Stuffy Class: How to be a neighborhoodologist with Little Bear.

Hiya everyone!

  Little Fox here and this weeks stuffy class is taught by one of my close pals, Little Bear.  

I think we can agree that Little Bear might be a distant cousin of Jerry, Ben or Sandy.  

Little Bear is going to teach us about exploring our neighborhoods.  Time for me to enjoy my Tortilla Espanola (Spanish potato omelette).

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Welcome to my stuffy class.  

My name is Little Bear and I am a certified neighborhoodologist.  What is an neighborhoodologist?  We are specialists in neighborhoods.

One of the highlights of my neighborhood is our park.  It's a popular place.  There is a micro sledding hill, playground equipment and basketball courts.

One of my favorite places in the park is our little library.  This bear is a big fan of libraries.....really where else can you walk in and take a ton of books, movies, and other random things (like a food dehydrator) for free??  Of course you have to bring them back.....but still. 

My little library is not being serviced because of Covid 19.

Instructions in English and Spanish.  

The next place to explore is a place dear to my heart.  Before moving in with the roommates I used to work and live at this coffee shop.  It's a great place to enjoy a nice warm drink on a rainy day.  Favorite cold weather drink....cafe mocha.  I also recommend anything from the Starbucks bakery.

What about warm weather drinks?  Yes, Starbucks makes good warm weather drinks but being a neighborhoodologist I like to see what else my hood has to offer.  Dairy Queen is a good place for a warm weather treat.  Do you have DQ where you live?

Today's weather is 88 and DQ is doing a good business.  Does this little bear want to wait in this line for his favorite treat?

I think the line will move fast.  This bear is signing off from the blog.  What's that you ask, what am I getting?  Midnight Truffle Blizzard (it's on the secret menu) and I will get my pal Sequoia a pup cup (vanilla sundae, peanut butter, and two milk bone dog biscuits).

Little Bear signing off.

Stuffy Class - Back in Session. Second careers with Odie.

Hello and thank you for attending the latest session of Stuffy Class.  Today's guest instructor is Odie (yes of Garfield fame).  Odie has been working hard on his class and is ready to present.  Please give a big Stuffy Class Welcome to Odie. 

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Odie here.  Thanks for attending my class today.  I hope those of you who were on the waitlist made it in.  Let's get this out of the way:  Yes, my previous career was good natured,  less intelligent side kick to a certain cat who hated Monday's and loves lasagna.  Garfield and I are still friends but my class will not be about him, it will be about second careers.

My first career was sidekick to Garfield and now I have a very important second career as house manager.  I am a house manager for all the stuffies and the humans.  I am part of a VERY select group of professionals that manage homes.  I share company with the following people:

Mrs. Garret from Facts of Life.

My personal favorite:  Benson.

Of course Tony from Whose the Boss can't be forgotten.  But perhaps the most famous house manager (no, not Rosy the Robot from the Jetsons) but Alice Nelson from the Brady Bunch.

My class will teach you to be a successful house manager like me, Alice, Benson, Tony and Mrs. Garret. 

A good house manager has to be a good communicator.  I am taking with a few of the garden animals and they have mentioned that the outside of the house needs my attention.

Basil needs to be trimmed.  Time for me to make some pesto. 

I better call the gardener.  Besides the basil being going crazy this tomato needs serious attention.

The work never ends.  Bertran is an outdoor dog and looks like the birds attacked him.  Time to get some cleaner and take care of this mess. 

Being a house manager is tough work. You are always working and on call but it's important work.  I always recommend taking a break during the day.  To be a successful house manager one must practice self care. 

It's always important to stay well fed.  You never know what you might have to do next.

Duty calls:  As a house manager you are always on.   It's getting close to dinner time, the stuffies want to BBQ and there is no propane.  

I need to get this fixed asap or there will be no dinner!!!!!

Final lesson.  As a house manager you always have to be thinking ahead.  See, the coffee is almost gone.  Time to refill before the breakfast rush.  You don't want stuffies to not be caffeinated, that can cause a host of problems.....trust me. 

Sometimes you can only do so much as a house manager.  As you can see for breakfast tomorrow we only have turkey bacon, not real bacon. Sometimes there are problems that you just can't fix as a house manager (really, who buys turkey bacon????).

I hope you have enjoyed my stuffy class today.  Second careers are very rewarding and can often propel you in new directions.  

Guess the sender

Greetings Stuffies. I hope you are all doing well (keeping those paws clean, eating lots of good summer food, and spending time outdoors).  I know you have all done well in the card sending department (by they way I hope my post cards made it to my pals).

(insert LF pic outside).

Right-O let's get started.  The first stamp looks like it came directly from the post office.  I know when I send mail internationally I usually have to go to the post office for a a specific stamp.  Any guesses on whose mail it could be? 

It looks like someone from the Royal family is on the stamp  and on the right hand side of the envelope there is a sticker from "Royal Mail".  Since I don't really know anyone from the Royal Family (although I did watch and enjoy the King's Speech) my guess is this is coming from a certain mouse artist.

Being that Beanie is an artistic mouse I have invited my pal "Scrap Rabbit" (being that he is the resident artist around here)  to join me in this post.  

I was one of the winner's in Beanie's art contest.   I got quite a stack of fancy post cards from the Royal Gallery.  I love the artwork.  I wonder which one is Beanie's favorite? 

Scrap Rabbit suggested displaying them all.  Let's take a look.

Time for me to do some post card writing!!!

Can you guess who sent this next card? 

Perhaps it was Jim Carey?  No...maybe Mike Myers? Michael J. Fox?  Nope.  Justin Bieber?  Negatory.  If guessed Alex Trebbek I am sorry you are incorrect.  It's from Sandy!!!!  

My favorite card is the one with the fox on it (go figure).  The card is from Germany and it is from an attraction where a person was lost in a cave and a fox came to rescue him by leading him out of the cave by his tail.  Foxes are so awesome.....or dare I say Pawsome (that was for you Droopy). 

Sandy mentioned that the garden is coming along well (lettuce, strawberries and foxglove).  Be careful of that foxglove as it's pretty darn poisonous.  I hope that little bear is able to start exploring again.  One of the cards in Sandy's letter is from Beanie.  I'm off to register it on Beanie's found art site.

My final stamp is a tricky one.   Who do I know that would choo choo choose to send me a stamp with a train on it? 

If you said Jerry and Ben then you win the prize (note: no prize shall be given). 

This card is awesome. It's from the fanciest gallery around, gallery 360.  The first picture is titled "Kindred Folk Music" and it's awesome.  Where is scrap rabbit you ask?  

He was holding the card up. 

Scrap Rabbit noticed that there was a picture on the back.  It is a tad hard to see the picture but the title is "The Mangy Meet Cute "

I need to find out more about this artist, DC Ice.   

DC Ice has a lot of animal based art.  This is my kind of artist.

Thanks for playing along with Guess the Sender.  Stay tuned.  More Stuffy Classes to follow. 

Stuffy Class Semester Break week 2.

 Little Fox here.  The professors at Stuffy Class have decided to take another week long break.  I'm back on the road heading south from the mountains.  Along the route I stopped in a small desert town in the center of my state.  The town had a truck stop, an old cafe, someone selling cherries from the side of the road (bought some) and an amazon locker.

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Time for another hike.  This hike starts at at snowpark. If you are not familiar with snowparks they are big parking lots in the mountains where you can park (in all seasons).  

It's always a good idea to check the map before a hike.  I am exploring a portion of the PCT, a trail that goes from the border with Mexico to the border with Canada. 

Along the PCT there was a nice stream that kept me company for the first mile or so. 

Now for the main point of this hike.  An exploration among the lava.

MT. McLoughlin, a stratovolcano (whatever that is) is named after Dr. John McLoughlin a representative of the Hudson Bay Company who was very nice to settlers who arrived at Fort Vancouver via Oregon Trail.  HBC didn't really want him to extend credit or provide any aid to settlers on the Oregon Trail but Dr. John did anyway.  

Dr. John was known for his fair treatment of everyone.  Indigenous peoples,  US Citizens, and British Subjects. 

Besides Mt. McLoughlin there are many numerous landmarks named after the "Father of Oregon". A bridge, public schools (too many to count) and a long section of highway. 

Sequoia has heard enough about Dr. John and he is hinting that this trail isn't going to hike itself so we are off. Besides the views along the way home there is also a nice large slice of homemade blackberry pie for this fox to enjoy.