Today is National Pretzel Day – what a way to celebrate pretzels of all shapes and sizes. How do you like your pretzels? Straight, twisted, hard, soft, thick or thin? Then think of all the different flavors you can get – cinnamon, raisin, salted, sesame, chocolate, jalapeno, bacon wrapped, stuffed with peanut butter, sour dough – served with mustard or cheese? AND let’s not forget about pretzel wrapped hot dogs – mmm. Do you eat them straight out of the bag or do you prepare your own and bake them in the oven?
Pretzels are believed to be the world’s oldest snack and date back as far as 610 AD in Southern France. Monks baked thin strips of dough into the shape of a child’s arms folded in prayer. Add a little salt, and Voila! …the pretzel industry was born.
Pretzels also symbolize good fortune, bringing prosperity and spiritual wholeness with every bite. Wedding couples fell into the practice of breaking a pretzel, much like one might break a wishbone on Thanksgiving. The person with the larger piece was assured domestic happiness. The pretzel, over time, came to symbolize the “tying of the marriage knot.”
Guess who came home from visiting my brother Phenny in France?! That would be Bashful, my pet rock. Squeals! Some of the stories he told – oh my piggy heavens. He had such a blast visiting Phenny – and getting in trouble and spending some time on his time out rug – snorts with piggy laughter. He arrived Thursday night here at the Hotel Thompson with some wonderful gifts that kept him company on his way home.
❤
And of course, he brought home a friend! Meet Brittany who is a little bit of rock and roll – all the way from France. Let me tell you friends, she has a voice on her and has been singing non-stop. I need to be careful with this one. The next thing I’ll know is she will be starting her own Rock Group here at the Hotel Thompson with some pebble back up singers.
So everyone – let’s welcome Brittany to the blogs and my growing rock collection. ❤
And huge THANK YOU for Phenny and his staff for hosting my little tyke Bashful. Thanks so much brother!!
OMP (oh my pig!) Can you believe that it’s been FOUR years since Bashful came to live with me here at the Hotel Thompson? This is him all snuggled in transport the first time that I saw him – aaww. Wasn’t he all cute and innocent in his straw bed?
And to think of all of the places he has been in the world? He’s going to need extra pages in his passport book soon ❤
So, today, let’s all wish our little international rolling stone a huge HAPPY BIRTHDAY!
Oh friends – be sure to check out brother Phenny’s latest escapades with Bashful. Boy, I wish the store was open on their adventure – I’m hungry! XOXO – Bacon
guess what? on sunday Bashful and me felt howly somehow… so we decided to go to a monastery…
…butt furst we walked through a forest…
… there were so much new smells to discover and my nose had an all you can smell party…
….there were peemails written by a fox… it said ring-ding-ding… and wa-papapapa-pow… makes no sense to me…
…then my dad disappeared from the photo, because he stepped in a hole, the only one in that whole forest and then he was huffy, because the mama laughed at him…
…but Bashful had mercy and invited the wounded warrior for a short rest…
… while we pondered if we should call an ambulance or Lassie&Benji…
…fortunately my dad is a mollycoddle trooper, he needed no amputation nor a cast …
…and so we waddled on and followed the arrows to da abbey…
Welcome my friends to 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 series!
What were your first thoughts when you met your new parents? Honestly? I thought they are strange somehow. While they waited for me, the woman (aka the mama) had one of the Sphinx cats of my breeder on her shoulder and awwed and ohhhed how beautiful that cats are. The man (aka the da)d played with the old bull terrier lady of my breeder and they both were so distracted that I had to bark before they noticed me.
What was the defining moment when you knew you were in your forever home? As I wrote my name on the floor… and on the bed, the carpet, the car, the chair and the sofa…then my ink tank was empty but I made enough things to my own to call it my home, right?
What has been your biggest “Oh no, now I’ve done it” moment so far in your home? As I bit my dad in his sniffer, he screamed like a girl and that was a shocking moment for me, I tell ya… I mean a 6’11” – guy with a voice like Barbie? That is scary.
Who do you have wrapped around your paws more – mom or dad – and why? My Dad. He is so fabulous in-consequent… so a lot of impossible things are possible. I only have to wait till he is distracted with torturing the keyboard :o) Butt mostly I’m a mom-boy, I stick on her like glue. I sleep on her head and I’m always with her… even in the bathroom.
What’s the biggest misconception that humans think about you? They think I’m a baby. Well, technically I am a baby…but I’m a Weimaraner and a Virgo, so there is no reason to turn into a howl-i-copter… and there is no reason to park the Weimaraner on the pad of shame… just saying…
Hope you enjoyed meeting my friend – check back next week for another Spotlight edition!
Our hearts are so broken here at the Hotel Thompson this morning. We woke up to hear about the passing of our beloved brother Easy. Please friends, join us in lighting a candle and sending massive hogs and snout kisses to Easy’s parents during this time. Our hearts go out to them ❤
Hello ghostly friends. Today we have a guest submission. This is from my brother Easy across the pond. And what a delicious hands on tale with pictures. I do so hope you enjoy it. Try not to shake too much.
The Legends of the Mont’s d’ Arree
Located in the middle of Finisterre, the Monts d’ Arree are the natural border between north and south of Finisterre. This area is the bretagne bretonnante, the heart of Brittany.
And the time stands still there… literally, you can google it, with all our modern stuff, satellites, radio masts and whatnot, here NO cell phone works. The area is occupied by goblins, druids and some creatures of the darkness.
At night the stone carvings of Ankou, the death, come back to life and therefore all hikers and wanderers avoid the abandoned buildings you can find even in the darkest forest and far away from civilization.
If you enter such a house, you never will leave it… even when you run like the wind or a Weimaraner… just saying.
There also is one of the sneakiest bogs, the Yeun-Elez. Legend has it that the devil hid his treasures once there and those who want to get rich will die trying. The Prince of Darkness will grab the gold diggers by their legs and he will drag them into eternal darkness. Even the entrance to hell, Youdig, is here in this bog….butt no worries, the devil is not at home he is on the way to Lac St. Michel where another creature of the night lures for fresh victims.
Do you wonder why there is foam on the water? That’s because the lake is the playground of the Kannerezed Noz, the washer women of the night. They come out at night to wash the burial garments of recently passed people.
If you meet them, you have to wash the garments with them till dawn… if you can’t stand this they will break your arms and throw you in the lake.
Every year around Howl-o-ween, the druids come to this places to celebrate their annual samhain and a lot of people of the Gorsedds of Bards from Wales, Awens of Cornwall or Scotland or the Goursez Breizh visit this area for their rituals and it is common here to see people in white, blue, red or green robes who wander through the bog or the mountains. We don’t laugh at them. We greet them and leave them alone. You never know where humbug ends and magic begins…. specially here… tout commence à finisterre.
Oh sweet friends I’m so excited. Last night when mom *finally* got home from work (which is another story all in itself), she had a package in her hands. AND said package was made out to me – the oinkermaster. I was so thrilled and excited. I was running around oinking.
Mom knew I was excited. I guess that’s why she tortured had to change her work clothes first before the unwrapping.
Squeals with piggy excitement! When she unwrapped the box and took out the contents, I had to roll around on the floor snorting and having a great time. It was awesome. Why? You see the package was from my brother Easy across the pond.
I have to tell you something my friends. He is like the bestest brother evah! Not only did he remember my birthday, Houdini’s birthday and earlier Hemi’s birthday, he remembered mom/dad’s anniversary that is coming up in a couple of weeks ❤ I tell you that touched all of our hearts with the love he sent our way yesterday. Brother you and your staff are the tops!
And I have VIDEOS! First I have to show you a little toy that Easy sent to Houdini. It’s a little toy from of course Toy Story – snorts with piggy laughter. The irony in that – a toy from Toy Story. Well, it’s cute as a button. Houdini absolutely loved it. AND mom took a video of giving the little tyke his toy. See video 1.
Video 1
Then mom continued in the box and found another present. A special present that we adored. Daddy swiftly inserted batteries and mom found a special place for Pinky (that’s what we named him) on our book shelves in the front room. This way we can constantly see Pinky and think of our friends. Now Pinky is motioned sensor. Mom took a video of him too. And wait for the ending… you might hear some snorting. See video 2.
UPDATE! Dad got up this morning and fed all of us while mom was getting ready for work. After Houdini got done eating his breakfast, he decided to put all of his training from Easy to work. Well friends, I think Houdini has learned from the best. What do you think? I hope this makes you proud Easy! Yep, that was the toy from Toy Story. It blew up all over mom’s ottoman. Snorts with piggy laughter!
Today is National Pretzel Day – what a way to celebrate pretzels of all shapes and sizes. How do you like your pretzels? Straight, twisted, hard, soft, thick or thin? Then think of all the different flavors you can get – cinnamon, raisin, salted, sesame, chocolate, jalapeno, bacon wrapped, stuffed with peanut butter, sour dough – served with mustard or cheese? AND let’s not forget about pretzel wrapped hot dogs – mmm. Do you eat them straight out of the bag or do you prepare your own and bake them in the oven?
Pretzels are believed to be the world’s oldest snack and date back as far as 610 AD in Southern France. Monks baked thin strips of dough into the shape of a child’s arms folded in prayer. Add a little salt, and Voila! …the pretzel industry was born.
Pretzels also symbolize good fortune, bringing prosperity and spiritual wholeness with every bite. Wedding couples fell into the practice of breaking a pretzel, much like one might break a wishbone on Thanksgiving. The person with the larger piece was assured domestic happiness. The pretzel, over time, came to symbolize the “tying of the marriage knot.”
Yawns. What was that noise? What woke me up? I lay here in my bed and stretch. Oh my – either my legs are getting longer or my bed is getting smaller. What is up with that. Surely I can’t still be growing.
Oh yeah…what woke me up? I opened one eye and looked around. It’s still dark in here. Surely it was just my imagination. That’s when something strange happened. I had this strong urge – kind of like an internal clock ticking to wake up mom for breakfast. What? When did that start happening? The urge was strong too. I opened the other eye, sat up and stretched. Okay – this has to be a dream. Where the heck am I? I let my eyes adjust to the darkness and looked around. No wonder my feet kept hitting the bottom of the bed. What is this – a toddler bed? Where am I? This is not my bedroom. I look over at a wall – what does that say? It’s a picture of a pig wearing cow house shoes and states “Moo Shoe Pork Palace”. Que diable?!
Again, the strong urge to wake up mom. I don’t wake up mom like this, especially before the birds start singing and it’s still dark outside. But for some reason the pull is strong to my bedroom door. That’s when something so weird happened. I opened my mouth to bark and it didn’t happen. Instead of a bark it was a squeal and an oink?! What in the world!
A few minutes later, my bedroom door opened and I heard a voice say, “Thanks Bacon, time for breakfast.” Okay, something weird is going on. First, a cheerful voice telling me it’s breakfast time? But the voice called me Bacon… then again who cares because they mentioned food.
I take off down the hallway and stop in my tracks. What? Where are my stairs? There’s nothing here but a long hallway. I go into the living room and look around but my nose tells me there is food coming from the kitchen. I poke my head into the kitchen and walk through sniffing. That’s when the voice tells me, “Hey Sunshine.” I tell you, I had to look around. Who is Sunshine? I’m Easy. That’s when the voice puts down an amazing looking array of food – eggs? Oh yeah – I like this room service. Eggs with spinach and some kind of nuggets. I quickly snarfed it down and looked up. Now to think of it, the call of nature is like calling big time. I was at the point of crossing my legs by this time. Can’t this woman see the whites in my eyes floating? I need to use the facilities BIG time. I walk through the kitchen and see the back door. I brush up against it and plead to this woman. Finally she gets the drift. “Oh Bacon, you want to go out and play this early?” No woman – I need to PEE – let me out – let me out – let the weimaraner out!
I run out the back door and almost fell down the stairs of the porch. Where am I? This isn’t my backyard. Although it does look magical – what is that over in the corner? Is that a squirrel? I gotta go meet him and I take off running towards him. Can you believe the guy doesn’t move. It’s like he knows me or something. He even talked! “Hey Bacon, how’s it going this morning?” Who is this squirrel? Before I could say anything he further said, “Well have a great day pig, I gotta go work on some important holidays for your blog.” What? Who does he think is, Journalist Rocky the Squirrel – barks atcha my friend.
A talking squirrel – now I’ve seen everything. I shook myself, marked some territory and went back to the door. What the heck did I eat last night to give me these illusions? Those mushrooms had to be psychedelic mushrooms – yeah that’s it. Remind me to never eat those again – ever!
I went back inside and the woman said, “Time for snuggle time” and kept looking at me. What? You think I’m a trained pup or something? Darn this body – where are these guttural movements coming from? Before I could stop myself, I jumped up in this woman’s lap and started oinking. Shaking my head. I gotta stop eating after 8pm. It definitely had to be the mushrooms last night?
After a while, she said she had to go to work and did I want my television on in my bedroom? What a television all to myself in a room all to myself. You have got to be kidding. Now this part of the nightmare I could get used to… snorts – I mean barks. I gotta get my barky thing checked out. I’m going back to bed.
Something is definitely wrong.
But before I could go back to bed, this man appeared all magically delicious and said, “Hey Bacon, you want a snack?” What? I tell you at least my dreams have great room service. The man gives me this piggy plate full of goodies.
Okay – what is up with this? I mean there’s all kinds of bacon and piggy stuff. Sure I know my brother across the pond but why give this kind of stuff to the weimaraner?
If anyone figures out this freaky stuff, please let me know okay and thanks!
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.
f the sneakiest bogs, the Yeun-Elez. Legend has it that the devil hid his treasures once there and those who want to get rich will die trying. The Prince of Darkness will grab the gold diggers by their legs and he will drag them into eternal darkness. Even the entrance to hell, Youdig, is here in this bog….butt no worries, the devil is not at home he is on the way to Lac St. Michel where another creature of the night lures for fresh victims.
nd Howl-o-ween, the druids come to this places to celebrate their annual samhain and a lot of people of the Gorsedds of Bards from Wales, Awens of Cornwall or Scotland or the Goursez Breizh visit this area for their rituals and it is common here to see people in white, blue, red or green robes who wander through the bog or the mountains. We don’t laugh at them. We greet them and leave them alone. You never know where humbug ends and magic begins…. specially here… tout commence à finisterre.
Oh sweet friends I’m so excited. Last night when mom *finally* got home from work (which is another story all in itself), she had a package in her hands. AND said package was made out to me – the oinkermaster. I was so thrilled and excited. I was running around oinking.
I take off down the hallway and stop in my tracks. What? Where are my stairs? There’s nothing here but a long hallway. I go into the living room and look around but my nose tells me there is food coming from the kitchen. I poke my head into the kitchen and walk through sniffing. That’s when the voice tells me, “Hey Sunshine.” I tell you, I had to look around. Who is Sunshine? I’m 
After a while, she said she had to go to work and did I want my television on in my bedroom? What a television all to myself in a room all to myself. You have got to be kidding. Now this part of the nightmare I could get used to… snorts – I mean barks. I gotta get my barky thing checked out. I’m going back to bed.
Piglove 