This week has been most difficult to say the very least. Last night when mom got home from work late, there was a package in our mailbox. The package was from our sweet dear friend Auntie Sharon of gentlestitches. We all hurriedly opened the package and looked into the box. There we were – mom, dad, me, Houdini and Hemi all gazing into the box and we saw it. It was our beloved Mouse Girl who had passed away earlier this year. Auntie Sharon had made us a remembrance kitty with the Rainbow Bridge carpet. It was like the floodgates opened and we all cried. We cried for Mouse Girl. We cried for Easy. We cried for Sammy. We cried for the amazing friends here in blogville, a lot that we haven’t met in real life but can’t remember life before them.
Thank you our sweet friend Auntie Sharon. We are in awe of your abilities to capture our sweet babies. Sending you bunches and bunches of hogs and snout kisses ❤
Squeals with piggy excitement. Don’t you just get overly excited when you get mail? I know this little oinker does. Heck, I’m on a first snort basis with our mailman. I think he gets as excited as I do when he sees an envelope made out to this little piggy. And what was it and who was it from you are asking yourself?
Wait no longer. I got the world. Snorts with piggy laughter – okay maybe not the ‘world’… but I did get Australia. Okay maybe not the entire Australia – how about a snow globe of Australia. And who was it from? It was from my bestest Auntie Sharon in the entire world. You know Auntie Sharon from gentlestitches. Isn’t she the best and so awesome for thinking of little old me? I just want to jump in an airplane and go thank her in person… but there’s too many layovers and I might get lost. Wouldn’t that be something? Can you see it now in the headlines, “Traveling oinker lost in connections.”
So Auntie Sharon – I’m sending you loads of hogs and snout kisses. Forgive me okay if I didn’t send you an email right away. Mom has been under the weather. It’s hard enough to keep daddy in check these days but we all know when the mommy is down, the house is down. Much love my sweet friend ❤
Welcome my friends to 31 Days of Spook. Today’s Curse of the Sorry Rocks is submitted by my Auntie Sharon from Gentlestitches. Are you ready to be spooked – remember as always, my hoof is there for you. Happy shivering.
The area around Uluru in outback Australia had an unusual rainfall before we arrived last week. This resulted in a desert land with scatterings of plant life to be transformed into a carpet of wildflowers. Did I take some cuttings home to add to my own carefully crafted Australian wildflower garden?
I DID NOT!
Let my explain briefly………………
The area of and around Uluru is considered sacred. The Anangu people are the legal custodians. Visitors are welcomed but expected to act in a respectful way.
Visitors are allowed to take photographs and that is all. It is a 5000 dollar fine if caught with any sands or rocks but even so that alone doesn’t always deter people. What does deter people is
THE CURSE OF THE SORRY ROCKS.
Every year, rocks, sand and vegetation, often very small, are returned to the Katatjuka National Park head quarters with letters of apology. It seem either the people’s guilt or the curse, led to misfortune and misery of some kind and they want to atone.
So we took photos and made friends with camels. All of whom were “rescue camels” and very well looked after. (my camels name was Lasseter because he was found wandering around the Lasseter highway) When you are a visitor you should respect your host, particularly if there is a well documented curse if you don’t.
There I was last night after dinner, minding my own business, curled up on mom’s lap taking a little siesta in the lap of paradise. That’s when mom remembered that I got mail. So she tells daddy to hand it to her so she can open it and share with me.
Oh my piggy heavens – it’s from my Auntie Sharon in Australia. You know her from her gentlestitches. She is amazing and such a super duper awesome friend.
So mom opens the envelope and it’s a card. Mom reads the front and opens it. Okay that’s when some pig ‘might’ have gotten a little scared, squealed, jumped off mom’s lap and ran down the hall to his room. I’m just sayin’. I wasn’t expecting it. That’s all… I’m not afraid.
So of course, mom had to video tape the after effects. Gee, thanks mom.
And thanks to my Auntie Sharon – you rock. I really appreciated the birthday car and mom is digging her boomerang key chain. Maybe now she won’t lose her keys – snorts.
Welcome my friends to blogville’s first annual Anipal Appreciation Day. Me and my Cousin Sammy have collaborated together to initiate this day every year on February 15th. What better time to get together and share the love than the month of February.
Rules for Anipal Appreciation Day:
Post your Anipal Appreciation Day blog on FEBRUARY 15, 2016.
Title your blog Anipal Appreciation Day.
Put the badge below on your blog post for the day.
Give shout outs not only in the posting of your blog but throughout the day with the comments you may get. There is no set number of shout out’s you are required to do – let your heart lead you. We are *not* leaving anyone out. If you don’t make the post on a blog, be sure to check messages and comments throughout the day that people and anipals might leave.
If you can, link back your shout outs in your blogs for them to find.
HAVE FUN! This is the most important rule – have FUN and share the LOVE!
Cousin Sammy – I’ve known him for years now. He is a great guy – a bestest friend and always willing to lend a helping paw. He goes out of his way to make you feel loved and welcomed even though at times I know he doesn’t feel well. And you know what? He gets that from his humans. And technically, he and I *may* be related somewhere down the road with his parents and my parents being second, third or fourth cousins or something.
Brother Easy – Dude! He is funny, he is kind, he is a hoot and he has the hardest job keeping his staff in line with their own antics. And you know what? Any time you need something, he is always there for you with a helping paw.
Felix – Now we all know the regular guys from Fozzie’s world – Dinnermintz, Doc, Forrest, Marbles, Cleo, Jacque, Pickles and Oscar (Did I miss anyone?) Do you know Felix? I mean all of this clan hold a special place in our hearts here at the Hotel Thompson but Felix especially. Why? Because Felix gave up some wool and Fozzie gave it to another person that is special in our hearts – Auntie Sharon. Auntie Sharon then spun that beautiful wool and made Fozzie, herself and my mom a scarf to keep their necks warm in the cooler weather. In fact, my mom calls her scarf Felix. Cool huh? You gotta love this bunch from down under ❤
Shoko and Kali – WOWZER! These are the coolest cats I’ve met in Canada. You know what is even more cool – if that’s possible? My mom/dad have met their mom/dad in real life. Yep nods head. They have and they had a BLAST together. Talk about laughing until your tummy hurts. They are all a cool bunch!
Reilly and Denny – They are an awesome duo that live in a wonderful place full of beaches, sand and the sun. They are beyond creative in finding their adventures from trails, their backyard (minus the snakes please) to roaming the beaches looking for trinkets to keep. I would love to hang out with these and have fun running and exploring.
Cupcake – I’ll let everyone in on a secret with something about Cupcake. The little pooch here – Houdini – has a *thang* for Cupcake. He loves her. He pulls her blog up and watches her picture for hours dreaming about running, playing and watching the movie Lady and the Tramp together. Shakes piggy head. He has it bad.
Dante – You talk about big things coming in little sizes – this is that. Dante is what maybe 6 pounds (kind of like Houdini) and has the biggest heart. He is always inspiring us to be nicer – to do more – to smile and give love. And in this day and time, we need all of the love we can share. Right?
Little Binky – Smiling and shaking my head. I love Little Binky and his granny. I watch him in his backyard looking around and playing around his new house.
Sam – Did you know that Sam is part of a therapy team with his mom? He brings smiles to patients in a hospital and hospice care. I’m telling you my friends, Sam brings a smile to my face just reading his blog and his adventures. He’s a friend that is always giving and giving.
Of course, the list can go on and on and on for days. These are just ‘some’ of the people that have touched our lives here at the Hotel Thompson. It is in no way – ALL. In fact, throughout the day, I’m sure I will be adding more and more here and there and in the comments. We love you ALL here in blogville. And believe it or not, YOU have touched our lives here. You bring smiles to our faces, you touch us when we are down, you make us laugh/snort. We talk about you to our friends – which is hilarious to here. Yes, YOU are a HUGE part of our lives. Each and everyone – from being listed to those that maybe we don’t even talk to but every couple of days. YOU inspire us. YOU hold a special place in our heart. We grieve with you. We laugh with you. We joke with you. YOU ARE FAMILY MY FRIENDS.
Squeals! I have another guest submission today from my Auntie Sharon who lives in Australia. Oh my friends – this is definitely a scary one. Will someone hold my hoof please?
An Australian Ghost Story.
Aussies are not known for their timid nature or of being easily scared. When you share your home and garden with flesh eating spiders and snakes that can kill in several minutes one tends to get a bit desensitized to the horror side of life.
However there is a place in Australia that the thought of gives me the creeps. There are signs every where advising people not to swim and even have signs with pictures showing how people could drown if they swim.
Alas some people seem to see the “do not swim” because you will get drowned or eaten as a challenge.
Which brings me to the many mysterious deaths at Devil’s pool. Wouldn’t you think a water hole called Devils Pool with signs everywhere would deter people from swimming there? No! People go there in droves and unfortunately, not every one leaves. There is talk of people drowning there WHO WERE NOT SWIMMING at the time??
This story goes way back to the story of our ancestors before European settlement and it seems Devil’s Pool is haunted by a young native girl called Oolana who lures young men to their death as she tries to find her lost love.
The story may or not be true but the drownings are very true.
Tell me, would you risk it a have a swim on a red hot day in this pool?
With mommy being sick and Houdini being sick during the holidays, we weren’t real timely in getting some thank you’s out that we needed to. Please forgive us for our delay my friends.
The first thank you we want to throw out is to Auntie Sharon of Gentlestitches. She sent us the coolest Christmas card. Why do you ask? Because we are not used to seeing Santa Claus at the beach – snorts. Here, we celebrate Christmas in the cold whereas in Australia it’s the Summer. Such a neat different huh? Maybe one day mom/dad can celebrate in Australia – wouldn’t that be fun?
With the card she sent, she sent me a cute little black piggy – remind you of anyone? Snorts – oinks. And she sent a red Christmas hat. See it in the picture? Squeals – I was so excited! I let mommy bring it to her office to put on her desk. That way she can look at it and (1) think of Auntie Sharon and (2) think of this little oinker during the day – snorts.
Then Auntie Sharon sent me a 2015 calendar! OMP (Oh my pig!) Look at these awesome pictures throughout the year. I was so excited. Auntie Sharon said that she had been to most of these places in Australia – WOW! They are so beautiful. And I’ll tell you a secret. These pictures made dad turn a little green. He wasn’t sick or anything. He was green with envy – evil snorts. He wants to visit them too.
Mom is going to hang this calendar in my bedroom for me to look at during the year. Oh, ignore mom’s fingers int he picture. It’s so hard to teach her how to take great pics 🙂
The next person I want to give a shout out and a thank you to is my brother Easy. Now this is a funny tale. Easy and his staff sent a package to me on 12/12/2014. I didn’t get it until Friday, 01/02/2015. Amazing huh? If only we had strapped a camera on to this package to see the places it went! It was rubber banded together, shrink wrapped and then taped together by the post office. I actually had to get daddy to help me open it 🙂
But when I did – squeals – it was like Christmas all over again! Look at the stash that was in the bag – ALL of us anipals were so excited. Mommy snagged the piggy calendar.. something about first dibs. I’m not sure what that meant – snorts. The cats grabbed their treats. Me and Houdini grabbed the pillow and toys. It was a blast!
And get a look at that pillow – what a catch! The little hands stick out off of the pillow. Houdini would get on top of it and it looked like the hands were hugging him. OMP! It was hilarious!
But there was one toy in the bag that is strictly Houdini’s. He has had so much fun with this ‘newspaper’. He grabbed it mumbling something about dibs – what is that? – and took off through the Hotel Thompson. This thing has a high squeak and trust me. The dog knows how to squeak his newspaper. It was a snort of a good time for the little guy this weekend. I played with the ball that was in the bag. For some reason, I don’t mind pushing it around with my snout. Not too much though because it’s still winter and I really don’t do much in the winter except sleep, eat, poop, sleep, eat, pee – snorts. You get the picture.
So dear friends – thank YOU so very much from the bottom of all of our hearts here at the Hotel Thompson. We really, REALLY enjoyed our gifts.
Hello my spooky friends. I hope you have been having an awesome time so far this month on my 31 Days of Spook. Today we have another story submission from my Auntie Sharon who lives in Australia. You may know her better as gentlestitches. Do you know her from down under? If not, you are missing out on a wonderful friend. Please be sure to check her out and tell her Bacon sent you. Now for her tale of fright.
“A change of pace from Australia today. No horrible apparitions, weird man eating beasts, no outback disappearances and definitely no disgruntled yowies or bunyips creating havoc and preying on innocent tourists. This is about a fair dinkum “healing house” in Sydney.
This otherwise normal house in Guilford has become known as a “House of Miracles” with people flocking to it’s doors and many reporting cures and relief from symptoms.
Apparently it all started a few weeks after the owners 17 year old son was tragically killed in an automobile accident in 2006. People report the walls of the house began dripping oil and the boys parents were convinced their son was communicating with them.
Since then there has been a lot of investigations,skepticism and people saying they have been healed. Apparently the Dad was involved in fraud charges at one time but I think “miracles are just as likely to happen to someone with a past as to someone with out one. The walls continue to “drip oil” and people continue to report miracles to this day. The owners of the house refuse to take any money.
Oh my friends! What a wonderful thing that happened here last night at the Hotel Thompson. I got mail! Not an email but real goodness mail. I was so piggy excited that I ran all over the house and couldn’t wait until mommy got home from the worky place to open the package.
When she did – OMP!
It was the most beautiful thing in the world. My ❤ just swelled up with so much love to my good pal Fozzie. Why do you ask? Well, she actually made me something with very own two hands. It’s adorable – LIKE ME. It’s cute – LIKE ME. It’s priceless – LIKE ME! It has an awesome bell on it that is so freaking cute! I’m letting mom take it to work with her to put on her desk beside another great piggy that my Auntie Sharon made me a while back. That way every single time mom looks at them during her stressful day, she will think of all of the love that went into making these and of course of ME!
And of course, mommy did a special thank you video to my friend Fozzie. You can see that at the bottom. NOTE: Ignore mom’s southern twang – snorts.
And now this is the part where I need you my friends. As you know we have little Houdini here at the Hotel Thompson. The little guy is going through some puppy teething kind of bad. He wants to chew on everything – including my tail – snorts! Any of you my good friends have any thoughts or suggestions on helping the little guy out? Anything would be like most welcomed. Mom tried the washcloth in the freezer trick – he turned his nose up at it and went for mom’s fingers instead – snorticles.
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So – can you help this piggy out? I know my tail and mom’s fingers would like great appreciate it so very much!
Enough said? Mommy saw these on line but hasn’t been able to find them in the stores yet. She is foaming at the mouth… literally. I don’t know why. She’s not suppose to be looking at sweets – she’s suppose to be on that four lettered bad word…DIEt. But then again, aren’t the humans *always* on a DIEt?
I have to admit these do look intriguing in purely an educational way. Chocodiles – what a name? Makes me think of my friends Fozzie and Auntie Sharon from down under.
Have you seen these temptations in your store yet? If so, please tell me what they taste like… are they good… are they tempting?… are they worth the effort of putting an APB and BOLO out on the boxes?
Miniature pot bellied pig and friends - Bacon, Houdini, Hemi and all of the Rock Clan with Journalist Rocky the Squirrel all out looking for adventures from the Hotel Thompson.
Piglove 