But I'm a CUTE Drooly Monster!

I didn't mean to drool on the furniture, really I didn't. What did you expect though? Laura had apple for her dinner.

Specifically, Laura cut up an apple and put it on her dinner plate, all nice and fresh and appley-smelling. Then she proceded to prepare some other food, which she piled onto the same plate. Then she sat down to eat her dinner right in front of me!

Yes, it's true that I had already eaten my kibble. But I LOVE apples! I love them almost as much as I love peanut butter cookies. Laura knows this and she ALWAYS shares her apples with me!

Well, tonight, she sat down with her plate full of food and a tall glasss of minted lemonade and she proceded to sip her drink and eat all of the other food first!

Laura, you see, is of the inclination to save the best until last.

I am more apt to follow the philosophy, "Eat, drink and be merry, for tomorrow... Well, who really cares what happens tomorrow if today there's feasting and drinking and merriment to be had!"

So there was Laura, saving the best until last. And there was I, sitting ever so quietly and trying oh so hard to be good. But that apple looked SO GOOD! And it smelled... Oh!

Finally it came to be time to enjoy that shiny green apple together. It tasted so yummy and I was so happy that Laura is my friend and shares her apples with me -- but Laura wasn't so impressed that a little puddle of drool was left on the futon after our feasting.



I say it serves her right for making me wait for that apple for so long. (And, I know that Laura secretly loves sharing her apples with me, even when she pretends to be grossed out by the aftermath.)

Be Good to Your Body Day

Laura has been making a lot of whiney noises today and walking around the house on all four limbs (which is an improvement over the way she was trying to move last night, let me tell you!)

If you have had a look at The Polyphagous Dragon today, you might think that Laura has been in the kitchen all day, cooking up a storm. In truth, she has been in the kitchen -- but only because that's where her computers are set up.

Laura hasn't cooked any of the things she added to her blog today in ages. She's only been sitting at her computer typing out recipes. Cooking would require Laura's back to be in good shape -- which today it isn't.

(The one thing Laura did "cook" today was a box of soup. I almost got to taste that because Laura had to put the bowl on the floor in order to pour the soup from the box into it before crawling over to the microwave to heat it up!)

I feel badly for Laura's back being poorly, really I do, but the one upside to Laura's being unable to walk today is that I don't have to walk either.

I know that Laura wants me to be strong and healthy -- and walking is good exercise for almost everyone -- but sometimes Laura goes a bit too far. For instance, did you know that Laura's back is messed up because she injured it doing a weight-lifting class FOUR YEARS AGO? She injured her back doing that class. Then, later that day, she went running. The next day, she went running even further. The third day, her back really wasn't feeling good at all, so she ran even further still, then did the weight-lifting class again! After that class, Laura had to call our friend Loretta and ask her to come pick her up, drive her to a drug store to buy painkillers (which Laura NEVER had to take before her back injury) and take her home. Usually, Laura is a very smart person, but she wasn't very smart that week.

So, my message to you all today is this: Do NOT push yourself "way beyond your limits". Going too far isn't anything to be proud of. Going too far is just stupid.

Think it cannot happen to you? Think you're young and strong and invincible? Laura was young and strong and in great shape when she injured her back. She was a regular exerciser who ran with good form and knew how to lift weights properly. And today: Today Laura cannot walk because of a stupid mistake she made four years ago.

Today Laura is also wiser and knows that exercise is something that should be taken in MODERATION. Today Laura knows that you should NEVER EVER push through an injury. (When you work out, your brain releases endogenous opioids and endogenous cannabinoids into your body. These chemicals make you feel good -- but they also block your perception of pain. Not such a good thing when the pain is there to tell you that your body is injured and you should stop doing whatever it is you're doing that's causing your body harm!)

We still hope that Laura didn't learn her lesson too late. We hope that one day her back will forgive her for that mistake she made four years ago. And we hope that you can learn from Laura's mistake now -- before it's too late for you. Exercise moderately for optimal health and well-being, and, when your body needs rest, give it a good one!

Kitchen Helper

Today Laura made guacamole and I helped by helping to wash the dishes after she was done with them.

(I don't want any of you to think that I have stopped being a good helper just because I am a rock star now. I am still a part of a family and I do what I can to help out in whatever way I can - as everyone should, even rock stars!)

Today Laura remembered me while she was cooking and she saved me my piece of pepper. (Yummy, spicy, jalepeño peppers go into Laura's guacamole!)

Kendal's Favourite Cookies

If you've been reading my recent posts, you'll already know that Laura has started a recipe blog so she won't forget her favourite cooking experiments and will always have her recipes available to her, no matter where she is living. Well, she hasn't posted MY favourite recipe yet, so I thought I would post it here, just to be safe.

I like kibble, and I like my Zukes treats. I like sharing apples with my friend Laura and I like to clean her hands after she cuts up mangoes. I like helping my Mum to clean out yogourt pots too. But everyone knows that the best food is food made with love, and my most favourite food of all is a special peanut butter cookie that Laura makes for me.

Laura got the idea for how to make these cookies from MacPherson's K-9 Cookbook - but Laura makes my cookies with 100 percent whole wheat flour because whole grains are better for me and Laura loves me very much and wants me to stay healthy. (If you buy the cookbook though, it comes with three cookie cutters especially shaped for dog biscuits.)

Okay. Here's what you will need to make these cookies:

Ingredients:

• 2 cups whole wheat flour
  
• 1 tablespoon baking powder
  
• 1 cup peanut butter *
  
• 3/4 cup milk
  
• good music **
  
• LOVE

Notes on the Ingredients:

* Make sure you use real peanut butter -- NOT peanut flavoured icing. The only ingredient in peanut butter should be peanuts! All of that extra sugar in the sweetened spreads isn't good for dogs -- and it isn't good for you either!

** Tonight we listened to music by Susie Keynes while Laura was baking. Laura listens to FRUiT music a lot when she is cooking, and also the Wyrd Sisters. I know that you have to listen to Wyrd Sister music when you're making cheesecake, and I think FRUiT music is good for making pies. If you were making pizza and beer, you should probably listen to Allison Brown. Other than that, I think you can pretty much listen to whatever music you like.

And this is how to make the cookies:

Directions:

1. Play the music. If you have musicians visiting you, maybe they can play for you. If not, playing a CD is fine. So long as it is good music that you love. (It's all about the love. Laura says that all good music is a gift of love, therefore you should always listen to it when you are making food for your friends. That way, you are always cooking surrounded by love, and when you're swimming in love, your own love can flow freely. Then, the food that you are creating will be sure to be saturated with love and it will taste better!)

2. Mix the peanut butter and milk together until well blended.

3. Pour the flour and baking powder over the peanut butter mixture. Mix flour and baking powder together before incorporating flour mixture into peanut butter mixture.

(Most cookbooks will tell you to mix the dry ingredients together in a separate bowl first, then add them to the wet ingredients. This makes an extra bowl dirty, however. We have to wash everything that gets used to make these cookies really well, because our friend Rob is allergic to peanuts, but Laura has sensitive skin and I don't want her to get dishpan hands from scrubbing too many dishes, so we try to make as little mess as possible. It is really easy to mix the flour and baking powder together while they are both sitting on top of the peanut butter, so no need to use that extra bowl.)

4. Knead dough well. The warmth from your hands helps to make the dough stick together and also a lot of love can go into the cookies through your hands.

5. Roll the dough out to a thickness of 1 cm. You can use a rolling pin to do this, but you can also flatten and smooth the dough out with your hands. (Fewer dishes & more love if you do it the second way!)

6. Press cookie cutter into dough to cut it.


7. With your fingers, press the dough down firmly into the cookie cutter. This makes sure that the dough is stuck together well and fills the shape of the cookie cutter properly. (Plus, you can squeeze some extra love into the cookie!)


8. Clean off any dough that is stuck around the edges of the cookie cutter, so you will have a nice, perfect, dog-bone shaped cookie.


9. Carefully press the cookie out of the cookie cutter.


10. Again, very carefully, transfer the cookie onto a baking sheet. Be careful not to break it!

11. See all those extra bits of dough that got cut off the outside of the cookie cutter? Don't throw them out! This dough is so easy to work with that, once you have cut up the main sheet, you can pick up those little extra bits and press them into the cookie cutter, using your fingers to mould them into the cookie cutter shape. The last little crumbs of dough might be kind of crumbly -- just use lots of extra love to make them stick together!

12. Bake cookies for 15-20 minutes at 400°F.


13. While the cookies are baking, clean everything that touched the dough -- including the counter on which you rolled out the dough -- really well, so that your allergic friends don't get sick when they come to your next dinner party.

14. When the cookies first come out of the oven, they will smell VERY GOOD -- but you have to wait to eat them! When they first come out of the oven they are HOT and could burn your tongue. Be patient!


15. Once the cookies have cooled, you can enjoy them -- but not too many at once! I only eat one per day. Laura puts them into ziplock bags, seven to a bag, and freezes them. We thaw out one bag per week and I enjoy the cookies in that bag while the rest stay frozen. This helps the cookies to stay fresher so they are always yummy.

These cookies are so good! I hope that every dog will have a friend as good as Laura who will make them for her/him.

Fans

Last night when Laura and I went for our walk, everybody wanted to be near me! All of the children wanted to pet me, and the big people kept saying how beautiful and sweet I am. Then, when we got to the park, there were four other dogs there, all of whom came running the moment they saw me! I had to get Laura to work crowd control for me!

On the way home, a man sitting on the steps of a convenience store tried to flirt with me, and we met the cutest little chocolate labrador puppy who was so excited to meet me, he was beside himself with joy!

I guess word of my rockstardom has spread already because today was more of the same. Even the little dog Bandit, whose family says is so shy she never approaches anyone, came creeping out of her yard as Laura and I approached, ever so quietly, ever so slowly, inching her way towards us to say hello.

I guess my days of quiet, solitary strolls through the park are over.

I'm a Rock Star!

Yesterday, Laura and I went back to Home County for two more concerts.

First, we got to hear more from the Sirens, Twilight Hotel and a new (to me, that is, Laura heard them perform last summer at Summerfolk) band called Dala. Then came the big, exciting, finale:

For the last daytime concert ("workshop", Laura says they are called) of the festival, there was a huge crowd. People were packed in many rows deep, out to the sides all the way between the sidewalk and the vendors' tents, and even wrapped around behind the stage. Laura and I were sitting less than one metre from the stage, and we weren't even the front row! (Laura says that has NEVER happened at a Home County stage before!)

Dala were back onstage again with Andrea Koziol (a performer Laura actually hadn't heard before!), Catherine McInnes (most excellent Artistic Director of Home County), Mae Moore, Tannis Slimmon, and ME!

For real! Tannis invited whoever wanted to go onstage and join her for her last song to do so, so I did!

Lots of people came onstage to sing with us. They were all taller than me, however, and I couldn't reach the microphone, so I danced for everybody instead. (Laura says it is always good to dance, and I knew that Tannis would appreciate dancing because she and Mae danced for one of Andrea's songs earlier in the concert.)

I was such a good dancer that one of the ladies in the audience came down to the front of the stage and asked me if I would dance with her. Of course, I did! (When you are a rock star, it is important to come down off the stage sometimes and dance with your fans!)

Afterwards, everyone was happy with our performance and applauded wildly. Maybe I should plan a tour for next summer. Do you think I would need an agent?

After the concert, Laura wanted to say hello to Tannis, so I finally got to meet her! I have been listening to her music for many years and, it turns out, Tannis has been reading my stories (she said I am a very funny writer!) but we didn't get to meet face to face until yesterday!

(Laura forgot that I had written about Tannis' music before. She told her, no, my Home County blog posts were the only time I had written about her, but Tannis was correct. When Ashton and I published our journal about our Adventures at Camp five years ago, I wrote about all of the music that we danced to at Camp, and Tannis' CD was one of my favourites!)

After we said goodbye to Tannis, and Tannis promised to come back to London and visit us again soon, I got to meet Mae Moore! Laura really likes her music and wanted to thank her for coming out to London and performing at our festival, so I got to meet her too!

It turns out that not only is Mae a wonderful person and musician, but she is smart too! She said that I am a very good dog. She only got to spend two afternoons with me (and they were busy afternoons for Mae, remember, because she had to perform and all both days) but she saw already how good I am!

Mae lives further away from us than Tannis, but I hope that I will get to see her again too!

Now the festival is over and we are back at home. Laura is back to work on her computer and I am resting up after my exciting weekend and stage debut.

Until next time...

Music & Raspberries!

I blogged earlier about how Laura and I harvested all of the cherries from our parents' cherry tree. Well, we've also been harvesting wild raspberries.

There were lots of wild raspberries along the edge of the field where Laura and I used to walk in Blenheim, and our neighbours there have some in their back lot which they let us harvest. I helped Laura to find the best berries and I kept the bugs away from her while she was berry-picking. (I am a good bug catcher!) The best raspberries, however, were from our own garden in London.

Last month, Laura had to take out half of our garden so that people looking to buy our house could see where the car parking was. We were sad about that. Especially because most of what Laura had to remove were wild raspberry canes with lots of blossoms on them.

Our raspberries were a gift from the birds the first summer Laura had this house. We let the rapberry canes grow in our driveway because we don't own a car, and every year they invited more of their friends to move in so that every year Laura harvested more raspberries than the year before. Last year she had enough raspberries from her own garden to make her famous Chocolate Raspberry Cheesecake!

Then, this year: the big cull. Half of our raspberry plants sacrificed to appease potential home buyers with motor cars. But the raspberry patch obviously forgave Laura because this year we harvested 8 cups of raspberries from our own garden!

Laura made a raspberry pie out of some of the raspberries we harvested in Blenheim. The raspberries from our own garden, however, are waiting for our next party (or three!) so they can contribute to cheesecakes again. In the meantime, Laura has been posting some of her raspberry recipes on The Polyphagous Dragon so if you have your own raspberries, you can try some of these yummy recipes out without needing to wait for our next party. (We still don't know when that will be.)

First thing this morning, I helped Laura harvest the last of our raspberries. Then we headed off to the Home County Folk Festival.

Remember how Laura's dragons were always complaining that she never took them to any music concerts? Well, dragons are kind of big and scary and, well, crazy, but I am small and cute and everybody loves me, so I got to go to the music festival with Laura today and hear all kinds of wonderful music!

At the first concert, we heard Tannis Slimmon, Mark Reeves, Mae Moore and Valdy all sing, accompanied by a famous guitar.

I love Tannis' music. Laura has one of her CDs which we listen to all the time. I hope that Laura gets a new job soon so we can buy more CDs though, because Tannis just finished a new CD which we don't have yet, and the other musicians were really good too!

Our friend Allison was at the first concert too. Not playing. Just enjoying the music this weekend like me and Laura. So Laura and I got to sit with her, and I met Allison's Mum & Dad and lots of other people who wanted to come and talk to me (because I am so beautiful and I am a princess, after all).

At the next concert, we got to hear the Sirens (a wonderful London band that Laura has known for a long time) and Sarah Burnell (a Celtic singer & fiddler). Then there was a performance by a cool band called Twilight Hotel. (I really hope that Laura gets a job that pays a LOT of money, because we have a lot of new CDs to buy!)

After the Twilight Hotel concert, I went to get my picture taken with the famous guitar. They wanted lots of people to pose with the guitar to make it even more famous, and I figured a photograph with a princess would be a real boost to that effort. Plus, the lady who was helping to look after the guitar and organize the photo shoot was really nice to me, so I consented to the photo-op.

While I was waiting to have my picture taken (when the guitar people send me the picture, I will post it here so you can all see it) it was very hot. A nice lady came and shared her water with me. (Laura brought water to the festival for us, of course, but Laura's water was all warm by this time and the nice lady had beautiful cool water.) The lady told us all about her dog that helps her to garden, and Laura told her how helpful I am, and I gave her the address of my blog so she can read about my adventures. (Hi Deborah!)

After photos, it was time for more music. This time with Mae and Tannis again (both beautiful, beautiful people - I hope that we can get their new CDs soon!) and Treasa Levasseur. Oh! She was good too! Laura got to hear Mae and Treasa play last summer in Owen Sound, and Tannis she has known for a while and heard many times, but today was my first day hearing any of them live!

For my last concert of the day, the Sirens came back, this time with their friends Tanglefoot. Party time! Tanglefoot were a little bit loud for my sensitive princess ears, but they sure were fun! I didn't understand why none of the people got up to dance (Laura says it is a common failing of London audiences) but when another dog arrived on the scene, I decided to mix it up with him a bit. The other dog didn't want to dance with me, however. He went and hid under some of the sound equipment, and one of the guys in the band made fun of us. (That's okay though. Princesses can laugh too, and Tanglefoot were funny!)

After the other dog declined my dance invitation, a little boy came to play with me. He stroked my ears and scratched my bum and was generally a pretty good kid -- except for when he tried to lie on top of me. (I am a puppy dog, people, NOT a pillow!) He was nice though. So was Tanglefoot's fiddler Sandra. She came down off the stage to talk to me after their set.

After the Sirens/Tanglefoot jam, I went home. It was a hot day, and I have to save some energy so I can greet my adoring fans at the festival again tomorrow. Sure did get to hear some great music today though. Folk festivals are fun!