Chistmas - The Picture Edition

I spent this Christmas with my sisters in Ballarat (about an hour out of Melbourne), and stayed with the younger of my two sisters and her family. Oh, and her menagerie of two cats and two dogs. One thing my parents did was raise us all to be obsessive animal lovers! I mentioned the other day that I shot lots of pets and buildings this Christmas, well this is pretty much the pets side of the Christmas photo shooting.

I don't think I'd been in the door for more than about 10 minutes before I was buried under 4 furry bodies. My sister's big labrador has interestingly followed the lead of her little Shihtzu, and somehow considers herself to be a 'lapdog'. Ooof.

The venerable aged Nigel (L) and the uber lapdog 'she who must sit upon' Choochie (R)


Sweet (and somewhat needy) LuLu (L) and the pretty girl cat, that turned out to be a boy cat, Zeus (formerly known as Xena) (R)


My sister has a Santa fetish, just a few of the 16 I counted on her mantle (L), James unwrapping a Nintendo DS with much happiness (R)


Connor unwraps an electric guitar (which he plays surprisingly well) (L), while Nigel passes comment on the wearying nature of Christmas (R)

Watching my nephews enjoy themselves was a large part of the fun. Connor does a passable "Smoke On The Waters" on the electric guitar, and James pretty much disappeared with the Nintendo DS, only to reappear for meals.

Once Christmas day was over I went into Ballarat to have a wander around, check out the post Christmas sales (a bit underwhelming, but it's a small town after all) and shoot lots of pics of the lovely Victorian era architecture. Ballarat was a major focus of the Australian goldrush, so was a very cashed-up city in its day. Big wide streets and elegant public buildings, most of which have thankfully been retained. Pics to come!