The Ice Princess

Lest you think I have a thing only for logs I find in the backyard, I think the following video will show that I am actually quite diverse in the type of media I work with when expressing myself.

Of course, the seasons do inspire me.  For instance, last summer I found working with pots  and potting soil very rewarding:

Unfortunately, my parents did not let me complete this project…oh the visions I had for this piece!

In winter, I work with what I have at hand.

In Michigan, I turned the Big House into a giant snow globe!

Here is proof that I was involved…took awhile to clean up after all that work:

In New Mexico it was accumulated snow on the ground I worked into the following sculpture:

I even posed by my completed work for my dad to take this picture.  Good thing he got the photograph when he did since “My Jealousy” (Sammy) came, and despite my best efforts – well I’ll let you watch:

And yesterday, when dad was going over what he taken down during my dictation for yesterday’s blog (and making sure he didn’t mess it up…again) I was outside taking advantage of the recent drop in the temperatures in our neighborhood.

This time Sammy tried to play it cool – like he didn’t care but I could see in his eyes that he was in awe of my persistence at being creative.  This comes through in the last bit of the video where he accepts his role as a subservient peasant while I sit atop my well deserved throne!

The Royal Tempest

PS:  Sammy here.  This is all I’ve got to say:

Or if you aren’t into the whole brevity thing:

Log Lady

I have been so jacked up over the past few months that Twin Peaks is coming back to a TV near me!  And finally, dad showed me that a date for the first show has been announced:

I am just hoping my favorite character gets some quality air time  in the new show.  I kind of feel that she was not as prominently featured back  in 1990-91 when Agent Cooper was searching for the murderer of Laura Palmer.  Granted she did get into 12 episodes but that is only 40% of 13 other characters that appeared in 30 shows (thanks IMDb)!!  I am not even going into the lack of speaking lines for her compared to those other trivial characters.

So I have been doing my best to promote her and her important (and totally undervalued) role and apparent idiosyncrasy.

Here I am last November 13th:

(morning)

and since those parents of mine weren’t getting the reference the afternoon of the same day:

December 6th on the couch:

Of course while I was in New Mexico I had multiple opportunities:

December 25th:

(Yep, I brought that whole pile in myself and stacked it next to the fireplace)

December 26th:

You may also remember my very Twin Peaky work of January 3rd:

Here I am on the coffee table on January 12th.

Then there was last weekend.

It was unseasonably warm here so we had a fire outside.  Based on this post, you may be thinking my look of consternation is related to the fact that being consumed in that inferno are all my little wooden friends.  This may have been the case if I wasn’t so upset and distracted with the lack of service once again at our outdoor cafe!  What ever happened to eating al fresco?  I mean they set the table so why no food?  I can’t stand being set up like this.  It makes me so angry I could…

Whoa!  How did the scribe sneak that picture of David Lynch eating a doughnut during my rant!  Doughnuts do tend to catch my attention and it maybe just as well that my rant was cut short since I started getting off topic and if David reads this blog (or any of my readers know him) maybe he’ll understand the need to highlight the Log Lady in the new series!

Tempest

 

PS – if you need a deputy Agent Cooper, I am always on the lookout for bad guys (and not even doughnuts will divert my attention…maybe) !

 

Rat Fink

All this time I thought my brother Sammy was another canine like me…he certainly smells like one – but it turns out he is totally a RAT!

How did I come to this realization today you ask?  Well this morning, while mom was in the kitchen emailing a happy birthday to her father (BTW – HAPPY B-DAY Grandfather!) I was in the living room minding my own business.  Sammy checked in on mom and then came back to see what I was up to.  He then ran into the kitchen and kept nudging mom.  She thought he just needed a pet so she gave him a cursory pat on the head and returned to her birthday wishes.  Sammy persisted in trying to gain her attention which finally caused her to determine I was not present – nor had she given us our morning sweet potato and pea stuffed frozen bones.  Sammy nodded his head in my direction and gave one more bark (if what he does is even really a bark – probably more like the ululations of a rat) and trotted into the living room where I was minding my own business:

All I’ve got to say is: “my eyes are on you old man”

Tempest

P.S.  If I have not mentioned it already, Grandfather, Happy Birthday!  I ate a pillow just for you :).

The Tempest Trap

Apparently, one of my Sweet Dispositions that my parents are trying to curb is counter surfing.  As it turns out, I am quite adept at getting things off of surfaces above my head.  This attribute has increased as I have grown up…longer legs = longer reach!  And the joke is on them (my parents) since they thought I was full grown when they got me.  HAHAHAHA!

Here is a short clip providing a glimpse into my prowess:

As you may have heard, my scribe tried to get me in trouble but I stayed true to form…Good dog Tempi! (btw – he tried to drown out the sound on that clip but failed miserably).

So to try and “train” me – or curb my enthusiasm – they tried this little ploy:

They seem to think this “barricade” will prevent me from getting onto their work computers, thrashing their New Yorker daily calendar, etc. etc.   Those fools!  But I mean that in the most complementary sense (they do feed me after all).

You might be asking yourself why do they think some little gate (or three) will stop me?  Well it turns out that Sammy is petrified of the things…something I have yet to figure out since he doesn’t seem at all afraid of ME!?!?!

This fear was passed down from Sammy and Banshee to Montana but it seems to have skipped a generation.  In fact, my grandparents in Michigan have a gate that can be fastened to a eye-hook on the wall leading down to their basement but I have found a way down there despite this obstacle.  As it turns out, I am quite adept at scurrying under such barricades (Sammy thinks this is remarkable given what he calls my fat a$$) .

My parents keep trying to build “The Better Mouse Trap” or in this case a Tempi Trap but I am continually able to figure the puzzles out.  Know why?  I am a clever girl!!!  Go ME!  Despite my cleverness, I have yet to master any of our homework assignments (I prefer shredding the mail).  For some reason, my parents don’t seem worried that I will not go to college early and they seem to be happy that I apply my mental efforts into non-academic efforts including these puzzles.   They always say, keep on track and eventually you’ll graduate but enjoy your time before college.  Gotta say that their acceptance of my ways is one of the reasons I love them both (and Sammy – who also doesn’t seem to be in any rush to graduate…thank goodness!).

Tempest

Garcon!

Ever since I have arrived at my forever home my new family has been trying to make me feel at home.   This is a very comforting sentiment and they have been doing a good job overall.  The dog trainers said it typically takes about 4 months for us canines to settle in (or at least understand this is home) – and I listened to EVERYTHING those Bark Busters folks said.  To underscore the duration of time that has passed I have recently even taken to barking at dogs on their walks as they pass our front window!  This hasn’t been greeted with the same praise as I was expecting…after all, one of main duties as pups is house security.  So there has not been a whole lot of “Good Tempi,” but more “Get off the couch” or “Shhhh, we’re trying to watch Netflix!”  Whatever.  The good news is that I now feel enough at home to realize our borders enough to fulfill job 1.

However, they have frequently missed the opportunity to really give me the impression this was my final destination.  For instance, this fall I sat so pretty and patiently at the table outside by the fire pit for service…

…but none came.  I even looked to the left and the right…still nothing.

Then this fall, I tried again when the table was moved closer to the screen door…

…again, nothing.  I am beginning to think the service in this place really sucks.

Even sitting ON the table and having Sammy in the picture didn’t inspire the waitstaff to take note of my rapidly wasting waistline!

I even tried creating a scene at the bistro by getting into it with another customer…who by the way was also getting no attention from the establishment!

But FINALLY – and maybe it was because I have almost been here 6 months (a long wait if I don’t say so myself)…or it may have been that it was a beautiful sunny day in February – a place setting and water glass appeared on the table along with some clam chowder and a grilled cheese sandwich!  The really sad part is I was off chasing Sammy around the yard and didn’t get there until there were only a few crumbs on the plate:

So overall, the presentation and execution of the meal would probably get them Chopped in any cooking competition (“thank you Chef”), but the fact that I was finally recognized as a distinguished patron…in fact a regular at the cafe…makes me really look forward to this spring and summer when I am sure they’ll be open for business more frequently.  In the meantime, during cold blustery days of late winter and early spring, the proprietors of this bistro will work on their culinary skills and hire a proper server.

Garcon!  Table for 1 please!

Tempi

Toni

You might think I spelled that wrong since no doubt you are thinking of Tony DiNozzo – one of the characters in my favorite TV show NCIS (even though he was an Ohio State fan on the show- but then again that is all fiction).

In reality, this Toni is my new best friend/daughter.   Toni the Meerkat.

As a responsible parent, I make sure to take care of Toni.  Which includes tucking her into bed when she is tired.

You may think I treat everyone with such kindness and respect but this is not the case.  Just ask Mr. Vulture…this is before he lost his head (I won’t show you the “after” pics).

You may ask why it has taken me so long to tell you about my new friend.  It wasn’t that I was hiding things from you but rather the fact that my Uncle S and Aunt K came this weekend to visit us.   This was a great event…my first Bluegrass Boil!  Well actually I didn’t get to go but I did get some great shrimp smells when they got home.   Sammy tells me this happens every so often and that he and Montana always reveled in the aftermath of these events (see MoTor’s entry from 8/24/15  https://montanamomentstrn.wordpress.com/2015/08/24/exoskeletons/).  Unfortunately we canines haven’t ONCE been invited…but Uncle S has gone more than once!

Not only did they go to the shrimp fest, but they also went to the Chicago Botanic Garden while they were here…

Which is funny since they always love joking about the plant “cotoneaster” whenever they go their with Uncle S.  Mom and Dad always thought it was pronounced “Cotton Easter.”  S, the proper Brit, would scoff at them and say it is pronounced “co-Toni-aster.”  Boy is it fun for my parents to get under Uncle S’s skin by saying cotton easter!

Maybe it was the reveling in these stories that made me realize that my meerkat friend was named Toni.  But then again, maybe it was her name from birth and had nothing to do with any of us…just like they think they named me The Tempest :)!

Tempi