Friday, September 10, 2010
Coffee, a Muskrat, and Beer
After a morning of visiting wineries and an old lighthouse (posts coming soon) during our northern vacation, we spent the latter part of the day in the city.
First thing we did was find a coffee shop so everyone could have a little afternoon pick-me-up. The place we found was small but unique. They served coffee and desserts that were perfect, penguin-sized portions.
The place was tiny but luckily we were the only ones there so we sat down to enjoy our coffee drinks.
Feeling energized after our coffee, we were ready to take on the town and it’s shops.
We came across a quaint hat store.
From the window we could tell they had some pretty unique hats so we popped in to peruse the merchandise. Mr. Penguin is always on the lookout for new pieces to add to his wardrobe and a fun hat would be just the thing. I think I’d look dapper in a nice fedora. They had penguin hats, but not penguin-sized hats.
We took in some of the architecture since, by this time, most of the stores were closing up; it gave Mr. Penguin a chance to practice his photography skills (I may one day become the Ansel Adams of architecture).
To get back to the car we had to walk over a bridge. We stopped to check out the view...
We saw ducks on one side.
Someone noticed a muskrat in the water. While trying to get a picture of it, a mink scurried across the street, absolutely terrifying the woman. I'm sure those of you who are acquainted with her can visualize this; she is way too jumpy and easily scared. After a few attempts we were finally able to get a photo of the muskrat. Just look at his long, yucky tail.
Ewww. That is one woodland creature I had no desire to befriend. The mink, I’m not sure about; he darted away too quickly to get a decent look at him. Plus, the woman’s shrieks distracted me a bit.
We drove to a microbrewery for dinner. Of course, I had to sample the product.
I couldn’t pick just one so I decided to try them all.
Just look at the fun, penguin-sized glasses they were served in.
I drank them all *hiccup* which was not a good idea.
Remember my tequila incident? Yeah, it was like that again *hiccup*
We debated going to another bar for Irish car bombs, but decided against it; which I think was a wise decision.
I was pretty tipsy at this point so I grabbed a bottle of water and passed out in the car.
Once we arrived back at the house I went straight to bed to sleep it off so I could be ready for the next day’s activities. I'm pleased to report that I was able to wake up the next morning feeling fresh as a daisy.
I have much more to tell about my vacation, but the woman has been really sick lately and unable to take dictation from me. Plus all her medication makes her extra crazy and scatterbrained. But don't worry I won't let her illness affect my blog posting; I will post more as soon as I can.
Friday, September 3, 2010
S'more, Please
We had quite a few campfires during our trip. Having no prior camping nor outdoorsy experience, this was my first encounter with a campfire. At first, I was a bit skeptical about the whole campfire thing, it looked too smoky and hot, not to mention dangerous.
I kept my distance for awhile, looking on from afar, trying to decide if I should approach any closer.
Everyone kept coaxing me to come join them by the fire, insisting I would have a good time. But I was still a bit leery and hesitant of getting any nearer, the flames looked awfully high.
Cautiously, I descended the deck stairs and crept closer to the fire, making my way toward those frightening, massive flames.
Once I decided it was relatively safe, I joined everyone around the fire. It was actually nice, once I warmed up to it.
I was even given a chance to stoke the logs (supervised of course). Boy, the fire sure was hot!
Once I got accustomed to the fire I was able to relax and have a good time hanging out around the fire pit.
Then everyone started roasting marshmallows for s’mores.
I had never tried a s'more because, until this moment, I didn't even know what one was. It looked like a tasty treat and the man explained what went into making a s'more. Mr. Penguin loves chocolate so he was sure he would like s’mores.
It’s tricky to roast the perfect marshmallow. You have to get it just right, golden brown but not burnt. I needed a little help with mine.
Everyone was so busy eating their own s'mores, with sticky, marshmallow fingers that no one thought to capture the moment I took my first bite of a s'more on camera. *Puff* But it's done and over with now. To make it up to me they fed me all the s'mores I could eat.
It was fun but the warm fire, combined with the day’s activity, and a belly full of s’mores made me very sleepy. I crawled up to settle in beside the man and fell fast asleep snuggled up to him. I tried to stay awake but I just couldn't. I can’t help it; I'd had a busy, tiring day and I’m just a little guy.
Wednesday, September 1, 2010
Mr. Penguin Goes on Holiday
So much happened during my vacation I hardly know where to begin. I had hoped to begin blogging about my vacation while on it last week, but that (obviously) didn’t happen. It was hard to find time to blog and tweet because we were always doing something. Also, we didn’t have a very reliable internet connection. There was one spot in the house, the kitchen, we could get a faint internet signal, so we all crowded around the table with our computers.
I knew that if I was unable to start blogging about my trip I would be overwhelmed with tales and pictures when I got home. And I tried to blog, really I did, but was unable to accomplish much other than a few tweets. So now I face the daunting task of sorting through, literally, hundreds of pictures and sharing my stories.
Ok, now let's move on to the good stuff.
I was so excited about our trip that I was up much earlier than I needed to be on the day we left. I couldn’t go back to sleep so I woke up the man and the woman so we could get going. They weren’t too happy about the early hour but eventually they got up and out of bed. We made it to the airport in time to catch an earlier flight to our destination. It was nice not to be rushed because we had arrived at the airport far ahead of our schedule. I was stuffed away in a bag until we arrived at the gate. That wasn't very pleasing to me, as I'm sure you can imagine.
Once there, I was finally allowed out of the backpack to look around and explore. The man showed me where the airplanes took off and landed.
I really wanted to see a plane either take off or land, but there wasn’t much runway activity. I blame it on the early hour, it was definitely not peak travel time.
The plane ride went well; our layover wasn’t too long and we arrived at our destination hours before our original itinerary had us landing.
The house we had rented was in the woods--I mean literally in a forest. At our home in the south we live beside woods, but the area around our house and yard is clear of trees. Here the forest trees surrounded the house and were part of the yard landscape, as you can see in the following photos:
 |  |
I was delighted to find our house was next to the Teddy Bear Den. I thought I would be able to make a new, northern friend.
Unfortunately, the friend wasn’t real, he was just a wooden bear cutout.
Oh well, maybe it’s for the best. I was only there for a week. Had I made any new friends I don’t know when I would be back to see them.
I had a great week and it was nice to have so many people around to lavish me with the love and attention I deserve. It was nice to be included in the plans, see the sights, and pose for pictures. My gardening career may be stagnant but my modeling career is definitely taking off.
Everywhere we traveled I was surrounded by my entourage--a stylist/wardrobe person, photographer, art/set director, creative consultant, and assistants. I can't wait to share more photographs with you. I know my friends and fans are anxious to hear more about my adventures up north and I will hopefully get another post up soon.
Saturday, August 21, 2010
All Packed and Ready to Go
Our last guest left early this morning. Mr. Penguin was sad to see our visitors go. We had a good week and it went by much too fast.
Tomorrow I leave with the man and the woman for our flight up north. Mr. Penguin is looking forward to cooler temperatures, no humidity, and sunny skies.
I got some new vacation clothes. I wanted to have a fashion show but there was no time for it because we had to pack up. I got a hoodie, 2 new shirts, an ascot and a hat. Be on the lookout, my new outfits will be appearing in coming post photos.
I’d like to write more, but there no time, we have so much to do to prepare for our departure tomorrow.
Saturday, August 7, 2010
Rolling Out the Welcome Mat
Part of this week and next we will be hosting some out of town visitors. Mr. Penguin has been helping the woman clean and get the place ready for our guests. There is lots of work to be done, such as...
...dusting....
...sweeping....
...mopping....
...and folding laundry.
All that work has left Mr. Penguin very exhausted.
I’m very excited because one guest is an honest-to-goodness writer, with degrees and everything. Mr. Penguin has had no formal training in writing, a fact I’m sure my readers are well aware of. My head is always so full of thoughts and ideas that sometimes I have trouble expressing them in writing; my flippers just can’t keep up the rapid pace at which my mind runs. I’m hoping to have an impromptu writing workshop in order to pick up some writing tips since I have never attended school.
Also, the man informed me that after our guests leave we are going to take a trip way, way up north. We get to have a week-long vacation. This will mark the longest time ever Mr. Penguin has been away from home and I’m looking forward to it. The man has been telling me about all the fun things there are to do up north; so many adventure opportunities it makes my head spin. And, if I’m a good penguin while hosting our guests, I have been promised new clothes for vacation. Mr. Penguin is so excited he could just burst! I’m definitely going to be on my best behavior for the next two weeks.
Sunday, July 25, 2010
Lumberjacks
We have been experiencing pretty severe thunderstorms recently. Last weekend the wind picked up so much that it knocked down a huge branch from one the trees. Of course I had to go outside to investigate; I needed to make sure my garden wasn’t harmed. Luckily, the branch did not land on the house, nor a car, nor my garden; it’s far enough away that it just fell in the yard without damaging anything except the tree.
The fallen branch obviously required the job of a lumberjack. I decided to take on this task. I went inside to change into my flannel shirt (in order to do the job of a lumberjack, I needed to looked the part).
The woman would obviously be no help to me since she is sick and weak. Clearly, this was a job for the man, assisted--er rather supervised--of course, by yours truly.
After rummaging around the garage, we managed to find a saw and some big pruning shears. The man climbed up into the tree and I tossed up some string. Once the man had his end, I tied the saw to my end…
...and the man was able to pull it up using his end of the string.
Once I was satisfied the man had the tools he needed,
I scampered away to oversee the project. I did not want anything hitting me on the head while the man sawed off the branch, so I went to sit on the nearby wall, which provided a safe distance away from the peril of falling tree branches.
This spot also provided me with a perfect place to supervise from and dictate any orders I felt necessary to the success of the project.
Petey, hearing all the commotion, felt he needed to come check things out. He was more of a hindrance than a help.
It didn’t take too long for the man to saw through the branch. Once it was disconnected from the tree it was time to pull it down.
It was really hot out, so I told the man to take a break while I pulled the rest of the branch down.
Then, it was time to prune off some of the smaller branches.
Once that was complete, we lifted up the branch…
…and hauled it away.
I have to admit we did a remarkable job. Mr. Penguin is very proud of himself and the man on a job well done. Was it smart to take on this project in the middle of a day where temperatures were in the 100's and there was a heat advisory in effect? Probably not, but we’re men--we do what we want and do it well.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
Posts
