Chef Mike

On Christmas eve, Zoe and I met our newest neighbor who had a name tag on his shirt: Chef Mike.

Our parents weren’t aware at first that we were no longer in our backyard but heard our collars jingling in close proximity to where they were. This backyard, not being too big, they were at a loss as to where we had gone.

It took a while, but eventually their “sense” of hearing helped them identify that we had gained access to our neighbors backyard thanks to some loose boards in the fence. Zoe returned the way we left while I continued to introduce myself to Chef Mike who was starting preparations for a family feast on the Eve of Christmas. Eventually, Dad came over with my leash and I was walked home without getting an invite to the festivities.

Over the course of the next hour or so, Dad went to a hardware store to buy nails, a hammer, and some re-enforcing pieces of wood on account that all or our nails, hammers, and wood are still back in Carlisle or in a warehouse somewhere in Massachusetts (along with our furniture and other stuff – a story for later). Since we have some really good hammers “on the way”, Dad opted for the cheapest one at the local store which turned out to be a bad choice. Not only was the head of the hammer too small to accurately hit the nail on the head – literally, but the nails kept bending, the wood wasn’t staying still on account of there was no backing behind them and we couldn’t even drill pilot holes due to the drill being a continent away.

But before he could get started on his attempt to fix the fence, Zoe slipped through a gap and after a second of hesitation, as Dad commanded (hehehe) her to stay, she was back in the neighbors yard. This time the children, wife, and dog of Chef Mike tried to scoot Zoe back to our yard – to no avail. See, what Chef Mike was cooking up smelled REALLY REALLY good. Soon we heard the mother cry: “Get the dog (Zoe) out of the KITCHEN!!!” Mom (mine and Zoe’s) was over there in a flash and soon had Zoe back in our yard. That’s what our parents call a near miss and we call a missed opportunity.

In due time, Dad had the offending boards roughly secured so we couldn’t get through the fence any longer…or so he thought.

Reinforcements

About an hour later, more people had arrived for the meal Chef Mike had cooked up – apparently his sister-in-law, her family, and maybe others. Well actually, we know two others crashed the party. Those two being Zoe and I. See, the section of fence that had been “repaired” wasn’t the only weak links – but just the first that we had found. Given the glorious odors emanating from the other side of the fence, we found yet another spot that was not secure…and therefore we joined the gala. Dad quickly grabbed our leashes and ran around to the neighbors backyard where he met the sister-in-law, a couple of dogs, and a bunch of slack-jawed children (due to the surprise appearance of the stars of the evening – Zoe and I). We had slipped back into our yard by the time he came screeching to a halt among these new people looking to reign us in. Glancing about, he could not see us but heard Mom yell that we had returned home. Dad excused himself and apologized for the disruption and chaos we (Zoe and I) had impacted on their family holiday dinner.

The SiL said: “It smells so good, who could blame them for wanting a spot at the table?” Or something like that – us being back home and being the best behaved pooches anyone could imagine!

So to summarize Friday evening, we were NOT invited to the scrumptious meal Chef Mike had cooked up – despite our best efforts – and all we got was our normal kibble with water (and Zozymes for Zoe’s EPI). However, our parents dined lavishly on Dungeness Crab on homemade pasta from a local restaurant that was named Flea something. Of course, they ate standing up since they have no furniture but we did not feel bad about this since we ALWAYS have to eat standing up … and we don’t even have silverware!

Luckily, the evening ended well as we girls each got some crab and noodles! I guess we are blessed and living the good life!!

The Tempest

Happy Holidays to all!

Our Biggest Christmas Tree yet

Stranger-est Things

We’ve seen some of the oddest creatures round our parts over the past month or so.

First there was the 8-legged deer:

Then, not long after that, we saw a two headed horse (one looking up, the other chowing on some grass!

And then possibly the strangerest of all. An orange corgi that smelled nothing like a dog and was apparently wired!?! Whatever it was, it sure caught Zoe’s attention…first off because one of her best friends in the neighborhood is a corgi that come to think of it is at the same house as the two-headed horse (🤔).

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Got me thinking about what might be in our future as we get ready for our new adventure!

The Tempest

Hundini

I’ve been doing some research lately about the human fascination with magic and magicians. And if I understand things correctly, one of their great “feats” is to make things disappear. Seems like a low bar if you ask me.

For instance, just a week or so ago, it was bread day. Dad made a number of loaves of sourdough bread for us and a few of the neighbors. When done with the baking, he left on the stove top one loaf in a bread bag he recently received from a friend from Illinois who he had mailed one of his creations to a month or so back. Then he went out to the garage to continue his work on insulating and drywalling the garage for when we return.

I should note, that this was the same day he went to the dentist for his first cleaning in almost 2 years due to this whole Pandemic thing. This dentist thing was prior to his garage time. Why is this important? His appointment was at noon when Zoe usually gets her Zozyme coated lunch and I get to practice my fielding skills. Thus, this tradition was delayed by almost 2 hours, but the bread was still on the stove when he returned.

But when he returned from the garage he found this on the floor in the kitchen:

And guess what? The Bread inside had *poof* DISAPPEARED. Just like Magic!!!

Then, a few short days (or weeks?) later, we were visiting our FarMor in Michigan, and every time we (or Zoe) had a chance, we (she) found her way into the secret “Cookie” room whose door was to remain closed at all times. But what do you know? By the time we left, the danish Christmas cookies that our Mom loves had *poof* VANISHED. Just like Magic!!!

So, in short, those of us in the canine nation aren’t really impressed with making things “disappear”. Just saying.

However, I have to give some historical perspective to the title of this post. Our brother Sammy, was given the sobriquet “Hundini” early in his life for his ability to obtain things that seemed to our parents, at the time, inaccessible. “Hund” being the Danish word for dog, and Houdini being possibly the most famous American magician – so his name nickname was essentially a portmanteau. But when I come to think of it, aren’t we all (us pups) Hundini’s? I tend to think so. Which might be part of why you folks love us so much? I think I’m on to something here.

Best,

The Tempest

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The Great Hundini