Nightstalker

So there I was, minding my own business sleeping on the coffee table when that little creeper thing starts glowing.

Never mind the fact that we were not supposed to be in the living room but we have already established that those gate things are no challenge for me when I really put my mind to it.  The real question should be why we were left alone until nearly 11 PM at night with no lights on…OK – not all alone for the entire time as we did get a dinner visit from our pet sitter which included some good times in the backyard.  And a light was left on for us in the kitchen.  You just can’t expect us to just chill in the kitchen until that late.  In this instance, I got that thing down moments after she left.  In fact, we were at the window to watch her drive away.

Unfortunately the remote controls for the TV were not in the normal box on the end table so we couldn’t watch any of our favorite shows or sporting events.  In fact the whole box was moved…as if someone didn’t think it would be safe if it was left out on the table that night.  Hmmmm.

Anyhow, as I started to tell you I was rudely awoken by the spybot…it just popped into life around 10:15.

After giving it a once over I went and got Sammy who was sleeping behind the couch.

He bravely checked it out for me:

And based on his investigation I determined it was probably safe to take a closer look myself…

I still wasn’t sure what it was up to and did not like the constant flashing it was doing…creeping on us no doubt.  Bet my parents were behind this in some way!

I thought maybe if I reached out I could unplug the blasted thing:

Sammy of course was there as a backup in case the thing attacked.

Even while standing on the leather chair I couldn’t quite get my paws on it to figure out how to turn it off.  Maybe if I sniffed it I could locate some mechanism…or smell whoever was controlling it from afar – which I am pretty sure is how it works.

Drats.  Nothing.  Maybe if I batted it?

Where are you going Sam?  Wait.  Was there a sound outside?

YEAHHHH!  The parents are home and hopefully if I greet them at the door with big kisses they’ll put an end to that thing messing with us!  But before I head to the door I give the spybot one more glance just to let him know that even if my back is turned on him he better not try anything…I am fast and my teeth and jaws are good at shredding things!

Now, lest you think we are bad dogs for being in the living room at night and sleeping on the coffee table and getting up on the leather chair I just want to point out that we were well behaved and stayed in the kitchen ALL day.

See how cute we are sleeping side by side.  Of course I get the comfy bed that my FarMor in Michigan bought for Sammy since I am the real royalty in our house.  He could lay on the blanket if he was uncomfortable.

Turns out the bed wasn’t all that comfy when it got around the time we normally have dinner.  My belly started really rumbling and as is typically true for me when I am experiencing some visceral unrest …say hunger, upset stomach, urge to pee…something must pay the price.  In this case, although I already moved the bed to another part of the kitchen it still got on my nerves in a major way.

Did I mention that I am really good at shredding things???  I’m looking at you spybot!

See.  Told you we were good dogs!  So good in fact that the next day we were quite wiped out from all that work being good.  As you people like to say: “a tired dog is a good dog.”

The Tempest

PS – Sam posed  for his annual picture in front of the pretty purple/pink flowers and allowed me to be in it with him this time!

Notice the pretty new fence in front of them.  Purely there for decoration I can assure you 🙂

Tempi’s Fan Club

So, two things you should know about me:

1. If I say there is something to look at, do not look and start saying things like “we got it,” or “no bark.”  Come look at the thing and then say those stupid things and I will decide to listen or not.
2. I love kids. My big brother, not so much.  He says they are unpredictable, hit, pull fur, and squeal.  I say… what’s not to like?

Well, a week ago Friday night my parents were watching a phenomenally bad movie made good through MST3K (aka Mystery Science Theater 3000 – It’s Back!!!).  There was a cute little knock on the front door so I went to the window to get attention.  They were totally confused.  Was it Amazon?  The people who come and try and save my Mom?  What was it?  When we looked at the door there was no one standing there – we have windows in the door that are frosted (not clear) and start about 3′ off the ground.  They completely ignored my insistence that someone was there so I started barking at the window.  It is my fans!  Dad finally went to the door and Mom came to look out the window.  There was a whole litter of children on our yard!  Directly in front of the window was a boy we had never seen before.  My good  friend from next door, L a 4-year old, had come to see if I could come and play.  The conversation went something like this.

Dad:  why hello!

L:  can Tempi come outside?

Dad:  the dogs are sleeping now, maybe tomorrow?

Then a bunch of her friends arrived.

All: Can we play with your dogs?

Dad:  Sorry. they are sleeping.

Boy:  No they aren’t.  I see her right there

Mom:  Oops.  Sorry.

Dad:  Oh, I guess you woke them up!  I will get her…

I got to go outside and get pets by about 10 kids.  Yay me!  My brother got dragged into the back recesses of the house in a fit of anxiety only treats could start to quell.

I had a blast.  I love kids!

Sorry.  No pics – everything went so fast.

More soon.

Tempest

FRIDAY FREEDOM!

I love me.

My parents came home Friday afternoon (remember they cried uncle, whatever that means – they are so weird – after telling the pet sitter I could be out in the house Friday afternoon) to a bottle of cleaner placed carefully in the middle of the hall.  And by middle I mean middle.  You could not miss it coming in the back or the front door.  Mom freaked -“oh no!  they could get sick,” ran to pick up the bottle, and my Dad went hmmm.

So… the pet sitter put all the cleaning supplies behind a gate before letting us out.  We love her.  Almost as much as me.  What did that mean, putting the items away?  Well, by 6 pm I was asleep.  Meaning I had a great afternoon!  Yay me.

As I have said before, those gates can’t keep me in…nor can they keep me out!

It appears I pulled many items out of the cleaning basket placed carefully behind the gate and treated them with care.

That would be a toilet brush, a feather duster and another fuzzy duster thingy.  All no challenge for The Tempest!

So how could I do such a thing? Well..

I was also interested in Dad’s shoes that he left on the top of the stairs while he went to …whatever – I can’t pretend as I simply do not care.  I just want those darn shoes.

When Mom was behind the gate putting things back together I reached through with my paws to show her how clever I was with my lengthy lanky legs.  She did not properly appreciate this – nay, she did not compliment me at all! – so I pawed her face (very gently of course, a love tap).  Ha!  Take that lady!

Take note, world.  #TempiTrouble is AWESOME!

No Good Deed

TA-DA!

I reorganized my grandparents family room while they were out.  I expected they’d be REALLY excited and surprised since when they left I was in my crate with the zipper closed tightly.  Below right you can see Sammy inspecting the crate – showing my Dad where I was able to separate the zipper seam from the mesh door.  Don’t know why they thought a soft-sided anything would be able to contain the Great Houndini! (actually, that was Sammy’s nickname when he was a youngster but like the Dread Pirate Roberts of Princess Bride fame, we decided it should be passed down to the next able bodied puppy when the previous Houndini decided to take retirement).  Anyway, just because I did not escape before is no reason why I should not NOW, and do some decorating:

Here I am waiting for an exclamation of praise for the work I did.  But alas, my good deed went unappreciated.  I even got the iPass out of it’s bag (that was on the high counter separating the kitchen from the family room) so we’d be prepared for our drive back to Illinois!

In fact, not only was I not rewarded for all my efforts I actually felt like I might end up being punished!  Can you believe that?  After my good deed?  I decided to take refuge under their deck in the backyard to avoid the evil eye glares and the loud noises of the vacuum.

My heart does bleed for my Far-Mor in Michigan who did such a nice thing by taking her children and their spouses out for a great brunch just to come home to find a number of her precious and sentimental keepsakes shredded beyond repair.  At least at first or second or third sight there was no repair to be done but in the end the book of watercolors and the signature page were all salvageable – they just have to take on a new form…maybe framed, maybe in a binder.  I worry a bit more about the lovely embroidered basket from FarMor’s cousin.  Not sure how that got as flat as it did, but maybe FarMor is correct and she can do something with the embroidery (likely not the basket).  Strange I did not touch the chocolates (scribe note -thankfully!) or the couch cushions, or blankets…  just the creative pieces.  Just goes to show that apparent disasters are just an opportunity for creativity!

Best part of it all is Sammy saw the humor in the whole production.  Such a good big brother – even in his retirement years.  Always supportive and agreeable.

Strangely though, on the ride home I had a really bad taste in my mouth and I felt a bit sleepy.  All that creative energy apparently wiped me out.

But once I got home I did think I should let my FarMor know that I didn’t mean to break her stuff and that I did really have fun at her house this weekend and that I really love her a lot.  So I decided to get my Dad to buy her some bleeding heart plants (one blue, three pink).  I suggested she plant them in the front yard so I don’t accidentally tromp on them next time I am there scaring off that tulip bud snipping squirrel…which by the way, was another one of my accomplishments this weekend.

Maybe soon, I’ll tell you about my Friday adventure in preparation for our Michigan Trip.

The Tempest

Reviewer comments: Belly

Around 1 PM Wednesday.  Apparently the Tempest was feeling a bit more like herself.  After a bit of back and forth with the pet sitter about the gates, Tempi being a pistol, and no poop in the house, I received this text: “OMG, she’s sitting on the barbecue grill!”  The text accompanied this photo.  Cute, huh?  Feel free to ignore the yard destruction.  We are.

And while I am at it, I thought I’d also give an update on Thursday’s activities:

This gate and plywood were no match for her and even Sammy was able to navigate this region of destruction (once).

But when we arrived home, we saw two smiling dogs on the “incorrect” side of the fence. Actually, Sammy was pretty ticked off and let us know about it.  I guess he powered through to the other side and could not get back…Silly sweet old man that he is.

Here she is trying to climb under the fence to greet us but she caught herself and decided not to show us all her tricks…she is still not positive what we see on the “SpyBot.”

We have cried uncle for the moment.  The house cleaner comes Friday… the pups will have the run of the house after she leaves.  We have the weekend to plan and another camera on the way!

The Reviewer

The Tempest here…

I hope all of my faithful readers are having a great day even if Wednesday wasn’t their best (power of the paws to JD).  Wishing you all great health and happiness…and steak for dinner or whatever is your favorite meal (can’t imagine it is not steak though).

Belly: The Story of the Three R’s

Rearrangements, Reinforcements, and Retributions

Tempest date: Monday 04.17.2017.  Morning hours

0708:  Parents left us (Sambuca and Tempi) alone, gates up, spy-bot on and me out of my crate…a most depressing time for me since I thought for sure they were going to spend the week at home with me again.

0710: Mom checks spy-bot camera as dad drives.  She sees me pacing in front of the gate which faces towards the front door…then I disappeared behind the counter (btw – I deduced the camera couldn’t see me there).

0731: Parents checked spy-bot camera as they approached work.  What they saw: Sammy wagging his tail and no sight of The Tempest.  Then all of a sudden a blur of reddish-brown running up the stairs to the bedroom (no photo though…hehehe). What are the odds they’d check RIGHT then????  I sure hope they don’t realize they can buy a 128 GB SD card that can store our daily activities!

0801: Dad arrives home.  Finds blankets which had been left in the kitchen in the “foyer” – if such a thing exists in this house.   Sammy still wagging his tail but behind the gate.  Tempi no where in sight.   THIS is the Rearrangement. (note where blankets are in this pictures versus where they are in the first part of the video included in this blog).

0802-0804:  Dad finds Tempi upstairs and discovers the gates are still in place (again, see attached video).  Sammy is behind the gates.  Tempi is not.  Hmmm.  A mystery for certain.  Speaking of mystery’s Netflix has new episodes of MST3K (or Mystery Science Thearter 3000 for those who aren’t into the whole brevity thing).

0805: Dad gets us both on the other side of the gate, lets us outside and while we are out there running around  he adds “Reinforcements” – or at least that is what he thinks he was doing.  But seriously, a bit of plywood behind one gate and one of those useless wooden gates backing the other one????  Not what I would call tight security!

0829:  Dad arrives back at work feeling good about himself (loser).

1305: Pet sitter (our good buddy) arrives at the house to find both of us in the living room.  For those not playing along, this is “beyond our boundary”.  Apparently, the reinforcement wooden fence was dragged beneath the protective plastic fence (and maybe chewed on a bit?).  The later had then been toppled by the force of multiple Tempests.  In short, nothing stops me from my objective.  In this case, it was the workers outside tearing up our street.  NOBODY warned me about this and as security is one of my main responsibilities I just had to get out and make sure the perimeter was protected.

1521: Mom and Dad both arrive home early!!!! Great day! Although this was largely due to our pet sitter ratting us out – and that darn spy-bot.   Come to think of it, after all the good times with the pet sitter I have to assume it was that little villain perched up in the cabinet just out of my reach who narc-ed on us. Either way, we didn’t really get in trouble and we had our parents’ home which is usually a good thing.   I immediately started relating my stories to dad in the hopes of a Monday evening blog but he ignored me and got out his work computer and started tapping away on those keys.  I was like: “Psst.  It’s your daughter!  A little help here.”  But I got nothing…Well not nothing overall.  I still got a full dinner, a little leftovers off their plate and of course our evening walk – but all of that was well after their 1521 arrival time.  Just saying.

Tempeset date: Tuesday 04.18.2017.

0639:  Not real interested in breakfast.

(0620):  Mom came downstairs with us and discovered a veritable (poop-emoji)- storm in the dining area.   I could have told her I didn’t feel well in the night but neither she nor my dad bothered to ask.  Is this the Retribution?  I could see why you would think so but no.  This was just a sick puppy.

So, getting back to breakfast.   Like all good dogs I powered through the meal, went for our walk and hunkered down on my bed (although I do let Sammy think it is his during the night) and watched my parents go off to work.

1006:  Mom checked the “puppy-cam” (a pure euphemism for the little spy) and Sammy and I were being little angels inside our zone.  Of course we propped ourselves up on the gate a couple of times to see what the heck was going on outside in our street but we remained well behaved.  “Uh oh”, she thinks.  “This can’t be good.”

1221:  That is at least what they thought based on the spy-bot.  Turns out when the pet sitter arrived there was another [poop emoji] – and a call/text to my parents that things were not all hunky dory at our casa just as mom was suspecting by our good behavior.

1405: Parents leave work – after mom procured an appointment for me at our doctors.

1431: Parents arrive home to a clean but not so pleasant smelling house (Thanks pet sitter for the clean up!).  Doors got open.  Candles lit.

1505: Mom and I take a trip in the Honda Elephant and arrive at the vets (dad stayed home with Sammy).  Since we were early we took a really long walk – much more than we ever would had Sammy and Dad been in the mix.   Got back to the vet and what???? We were still early?  “How did that happen,” my mother asked.  DUH.  Those two slow walkin’ lazy dudes weren’t around  I pointed out with an accompanying teenage eye roll  (something I’ve been working on).  So since we were still early we hunkered down in the lobby. Turns out there was a teenage human there (eye roll) and her mother.   They realized I was a beauty and came up and petted me – something I am totally cool with.  Turns out that teenager wasn’t the buttsniffer I had expected.   Anyhow, we were shortly thereafter shuffled off to on of the examination rooms where I behaved beautifully – as alway… just so long as they don’t try and trim my toe nails that is.

After this episode my mother has taken to calling me “Belly” since I had such cramps and upsetedness in that region.

The retribution for calling me names is still pending.  Might be a kiss…but then again it might not!

Three R’s and a Capitol T for TEMPEST!

The video…as promised:

 

Spy Where

Friday my parents got a package in the mail from Amazon – nothing new there since that seems to happen just about every other day.   This particular package, however, had a weird device contained within.  It was certainly cute – like some robot in a Star Wars flick – but I sensed that the little thing was going to be trouble for me.

So the first time I was really aware of it in action was when my parents ran some errands Saturday around noon.  Actually, if I was to be honest, neither Sammy or I had any clue the thing was on the window sill in the kitchen.

When they got home they came in through the front door holding their iPhone like they were watching something.  Then they made an odd comment: “boy were you two adorable sleeping next to each other while we were gone.”

Huh?  We were both standing at the gate wagging our tails when they got home.   If there was a video I’d ask for a review (SCRIBE NOTE: there was a video but we are still having trouble getting it in an editable format).  NO WAY would I just be relaxin’ with my bro if I was out of my crate!  I’d be all over him.  Jumping on his head.  Nipping at his back side. And so on and so forth.

The next time they left us alone this weekend, Sunday around noon, the little thing was on the floor between us and the front door.   This time I had a good look at the thing and never once took my eye off of it.

When they got home Dad sat down on the computer to look over some things and maybe do a crossword puzzle or something.  When he went to the restroom I got a look at the computer and saw the above pictures of us.

WHAT THE….????

That little thing was taking pictures of us while they were out????   Could it also take movies?  Record our every movement?  I knew that thing was trouble!  I thought: “Next time little guy you just wait…Next time!”

So, since it turned out to be an absolutely beautiful day in the neighborhood, they decided it was a steak-grilling-evening so they ran out to the store to get some New York Strips!  Boy was I excited to hear we’d be grilling…and STEAKS no less!  This was turning out to be a good day.  Nay, a great day!

So off they went (little guy on the shelf under the TV) but they apparently forgot to put up the gates to keep us in the kitchen.  I totally understand this…I mean when steaks are on my mind (or in my nose) all else seems to get erased.   So as I was saying, off they went.

While they were gone Sammy and I took advantage of the increased freedom.

Figure 1: Looking out the window

Figure 2: Drinking some water

(hey it was on the table and it wouldn’t have spilled if the table – or the glass – was bigger)

Then things got really interesting.  But as I have alluded to already we knew the little thing was spying on us.  My Mom figured out we were onto the little guy about half-way through the store… This after she yelled “oh no!  The glass spilled!” in the produce section.  So embarassing…  anyway, knowing this guy was watching, I made a modification to its sight lines:

Can’t see much looking the other way can you Mr. Spybot?!?!?

It wasn’t much after I took out their new little friend that my parents got home so the fun was limited to a quick trot upstairs where I found a pair of my dad’s pants that I brought down to our bed in the living room.

(like that gate could stop me 🙂 – they might consider closing the bedroom doors upstairs next time).   But, his jeans did clean up the water I spilled from that pesky little glass.  I am always thinking ahead!

Curious to see if this incident will convince them to give up their little spy games or if they think that they can figure out a way to “trick” me again.   Should be interesting.

Anyhow, as I said we had a great afternoon with the plant life really popping and the birds, bees and squirrels providing me with tons of entertainment – more on that some other day.  Right now I have to get some rest…that steak in my belly is really making my eyelids heavy…which, come to think of it makes absolutely no sense.

Tempest

Maple tree, cherry tree and ME!

 

 

Good Girl…Bad Dog

Well that isn’t really accurate at all!  Firstly, the artwork for which the title refers to (seen at our favorite local art vendor: Greenleaf Gallery) actually said “Good Boy, Bad Dog” which is totally true by the way.  Secondly, I have been an angel the last few afternoons during which I was left out of my crate.

But I have kind of gotten ahead of myself because on Monday I was once again able to break out.  The new confinement attempt utilized two gates that get “snapped” into place by this little lever thing.  One was put in the door between the kitchen and the dining room while the other blocked the doorway between the kitchen and the “power” room/desk area.

Looks pretty secure, huh?

Well it would have been but what my dad didn’t take into account is that the lever that latches it closed should not be on our side…

It didn’t take me long to figure out that with a little bite here and a tug there the gate would come tumbling down.  Which is exactly what happened.  Best part of the whole adventure is Sammy got stuck on the wrong side of the gate.  So when my parents got home he was in the off limits part of the house while I was sitting all innocent at the back door waiting to give them my evening hugs and kisses!

The next few days the same gates were used “successfully” as a result of the lever being placed away from us.  However the real truth is now that I get to hang with my brother all afternoon I have no real desire to get out…especially since I have all my stuffed animals and chew toys!

Of course when my parents decided to stay out extra late last night (co-workers of my Dad surprised him at Bluegrass to celebrate his new job – which was super awesome for him) I decided I should continue the party when they arrived home.  See I was totally in the know about the whole shindig and in fact it may have been my idea from the start.  Not bragging just saying.

Taken together I think you’ll agree with me that the title of this blog should be: Good Girl…SMART Dog!

Tempest

-the next morning I was still feeling the effects of the party and thus took refuge under my favorite blanket while my bro looked after me!

 

A Whole Week?

Boy was this week something else.  My parents stayed home from work the WHOLE week.  This would have given me hours on end outside had it not rained and rained and then rained some more.   This of course didn’t stop Sammy and me from having some good times outside.  And the good times included tons of MUD IN DA HOUSE!  Woo Hoo!

The good news is that the temperatures are on the rise and this means the trees and flowers are starting to pop everywhere…including by our backdoor.

Unfortunately, this particular GROWTH was unwanted and unwarranted.   We do NOT like Buckeyes…trees, fans, their teams.  We feel they should all stay in Ohio.   Just saying.  However, since we recovered this interloper we carefully potted it and brought it to one of our neighbors (actual Buckeye fans livin’ in our hood!) so their daughter’s could see it and maybe even nurture it into a full grown tree in their backyard.  Of course, the unstated agreement is that they keep any of their nuts out of our yard!

Back to the good things starting to pop in our yard.  Here I am enjoying some of them in our “Blue Garden”:

This got me really excited about gardening but that is a story for another day 🙂

The best time of the week was NOT when they left on Thursday and Saturday evening to go to the Frozen Four down at the United Center in Chicago (begrudging congrats to Denver for winning the championship) but when they took Sam and I to the forest preserve(s) Friday morning for some great sniffs.   As I alluded to in a previous post, this was a BLAST!  We first got to go to Starbucks (but no puppicinos 😦 for us pups)… here we are waiting in anticipation of the treat:

Being pups, we powered through our disappointment and refocused on the next phase of our adventure.  The walk in the woods!  Here I am being my gorgeous self:

And Sammy being his…well…dorky self:

I even played along with some of my parent’s “Tempi Do a Trick” requests:

I drew the line when they tried to coax me down this

Unfortunately, our walk got shortened because the path just disappeared under water:

In fact, the whole park was fairly…soggy:

I personally think it was this tree that did it 🙂

Sounds like they are going back to work tomorrow.  Wonder if they’ll trust me out of my crate and whether I’ll be worn out enough to behave like they like me to.  Time will tell but I think I prefer them to stay with me all week every week.

More soon,

Tempest

 

Testing

Apparently not everyone is getting alerts of my new blogs.  Therefore I am trying to also send out alerts through my Twitter account (@TempiTrouble) and my feline brothers Facebook account (Boomer Pfeffer).

While I am at it, here are some pics from our walk in the forest preserve yesterday.  More about that adventure later…

T