Foooooood!"

Anyway, I thought it was about time we set-off into the reserve to search for more of those darn monkeys.

Unfortunately, at the first sight of one, Dad chickened out and ran off home like a baby.

Never mind, I'm sure I'll have a lot more 'monkey-business' to tell you about in my future blogs.

Bye for now!

My Christmas Tree 2011

Oh-oh! Christmas is fast approaching and it's time to put up that pesky tree again. I don't need to remind you of the problems I had last year. 

Here I am checking that we have all the parts.

After a couple of minutes (well, maybe hours - I had to snooze now and again) the tree was half-assembled.

Let me tell you something. Putting up a Christmas tree is not for the faint hearted! Just look at my frosty face!

Finally the tree was finished. Phew!

But, I still had the decorations to add. Balls, balls and more balls! Bollocks! That's way too many balls for me to handle!

Of course with my magic paws, I managed to position everything pawfectly! Voila! Booti-ful!

Just one more thing to add - the lights. Arghhh, I always get tangled up in these things. Help!!!

Finally, everything was in place for the 'switching on' ceremony.

I hope you like my tree and I hope you all have an easier time setting up your own Christmas decorations.

Good luck!

Homer's 16th Home

Yippee! After seven months of searching, my humans have finally decided on a permanent place to stay in Singapore. We moved in a few weeks ago. (More about our new home later).

It has just dawned on me that this is the sixteenth different home that I have lived in since I was born. Don't believe me? Well let me show you them all... 

Home number one - This is a photo of me with the rest of my siblings in Sydney, Australia. I was only seven weeks old when it was taken. (I'm not even sure which of these little cuties is 'Me'!). I stayed with my breeder for twelve weeks before I was finally old enough to fly to Singapore to meet Missus and Dad.

Homer number two - Ta-da! Here I am in Singapore. I guess I must have been around three to four months old when this picture was taken. Man, I can't believe I was such a darling! Hey, I should do a post of 'Me' when I was a puppy!

Home number three - At the age of six months, we all relocated to Geoje Island in South Korea. This was the building where we lived during our Korean adventure. I had some great times in here with the likes of Miss Kim and Gus.

Home number four - After staying in South Korea for one and half years, we were posted to Shekou, China. During our time in China, we stayed in two different apartments. Unfortunately, I don't have a picture of the first apartment. The photo above shows Dad and me checking out our new surroundings...

Home number five - ...but here I am with my Jewish girlfriend, Kira, goofing around in my second apartment in China. We were so compatible and so in love! This apartment also has fond memories for me as it was the place where I got to frolic around with Balu, Lily and many more of my four-legged friends.

Home number six - After a year in China, we moved to the Netherlands. For the first couple of months, we stayed within a holiday village in a place called Hellevoetsluis (pronounced as Her Lay Vot Slouse). I lived in two different houses during that time. Here's the first...

Home number seven - ...and here's my second house in Hellevoetsluis.

Home number eight - After a couple of months of living in the backwoods of Hellevoetsluis, we decided that we would be more at home in Rotterdam city centre. Before we found a 'permanent' place to stay, however, we had to live in a hotel for a month. This is me and Missus in front of our hotel in Rotterdam. It was during my stay in this hotel that I turned myself into an evil wizard.

Home number nine - Eventually we found a booti-ful house in Capelsburg on the outskirts of Rotterdam. I had some wonderful walkies here, both in winter and in summer. My ninth place and I was still only three - phew! However, it was only a matter of time before I found myself in...

Home number ten - ...Milano, Italia! I didn't take any photos of my first 'temporary' home in the 'Missori area, but I did use it as a base to go for my first tour of this magnificent city. Missori was just a stone's throw from the fabulous Duomo! How cool is that!

Home number eleven - After a month in Missori, we moved up to Corso Sempione in the north of Milan's city centre. This photo was taken in our apartment during Christmas 2009. Look at my frosty face! We stayed there for a couple of months before finding our 'permanent' Italian home in...

Home number twelve - ...Lodi! This was the booti-ful house I stayed in for the next year. How could I not love this place? Look at all the wonderful adventures I launched from here. However, all too soon we were packing up again and I was back on a plane bound for...

Home number thirteen - Singapore (again)! First we stayed in a serviced apartment...

Home number fourteen (are you keeping up?) ...then we moved across the road to an apartment...

Home number fifteen ...then we moved back across the road to a different serviced apartment. This photo was taken on Dad's barkday!

Home number sixteen - And here's a sneak peek at home number sixteen. (More to follow on this).

Sixteen homes, and still counting, at the age of six! And don't even get me started on the hotels I've stayed at in Amsterdam, Antwerp, Strasbourg, Florence, Venice, Pisa, Sienna, Rome, Naples, Pompeii, Assisi, Verona, Como, Genoa, Bologna, Orvieto, Nice, Barcelona and Avignon. Wow, I know some dogs get re-homed, but this is getting ridiculous! 

Seriously though, I don't mind which home, country or continent I live in. As long as my humans are with me, I'm a happy, happy dog! 

My name is Homer and I'm an INTERNATIONAL JET SETTER!

Woof!