I didn't want to put the four letter word "snow" in the title, but we did see some today. On public radio, they described the weather as "icky". They were right. We stayed inside and rested for your homecoming tomorrow. As you can see I was helping Aunt Kathy read her book. She is going to be really lonely after tomorrow.
Aunt Kathy and Uncle Steve are curious why I am such a good helper in the kitchen. They noticed that when anyone is at the kitchen counter, that I am right there to help them clean up the floor. Uncle Steve was thinking that somebody in our household drops a lot of stuff on the floor given how persistent I am at begging for food. I told him it has only happened once or twice, but I do not want to miss out on a extra meal. I think I would make a good hobbit. Second breakfast, second lunch, and second dinner sound like really good ideas.
I wondered if Uncle Steve was ever going to get home to help me with the blog. He left for a computer class early this morning. Then Aunt Kathy went to work at a pancake breakfast for her school. When she got home, she worked outside in the yard. Uncle Steve got home and they left to go have dinner with friends from college, and then went to a marching band show. I finally just sat in the blog chair and waited until Uncle Steve could help me write something.
When they got home from their evening out, I had given up on them and went to bed. Aunt Kathy came in and picked me up to wake me up. I didn't appreciate her laughing so hard. I think someone is going to get a cold nose in the ear at 3:00 a.m.!!!
Glad to hear you are having a good time. Uncle Steve sent you an E-mail with his cell phone number. He was worried about how many phone calls he might get if he put his cell phone number on my web page. Thousands of people probably check this site out daily, and he could have that many people calling his phone. Actually just a few of his students might be a problem.
Uncle Steve got home in time today to take me for a nice walk around Wolfe Park. Nothing too far, but plenty of birds, squirrels, and rabbits to chase. I even chased a cat off. Uncle Steve was going to help me chase the cat, but he was afraid he would hurt his bad leg. He said he can run pretty fast if it involves chasing a cat.
You can see here that I not only lap hop, but I bed hop too. This is a pretty comfy bed, and I can see out the back window.
Your trip just sounds neater with each description. Sometimes PBS has specials with European orchestras, so Uncle Steve has seen some of the concerts that you were describing. He sounded kind of jealous.
Uncle Steve says just call when you get home. They go to bed early, but Uncle Steve never gets to sleep until midnight at the earliest. Just call his cell phone so you don't bother Aunt Kathy. However, did you ever think that you might have to wake me up?
Uncle Steve had me do some more tricks for today's video. He doesn't make me work very hard for the treat. (I trained him that way!)
Just when Uncle Steve got his camera out to take my picture, I got this itch that I could not reach. It wasn't very lady like, but it produced this rather interesting video:
OK, so I look sort of silly. You've been gone a long time, and we are running out of stuff to video!!!
Uncle Steve did get this sort of cute picture of me on my favorite couch. I spend most of the day here guarding the front yard. After Uncle Steve leaves in the morning, somebody drops off a paper at the front door. I let them know, in no uncertain terms, that Aunt Kathy does not want to be disturbed at that hour. She is trying to get in those last precious few minutes of sleep before she has to get up, and no one should be bothering her. She doesn't seem to appreciate my efforts. All I ever hear from her is to stop barking. Doesn't she understand that the barking is for her benefit?
Aunt Kathy and Uncle Steve are pretty jealous about all the great music that you are getting to hear. The food doesn't sound too bad either.
It rained almost all day long!!! No walk for Speck. Quick trips outside for Speck. Dull day for Speck. Once everybody got home, I did some serious lap hopping. As you can see, I was pretty bored. I didn't even try to kill the teddy bear behind me.
Uncle Steve was watching something on the computer that he was laughing at, but I came upstairs real quick and let him know that I did not like the sound of that barking. I think he intends to watch it once I'm back home.
I hope the weather clears tomorrow so I can get some more action.
Well, I can tell that Dad is having a good time! Is it Christmas time in Germany? Actually, Aunt Kathy and Uncle Steve think they have been to that same Christmas shop. They told me it was Christmas time year round in that store.
Your descriptions of the food is making me really hungry. Also, since Aunt Kathy and Uncle Steve grew up in Iowa, they are used to eating just about anything that comes from a pig. However, the special dessert at your hotel sounded the best.
It was another quiet day here. Aunt Kathy had dinner with somes friends. She told me it was her ya-ya group. She didn't leave with a funny hat on though. Uncle Steve worked until 6:00 tonight, so I had a late dinner. When he got back from buying his dinner, I put him through a few paces of doing tricks. He thinks I did the tricks, but who got the food? Here's a movie and picture of how cute I am (in case you were about to forget!)
When are you guys coming home. Uncle Steve has a meeting on Saturday from 8:30 to 3:30, and then Aunt Kathy and Uncle Steve are going to go watch a marching band competition on Saturday night. They want to make sure I get delivered back to you as soon as possible, because they know how much you miss me. (You do miss me don't you?)
It was a nice quiet day at Camp Speck. Aunt Kathy and Uncle Steve went to work so I could get some sleep. They are dear people, but entertaining them takes a lot of energy. Uncle Steve got home about 3:30 and we went for a normal walk around Wolfe Lake. Then they both went to work out, and let me get some more rest.
Tonight Uncle Steve tried to get me to chase the pig, but I was not interested. So I just barked at him. We will settle him to serious lap time after dinner.
Sounds like your trip is just getting better and better. The castle pictures look really neat. If you don't like the chestnuts, bring the home. I won't mind eating them at all.
Uncle Steve thought you would like to see another movie of me barking. We are trying to figure out what else we can take movies of for you.
Another video without me! The wind picked up today and the waves on the lake were pretty spectacular (no pun intended, but it is a good one!), so I let Uncle Steve start out with this video. It was sort of overcast, so we spent the morning watching the lake, and having breakfast. There were too many clouds to repeat yesterday's awesome sunrise. We left Bluefin at about 11:15. I then spent the next five hours in Aunt Kathy's lap. She thought it was sort of silly that I slept the first 10 minutes, slept the last 10 minutes, and squiggled in between. She is also very persistent. I cannot count the number of times she told me to sit down. Like I listen to anybody!!!! We did finally get home. This is me at the top of the steps, wondering what is going on downstairs. They kept me so quite all weekend I feel the real need to bark, a lot. So I am. What fun!!!
Your trip just continue to sound neater and neater. I like the part about all the food. Uncle Steve's favorite was the Jaegger Schnitzel. It is a pork cutlett with some kind of mushroom sauce. It is usuaaly served with warm beets and spaetzel. Sounds yummy. I trained the clerks at Bluefin to give me treats. There was one in particular who would have fed me the whole bucket if Aunt Kathy hadn't been there to stop her.
I think I will be sleeping a lot tomorrow. I wondering how Aunt Kathy and Uncle Steve recover from the long trip that they take to relax.
I can't believe I am putting a picture on my blog that doesn't include me, but this sunrise was so beautiful that it seemed like a good idea. One advantage of getting Uncle Steve up so early is that he can take all these pictures of the sunrise. He took over a half a dozen, but I made him pick the best one. This is the view right outside our window. Not too shabby!!!
Aunt Kathy had a massage today, so Uncle Steve took me for a long walk. We walked for 30 minutes towards the state park, and then turned around and came back before Aunt Kathy was finished with her pampering.
We had a quick lunch and then drove up to Grand Marais. There was Moose Madness at Grand Marais today. I even got to ride a moose. I am not kidding. Look at the picture. Aunt Kathy got some kettle corn, and Uncle Steve had pizza from Ole and Sven's. It seems like a funny name for a pizza place, but Uncle Steve seemed to be smiling from ear to ear. On the way back to Blue Fin I actually fell asleep in the car. I have been trying to fight it off, because there is so much to see. However, there were so many people in Grand Marais that told me how cute I was, it took a lot of energy to entertain them all. It's the price you have to pay for just being so darned cute!!!
When we got back Aunt Kathy was reading and looking out the upstairs window. Uncle Steve was reading and looking out the downstairs window. I spent the entire afternoon lap hopping, and sleeping. It's a rough life, but somebody has to make the sacrifices to keep them both happy.
Uncle Steve took a movie of me hunting just outside our deck. Pretty darn cute, aren't I?
Everything thing is coming out just fine, now. I was pretty excited about all the neat, new stuff. When we first got here, and Aunt Kathy opened the door, my nose started sniffing and it hasn't stopped in 3 days. It just feels like a different world up here. I did sleep a little bit yesterday, but not for long. I don't want to miss a single thing.
Good to hear from you again. I will have more pictures later.
I haven't done my duty outside today, and Uncle Steve and Aunt Kathy want to know if that has ever happened before. Uncle Steve is trying to stop me, but the leaves up here are awfully tasting. So I spend my time eating leaves, instead of taking care of business, as Uncle Steve puts in. They are wondering how long I can go between bowel movements before they should get worried?
I wonder if the people who invented the Internet knew that it would be used to answer questions like this?
From the bedroom upstairs the view of the lake makes me feel like the Queen of the Lake. You can see forever! And don't I just look like a queen! (Why did Uncle Steve snicker?)
Aunt Kathy and Uncle Steve spent most of the day reading and looking at the lake, so I took turns keeping their laps warm. They walked over to the cafe and got take-out to eat in the room. You wouldn't believe how quick Aunt Kathy is! I saw the edge of the napkin over the edge of the table. I knew that if I reached up and pulled the napkin down there would probably be something good to eat on the floor. However, Aunt Kathy was just too quick. She said she was going to tell on me, so I thought I had better confess first.
Aunt Kathy got over that pretty quick, because she took me for a walk later in the afternoon. Uncle Steve took this movie from the upstairs bedroom window. This is my favorite area. It is right between the room and the lake. There is about 10 yards of grass, and then nothing but rocks down to the lake. You can see the rocks right behind Aunt Kathy. They were both surprised what a good rock climber I am.
Uncle Steve did something kind of strange last night. He put a bunch of wood in a hole in the wall and set in on fire! I thought he had lost his mind. It looked like he was going to set the whole room on fire. He must have known what he was doing, because the fire just stayed in the hole in the wall. In fact the whole room got nice and toasty warm. I laid down in front of the hole in the wall, and it was quite comfortable.
I bet you are still having a good time on your trip. We figured out that you are about 7 hours ahead of our time. Hopefully, you are getting a good night's sleep as I write this.
You will not believe where Aunt Kathy and Uncle Steve have taken me. We drove for 5 hours and got to the biggest lake I have ever seen in my life. The shore is all rocks, and the waves are gigantic. I knew something was up when we started packing suitcases this morning. Then when I saw my backpack being loaded up, I just about went ballistic! The trip up was so exciting I just couldn't fall asleep. Aunt Kathy said I was really relaxed, and my eyes were making really big blinks, but I was not going to miss anything. Well, I did miss the last ten minutes before we got to the lake.
Once I saw where we were staying though, I woke right up. I tried to explore everything at once. Once we were unpacked, we went for a walk along the lake. That is where these pictures were taken. There is a smell in the air here that I have never smelled before. I think my nose is going to be really worn out. Uncle Steve put me up in this boat so I could feel like a sailor. However, I don't think I want to be on the water. Those waves are just too big. Uncle Steve was behind us taking this movie. He says he is sorry that it shakes so much, but it is just a little camera, and he is such a big guy!!!
Your trip just sounds neater and neater. Uncle Steve and Aunt Kathy remember the Rhine River. Uncle Steve thinks it looks a lot like the Mississippi River down by Dubuque, IA., however the people are easier to understand in Iowa. (Almost!)
OK, Uncle Steve finally stopped drinking that yucky stuff, and everything came out OK, in more than one way. He and Aunt Kathy seemed very happy. However, they were so happy that they were not at home paying attention to me! Uncle Steve leaves at the ungodly hour of 5:30 am, so he keeps waking me up at 5:00 am. Mom, didn't you tell him that I like to sleep late? Aunt Kathy leaves by 6:30, so I am home alone too much! Ok, I do sleep most of the time they're gone, so I don't really know how much they are gone, but complaining just seemed like the normal thing to do. Aunt Kathy came home twice to let me out and feed me, but then Uncle Steve did not get home until 9:00. He was taking some speech class at the Guthrie. Does he know I only understand about 100 words? (Am I a smart dog or what?) Aunt Kathy was at a concert at Orchestra Hall, and she isn't home yet. For old people, they sure keep a busy schedule!
Your trip sounds spectacular. Are you two the king and queen of the castle? What part of Germany are you in now? Uncle Steve tried to teach me some German. He said the "Schlet Hunt" meant bad dog. He said that was just for their schaunzer named Schntizel. He couldn't possibly be talking about me.
Uncle Steve had me bark so you could see how lonely and angry I was. Pretty good actress, aren't I?
I was so excited. Uncle Steve stayed home with me today. I thought I was going to get some quality lap time. It started out alright, but then he has to go to the kitchen every 15 minutes to get a drink out of this 4 liter jug. 15 minutes is barely enough time to settle in. Then after that Uncle Steve spends an awful lot of time in the bathroom! I gave up on him and settled onto the couch in the living room. It was kind of fun to watch Uncle Steve fly up and down the stairs so he could drink that stuff in the refrigerator and then go to the bathroom. If I were him, I wouldn't buy any more of that stuff. It doesn't seem to agree with him.
Hope you had a nice trip over. Make sure to eat lots of brautworst for me.
