SURVIVOR is on again

It's Mom and my second favorite show. Our favorite show is Amazing Race and that starts TOMORROW. YAY. You can bet I'm on Mom's lap watching BOTH of them. Here I am watching Survivor on Thursday.

Oliver and the new door

Well, Mom and I knew it would happen. Oliver and stray cat "Buddy", facing off at the new door. Mom feeds Buddy just outside the door and now Oliver stares at him and watches him eat. And when he's finished eating, Buddy comes and stares at Oliver.

I got a new door!

Mom bought me a new door! YAY. I had to jump really really high to see out the windows in our old door, but now I don't have to jump at all! The new door has windows that are all the way down by the floor. I will really like this new door.

Mom said she'll really like the new door too, because instead of barking when I "think" someone is here, I can run and look outside and see if anyone's here before I bark! Not that I bark a lot. Just sometimes. When I think someone is here...

Oliver likes the new door too. Now he can watch for our stray cat Buddy, who Mom has been feeding for the past year. Oliver doesn't like Buddy and Buddy doesn't like Oliver. He likes to come and sit outside the windows and watch Oliver because he knows Oliver can't get outside. Mom says he's tormenting Oliver. Just like the squirrels at Tahquamenon Falls Campground tormented me. I don't like squirrels. They're sassy-mouths.

We still have to finish the trim on the new door but its a job well done. We'd hoped to work on our Scotty this weekend, but that's probably not gonna happen.

I crossed the Mighty Mac

And went camping. FOUR days in the UP (that's Upper Peninsula for you folks who don't live in Michigan). We camped at the River Mouth Campground of the Tahquamenon Falls State Park. Aunt Dawn and Amy and Emma camped next to us. We saved a spot by Aunt Dawn for Uncle Eric and Aunt Nicole but they thought we were at the Lower Falls Campground and they camped there instead.

I got to eat a Yooper double-cheeseburger from McDonalds. And hey, they can make them just as good as the trolls (that's anyone in the lower peninsula, i.e. under the bridge) can! That gave me enough stamina for the hike up to the Upper Falls.

The trip wasn't all work though. Emma, Amy and I had a little party of our own. Boy were Mom and Aunt Dawn surprised! ;-)

Cousin Beth and Cousin Charles are HERE!

Cousin Beth, who just graduated from Ohio State came to visit with Cousin Charles. It was good to see them again but I was afraid of Cousin Charles (again) at first. He's so big and he's very handsome.

Mom worked all day on getting the Boler ready for our trip. She got the bed made and the couch all set up and okay, it's cute and I like it. And the bed is comfy and the blankets are soft. I think I'm going to have fun. I just hope crossing the Mighty Mac isn't scary.

Muddy Dog Roasted Corn Grits

YUM-O. We discovered Muddy Dog Coffee when we flew to Raleigh to visit Aunt DeeAnn. Since we visited, Muddy Dog has added Roasted Corn Grits! We love grits so of course we had to try them. They are the BEST. Mom's ordered seven pounds of them so far, because we're mailing them to other people to try too, not because Mom and I are eating *that* many of them. This morning though, I cooked some for Mom before she starts working on the Boler, the '69 Scotty and the '59 Scotty. Wow, Mom's BUSY.

I cook them in the microwave in fat-free half and half. Then I add some butter and some shredded Mexican-style cheeses. We love them that way. If you want to check out Muddy Dog, go to http://www.muddydogcoffee.com/

Fall is HERE!

Geez, I was out helping Mom put away the 100 board feet (whatever that is) of cherry that she and Grandpa drove to Grand Rapids today and bought when I looked up and saw a whole bunch of birds sitting on the powerline. AND the trees are already turning red! We didn't even have SUMMER here yet!

But I'm going camping! WOO HOO! Mom and I are taking the boler (boo) to Mackinaw City on Thursday and meeting Aunt Dawn and my Scotty dog cousins Amy and Emma (yay) and we're going to cross the Mackinaw Bridge together (Mom said that *might* be scary). Then we go up to Tahquamenon Falls campground and we'll meet up with Uncle Eric and Aunt Nicole. We're going to be there FOUR days. YAY. And Mom says I get to eat my first Pastie. I don't know what it is, but Mom's excited about it, so it must be good! We're going to see a lot of cool things and have lots of fun. I'll be blogging when I get back - count on it!

We sold the Scotty!

Mom finally got around to finishing cleaning out the purple Scotty, Sadie Belle, after the big rally. Then she put it up for sale in the Tin Can Tourist site and a week later someone had bought it. I LOVE this Scotty and will be sorry to see her go on Monday. She's not moving very far though, only to Auburn, IN. Mom says there's a really great museum there - Auburn and Cord cars. Mom said she always wanted an Auburn Boat-tailed Speedster when she was young. I wonder if Sadie's new Dad will take her to the museum...