Dear Bacon – I’ve watched your blog over the past couple of months and decided to give it a whirl. This is some hard work that you do! Where do you find the time? I have less time chasing the mailman, cat and UPS guy from the house. I have less time making pee mails on the floor. I have less time sleeping. And heck by the time I do sleep, my paws hurt from typing all day. How do you do it little pig? Signed Blogger in Training
Dear Blogger in Training – Time Management my friend. Once you get involved in blogville, you have to make sure your calendar and scheduling is set. You see being a pig, I *have* to have a schedule. My life is scheduled. If I get off schedule, I get really bent out of shape. So, organization my friend. You can do this! Just schedule your blogging time into your calendar and stick with it – you know in between doing the other things you love like chasing the mailman and protecting the hood. You got this!
Dear Bacon – I can’t help it! I get so excited when I see that yellow looking greenish ball. JOY!! I can describe it in words. I just go crazy. All I can think is, “Ball-ball-gotta get the ball-ball”. My owners just don’t get it. That ball is totally cool beans and I have to have it! Signed Ball Chaser
Dear Ball Chaser – You know my friend there is nothing wrong with having something that you love. I mean, if it’s a ball so what! It could always be something worse that your humans would have to worry about. I say have fun and keep chasing – oh is that a ball there?!
Dear Bacon – I’ve been reading about your mom’s journey with friends in her attempt at trying to change her lifestyle and do better. I have some encouragement for her. “Go girl – you can do this!” That’s right. This little hedgehog has more than looks – let me be her cheerleader. She has this. And you know what? So does all of her friends on your blog. They got this!! Signed Number One Hog
Dear Number One Hog – Thanks pal. That is so nice of you and a great picture of you cheering mom and all of her friends right along. You rock! Thanks for the encouragement and you know what?
You keep rocking and rolling yourself our sweet new friend!
Dear Bacon – Dude, I just had to send you our family picture. OMD! My two brothers got into the biggest trouble the other week. One encouraged the other to shall we say devour one of mom’s heels. You know those heels – the ones moms wear to work. It was not a pretty vision when mom came home and found her beautiful heel gutted with strands of it from the front room to the bedroom. Well mom made them wear signs and take their picture. I told her I wanted to wear a sign too – with a special to you Bacon my idol! Whatcha think? Signed Bacon Jr
Dear Bacon Jr – OMP. I am honored and so touched my little friend that you wanted to do a shout out to me. I say in this instance, YOU ROCK my little friend. Now keep your brothers out of your mom’s shoes. Those shoes with the heels are sacred to moms ❤
Remember my friends – Dear Bacon can’t happen without *you*. Please remember to email me your letters and pictures ❤
Welcome my friends to our edition of SPOTLIGHT THURSDAY. This is the time that I will introduce you to one of my fellow anipals so you can get to know them better. Some of them, you may already know. We hope that you enjoy this new series!
Name: Bella
Age: 5
Location: Stockbridge, Georgia
Web/Blog Page: N/A – I can’t risk anything taking away from my play time (Bella will be checking in for messages. Please my friends – let’s welcome Bella to the world of Blogville.)
What were your first thoughts when you met your new parents? Mom was the first one I met and I knew right away that she was going to cater to my every whim. She seemed so happy to meet me. Lots of smiling and even a little teary. I had her rubbing my belly and playing ball with me within the first few minutes. After just a short visit with me at my foster mom’s, she was completely hooked. She put me in the car seat and we were off to go shopping! We did have to pull over before too long though. I had dropped my ball! And since I’m not allowed out of my car seat, what choice did she have really? Anyway, once we got to the store, I got new accessories to wear and tons of treats and toys. We had so much fun picking out toys. I got final approval before anything went into the cart. Finally, we were on our way home where I got to meet Dad. He was excited to see me too! They made me feel so comfortable and I knew they loved me already. I noticed right away though that they had other children. That definitely concerned me. I really require a lot of attention and I wasn’t sure how this was going to work out now. It didn’t take long before I realized that the other kids were much, much older and did a lot of sleeping. So, I was happy again. My new parents made it pretty clear that I would get as much attention as I wanted and that they could even pay attention to all of us.
What was the defining moment when you knew you were in your forever home? Oh, I think I knew that right away! Mom talked to me all the time and just seemed so happy to have me there. My first night, she rubbed my tummy in bed right beside her until I went to sleep. She also let me keep lots of my toys in bed with us. I like having them with me wherever I am. Especially those little tennis balls! Those are the greatest things ever! Sometimes I even sleep with one in my mouth. And, uh, did I mention she pulled the car over to get my ball I dropped just 10 minutes after getting on the road? Yeah, I knew she was keeping me and I was happy about it.
What has been your biggest “Oh no, now I’ve done it” moment so far in your home? If I’m honest here, I really don’t get into trouble. Some may think I’m on the spoiled side, but whatever… There was one occasion I got yelled at big time and it scared me stiff! Mom had opened the front door, and didn’t say “stay” that time, so I ran out and straight down the driveway. Next thing I know, she was screaming at me and running right behind me! I just stopped right where I was and laid down. I wasn’t sure what I did wrong, but I know Mom was really scared and mad at me. Ever since then, if I act like I want to take off out the front door, she’s really quick to tell me to stay.
Who do you have wrapped around your paws more – mom or dad – and why? So easy! That’s definitely Mom. She’ll stop anything she’s doing if I want sit in her lap or I want her to throw the ball. One of my favorite things to do is roll my ball under the furniture and stare at her until she comes to get it. I know it’s a silly thing to do, but I like checking once in a while that she’s going to come to my rescue. Of course, she always does. I know Mom tries to spend as much time with me as she can too. In fact, I think she used to sew a lot before I came. I remember shortly after I moved in, she went in her room one day to sew something. I was kind of in the mood to play ball though, so I kept going to the door with the ball in my mouth looking as pitiful as I possibly could. She kept telling me to wait a few minutes and we would play soon. I tried to wait. I really did! But it just seemed like it was taking forever and I certainly didn’t want her to forget that I was waiting either. So, to rush things along, I started stepping on that pedal thing she was stepping on too. I’m not sure if I really was helping, but I do know she quit sewing and we were playing ball. I don’t think I’ve seen her sew since then. To be fair, I’m pretty attached to her too. I love snuggling and giving Mom kisses and I always give her plenty of hugs when she comes home from work so she knows I missed her. I never go to bed without her either. I always wait for her (this makes her feel guilty when she’s has to work really late). Anyway, it all works out. She knows I’m happy to be with her too.
What’s the biggest misconception that humans think about you? Me personally? That’s a tough one. I guess it depends on the humans. Some may think it is crazy how much importance is placed on me. Like I have no feelings and shouldn’t matter so much. Those are the ones who are crazy. I make it perfectly clear when I’m happy or pouting or feeling needy or whatever. There is no way to not know I have feelings! Therefore, I matter a great deal. I have likes and dislikes, I love attention, I form attachments… Oh, I could rant about this for days. That’s probably the misconception that bothers me most. THEN, there are those people who look at me and come to the strange conclusion that I am too spoiled! I really don’t know how to even respond to them. Too spoiled? Ridiculous.
Hope you enjoyed meeting my friend Bella – check back next week for another Spotlight edition!
He’s real! Santa Paws came to the Hotel Thompson to see me! Oh my – thud – I almost couldn’t stand it. I’m in hog heaven here at the Hotel Thompson!
This is a list of what I have at the house now and trust me I am so happy – I haven’t had this many goodies in a long time!
8 pounds of red apples – that’s right. It’s not a typo – 8 POUNDS of red apples. I love me some apples… any kind, any color.
5 pounds of carrots – yep that’s another one – 5 POUNDS of carrots. You would think that with all of the carrots that I eat that I would have excellent vision but I don’t. But what I don’t have in vision, I make up in smelling.
Bulk celery – mmm – I love celery… even the little wisps of it that hang off at the top of celery. Love that part!
Cabbage – that is one HUGE head of cabbage. Mom will probably eat some of this cabbage too. But do you know what the battle is going to be? The core of the cabbage. Me and mom both like to naw on the core of the cabbage. Have you ever done that? It’s got a little spice to it and so delicious!
My personal sized watermelon. This is definitely a treat since it’s winter time here in Georgia. Mom will cut it all up and put it in buckets in the refrigerator to get it cold. She even cuts up the rind – I love the rind.
Bananas – You don’t see them in this picture because mom forgot to grab them. She got me a whole bunch of 10 – 10 bananas all to myself. Pig heaven – literally! Can you believe that one time mom was holding a banana and I tried to crawl up her legs to get it? Yeah, we had a little prayer meeting about that afterwards. They are so delicious!
And we can’t forget about Houdini – OMP! Houdini scored with some new clothes, a new bed and all kinds of doggy toys.
And the purr things Mouse Girl and Hemi – they are in love! They got some nip, toys and a huge bag of treats.
And we all got our own electric blanket. Can you believe that?! Mom hooked it up over one end of our sofa so that her and daddy can click it on and off. That way we can all lay on it and get cuddly warm – we all love that.
But you know what we got that was priceless? Love. Not just from mom/dad but from all of you our friends. We can not thank you enough for that. We all ❤ you!! And we thank you all for the emails and Christmas cards that you sent to us here at the Hotel Thompson!
And special thanks to Easy ❤ who sent us these awesome presents:
And special thanks to Fozzie ❤ who sent us these awesome presents:
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And special thanks to our dear sweet friends Kali and Shoko – ❤ OMP – their parents sent mom/dad something close to their heart – FOOD – snorts with piggy laughter. Okay it was a gift card for FOOD – my daddy still passes out looking at the card. He can’t wait to use them. Thank you so very much my friends! Can’t wait to see you soon.
And squeals!! This just in. We received this in the mail yesterday from Auntie Sharon. A beautiful handmade scarf. But this scarf has a story behind it. The actual “yarn” was shorn from Fozzie’s sheep. Then Auntie Sharon spun it on her spindle and made “yarn” for our scarves. How special is that?! I can’t say thank you enough. I was so touched and absolutely LOVE it my sweet friends – smooches and thank you!!
Barks my friends! Welcome to another week of Paw Time with Houdini. Can you believe I’m a big pooch now? I am! I’m a big dog – I’m ONE. It was a great week of celebrating with Nana’s at the birthday party and then Wednesday night with mom/dad, Bacon, Mouse Girl, Hemi and the rock clan. Don’t let those rocks fool you – they know how to PARTY! I know we kept Bacon from his beauty sleep that night but hey a dog only turns one once, right?
I got lots of cool toys for my birthday. My favorite – oh barks!! – it’s a ball inside of a ball. And let me tell you my friends, I WANT THAT BALL! It drives me crazy. I can feel the ball inside with my paws. I carry that ball around and bark at it and tell it to get out. It doesn’t mind me! Can you imagine that? Well Bacon took a video of me trying to make that ball mind. I thought this week I would share it with you. Enjoy my friends!
Well that’s all for me my friends – yawns – I hope you had a wonderful week as well. Happy weekend!
Barks my friends! I do hope your week is going well. Today I wanted to share with you some of my favorite toys. No, I couldn’t just pick 1 as my favorite so I’m giving you the top 4. Thankfully mom took all of these pictures at the store when she bought them for me at different times.
First up is tuggin’ tail pig. Isn’t he awesome? ❤ He reminds me of Bacon somewhat… okay maybe not at all except that he’s a pig – barks! This one was a neat toy. You see mom/dad would hold the tail and I would attack the ball in the mouth of the pig… which seems kind of weird because all I could think of was it should have been an apple – ha!
This tuggin’ tail pig was awesome – did you pick that up above? I played with him and played with him and played with him. Then one day, the ball broke and the piggy lost his head. I’m not sure what happened. I think he spontaneously blew up. There was white stuff everywhere on the floors of the Hotel Thompson. But tuggin’ tail pig was a good pig. I think I had him for about a month – which was good all considering.
Then there was skunk road kill. He is cool. He even has tread marks across his belly showing where he has been run over by some vehicle. He is way cool and guess what – I still have him to toss around my kingdom here. Can you imagine the creator of this awesome toy? Riding down the street one day perhaps to work and sees road kill on the side of the road and says to himself, “WOW – that would make a great toy.” Barks! I think that would be hilarious.
Have you ever seen such a fantastic skunk? Of course, he reminds me of Peppy Le Pew but way better now – barks!
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What do you think? Do you see the resemblance? Sure you do… look for the swooshy tail and white stripes – of course mine has tread marks on it – ha!
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Then there is poochy. He is also awesome – notice his rope legs that attach to his body and have paws at the end. Mom/dad can hold a leg and I can grab the other legs for a festive tug of war challenge. He was almost my favorite… notice I said almost.
Poochy is now called Waddles… why? Because he has no legs. They were pulled off by another dog… looks innocent. What? Isn’t that what he was for? He still is a good dog. I play with his body… of course minus the legs now. I don’t have to worry about him running away from me – barks! I couldn’t pass that one up my friends.
And he knows his commands like sit and stay. Double barks.
But this leads us to my all time favorite toy.
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Pirate Chicken. Oh my dogs! He is so very cool. You see I had a pirate chicken before. I loved him. He squeaks differently and there is just something about that peg leg that drives me crazy. He got destroyed right before we had the house renovation.
So mom/dad were shopping at the grocery store and finally found me a replacement. Barks and does happy dance!! I couldn’t believe that my favorite toy in the entire world was replaced. I run around the Hotel Thompson with it in my mouth, throwing it up in the air, attacking it and shaking it all around. It is totally awesome!
I feel like my entire life is complete now with the second coming of pirate chicken. Do you have any favorite toys that you can’t live without? Do share my friends.
Well that’s all for me my friends – yawns – I hope you had a wonderful week as well. Happy weekend!
Dear Bacon – I’m just being friendly. That’s it. Really I am. He looked so lonely in the cage. I just thought I would pop in to say hey and you know give him a reassuring pat of assurance from me. That’s it. Really. Signed Felix the Friendly Kitty
Dear Felix the Friendly Kitty – Sure buddy. Whatever you say. Just remember though that the proof is now in pictures. That means no mistakes in your friendly ‘pats of assurance’. Just sayin’ my friend.
Dear Bacon – I’ve heard you come from a long line of football players. We know not players per say but footballs themselves – Barks! Well, we gotta game going in our hood all of the time. Next time you are in the area, join us. And don’t worry, we won’t deflate the ball at all. Signed Peyton, Tom, Eli and Brady
Dear Peyton, Tom, Eli and Brady – What guys you are. Thanks for the invite and I will definitely keep that in mind. Can’t wait for the football season to start this year!.
Dear Bacon – There was this pot that mom had on the porch. She grows beautiful things in it. So I was thinking that I’m a puppy and maybe for me to grow into something beautiful, I would pot myself. I jumped in and added water. Is it working yet? Signed Puppy Flower
Dear Puppy Flower – I don’t really think that is how it happens my friend. But on the other hoof, you look really cute in that bucket. And hey you got a bath out of it too. I say just be you. You are going to grow up soon enough. And remember one final thought buddy. You are already beautiful.
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Dear Bacon – Sometimes no matter how small you are, one needs to draw the line. The humans put me in a wine glass. What.were.they.thinking? A wine glass. I’m not a wine glass kind of pup. I think I’m more of an oversized coffee cup kind of pooch. What do you think? Signed Small Barks
Dear Small Barks – I have to say my friend, either way I think you are cute in either a wine glass or a coffee cup. I think you should play it for everything it’s worth. Make the humans pay in so many different ways – extra treats, extra puppy chow. .
Dear Bacon – I have to say a puppy power nap is sometimes the best thing you can do. I highly recommend them any time during the day or night. Take notes from me pal. Don’t forget your blankie and pillow. Signed Sleepy Town
Dear Sleepy Town – WOW! You are the posted child for a puppy power nap my friend. I love it and trust me. I am so taking notes!
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REMEMBER my friends – Dear Bacon issues can’t happen without YOU. Please remember to email me your picture and letters.
Dear Bacon, Our parents are so funny. We are brothers born on the same day in the same litter. Our personalities are like twins though – we both have separate ones. Our parents thought it was funny to put is in these contraptions. But don’t worry. I’ll be showing them what I think about this set up shortly. Barks! Signed Sitting Pretty in the Booth of Shame
Dear Sitting Pretty in the Booth of Shame – I have to admit something my friend. Think of the originality that your humans came up with on this set up. It’s outrageously funny. Okay may not so funny from the side you are sitting BUT from the other side of this computer where I’m sitting – it’s hilarious! I say play it for all it’s worth and have some fun. You can always leave something in your humans shoe for payback later 🙂
Dear Bacon – I had surgery and as you can see I had to wear the cone of shame. Shakes dog head and whines. The cone of shame! But look I’m not sad – I’m happy! My master – he’s the best. He made a game out of it and threw in all of my closest friends. See, I even thought about you with Super Piggy in the front. He reminds me of you. What surgery? I know no pain here. Signed Happy Doggy
Dear Happy Doggy – Oh pal! Where were you when the little guy here had surgery. This would have been fantastic for him to wear his cone of shame and have some fun. Your master is tops in my book my friend. I say when he has surgery, you do the same for him!
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Dear Bacon – What? I was tired from working the hood the night before. See I’m on the neighborhood watch. I gotta make sure I protect all of the humans from the bad peeps that come out at night. The local diner takes care of me. I need coffee STAT – and hey why don’t you make it a double and serve it with some eggs and a steak? Signed Neighborhood Watch
Dear Neighborhood Watch – You are the DOG my friend. I like how you take care of your hood and they repay you at the neighborhood diner. I gotta get a gig like that. Where do I sign up? PIGGY POWER!
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Dear Bacon – Using Facetime on these i Phones are the bomb! See my girlfriend and me were talking. We could see each other and it was a blast. Neither one of us wanted to hang up. We both fell asleep like this. Isn’t she adorable? Signed Beef Cake
Dear Beef Cake – hubba hubba. She is a dish my friend. I know exactly what you mean about Facetime and talking to friends not wanted to hang up. My pet rock here Bashful has been doing a LOT of that lately with some of his friends. Modern technology has come so far, hasn’t it? Just remember to block the picture when you go wizzy. No one wants to see that – it doesn’t matter how much in love you are.
Dear Bacon – Please explain something to me. This yellow ball – why do the humans throw it and then expect US to retrieve it back to them? I mean heck if they want to play fetch, shouldn’t “I” be the one throwing it for them to fetch? That would help in their exercising… right? Signed Confused
Dear Confused – You know what friend. You have a wonderful point on fetch. I understand this completely. Humans do say they are playing ‘fetch’. I think we should try it your way. Throw the ball for the humans and let them fetch it. We shall see how long that lasts. If it’s my dad, maybe 2 minutes tops – snorts and rolls with piggy laughter!
REMEMBER friends – Dear Bacon can’t happen without YOU. Please continue to send me your letters and pictures via email. Snorts and thanks!
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.
If I didn’t know first hand, I would swear that Houdini has been in contact with my brother Easy in France Why do you ask? May I present to you exhibit A to the left. Yes, that is Houdini’s first destroyed doggy toy. I’m not sure to feel happy for the little tyke on his total destruction or sad that his favorite ball is now gone like the wind.
You see, this *was* – and *was* is a good word – one of his favorite balls. Did I tell you that he learned to play fetch one day last week? He would bring this ball to mom, she would throw it down the hallway and he would retrieve it. Houdini and mom played this game for almost 30 minutes to an hour every night. But now, the toy has went to ball heaven.
But don’t worry, mommy is buying him his very own miniature tennis ball tonight on the way home from her worky place. Houdini will be back up in action playing fetch in no time!
Bashful is still visiting my buddy Speedy in the United Kingdom. He is having the bestest of all time. He’s been hanging out with Pebbles – Speedy’s pet rock friend. They are awesome. And Speedy is still walking his humans on their leash – snorts – that kills me! I absolutely ❤ it!
Speedy took Bashful back to the Cadover Bridge. It is so beautiful there! You gotta check out their story and see the gorgeous pictures. And while you are there, check out Speedy walking his humans – 🙂
There’s plenty of pictures – and you can see Bashful exercising – shocker. Guess he’s got to maintain that physique for the ladies huh? Tell Speedy Bacon sent you over to check out his page.
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.
Dear Bacon – I’ve heard you come from a long line of football players. We know not players per say but footballs themselves – Barks! Well, we gotta game going in our hood all of the time. Next time you are in the area, join us. And don’t worry, we won’t deflate the ball at all. Signed Peyton, Tom, Eli and Brady
Dear Bacon – There was this pot that mom had on the porch. She grows beautiful things in it. So I was thinking that I’m a puppy and maybe for me to grow into something beautiful, I would pot myself. I jumped in and added water. Is it working yet? Signed Puppy Flower
Dear Bacon – Sometimes no matter how small you are, one needs to draw the line. The humans put me in a wine glass. What.were.they.thinking? A wine glass. I’m not a wine glass kind of pup. I think I’m more of an oversized coffee cup kind of pooch. What do you think? Signed Small Barks
Piglove 