Strongly Worded Letter

End Of Season Two

Today's post will be the final one of StronglyWordedletter.com's second season. I want to thank you for your terrific support of this - let's be honest - retarded little blog.  I especially am grateful for the many of you who took the time to leave comments on some posts. That really increased the entertainment value of this project for me and I know it did for other readers too.

Since today's temporary farewell ends on a Friday I couldn't leave without one more look at Tater Tot, right? Here are a few shots from a wonderful afternoon in the front yard with the best dog in the world and the best wife in the world too. I want to thank them both for allowing this daily writing distraction over the past eleven months.

And for the last Tater Tot Friday, here's something completely different too. I am posting video of her for the first time. I hope she makes you happy just looking at her!

Thanks again and I hope we will be reading or writing each other again sometime in the future. Feel free to leave a comment with a link to your own blog in case others are looking for something new to read each day.

Oh, for the fraction of you that visit ChristmasMusicEveryday.com, there will be no changes on that blog at this time.

Best Wishes,

Bean

Another Reason Why Fridays Rule

It's Tater Tot Friday!!! I can't decide if Tater looks more like E.T. getting ready for a bike ride or Obi-Wan Kenobi just before surrendering to Darth Vader. Either way, she looks like a movie star!

Tater Tot Friday Bonus Bulldog!!! I'm a little late getting to this one but a belated Happy First Birthday to adorable little Lulu who reached that milestone back in late June. Thanks to blog reader Kelly for the announcement and the party photo.

Hope your weekend is worth celebrating too!

Give Her The Gold Medal For Cute

Ears back, tongue out. Little dogs with smooshed noses spend a lot of their summer like that and Tater Tot is no exception.  Here she is trying to cool down while sitting in front of a table fan in today's Tater Tot Friday photo!

Bonus Celebrity Bulldog! Yesterday we talked some about Michael Phelps, the Beijing Olympics Swimming Wonder Boy. Today let's turn the spotlight on Michael's best friend, an English Bulldog named Herman.

Thanks to blog reader Molly for the link. Weekends are made for sitting on the couch with your dog and watching TV!! Hope you get to do the same....

Oh, The Weather Outside Is Frightful...

Here's something a little out of season for today's Tater Tot Friday photo. And here's why: I don't know about where you live but it has been brutally hot in Seattle this week. I'm talking north of ninety degrees with unusually high humidity in a town where very few of us have air conditioning. No please.

So Donna went to the Tot Archives, where she works as a curator, and found this action shot from one morning last winter. Tater loves playing in the snow so much and just looking at her makes it feel a few degrees cooler here today.

Tater Tot Friday Bonus Bulldog! Thanks to Heather, the first of several readers who sent me word of Napoleon, the Hero Bulldog. Here's the story from a terrific English Bulldog website called BulldogAbbie.com.

"English Bulldogs are notoriously bad swimmers. With a giant head and chest compared to a lighter tail end, they have a tendency to go bottoms up in the water. It’s hard to keep that head up above the waves when it’s the largest part of your body!

Most owners are very aware of this problem, and will take care to see that their dogs have a good life vest on if they’re going to be boating or there’s a chance the bulldog could end up in some deep water without someone right at hand to save them if they look like they’re starting to struggle.

Because of the breeds history of poor swimming ability, this morning’s news came as a bit of a shock to me! Napoleon, an obedient and well behaved two year old white English Bulldog in Michigan abruptly left his master’s side yesterday and raced out across a road and into a nearby lake.

Napoleon’s owner met him in the driveway as the bulldog came back up out of the lake dragging something in his mouth. It looked like a burlap sack, and Napoleon appeared determined to drag it up from the shore and back to his master’s side.

It was then that Napoleon’s owner heard the meowing and realized that there were abandoned kittens inside the bag! Six kittens in total, although two of them didn’t survive and the remaining four were in bad shape. Napoleon’s mom cared for the survivor’s for the next two weeks until they could be taken in to the city pet adoption center and found new homes.

Napoleon got a much deserved hero’s welcome at the adoption center as crowds gathered to praise the brave bulldog and cuddle the rescued kittens."

I have not seen any follow up on the bastard that threw the kittens into the lake but hope Napoleon gets to use him as a chew toy somewhere down the road. Happy weekend, y'all!

Let Sleeping Dogs Lie

It's Tater Tot Friday!!! Here the Tot is in deep training for the U.S. Olympic Napping Team. Once I tell her the Games are in China this year, though, she probably won't want to go.  Fear of being soup, you know.

This is not the first Tater Tot Friday Bonus Bulldog we've spotlighted named Lily but she is just as cute as the last one. Thanks to blog reader Chip for the note, and this picture.



And finally today, thanks to blog reader Stephanie for the tip on this YouTube video of a man singing his puppies to sleep. It's like magic! Have a restful weekend your own self.....

Dog Days Of Summer

It's Tater Tot Friday!!! Well, it's been a quiet week in Seattle, Washington but yesterday was Africa hot, or at least seemed like it to Tater. Keeping in mind how smushed her nose is you can imagine that any kind of heat or humidity just knocks her out. She has been seeking relief wherever she can find it. In this blurry photo we see her sitting in the dirt under a tree. Hang on, Tot!! Autumn's coming!!

And now for something completely different, a book recommendation for you animal lovers - or wallpaper lovers - out there. Catherine Ledner's Animal House features her extraordinary photographs of all sorts of our furry and feathered or ... uh.... shelled friends. Here are  just a few.

 

Today's Tater Tot Friday Bonus Bulldog comes from the book too, information on which is available at the artist's website here along with prints of same. I've cropped the image some to show off the dog bigger although the wallpaper is awesome too!!!! Have a great weekend, y'all.

Viva la Revolucion!

Here's a Very Special Tater Tot Friday as the Tot celebrated the July 14, 1789 beginning of the overthrow of the French monarchy known as Bastille Day this week with her best impression. In the photo above she is pretending to be a French Bulldog. And yes, she also ate cake. Oui oui!!

Tater Tot Friday Bonus Bulldog! Thanks to Tina for the tip on Tillman, the skating and surfboarding English Bulldog. Look, I don't know anything about any of these new dog reality television shows but apparently there is one called America's Top Dog and another called Greatest American Dog. Tillman is a contestant (?) trying to win something I think. Here is a link to an article about this pooch. I didn't read it. Full disclosure: Of course I love the Westminster Dog Show and  even sometimes watch The Dog Whisperer but those are more programs about real dogs rather than dog fake/reality shows.

P.S. Guess who is One today? Happy First Birthday to little Buddha (not to be confused with Little Buddha, one of Keanu Reeves' worst acting performances ever). Whoa.

Buddha belongs to the Mystery Daughter, Melissa, where they currently reside together in New York City. Happy Birthday Boo!!

The Best Day Of The Week Is Here

Tater Tot Friday! So we had a party over the 4th of July holiday and thought it might be fun to set up the ol' croquet set for our guests. Well, besides the fact that our front yard grass was so long it was like trying to push the ball through molasses, there was another unforeseen obstacle.

Tater Tot insisted on chasing, catching and running away with every single ball that was in play. Thanks to blog reader and my actual brother John for sending me this picture he took of the Tot in action.

Here's another angle I got during the same game.

Tater Tot Friday Bonus Bulldogs! So I went to the store the other day to get a birthday card for our friend Marty who celebrated his latest yesterday. It seems that Hallmark has a contest running with pet photos on a line of their birthday cards and the public votes on which of the 67 finalists is their favorite. I saw two English Bulldogs among the choices.

First there is Rudy, sent in by Ashley Howe of Lawrenceberg, Indiana. "living with Rudy is like living with a cartoon character, " says Ashley.

The other is Daisy, owned by Susan Rodnite of Tampa, Florida. This photo was taken at Daisy's first birthday party.

You can see the others and vote if you care too here.  Happy birthday Marty, and have a great weekend everyone!

Tater Tot Loses A Sister

It was a terrible week for all of us in the Baxter family this week as we said goodbye to our beloved pet, Santa's Little Helper. She was 12. The picture at the right was taken on a chilly day last autumn when we took SLH and Tater for a walk on the beach.

Santa was born on a farm in Acton, California and was offered free to a good home. She was so tiny and all white when she was a puppy, much like Mini-Me, only cuter, and without a sex tape that we know of.

She was also the most obedient and most loyal of all our dogs. If Donna or I were ever sick, she would lie by the bed for however long we needed her. She would not even get up to eat or pee unless you made her. She so wanted to help.

Six years ago this October 30th, she had a spinal embolism and was paralyzed.  We feared we would lose her then but through medication, physical therapy, and mostly her sheer willpower and desire to please us, she fought almost all the way back.

She has walked pretty wobbly since then and had some trouble with the stairs quite often but every day we got to be with her since then has been a blessing and a bonus.

Here are a few photos I pulled together this week of SLH, including a few of her as a puppy.

The end came swiftly. We think maybe last Friday afternoon she had another event that affected her muscles and she was clearly uncomfortable throughout the weekend. She wasn't moving at all other than when we coaxed her. In her final hour on Monday though she took herself outside and lay down in the rushing water of the pond in our yard. After a little while she walked into the woods and lay down behind a tree for the last time.

I know Tater doesn't mind sharing her day with Santa's Little Helper today. We will all miss her so much. We tried to give her a good life and I know she gave us one. This is the last picture I ever took of her. She was sitting in my office about two weeks ago, keeping an eye on me to make sure I wasn't going anywhere without her. 

Neither of us could have known that it was she who would soon be going on without me. :(

 
  

"Upside Down, Girl You Turn Me....."

It's Tater Tot Friday!!! We could all be so lucky as to have a moment as full of fun as this one!!!  This is what joy looks like.

Bonus Bulldogs galore this week. Congratulations to the Fresno State (California) Bulldogs who defeated the University of Georgia Bulldogs to win the 2008 College Baseball National Championship! I am no student of the College World Series so have no idea if this was the first time two Bulldog teams has ever met for the title. Here's Fresno State's mascot.

A few years ago, I rented the documentary made about UGA, the Georgia mascot and found it very interesting. A dog's life, indeed. Out of print now, but here is the link to that movie.

Also, and thanks for asking, we brought Betsy home on Wednesday. I think she enjoyed her first ever trip off the island on which she was born. After eight days in hospital in Oregon with excellent round-the-clock medical care, she seems to be on the mend but we'll know more after this current run of antibiotics concludes. I will keep you posted. Here's our girl, back on the farm around 8:00 last night and hanging out with Buttercup.  Have a tremendous weekend!!!

Welcome To Summer! Finally.

 

First Tater Tot Friday of Summer 2008!! Hope you have as much fun this weekend as Tater did when I snapped this cell phone photo. As usual, I could only throw the ball once for her because she refuses to ever give it back. She must have missed the class at Puppy School where they teach you how to play Fetch.

Today's Tater Tot Friday Bonus Bulldog is .... a cow! I told you recently that my Betsy was ill. Well, this week Donna and Marty (Donna's other husband a/k/a The Good One) took her down to Corvalis, Oregon to check into the Oregon State University veterinary hospital. They have a terrific group of doctors and the last patient we took there, Godzilla, has been excellent since his return.

OSU has run a battery of tests and some of the early early news has been good. The x-rays show no tumors or foreign objects. We are still waiting for some of the results of the tracheal wash. With that, they tube water into her lungs, then suck it back out to grow a culture from whatever bad bacteria they find so they can pick the appropriate antibiotic to treat it.

My favorite Cow 101 trick is where they take good bacteria from a healthy animal (in Betsy's case they used an 18 year old cow named Bea) and tube it into the sick animal's stomachs to help her start ruminating properly. It all seems very complicated until you learn that it is not and is done all the time. So far it seems to be working so keep your hooves crossed for further progress.

Donna returned home yesterday but Betsy will enjoy a few more days at their excellent facility and we hope to bring the old girl home early next week.

Make it a great weekend!

 

Like Sleeping On A Cloud

It's Tater Tot Friday! I'm not sure why the Tot gets to sleep on a big, luxurious, faux fur blanket and we don't but she certainly convinced her people that she deserves it.  Sweet dreams, Tater.

Tater Tot Friday Celebrity Bonus Bulldog: I am really feeling bad and also starting to worry/wonder about actor Adam Sandler. No, not just because I've seen the trailer for the Zohan movie but because in the nine years that we have had Tater, he is already on his third English bulldog.

Here is a photo of Meatball (lying down), Adam's first bully, who sadly passed away during surgery at only four years old. The came Matzo Ball (standing), who I recently found out is also dead. I did not hear why but she would have been too young to die of normal, natural causes. 

According to the Sandman's website, the new family dog is named Babu and I wish her a very long and healthy life.

The circle of life......Enjoy your weekend.

June 6: T-Day

It's Tater Tot Friday! Sorry, words fail me today. There is nothing I can add here to improve your enjoyment of this photo. That is all.

Oh, but prepare to be offended, Tater Tot fans. Here is the link to the recent CBS This Morning story on ten smartest and stupidest (their words) dog breeds. A certain breed was maligned as the "third stupidest." Right.  

Yay to the weekend!

Springtime For Tater

Sometimes even at Tater Tot Friday World Headquarters the pictures come out blurry. It's always operator error though - never the model's fault!

Today's Bonus Bulldogs come courtesy of Britain's Daily Mail. Believe it or not, the headline accompanying this photo was Looking like Winston Churchill is no setback for these wrinkly bulldog pups. Thanks to faithful reader Christine for the heads up!




More pictures and the rest of the article here. Have a wrinkly weekend!!!

Unofficial Start Of Summer Tater Tot Friday

Tater Tot Friday Bonus Bulldog:

Awesome: Not since the glory days of the Captain & Tennille do I remember seeing a bulldog on the cover of People magazine. But here's the front of this week's issue.

Not Awesome: It's bad enough that poor Hemingway had to wear some sort of Elizabethan costume at the wedding but unless he escapes, and believe me, he wants to, then he will be forced to live with Pete and Ashlee Freakin' Simpson Wentz for the rest of his sad, sad life.

Hope your weekend is phenomenal and includes no weddings and no Fallout Boy!




P.S. Smackdown Update: Today's report finds me bloodied but not beaten. I went to the address I had mailed the package to yesterday and had a nice chat with the security guard in the lobby. Here's are the new pieces of the puzzle I learned. That building has no management office. There was no suite number on the envelope I sent and no similarly named company in that building.

Sooooooooooo, what did the mail carrier do with the undeliverable package as he stood there in the lobby and realized there was no place to take it? If he took it back to the post office then why didn't he stamp it Return To Sender? The mystery deepens. I am going there next.

Friday On My Mind

Well, it's been a long week for the Tot and she has earned a nap to get ready for the weekend. It is supposed to hit ninety degrees here tomorrow which is very uncomfortable for bulldogs and piggies so there is going to be some playing in the hose happening at my house (not a euphemism).

Tater Tot Friday Bonus Bulldog:




Congratulations to Paul and Shelly on the new member of their family. Say hello to little Guinness and make it a great weekend...

T.G.I.T.T.!!

Enjoying another week of being Queen of the World, here's Tater Tot's latest day at the beach.

Tater Tot Friday Bonus Bulldog:

Thanks to blog reader John for sending me a link to the recent Asian International Dog Show. I don't have any information on this beauty but she seems to be getting her nails done for the competition here.

Please enjoy your weekend, y'all!   

Play Ball!

"You've got two choices, Daddy. Reach for the ball and I will grab it with my teeth and not let go so you can not throw it, roll it, bounce it, or in any way make the next move in our game. Or, you can not reach for the ball and I will bark and bark and bark at you."   

Tater Tot Friday Bonus Bovine:

It seems inconceivable so soon after losing our beloved steer, Hey, back on March 2nd that we could have another cow in jeopardy so soon. This is Betsy, a rescue heifer who was already around age twenty when we adopted her from a no-win situation four years ago. It took a very long time for her to warm up to us as she had not been raised around people at all and now we are in the difficult position of trying to get her to trust us as we try to nurse her back to health.    

While she is recovering from pneumonia it is so hard for her to understand the times she has to stay in the barn when everyone else is outside grazing in the sunshine. She doesn't like having her temperature taken and she really doesn't like any of the shots. She's had Vitamin B to get her stomachs moving, steroids to get her appetite up, and antibiotics to treat the infection.

She is getting better though and we'll keep on doing whatever we can for her. She deserves as many happy years as she can get. Otherwise, she may never know how this story ends that Donna is reading to her as they keep each other company in Betsy's stall!

Get well soon to her and a happy weekend to you all!

Someone is NINE!!

Someone turned nine on April 15. Happy Birthday Tater Tot!!

Tater Tot Friday Bonus Bulldog:

This week was the annual Beautiful Bulldog contest, held in downtown Des Moines, Iowa.  Here's the winner, three year old Buddy, from Ankeny, Iowa. The contest is one of the events leading up to the Drake Relays, a track and field competition and is held to honor Drake University's mascot, the bulldog! 

Have a winning weekend yourself! 

ZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ

Tater has sort of lost interest in American Idol now that Michael Johns has been voted off and here she Tuesday night dozing at the start of the hour.



Now her head is on my knee and she is fading fast.

Good night, Tater!!

Tater Tot Friday Bonus Bulldog:



Blog reader Wenyee sends word of Joe. He is two-and-a-half years old and doing great since being rescued from the Humane Society in Chino. California. Tater, Joe and I all wish you the best weekend ever!

Now A Tater Tot Friday Bonus Not Bulldog:



Donna was in Italy last week and this is the family's dog that lives at the villa where she stayed in Florence. Meet Obi, a Newfoundland, I guess. He pretty much adopted Donna as his new person and here he is ready for bed.

If It's Friday It Must Be Tater Tot!!!

That is one happy dog! I wonder what her secret is? Keep it simple? Just be satisfied with love, sleep and food because nothing else really matters? Perhaps.

Tater Tot Friday Bonus Bulldog (Celebrity Edition!):

Did you watch American Idol: Idol Gives Back charity telethon on Wednesday night?  Lots of talented A-list stars, plus Dane Cook, were pushing the phone number 1.877.IDOL.AID for viewers to donate to some wonderful children's charities. Lines are still open!  Visit AmericanIdol.com for more information.

One star brought some help. In a taped piece, Adam Sandler appeared on his couch with his sprawled and snoring English Bulldog Matzo Ball!  Give if you can. Thank you, and have a spectacular weekend!
   

Beach Baby, Beach Baby, There On The Sand...."

Spring has come to the Pacific Northwest, almost right on time with the calendar. Oh, sure it snowed some during the fifth inning of the Mariners baseball home opener this week but Wednesday and Thursday were beautifully sunny and near or at 60 degrees!

So it's been a great week to walk on the beach with Tater. I couldn't decide between these two so I am posting them both.

While we were walking we met a fine Tater Tot Friday Bonus Bulldog.  This is seven year old Peanut with the legs of her owner Tiffany. 

Hope it's sunny where you are and you have an amazing weekend!

Entertaining Tater Tot Friday Caption Here

It's Tater Tot Friday once again and the Tot is t-i-r-e-d. Lots of walks on the beach this week and that means it's time to nap!

No Bonus Bulldogs today but thanks to Irina for this photo of her pug Poosie.  Donna wondered if the tongue action is for concentration or balance.



Also, thanks to Yasmine for this pug related silliness. Fun to look at and it will clean your computer screen too!

Make it a good weekend, people. 

Just Add Water

It's Tater Tot Friday!  Welcome to some fuzzy phone photos of a certain young lady having a bath and not loving it.

Have a terrific Easter weekend, y'all!   

We Are Family

Tater Tot and I spent some time this week out in the front yard playing ball. That's the game where I throw the ball and Tater chases it, puts it in her mouth, and then NEVER GIVES IT BACK EVER.

No bonus bulldogs today because I am going to add some pictures from the same day in the yard. These are our other dogs that don't have the outstanding public relations team that keeps Tater in the headlines but they are also very much loved.

   
Here's Atomic Dog, age 11.

Santa's Little Helper, age 12.



And the great Chin Ho, age 13.


I think it was wise old Benjamin Franklin who remarked that 71 percent of blogs in this country only exist so people have somewhere to put photos of their dogs. Guilty!!

Have a great weekend and thank you for your continued support. 

Quit Hogging All the Covers

It's Tater Tot Friday! I was glad I had my camera phone on me when I came across a Mommy And Me nap in progress the other day.

Tater Tot Friday Bonus Bulldog:

"Bean,

If you're looking for a guest bulldog for your blog, this is Stryder, my neighbor's bulldog.  My labrador, Wally, has known him since he came home as a puppy and they are total BFFs.

Tiffany"

TaterDay In The Park.....

Donna and Tater and I all went for a big walk in one of the many parks on the island this week. The Tot is an excellent follower but I don't believe we will count on her to lead us out of the woods if we ever get lost in there. Still, we had a great time and have really been enjoying a mostly sunny, mild February.

Tater Tot Friday Bonus Bulldog:

Hello Bean!

This is a picture of my brother's dog Rickles who
lives in Kodiak at the Coast Guard Base. He will be a
year old in March. We censored it for your delicate
audience.

Thank You!

Jennifer

Walking In A Winter Taterland

We had some beautiful warm and bright and sunny days this week and Tater Tot enjoyed every one of them. We played ball in the yard, sat out on the back porch and went for a few big walks.  And here she is!

Today's Bonus Tater Tot Friday Bulldog Photos!!!  Blog reader Menard (wife Danielle and son Juggernaut) came through with photos of his gorgeous pair of bullies. Please meet MacGyver  (top in first picture) and Stan Lee (bottom in same).

Like The Beatles Said, "Hey Bulldog!"

This is one of my favorite Tater Tot Friday pictures, from July 2006. I came across it recently and hoped some of my new readers might enjoy it.

Tater Tot Friday Bonus Bulldogs!!!

Reader Anissa rules for reminding me that this past weekend was the annual Bulldog Beauty Contest in Long Beach, Ca.. Click  here for the results or just sit back and enjoy lots of bulldoggy goodness with these photos from the competition. (Janice Harris photos)

Personal to blog reader Menard: I am retarded and  somehow lost the awesome photo you sent of of your little guys. Would you please re-send for a future Friday post?

Enjoy the holiday weekend, one and all!!

Lampshade In The House

Tater Tot Friday!! It happens to many dogs at some point in their lives: the dreaded lampshade on the head.


Come to think of it, it happens to some people too.

Tater'll be fine. She's got a little scratch on her  eyeball so we're trying to keep her from rubbing her face and making it worse. She has a bunch of eye drops that are helping it heal and keeping her comfortable too but the plastic collar she does not dig.

It should be all cleared up by this time next week so no panic necessary in the Tater Nation.

Have a phenomenal weekend!

Shhhhhhh......

Hey, it can be exhausting being a dog!

Tater Tot Friday Bonus Bulldog photo today is......Tater Tot!!! Here she is at age 3 months. This photo was taken on her very first day in Washington in 1999.

Godzilla Update: After three nights sleeping apart we put Sophie and 'Zilla in their stall in the barn and told them to work it out. We stayed down there with them for about an hour as she sniped at him and he oinked at her. They are still not sleeping yin and yang like usual but at least they are touching now.