A New Chapter in my Life ~ Blueberry Pancake Publishing

A New Chapter in my Life

Blueberry Pancake Publishing

Blueberry Pancake Publishing (blueberry-pancake-publishing.com)

For anyone that enjoyed reading my blog, I am happy to let you know that I am continuing to write. My real passion lies in children's stories. After teaching for many years, I find writing funny little stories for children quite a delight. 

I've started my own publishing company called 

Blueberry Pancake Publishing 

Here is the website if you would like to follow along. My first book will be coming out hopefully sometime within a year. I'm taking my time so I can learn and truly enjoy the whole process. 
Update... My first book was released on April 2, 2019
just in time for International Children's Book Day. And yes, we ship all over the world.

The name of my first book is
Excuse Me Sir, Do You Bark English?
Blueberry Pancake Publishing (blueberry-pancake-publishing.com)

September Picture of the Day~Soft

September 20~Soft

Nothing quite as soft to me than my two boys! 

Picture of the Day September 4

September 4 ~ Exercise

The boys having fun running in the forest! Exercise! 

New Year's Eve Fireworks in The Netherlands~ I'm Not a Fan!

Tic Tic Boom!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1bZeeoO0nnI 

Every New Years eve in  the great land of windmills and tulips... the crazies come out of hiding. People who on a normal day would bike their children to and from school, bike to the market and to work, shop or enjoy coffee or a meal with a good friend somehow lose their mind when it comes to celebrating New Years Eve. Parents, young young children, teens and even older people shoot off their own display of firework celebrations. Now mind you most people in the world enjoy a good fireworks show. But most do not have in their possession mounds and mounds of fireworks or even professional grade displays.

The calm peaceful beautiful people of The Netherlands who on a normal day take the responsibility of having a pet better than anyone I've ever seen somehow think this kind of celebration is ok for a dog or a cat. On this night of insanity.. it's definitely a night to put your beloved 4 legged family members inside for the night in an area where they will be safe and secure.

 I have only heard stories and seen pictures of the actual New Year's Eve craziness but I have witnessed it days after it was over plus the mess people make during their celebration. One night a few days after, I was driving through the little town of Schijk. Children of about the age of 6 or 7 were shooting rocket type fireworks AT cars as they passed by. They didn't hit my car but I have to say it scared the crap out of me!!!  I looked for the parents... none to be found. They were all in the bar! Really?!

I've heard of people loosing fingers, hands, eye sight... and even their lives. Countless animals are injured in the blasting, but it still continues. I guess everyone always thinks it will happen to someone else. There has to be a safer way to celebrate without blowing yourself  or others up. 

Look Out Netherlands!

Papers ready ~ Check

Chipped ~ Check

Crate bought ~ Check

Airline Ticket ~ Check

Vet Check Up ~ Check

Be a certain age ~ Check

Have to wait with mom and dad a little longer because of rule above ~ Check 

Last one to leave the litter so you get to help take all your brothers and sisters to their new homes. ~ Check

Trained on how to use the straw for drinking ~ ?  What do you want me to do?

Send official papers to the USDA to get approval 21 days before flight ~ Check

Check with The Netherlands ~ Check

Wait for papers from USDA ~ Check

Still waiting ~ Check

Call them! ~ Check

Be told that they will not sign off because of reason A B C D ~ Check

It’s now just days before your flight ~  Check

Scramble around calling every government body known to the US and The Netherlands. ~ Check

Jump through more hoops for the USDA ~ Check

The Netherlands…. What? What do they want? Umm yes it’s fine! ~ Check

Teach the people at the USDA to read their own website! ~ CHECK!

Tears of Joy when it’s finally settled! ~ Check!

Ok, here's one to make everyone smile today. Our boy Dirk with the Bluebonnets of Texas. Getting ready to leave Texas, The United States of America and Apple Pie.. Headed for the land of Tulips, Windmills and his new family. 

Life in the Big Backyard

As a child growing up I loved books. And then as an adult, my love for children's books continued as I taught elementary school for many years. As a small child I loved the book called Put Me in the Zoo written by Robert Lopshire. In the story there’s a leopard that keeps changing the color of his spots so he can fit in with the different animals at the zoo. What he discovers is that he should be somewhere special. 

It’s funny how in life we do the same thing. We all try to fit in with people or groups who are like ourselves. This is a wonderful thing as we need to learn how to get along with the others in our world but along the way towards the Emerald City, we want to remember that we are all unique. We all have different wants and needs. No two creatures are alike or should be.

Take for example the array of little munchkins I have in my backyard.

We’ll start with Sugar. She is the Princess, the Queen of our home and yard, our beautiful white lab. She’s a tad older now and gets around pretty slow but she is the ruler of what goes on.

Enter Bear. Little Boy Wonder, Little Boy Blue, Little Prince Charming… and trouble too. But he’s so dang cute no one cares when he causes a little trouble.

Now throw in a few woodland creatures and you have yourself a backyard party! You can only imagine the joy and excitement that goes on from morning till night in the yard. Our yard backs up to an enormous park with several lakes and the Dommel River. We have at least 3 fat bunnies that playfully out run the dogs causing them to dash in and out of the bushes and flowers. We’ve only had one death when Sugar accidently caught a baby bunny. She only meant to say “Tag, you’re it” but somehow that didn’t work out for her.

They’ve DE feathered a few fine friends, but that’s only when one accidently fly’s into their mouths after they’ve jumped up to say hi.

We have pheasants that enjoy life here. They are pretty fast little runners and can also fly over the fence if feeling threatened by the Prince and Princess. But Oh what a delight they are to see. They are beautiful!

And just on the other side of the fence lives the ducks and the swans. They haven’t wandered into the yard yet and I’m sure they’re smart enough not to.

           

I’m not sure if Sugar and Bear are trying to change their spots so they can fit in with the different families of animals that live in our yard or if they are following the yellow brick road and going after their own unique desires and 
wishes. But like so many children’s books, they sure are endearing and entertaining and full of life lessons and oh so fun to watch. 

We’re not in Kansas anymore and we’re not in a zoo, but life in Holland for Bear and Sugar is GREAT! When this wonderful journey is over they can click their little paws together and say “There’s no place like home. There’s no place like home.”

Well I'll be a Monkey's Uncle!

I have no idea what this means but on my quest to understand the Dutch better and understand cultural differences I ran across this saying. I had heard the term Dutch uncle and wanted to know what it meant. In my search of course my brain merrily went to “Well I’ll be a Monkey’s Uncle”, something I’d heard in America over the years. Not knowing they were connected but sounding very similar, I looked up the definition of Monkey’s Uncle. When you are in complete shock or utter disbelief.

Well, that I would say about sums it up! According to Wikipedia Dutch uncle is a term for a person who issues frank, harsh, and severe comments and criticism to educate, encourage, or admonish someone. Thus, a "Dutch uncle" is a person who is rather the reverse of what is normally thought of as avuncular or uncle-like (which would be indulgent and permissive). The phrase Dutch uncle came about during the Anglo-Dutch wars of the 17^th century. Obviously some heated discussions came about and what resulted was a phrase that is still around today.

When I first moved to The Netherlands, I was confronted almost immediately by the Dutch and their frankness. Actually, my very first person I met was this way. But being the guard at customs I thought maybe it was just his job to be this way. Yes, he was very intimidating. He looked like Ivan they guy from Rocky 2, the gigantic Russian who tries to beat our beloved Rocky to a pulp. The guard was enormous, intimidating and very frank about why I was coming into his country!

My next encounter with someone behaving like a Dutch uncle was a lady I met on a walk with my beautiful white lab Sugar. I was happily walking her around the lake. Our yellow lab Missy had just passed away the day before and we were both in mourning. A woman came up to me and said “Your dog is way too fat! Why are you not letting her swim in the lake? She should be swimming and running!!!” After I caught my breath, I looked at her in disbelief. Was this stranger standing here calling my beautiful dog fat! My shock turned into laughter because I could not believe the audacity of this person. She became agitated and said “This isn’t funny!” I explained that my dog had hip dysplasia so her climbing the steep walls around the lake was not possible. She does love to swim but she knows her own limits and would never try to climb into something she couldn’t get out of. I also explained her grief of losing her best friend. She kept going on and on and finally, I just smiled and walked away.

I’ve experienced this kind of encounter many times here in The Netherlands. It could be the elderly lady at the market who wants to plow me over with her shopping cart. It could be someone where I’m volunteering to help out at an event. If that person wants something done one way, they are not going to listen to you or try to understand you if you have another idea. They will literally just take something away, show you or tell you the way it’s to be done and that is the end of the discussion. (At least in their mind)

But this American Girl has a different plan. My philosophy is what Thumper’s mommy told Thumper in the Disney classic Bambi. “If you can’t say something nice… don’t say nothing at all.” We’re all here for such a short time. I mean here in life not just here in The Netherlands. I wave to people, I smile, I volunteer to help at events and I do it with a joy. So when confronted with someone behaving like a Dutch uncle it will be my joy to smile, laugh and explain that there are other ideas on how to do things. If they explain to me that that’s just the Dutch way… I’ll refer them to the definition of the Thumperian principle that or possibly introduce them to the term Monkey’s Uncle.

Life's Ruff

Everyone who knows me knows my love for my dogs. It seems in life either you’re a dog person or a cat person. I don’t have anything against cats; it’s just that I’m more of a dog person. Ok and when I say dog, I don’t mean the kind you can dress up and put in a purse. I like dogs… stick eating, rough and tumble dogs!

As you know, we brought our two beautiful labs to The Netherlands from The United States. When we found out that we were moving, the question of the dogs and what to do came up. Should we take them, should we leave them, who would keep the dogs if we left them? They were both older being 9 and 11 years of age. Traveling with a pet is always scary, but a trip across the ocean for 10 hours is a lot to ask of an animal. Then came the question of cost to move the girls. I’m pretty sure the company my husband is working for would have moved them if we had asked but when we found out the cost we just didn’t feel right asking. It was going to cost us $6,000.00. That would cover everything from the vet bills, to getting their papers in order, to travel and finally delivery to us at our new home. So of course I’m thinking… Ok, I can drive my dogs to the vet to make sure their shots and papers are in order. I can book them a spot on the plane. My husband can make sure there’s a van at the other side to drive us all to the new house. There was no way I was taking the dogs from the plane to a train. And I didn’t even know if that was legal. So after the vet bills and their secured spot on the plane were paid for, they were ready to go international. They flew on the same plane as us. It was quite comical watching them and all the other people around us wanting to see the girls. The funniest part was when they were being boarded onto the plane their crates were going up the ramp to the plane. Thank goodness the wonderful airline had assigned people to watch over our babies and was there to make sure they didn’t tip.

Their arrival in The Netherlands was just as fun as curious on lookers wanted to get a glimpse of the new kids on the block. Pawsports in paws, they went through security with flying colors. Then onto their new stomping grounds.

Sadly we lost our little Missy to cancer about a month after we arrived. Luckily she went fast and I thank God that I brought her with me. It’s confusing enough when you’re a dog and don’t know why you’re sick but to not be with the family would have made it so much harder for her. She truly loved it here in The Netherlands. The weather was cooler and there were so many wonderful things to explore. I had so many wonderful people post on my fb page their condolences after Missy passed and thought I would include this poem here to remember.

God saw she was getting tired, and a cure was not to be.
So He put His arms around her and whispered, Come with Me.
With tearful eyes we watched her suffer and slowly fade away.
Although we loved her dearly, we could not make her stay.
A golden heart stopped beating, playful paws were put to rest.
God broke our hearts to prove to us, He only takes the best

We spent the next several months helping our other beautiful lab heal. All my focus could now be on her. Sugar had never been a day without Missy so the loss was long and difficult. Anyone who has ever heard a dog cry can understand my pain.

But, with each passing day she got better and better. So it was time to bring a new friend into our home and into Sugar’s life.

Meet Bear

Yes, he is a stick chewing, bird chasing, and bumblebee killing machine. I look forward to many more adventures here in The Netherlands with our new precious boy. And I’m proud to say he is already bilingual. He can say woof in Dutch and English. Ahhhhh smart boy!

Having a friend you can curl up with no matter where in the world you live….. Priceless!