Letter From Summer Camp

Dear Family,

Bacon here from Summer Camp.  I gotta admit mom that I thought this Summer Camp thing was a joke.  I really, REALLY didn’t want to come.  But I have to admit that it’s been kind of cool this week.  We went and camped out last night ‘under the stars’.  I gotta admit that laying around the bonfire and watching the sky through the tips of the trees was kind of cool.  It’s amazing how many shooting stars you can see.  That in itself was almost worth the trip.

I also put my Ninja skills into action last night and found the culprit who ate all of my Animal Crackers.  It was a boy named Scout.  Yep, nods piggy head, his name is Scout.  He has stolen a lot of our food here this week at camp.  After everyone went to sleep last night in their tents, someone – looks around innocently – went to his tent and made grunting noises, stomped around a lot and cast huge shadows on the side of his tent.  For a boy that is challenged horizontally, he could run pretty fast.  What’s even better was seeing him wearing his pajama onesie.  Now that was priceless.  He kept saying that he heard Pigman and Goatman in the woods.  Don’t mess with the Ninja pig.

And mom you would be proud of me.  I had dinner with a strawberry (girl) last night.  She’s cool.

 

Paw Time with Houdini

Barks my friends.  Finally, this week is over.  It has been so LONG!  Really it has.  It’s been quiet here at the Hotel Thompson without my bigger brother Bacon who is away in Summer Camp.  It’s just been me and the two purr things  That’s a hard life.  Really it is.  Hemi (who thinks he is in charge here) can be a big bully sometimes.  He’s been chasing me around and Bacon is not here to protect me.  That stinks.

Everyday I wait at the front door overlooking our kingdom just waiting for Saturday to roll around.  Don’t get me wrong, life has still continued here.  And boy has it.  I’ll tell you a little secret that I’ve learned this week.  Come here closer to the computer screen.  Mom has made a HUGE change in something here.  I mean H.U.G.E.  You will NOT believe what she has done.  I mean heck me and dad couldn’t believe it.  We were shocked.  And let me tell you who is going to be more shocked – Bacon.

Mom and dad are letting me go with them tomorrow to pick him up from Summer Camp.  Can’t wait until he sees what they have done.

Well that’s all for me my friends – yawns – I hope you had a wonderful week as well.  Happy weekend!

 

Bacon’s Show and Tell

This month we were to focus on something that happened to you while you were a child.  Something that happened that was funny… perhaps now… but at that time it was your shining what the heck were you thinking moment.  This could have happened to you, your spouse, your children or your parents.  Something that to this day you still can’t forget about without smiling and/or laughing.

This month we are tossing the keyboard to daddy because he has a story of something that happened to him as a child.  With that in mind – here you go daddy!

First up I have to say that this picture is not me.  Really, it’s not. 🙂  I have a cuter butt – ha!  But this picture is actually on a greeting card and gives you a picture of my story.  And friends, you can ask Fozzie.  I can paint a picture – evil HA!

When I was probably the age of this boy, my mom had bought me my very first pair of cowboy boots.  I ❤ those boots.  I wore them everywhere – even to bed.  Well one day, my mom roped me to the side and told me it was time for a bath.  You know how boys are with baths – eeww.  So we have to bring plenty of toys in there to keep us company.  Mom fixed my bath and then left me to my business while she talked on the phone.  That’s when the best idea hit me ever!  I wonder if those cowboy boots were water proof.  So I stumbled down the hall, put my new boots on that I only had for about a week and then jumped back in the tub in all my glory – my birthday suit with my boots.

I then splashed around getting water every.where in the bathroom.  I filled my boots up with water and splashed some more.  Finally mom called me and told me it was time to get out.  So I jumped out in my glory and walked into the front room.  That’s right… in my sloshy cowboy boots that were still filled with water on the hardwood floors and carpet.  It was one of my finer moments in life.  And no contrary to what my beloved says, it wasn’t just last week.

At first, my mom was like what the heck and had the frozen look on her face.  Then her face turned red….and I still say an almost purple look from holding her breath not to cuss.  That’s when she finally said it.  Not the whole name you hear sometimes when you *know* you are in trouble but the, “You just wait until I get a hold of you little man” phrase.  Shivers – that’s scarier than the full name.

So I learned a couple of lessons this day.  #1 – Cowboy boots aren’t water proof.  They were completed ruined from my time in the bathtub and had to be trashed.  #2 – Mom had a beautiful color of purple going on in her face and looked more purple that day than Violet in Willy Wonka.  #3 – Cleaning hardwood floors is hard work.  #4 – Mom had a pretty wicked right hook on my cute little butt that day.

 

Letter From Summer Camp

Dear Family,

Bacon here from Summer Camp.  There are a bunch of vultures here at camp.  No I’m not talking about Alfred Hitchcock and birds of nature.  I’m talking about thieves.  Someone in the cabin ate all of my Animal Crackers yesterday.  They are not admitting to who did it.  Don’t mess with the pig.  This means war. Good thing I packed my Ninja outfit when you weren’t looking.

Today we had to go running.  Snorts – as if this pig runs.  Unless there is food in the distance that is calling me, why would this oinker run?  So there I was softly walking to our destination.  My counselor Wolf creeped up behind me and howled.  What an as*$*!)  I took off running like it was really the Big Bad Wolf after me.  After a while of running, I heard clapping.  It took me a few minutes to realize it was just my thighs cheering me on.  That Wolf is a true as$*!&

Tonight, we get to sleep outside “under the stars in the fresh air”.  Really?  Do these people not watch television?  I’d rather be behind a locked door.  But then again, my Ninja outfit could come in handy tonight to find the culprit that ate my beloved Animal Crackers.  Evil snorts.

 

International Day of Friendship

 

 Journalist Rocky the Squirrel here –

Keeping my paws on the nuts of the world!

 .

Of all of the important holidays I can tell you about, today seems to be the most important in my book.  It is International Day of Friendship.  The world is filled with too much hate, too many wars, too much prejudice and way too many disagreements.  Today, we should put all of that aside and reach out to each other and say, “Hello friend happy friendship day!”

This is just not a backyard problem or a school playground problem.  This is a worldwide problem.  A problem that needs to come to an end.  Everyone has differences – we wouldn’t be individuals if we didn’t.  But when you look down to it, we all want to be happy and what better way than to get along.

Today let’s make friends with different people, different cultures and different countries.  Extend your hand – or an olive branch – and say hello friend.  Say hello to your neighbor, to the stranger at the market and say hello to a person that you see everyday but you don’t even know their name.  Today is the day to make a friend near and far.

To all of our friends, we at the Hotel Thompson would like to say thank you for being our friend – happy friendship day.  And to those that don’t know us yet, Happy Friendship Day.  May we get to know you better today and in the future!

 Who will YOU say hello friend to today?

 

Letter From Summer Camp

Dear Family,

Bacon here from Summer Camp.  Another day down and another day closer to coming back home to the Hotel Thompson.  Yesterday for our activity we went swimming in the lake.  Things were going good.  The cute little ‘strawberries’ (girls) got a thrill – snorts. Scott taped a fin on his back and swam over to their side.  I’ve never seen strawberries move that fast out of the water in my entire life.  Some of them were faster than the girls in those b-rated movies on SyFy.  It was really hilarious.  But Wolf caught Scott and he got into trouble.  I have to admit mom, I had *nothing* to do with that.  Really I didn’t – pig honor.

Last night, we got to watch a movie outside near the camp fire.  Now that’s what I’m talking about.  It was so much fun!  It was Race for Your Life Charlie Brown.  I got my first roasted marshmallow.  So delicious.  Of course, it was so hot it almost burned my lips but I couldn’t just stop at one.  And trust me.  No one noticed towards the end of the movie when I got the rest of the bag of marshmallows.  Nope not at all.  You see they were too busy taking care of the fire.  Oh don’t worry. It wasn’t that big.  A boy in cabin 3 threw some fireworks in the bonfire.  One went off into the brush and cause a small fire.  It only took two fire extinguishers to get it out.  No worries.  Talk to you later.

 

Shopping Around the World

My friends – thank YOU so very much for everyone’s wonderful responses to my and Fozzie’s Shopping Around the World blog posts.  We are having so much fun seeing the different prices from around the world AND looking at some intriguing recipes and dinner suggestions.  They are so totally awesome!  Let’s keep up the great work – remember to link back to my blog here so we can keep up with who is playing and keep up with all of the recipes.

This month we focused on FIVE items of your choice in a meal.  It was a “Go for what you know” kind of meal.

 Mom’s “Go to meal” is something easy that she puts in the crock pot all day long to simmer – Spicy Cabbage Soup.  And we all love it – yep we have tasted it.  It’s that good.  It’s an easy meal, has a little spice to it and is great for a cold wet day.  We hope that you enjoy it too when you fix it 🙂

2 cans of mixed vegetables, $2.38

1 package of sirloin, about a pound.  On this date it was cheaper to buy it as a small piece of sirloin instead of it already being cubed.  It was $7.43 for the pound.

1 head of cabbage, $1.28 for the head.

2 boxes of beef broth, $4.98

Seasoning in the form of pepper, salt and pepper flakes.

Directions:  Plug in your crock pot and put on low in the early morning before leaving for work.  Pour in the two boxes of beef broth.  We get the low sodium kind.  Chop up the entire head of cabbage and put in the crock pot. Stir the cabbage in to make sure the broth is covering it.  In the meantime, cut up your sirloin into small cubes.  You can buy the sirloin that is already cut up – whatever you prefer.  This date it was cheaper to buy it whole.  Salt and pepper the beef and throw it in the crock pot with a quick stir.  Then add in your canned vegetables, black pepper to taste and pepper flakes to taste.  Remember, pepper flakes are spicy.  Less is best if you are not sure what kind of spice you want.  You can always add more in when you serve the individual bowls.  Mom likes to serve it with cornbread or a crusty type bread for dipping.  Goes great on cold rainy days or cold winter nights.

 

Letter From Summer Camp

Dear Family,

Bacon here from Summer Camp.  This weekend started off slow with Summer Camp.  Everyone was getting to know one another and learn the ways around the camp here.  It’s gotten a lot better now.  I even met a new friend – Scott.  He’s kind of cool and is from the North Georgia mountain areas.  He goes outside all of the time and we are kind of hanging with each other.

They really believe in the activities at this place and are constantly encouraging us to participate. Yesterday we had arts and crafts so I went.  Let me just say that it wasn’t my fault.  Really it wasn’t.  I got to class late and no one told me that the macaroni was for making jewelry and not for eating.  What can I say?  I was a little hungry.  You might get a call from my counselor about that incident.

And speaking of counselors.  Mom are you for real about this place?  Did you check into this at all?  They call the boys here Blueberries and the girls Strawberries.  Rolls piggy eyes.  That is so crazy and just makes me hungry.  But I’m getting sidetracked.  Our counselors have nicknames.  I bet you just can’t guess what my counselor’s nickname is.  Go ahead.  I’ll wait for you to guess.  Then again, no I won’t since I only have ONE hour of computer time tonight.  His nickname is Wolf.  Really mom?  Gotta run – my time is running close and I have to get back to my cabin before it gets too dark.

 

Dear Bacon

Hey friends – I’m stepping in for big brother Bacon this week since he is away at Summer Camp.  I hope I brought him so justice – enjoy! ❤ Houdini

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Dear Houdini – This is not funny.  Really it’s not.  My human is crazy.  Can you save me please?  Signed Potato in Waiting

Dear Potato in Waiting – BARKS!  I gotta admit that it’s a little funny.  Really think about it.  How many anipals can say they look like a hot potato and you are hot.  I say save the look for Halloween and go for it.  You will win so many contests for originality and beauty.

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Dear Houdini – I heard about your accident the other day with a pillow that exploded at the Hotel Thompson.  I *know* you can relate.  You *have* to relate.  I was sitting on the front porch minding my own business when this cushion suddenly blew up for no apparent reason.  I was just as shocked as everyone else.  Signed Mystified

Dear Mystified – I know!  It’s unbelievable how those things happen out of the blue – spontaneous combustion does happen.  It is highly documented.  I think pillows only do this when dogs are around so that we can personally take the blame.  Yeah – that has to be it.  Surely it’s not because of something us sweet devout pooches did.  No way!  I say cover yourself my friend.  No camera documentation means you didn’t do it.  I’m sticking to that story and you should too!

.

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Dear Houdini – I know you are just a mere dog but let me tell you something, I’ve earned my stripes.  I’m fierce.  I’m strong.  I’m a rocking cat that can shake your world if you don’t obey me.  You just remember that about us cats okay.  Cats rule and dogs drool!  Signed Stripes

Dear Stripes – Barks and laughter!   Wait a minute while I pick myself up from laughing and rolling around here on the floor.  Cats rule and dogs drool – too funny.  Okay maybe we dogs do drool when we are excited but there is no way that cats rule – sorry Hemi and Mouse Girl here.  Us doggies are higher on the who is in charge chain.  And your stripes – oh my dog!  Really?  Walk away from the sun my friend and tell me about those stripes then – Barks!

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Dear Houdini – There I was sitting on the sofa from another long day of working on the farm.  I was so exhausted.  I had the television on for sound and that’s when I saw it.  A commercial for a dating service for Farmers Only.  WOW!  I never knew it existed.  Do you think I have a chance with a lady?  Signed Stetson

Dear Stetson – YES you do.  We all have chances.  And how could anyone say no to a cowboy hat?  Mommy says those are hot!

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Dear Houdini – There is a problem with this slide.  Really there is.  I slide down it all of the time.  But this date, I did’t slide.  What the hamster world happened?  Signed Stuck

Dear Stuck – Perhaps it was too dry to slide down. Perhaps you have more fluff than usual and it was a little tight?  It could happen.  I know sometimes my t-shirts get a little snug like that and I have to cut back a bit.  And then perhaps you just need a gentle push?  Call me if you need some assistance.  I’ll get the jaws of life out to get you out of a tight spot.  In the meantime, take it easy okay.

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Remember Dear Bacon can’t happen without you my friends.  Keep your letters and pictures coming to my email.

 

Letter From Summer Camp

Dear Family,

Bacon here from Summer Camp.  I’m settled in… well as much as I can be.  Mom dropped me off here on Saturday morning.  She introduced me around and showed me my cabin.  I’m rooming with 10 other peeps.  I walked around looking for the television and was told there isn’t one in the individual cabins.  What?  And we all have to share the bathroom.  Double What?  What kind of place is this Summer Camp?  How barbaric.  I couldn’t believe it when mom hugged me, told me goodbye and then left without me!  It took everything within me not to chase after her.

That afternoon, they left everyone to their own devices to settle in at our cabins.  We had a greet and meet that night before retiring to our cabins for the night.  First up, really mom?  You put me in a Summer Camp where we have to participate in activities… outside… in nature?  Do I really look like that kind of pig?  Then when I went to bed for the past couple of nights, there was no apple or treat on my pillow and no bedtime story.  Huh?  And a room-mate here bedding in this cabin actually called me a H.O.G.  It took all I could do not to rip into him but I didn’t.  I just did what came natural to me.  When he went to the bathroom, I dragged his blankets and pillow outside.  H.O.G.  Imagine that.  Me?  No way!

We get one hour of computer time at night after dinner.  ONE hour.  I gotta make it count so I’ll send you an email when I can.  Make sure Houdini takes care of my blog this week.  Tell everyone in blogville I miss them and when I survive this I will be back.  Much love to you, Bacon