Hygge

From a recent New Yorker story:

“hygge,” a Danish term defined as “a quality of cosiness and comfortable conviviality that engenders a feeling of contentment or well-being.” Pronounced “hoo-guh,” the word is said to have no direct translation in English, though “cozy” comes close. It derives from a sixteenth-century Norwegian term, hugga, meaning “to comfort” or “to console,” which is related to the English word “hug.”

For the full story:

http://www.newyorker.com/culture/culture-desk/the-year-of-hygge-the-danish-obsession-with-getting-cozy

 

If this isn’t hygge I don’t know what is:

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to all!

Tempi and Sammy

Bad Present…

I think there is some saying somewhere about how much a picture is worth…  and I think this photo just about says it all:

I mean what kind of a Grandmother would give a book like this to my parents?! And let my Mom read it (or try to) right in front of me?

Fortunately, my FarMor redeemed herself by getting me this awesome new toy:

Once I got done attacking it (scribe note – after it was sprayed with bitters) I found that if I was creative and thought of other uses for this item it actually could be a quite comfortable bed.

Maybe once I get up I can think of a good use for the stories in the book.  After all, I never once thought of standing on the back of a horse until my Mom read about it…  hmmm…

Tempi

 

 

The Help

Good stories keep piling up.

Titles picked out.

Pictures taken.

I have even composed some good lines in my head as I am either falling asleep or waking up.

Sammy and I have even devised some plans for future adventures.

But alas, my scribe sits idle.  Ears closed to my pleas.  Mind shut off like an electric car during the Trump administration. Hehehe.  Probably could use a better metaphor here.

So what is a girl to do?

For starters, I found the computer on the table and thought I could quickly punch out a blog or two but realized I was never told the password to unlock the dang thing.  Argh!

I then thought maybe I could hand write a letter to one of my grandparents or aunts and they could submit a blog on my behalf.  So I got out a Sharpie but had a heck of a time getting a good grip on it and then the blasted thing broke.

I then had the brilliant idea of how I might be able to properly manipulate a writing device.  See I have noticed that you people have this weird digit on your hands that gives you more flexibility in using these instruments (obviously you designed them with your quirky biology in mind).   The thumb.  So how does a dog get access to her own thumb…GLOVES!

However, by the time I found one and got it on, my parents intervened and took back their glove (apparently, this glove was a gift from someone they work for and Dad was all excited by it since it has dog footprints on the wrist – and he seemed to think I was going to eat it rather than use it to compose my aforementioned letters).  Not sure why… I only seem to have gastro issues (aka poop foreign matter) 1-2 times a week now, rather than daily!  Give me some credit, people.

I even tried pinning back my ears in an effort as a show of my determination in the hopes that would get him motivated…

…but this just caused him to chuckle to himself while he continued to remain sitting on the couch.  And before I knew it I had fallen asleep.  Arrrrgh!  I mean really argh!

In the meantime, it started snowing again so it is beautiful outside and Sammy and I have a lot of fun playing in our backyard or just sitting on the back porch and watching the snow flutter to the ground.

Later,

The Tempest

PS- Shhh.  I have a new plan to get the old guy to help me out.  Duct tape!  I figure if I get him taped to a chair with the computer in front of him, I’ll be able to hold him captive until he listens (and transcribes) my adventures!

-may need to find those gloves again or get Sammy to help out since this tape thing is hard to manage with just my teeth :).

Are you one?

Are you two?…

And so on.

That is what they did where my aunt used to teach preschool when one of them had a birthday.   When they got to the age of the celebrant, they would say YES! and the party would begin.  As it turns out, my aunt was working one day on her birthday so they started asking if she was 1, 2, 3…etc…until one little girl, exasperated, sighed: “we are never going to count that high.”   I’ll leave out how old she actually was (or is) but my point is that age is a funny thing and in a lot of ways a matter of perspective.  For instance, you people try to impose an age on us that is related to growth pattern (Tempi is 7 in dog years).  If that were true, then today I would be turning 98.  Thankfully, before we got our special steak dinner, Tempi did not have to count all the way to 98 but only 14.  I think the little girl would still have believed we would never get there, if she were here.  Also, lucky for us, Tempi is a bit impatient and not really a stickler for propriety when counting so she got to 14 rather rapidly (partly because the drool had started spilling over her lips and partially because…well…there was STEAK on our plate!).   So the pre-party went something like this:

DAD:  “Puppies sit.”  Plate set down on the floor.  “Today is Sammy’s birthday!!! And to celebrate, once he tells you [eyes now on Tempi] that you counted up to his age, you can eat all the steak on your plate.”

TEMPI:  “GRRRRRRR.”

DAD: “Ready?”

TEMPI: “GRRRGRRRGRRRRR!”

DAD: “Go!”

TEMPI: “Are you one?”

SAMMY: “GRRRR”

TEMPI: “Are you two?”

SAMMY: “Seriously.  GRRRRRR!”

TEMPI: “Are you fourteen?”

SAMMY:  Tail thumping furiously….”Let’s EAT!”

And then the steak and egg noodles and green beans were gone.  I love that green bean diet!

So, I have just turned 14 (or 98) and if you think I am no longer interested in the finer things in life (walks, steak, car rides, steak, napping, steak, kongs with treats, steak, a good antler, steak, chasing and barking at my sister, steak…you get the idea) well you would be sorely mistaken.  I am loving life and living LARGE!

Did I mention I love life?

And I also thought it was cool that when the steaks were being cooked they made a capitol T…And T is for Sammy!  Wait….what? T is for Tempi?  What the…?

Well maybe it looked like a T because they were T-bone steaks.  Again, no?  New York strips?  Why the T then?  Grrrr.  At least it is a nice sizable chuck of beef for a very special birthday boy!

Wait a second….

Where did the rest of the dang steak go?

Boy what a crappy birthday this has turned into!  I am going to totally take this out on my…

(Scribe note: the sweet jingle of dog collars and leashes resonate from the dog room to where Sammy and Tempi lie grumbling and commiserating about the paucity of steak on their plates)

WALK!   Yeah!  My parents rock!  Did I mention I love a good walk around the block to sniff the smells and mark my territory?

Life is grand!

Sambuca

Burn After Reading

As you may have noticed, we haven’t been doing a lot of writing on our blog recently.  This isn’t a reflection of a lack of noteworthy events occurring in our lives but once again a lack of attention, from our scribe, to our daily accomplishments.  Thus, I took it upon myself to do a little reading in the hopes that this might provide me with some inspiration (and by me I mean my Dad) – or if that doesn’t work at least I might have an idea of what I’ll want to study decades before I ever go to college.   Call it a little home schooling…with the best teacher in the world:  ME!

First off, was a book called Tasting Home – recipes and stories.  I love food so maybe cooking is in my future.  Chef Tempi of Casa del Kibble!

And this next book that was really fascinating.

 

A book on how to teach your dog tricks!  Good luck teaching me- I am teaching myself all I need to know…but it might give me some ideas on how I can get those people to do what I want?

Then there was some science fiction…maybe I’ll be a writer.  Or is just reading a job?

Did some perusing of the Merck Manual.  Dr. Tempi…has a nice ring to it, don’t you think?

Then a couple of biography type books.  The one on Robert Altman got me thinking of film school.  I could direct a pretty mean movie I think.  I also think I could fill the void that will be left whenever Barbara Walters stops interviewing people….especially after I finish that book of tricks!  😉

Some more fiction…different genres – all good reads.  I have heard being a Lit major makes for a good time in college but it isn’t the most marketable degree…unless you can write like Stephen King.

Or David Foster Wallace.  Dad got this book away from me before I really got into it but I think it might be worth the time…if I have a year or so free.

Now most of the books in our house have been but up on high shelves or in rooms I am not allowed in.  They are determined to not let me get too educated in my youth so that I don’t go off to college early…in fact, they don’t even let me do the homework like Montana and Sammy used to do.

I am sure it has nothing to do with the fact that if I get a piece of mail in my mouth it ends up getting shredded…hehehe.

Now that I am done with my reading maybe I can get back to writing.  Hopefully the old man is ready to keep up with me and properly transcribe all my brilliance.

Tempi