Everyone Needs A Muppy

Many of you were curious as to how Jack received the "grandpa" name of Muppy.  That story has its origins 10 years ago, when Tyler was just learning to talk.  

For his first year and a half, Tyler and his Mommy lived here at the farm in our little log guest house - across the driveway from our log home.

One of the first (and for a long time only) sounds that Tyler made was "mup".  

Eventually "Mup" was what he called Jack... which quickly morphed into "Muppy."  

Now, all of the grandchildren call him Muppy.  No one thinks twice about it.  I am sure that they are the only children in the world who have a Muppy... they are so very lucky, as he is definitely one-of-a-kind in all the best ways!

 A quick story:  when Tyler was just a little tyke and beginning to play soccer, Jack and I would meet at his soccer games after work. 

 One day, Jack arrived while Tyler was sitting on the bench.  Jack walked over to the bench to greet Tyler, and Tyler's coach asked, "Is that your grandfather?"

"No, that's my Muppy," he answered, "He lives at my Grammie's house!"  

We've chuckled over that one for years!


Everyone loves Muppy... everyone, that is, except our donkey Chloe.  Jack makes no bones about it... "She hates me," he says, at least daily. 

 She will not allow him to put on her fly mask, or to take it off at the end of the day.  No, she would rather be blind all night long than suffer having to have him touch her.  He's tried everything to get Chloe to like him - feeding her, speaking gently, gifting with treats (she won't even take a treat from him.). He has even taken a chair and a book into the donkey yard and sat there to read just to get her used to him.  And still,  when he walks into the donkey yard, she turns on her heels and walks as far away from him as she can get.

I have no explanation for this behavior.  She is the only one of our farm animals that feels this way.  Otherwise, everyone loves Muppy!

Yesterday morning, however, he had an amazing breakthrough.  After getting to bed way too late the previous night, he had given me yesterday morning "off" so that I could get an extra hour of sleep - going out to do the morning chores by himself.  When faced with the dilemma of how to get Chloe's fly mask on her before letting her out to graze, he summoned his very best Julia Childs impression, and in that particular voice went into the donkey yard to speak to Chloe.  Low, and behold, she allowed him to place her fly mask on her face.

Eureka!  He found the secret.  From now on, when near the donkeys, Jack will speak as Julia Childs.  I'll let you know if this continues to do the trick!  You've gotta love a man who will talk like Julia, just to get a donkey to like him!

Yesterday was another spectacular day - a gift, for sure.


It's hydrangea season, and all of our bushes are in full bloom.  Each year they get bigger and showier!!
The Pinky-winky...


and the Limelight....


Yesterday a mystery packaged arrived in the mail.  It is a 12 inch cast iron pan with the smoothest finish made in Pennsylvania.... and I have no idea who ordered it for me.
I love cast iron and cook with it religiously.  I did not have a pan this size, so it is perfect!!   I even cooked last evening's dinner in it.  I would love to solve this mystery,  however so that I could thank the sender.

Another quick story for you...


I am still baking sourdough bread weekly.  Last week, I mixed up two loaves worth of dough and had it on the counter overnight to rise.  In the morning I had noticed that the lid was no longer on the container, and that the dough had risen quite well.


I went ahead and made two lovely loaves.


Then on Sunday morning as I was making homemade buttermilk pancakes, Mackenzie exclaimed,  "Oooohhh, what is that?" pointing to underneath side of the kitchen cabinets.

Apparently, Friday's rising dough had exploded, leaving doughy stalactites hanging from beneath my kitchen counter.... an area that I would not have seen unless I had bent way down to take a look there.  It had dried there, so it took a bit of scraping to get the explosive residue off of the bottom of my cabinet.  Thank goodness for Mackenzie.   Who knows how long it might have taken for me to find that!


The worry list:

I am happy to report that Red's abscess is looking great.  The empty pocket that was once filled with pus has resolved and he merely has a scab over the area.  I am hoping that entire issue is resolved.  I will continue to keep a close eye on it, however.


Brown Sammie (our elder dog- 12 yrs.+) is our current worry.  Sunday was a wonderful day for him.  He walked in the woods and played with Chester.  Since then, however, he has taken a turn for the worse.  He has lost the strength in his legs (he walks about 10 steps and collapses) and spends most all of the day sleeping.  We have had to lift him in and out of the gator to take him to the barn.  Once there, he merely sleeps in the grass.  We have him on medications, hoping that might help him get moving again.   I fear that he is nearing the end of his earthly journey.  We are readying ourselves for the possibility of great sadness in the coming days.  Until then, we will give him as much love and spoiling as is humanly possible. ❤️❤️

Comments

The JR said…
Jack is a awesome man. No doubt about that. That was a huge achievement with Chloe

I'm so sorry about Sammie.
jaz@octoberfarm said…
oh no...poor sammie. i hope he rebounds. we are fighting lyme with willie. he's been pretty sick and achy. that is very funny about jack and chloe. now if he could just cook like julia!
Anonymous said…
Poor Sammie I took our beagle to the vet yesterday I hate it when our pets have a problem
Lisa said…
Awwww. Poor Sammie. When fur babies become elderly it's hard. We've got a 15 year old dachshund. So far she's healthy other than being deaf and glaucoma in one eye.

It's funny that Chloe isn't fond of Jack. When we had goats, our head goat hated my hubby. They were milking goats so they needed milking twice a day. Trouble came when I came down with H1N1 There as no way she would let him milk her. So I had to crawl out of bed in my delirium to go milk her twice a day.
Animals can be so funny.
daisy g said…
Jack really went above and beyond. I wonder how he discovered that would work?

Loved the story about Muppy and Tyler's coach. Too funny.

Oh, Sammie. You are such a sweetie. I'm hoping for the best, knowing that he will be loved until the last, whenever that day comes.

Blessings...daisy
colleen said…
It's funny how the first grand seems to pick out the grandparents names. I'm thinking Doug has a rare one too...Gimp! and I became Nan. Sure wish I was a little mouse listening to Jack talk to Chloe :) . Thanks for the update on Red as I've wondered how it turned out. I think your dough make quite a nice piece of art work. Brown Sammie is breaking my heart. :( Our dog Bridget and he looks so much alike that I feel attached to him...not to mention I've been following him on here for many many years. Sending you big hugs.
Pam said…
Has little Sammy had some diagnostic testing, ultrasound for instance, to make sure there is no neoplasia? These guys are so good at hiding real suffering. Sending caring thoughts!
Marcia LaRue said…
The mystery of Muppy has been solved! And what a cute story that is!! "He lives at my Grammie's house" ... that is just too sweet!
As usual the flowers are bright and beautiful!
I always think an animal detects smells about a person that might turn them off ... but Chloe must be more of a "voice oriented" girl and definitely partial to Julie Child! Trial and error! What to go, Jack!! LOL
And then there is dear Sammy ... well, when you send him off [or he takes himself across the bridge] ... I'll be sitting here boo-hooing my fool head off over another furbaby!!
Hugs from S. CO ...
Jeannie said…
I will send up prayers for Sammie today. He holds a special place in my heart, as most of our old animal friends do. Tell Muppy I am Yay-yay, named by our first (and only so far) grandson.
This N That said…
Very sad news about Sammy. He is such a wonderful dog.
I’m glad Chloe finally came to her senses. She couldn’t have a better friend than jack..Evidenced by all the trouble he went to to get close to her.
Enjoy the last of our wonderful Fall like days
Hugs
Wanda Devers said…
I'm so sorry that Sammie isn't doing well. Yall have had more than your share of losses lately.

Loved the "Muppy" story! And Chloe's decision to relent--wouldn't you love to be able to listen to that? I hope Red continues to heal completely.

I have to have one more conversation with our vet. Old kitty has encilopedic gastroenteritis. She has had issues for most of her life (she's 15) but lately she is crying out more often and trying to pass gas. I want to see if we could try a steroid. I have found a local mobile vet if we have to make the final decision so she won't have to be so terrified. They are all so loved and add so much to life but losing them is as bad & sad to me as a human death. Thanks for listening.
Karen said…
Awwww . . . .hugs to Brown Sammie. He looks 'mizzy' . . . I know that look . . what a total sweetheart.

You have a big hearted (and animal lover) husband! You both work so hard on behalf of all critters - how wonderful. I have been with my husband for 52 years (since we were fifteen:) and he was a huge animal lover way back then - and continues to be. Well sure he is - at one time we had nine rescue dogs - now we are down to just one (the house feels so empty). I don't think there isn't anything he wouldn't do for an animal - I am thankful for him every single day - as you are with 'Trail Boss' Jack!
THE BEARDED ONE said…
WOW !!!!!!! YOUSRE COVERED A HUGH NUMBER OF THINGS....MUPPY WAS A GREAT STORY..LOVED IT...LITTLE TYLER HAS SURE GROWN...GREAT STORY..IT IS SO NICE THAT YOU LET MUPPY LIVE AT "YOUR" HOUSE...SMILING...THE CHLOE STORY IS A DOUSY ...AND IT IS SURE NEAT THAT JACK TRIED THE JULIA CHILDS VOICE AND HE WAS ACCEPTED..SHE MUST LIKE ONLY FEMALES...SMILING...WE ALSO HAVE A BUNCH OF HYDRANGEA'S AT OUR FARM...AND BHB (MY WIFE OF 5 (9-3-63) IS PLANNING TO PLANT MORE...THEY ARE BEAUTIFUL ...BHB COOKS IN IRON SKILLETS AL OF THE TIME...ALWAYS HAS..BOTH FOF US WAS RAISED USING IRON SKILLETS...OUR ASBERGER GRANSON..ALSO INSITED ON HAVING THEM TO...BECASUE HE WASNTS EVRYTING JUST LIKE HIS GRANNYS...SHE IS HIS ROCK...THANKFULLY..HE IS IN HIS OWN HOUSE AND HAS A JOB AT THE NURSING HOM.HOSPITAL IN THE TOWN WHERE WE LIVE...HE HAS HIS OWN CAR AND IS DOING AMAZINGLY SUPER WELL..HAD NEVER MISSED A DAY NOR BEEN LATE IN SOME 5 YEARS...WE ARE PROUD OF HIM..LIKE YOU ARE OF YOUR GRAND CHILDREN..WE RAISED HIM...THE SOUR DOUGH EXPLOSION IS NEAT...SHORT GRAND CHILDREN CAN ALSO BE A BLESSING SOMETIMES...SMILING...SOOOOOO VERY SORRY ABOUT BROWN SAMMY...I HAVE BEEN THROUGH THAT MANY TIMES IN MY 78 (9-14-42) YEARS...I SURE DO ENJOY THESE POSTS...THEY ARE AWESOME...SORY FOR WEARING YOU OUT W/MY COMMENTS !!! KEEP SMILNG AND HAVE THE REST OF A GREAT WEEK !


EDGAR C. BEARD
Oh dear, so sad about Sammy....he is looking pretty pooped out in that picture. He has certainly had a wonderful life on your farm and with all of you. Still it's always so sad to bid goodbye to a beloved friend. How nice that he had a good Sunday last weekend. And Bev, you're always so kind is letting us, your readers know, what's happening around your place too. I'm so happy that Jack was able to get the fly mask on Chloe. Time will tell if the Julia Child voice works all the time with her! Give that Brown Sammy a kiss for me, would you?
Lynne said…
Loved the Muppy story . ❤️

Liking that the “Julie voice” is doing its magic with Chloe . . .

And Sammie . . . oh my heart . . .
I am caring about you and “Muppy” . . .
I am sure this is a tender time.