SUCCESSFUL TRIAL PERIOD

                             

Hey there everyone,

On a tight schedule this week and not much time to dawdle away ?

Well, no shilly-shallying, then !

I'll get down to brass tacks right now.

I've got  three things for you today :

Some tips to go through a trial period successfully.

Some little things you may not know about dogs.

A quick request.

Nothing to do with you ?

Come on, don't flip pages on the web as quickly as you zap TV channels, please !

It won't be long, and I'm quite sure it'll change your mind off things.

So, put on your red-coloured glasses, and get ready for another adventure of Dany the Perky Busy Bee.

Ready, steady, go !

First a few lines to add colour to this week's story and nourish my French readers with some idioms.

You know what ? I'm tickled pink, cause Canaille, my English Springer Spaniel, has proved not be yellow-bellied, and has gone through his trial period with flying colours !

Hey you, dog owners, don't feel green with envy.

Nothing to do with a trial period to become a police dog or a search and rescue one.

Canaille is good at sniffing out, but only cookies and treats, and searching and rescueing missing squeaky toys.

As a military dog ?

Well, even if he often improves " troop morale ", he is nowhere close to toeing the line ...So, forget about it !

Can't guess ? Well, take a deep breath, cause what I'll tell you right now, will blow your socks off !

               
                            

In France, Summer is coming round the corner, and , a while ago I thought I might be lazier then.

Basking in the sun, lying in a hammock with a page turner (if I manage not to flip outside as soon as I sit down in it !), watching the birds feasting on my cherries I'll never taste, or chatting with my faraway friends back to their roots for the season,...well, all those small pleasures won't leave me much time to blog.
                    

                                              

Taking a break ? No way, cause you're such regular and kindly readers that I would be ashamed to leave you unsatisfied and doomed to make do with outdated content.

So, what I needed was someone who would take over if, on sunny days, I slacked off a little.

A sort of ghost writer ?

Come on, who do you think I am ? A hoity-poity girl ? I hope not !

No, what I wanted was just a wanabee blogger like me.

Coaxing Dearhubby into helping me was just wishful thinking.He is already involved in discussion groups, so being an extra in some of my adventures is the only favour I can expect from him.

I was still looking for that special someone and about to give up, when, lo and behold,he came out of the blue !

I was so charmed by his look, even though a bit suspicious about his scribbling skill, that I gave him a chance !

Start guessing or ready to give in ?

Well, I know you don't have much time to spare, so let me introduce the guy who will entertain you from time to time next Summer, while I am having a whale of time with my childhood friends.

Take a deep breath, cause you'll be gobsmacked !

Ready ?

..... and the winner is CLOONEY ! 

Yes, ladies and gentlemen, that smart and handsome guy did a bang-up job and satisfied all the seemingly trivial things any employer usually demands from a future employee, I mean :

. BE PUNCTUAL :
 
  Well, over the last few months, you have had one post a week, so he
  has always been punctual. And let me tell you that it's his strong
  point.
  His time is GMT+2. Mind you, not Greenwich Mean time, but Good Meal
  Time.
  When the clock strikes 5, he is already smacking his lips. He is always
  a bit peckish.
                                  

. LOOK AND ACT PROFESSIONAL :

  His beard suits him, but in my opinion, he needs a haircut. Anyway,
  all throughout his trial period, he has acted very professionally, never
  forgetting to end the post by the traditional  " Don't forget : be
  perky !

               

. TAKE INITIATIVE AND OFFER SOLUTIONS :

  No problem. He has already suggested many blog topics , even though
  I guess he plans to shoot me down in some...

. BE ENTHUSIASTIC AND HAVE A POSITIVE ATTITUDE :

  Well, he is a wee gushing sometimes, but so upbeat !
                                  

. ESTABLISH A GOOD RELATIONSHIP WITH YOUR BOSS :

  Of course, as soon as we met, it was kind of " love at first sight ".
  No surprise , cause the guy is really smart and handsome. I
  dare say we have built a strong and tight bond for ever.

. HAVE A TEAM SPIRIT :

  Fortunately, no team spirit requested to be a substitute blogger,
  cause , as you can imagine, Clooney wants to top the bill, and he is
  rumoured not to get on that well with supporting role actors. Well,
  at least, that's what I heard through the grapevines ...

So, now you know all the reasons why I decided to hire Clooney to give me a hand all throughout Summer time.

Oh, by the way, before getting down to my quick request, did I tell you that " Clooney " stands for Canaille* is Looney ".
Nothing nasty about that nickname ! That's how we used to call him when he was a puppy, cause he used to go off and start running full speed around the garden for 10 solid minutes, then stopped dead, rushed back home, stared at us as if we were aliens, then sprawled out in his basket and " good night, sleep tight " !
We called that " the ten looney minutes ".
Canaille has grown up, calmed down, and now with his new job, he is expecting his fifteen minutes of shame !

Now my quick request .

   Among this month posts, which one did you prefer ?

   . A teacher's private confessions.
   . Incorrigible diet breaker.
   . My dog's blog.

Your answers are expected on :

                       perkybusybee@gmail.com


In the meantime, don't forget : be perky !

* Canaille is my English Springer Spaniel (photos of him in the previous post)


 
 
                      

MY DOG'S BLOG

Hi everydoggy,

Canaille speaking,

Do you remember me ? I'm Perky's English Springer Spaniel.

  

You see, when the cat is away, the mice will play. I mean, when Perky is away, I won't obey !

So, while she is away with Ulysse, my so-called buddy, instead of having a lie-in on my comfy couch, I've been scrolling down her blog in search of some good readings.

You know when she is working on her blog, she sometimes looks up and stares at me in such a way that I was quite sure to come across a hearfelt post praising all my virtues and qualities.

Hang on, I was not fishing for gushing compliments ! I was just expecting to be the leading actor of quite a few adventures of Dany the Perky Busy Bee . A kind of tribute to the strong and close bond between both of us.

Curiosity killed the cat ( and the dog, as well ) !

I wish I had never looked at her damned blog !

After moving the cursor up and down for a fair bit of time, my paws hurt, and my  heart, too.

It dawned on me  that since Perky launched her blog, I have been the hero of ...guess how many posts ?

Just two !! Yes, guys, just two wee little chapters out of 117 !

And on top of that , " Squirrels drive me nuts " and " Dogs and deers " are not my best performances. Far from it ! They could have been kept close to the vest.

But listen, it ain't over yet !

My curiosity has really backfired .

Lots of photos in her blog, but once more, just two of me, and again a huge disappointment !

You see, she is a real pain when she pursues me with her camera, but, well, I'm easy-going (all English Springer Spaniels are), so I play the game : she is the paparazzi and I am the celebrity.

So, what the heck was she thinking when she chose those photos ?

In " The Case of the Biter Bit " I don't look my best : ok, I was just back from the groomer, but it was before going on a diet, so I was a bit on the sportly side.

                        

But the worst is my photo in " Hunting Season " !! Really ! I just look like an idle-bone galoot, sleeping with his squeaky piggy !

                          

In " Squirrels drive me nuts ", Perky wrote that ' ...it was love at first sight with that toy, and that she even wondered if their little rascal (that's me !) didn't enjoy irritating them with the squeaky noise ..'.

How ridiculous and offending !

That means she knows very little about me !

Squeezing Piggy to make it squeak was just a way to tell them I was ready to share  my toy . Instead of that, whenever  I put Piggy near their feet, they used to throw it away.

Well, I know Perky and Dearhubby are sometimes weird and unpredictable, so I used to fetch Piggy and bring it back. But then, thrown away again !

So, after a while, I got fed up, left Piggy in the garden, and unfortunately a playful fox  wandering around tore it to pieces.

But I'm getting sidetracked ( Perky must be rubbing off on me).

Time is clicking, and Perky and Ulysse will soon be back.

I'll have to pretend I have been as good as gold, if I want to get a treat.

The remains of the roasted chicken ?  Hope well and have well ...

So, before sprawling back on my couch, let me give you some good blog post ideas you could suggest to Perky , casually of course, otherwise she might get suspicious.

But I know I can rely on your mails * to warm my heart.

So, here is a sneak peek of what could trigger Perky's scribbling.

. The time I ran out in the garden with her slipper . She enjoys so much

  playing '' Fetch the ball " that I thought " Fetch the slipper " would

  make a change. She hopped so fast after me that go figure how I flung

  the slipper right in the middle of an overly thorny rose bush ! Didn't do

  it on purpose, of course, but ask Perky what happened then, cause for

  once, she didn't look on the bright side ...but I was a hero ...

. Or the time when I nearly starved. You must have noticed that my

  poor Perky is sometimes scatterbrained . She forgets shopping lists

  and then goes into big trouble ( post " Shopping lists :  to cut the

  mustard or not "), she nearly carjacks ( post " All cats are grey in

  the dark "), she sets fire on pumpkins ( post " The Squeaky Clean

  Pumpkin ), and so on ...

  So, sooner or later, I was doomed to pay the price for her absent

  minded side.

  One day, she woke me up (always too early !) , prepared my bowl,

  then left it on the worktop, and went to her study.

  I started barking " Hey you ! Over here ! " . In vain !

  Jeez ! I was not ready to fast !

  I put my paw on her lap once, twice, three times, but she pushed it

  down, and even worse, the third time she told me she was busy and

  didn't want to play !

  Had she asked me if I wanted to stay on an empty stomach ?? NO !

  I started pacing up and down ,from her study to the kitchen and back,

  but she just ignored me ! Ask her what happened after a while...

                               

Oh, sorry, I have to leave you cause I can hear perky coming down the path. I'm ready to wag my tail franctically, jum up and down and bark, I'm so happy, Perky is back !

Forget about what I told you today...I love that girl to bits, and I think she love me to bits, too !!

Bye and don't forget : BE PERKY !

                   

INCORRIGIBLE DIET BREAKER

                                               

Hi my Perky Busy Bee adventurers,

Feeling good and ready for another adventure ?

Great ! Here we go, then !

I live in Brittany and it is not true, it doesn't always rain in Brittany ! This year, Spring is absolutely gorgeous here.The weather has been set fair for weeks and I am already suntanned.Clear blue sky and mild temperatures make me perkier and busier than ever.

                               

Staying cooped up ? No way !

Early in the morning, sturdy overalls and rubber boots on, I'm ready to follow " the call of the wild ".

I'm rushing off my feet in the garden.

Raking the lawn to get rid of stray leaves and twigs, pulling out  pesky weeds, planting flowers, and whatnot,  turn me into a listless bee once back indoors.

No need to tell you that I usually have an ' early curfew ', and sleep like a log , lulled by a comforting sense of accomplishment.

So, why is there a little niggle at the back of my mind, then ?

Guess what ? I am  so tuckered out after gardening that over the last few days it has been getting harder and harder to come up with fresh ideas to write out.

A couple of days ago, while walking  with my four-pawed buddy, it dawned on me that I couldn't flesh out any thrilling plot. My mind was just like a leaky bucket .If only I could get someone to give me an idea, I could just run with it !

After faffing about and racking my empty brain for a while, I scrolled through my inbox in search of some exciting news that would trigger my scribbling.

Lucky me ! A Perky Busy Bee Adventurer had just sent me a mail to ask a question, a wee bit nosy (come on, I'm kidding !) but coming in handy and worth sharing with you in this week blog post.

So, here it is :

  Dear Perky,

  I've been on the Perky Busy Bee bandwagon for nearly 2 years now.

  When life is too hectic, I sometimes fall off and miss one post, but

  most of the time I usually manage to squeeze some time to read your

  blog.So, as a loyal follower, I guess I can ask you a question.

  Summer is coming in my place, and I'll have to make friends with my

  swimsuit again which means melt away several pounds of stubborn

  body fat.

  As you said in a post "...giving up my sweet cravings is far from being

  a walk in the park and I often sink into sugary ruts ".

  So, here is my question :

  What happened to the chocolate Easter rabbit of the post " The sky is

  the limit " ?

  Have you managed not to slack off and eat it up ?

  If I were you, I would have at least nibbled one of its ears : bunnies

  have long ones, nobody would have noticed !

  You see what a hopeless case I am ! Some help from a sugar and

  cream former slave would be welcome, cause for me if ' the sky is the

  limit ' , my sky is very low ! And, anyway, ' failure to assist a person

  in danger is a crime punished by law ' (lol) .

                                                  Roberta (Italy)

I guess now you are exppecting my answer, aren't you ?

Well, well, I must confess I'm feeling a bit uncomfortable about it, or to be really honest, awfully ashamed...

                       

                          

I didn't wolf down the chocolate rabbit, I gave it to a little girl I know, instead, but ...

Last Saturday, after reading Roberta's mail, I decided to write a full answer with lots of tips and tricks to eschew junk foods, sugar-soaked desserts and all that jazz.

After all, I had defeated my sweet and creamy cravings, so why not share my experience ?

Then, why on earth did I decide to play the wanabee dietician and add some easy and healthy recipes to my mail ? My gung-ho side, I guess !

Anyway, whatever it is, that's how things went out of control.

I started browsing through the Net,and go figure out how I came across the site of  'International No Diet day ' !

It is celebrated on May 6th ( Last Saturday was May 6th !) and it is a day to let yourself loose from the shackles of your diet  and accept your body such as it is.

Jeez, how come I had never heard of that day ??

                                         

To make up for lost time, I immediately booked a table for two in my favourite restaurant nearby.

It was FANTASTIC !

A great view on the ocean

stuffed spider crab beyond compare, a lobster in a wonderful creamy sauce ( no way to bribe the chef to get his secret !)

        

    

                                    

and a crispy strawberry and cream dessert : a treat to die for and ...guess what ?

Dying of shame the day after when it came to reply to your mail, dear Roberta !

So , sorry for not giving you any help for a cream and sugar-free diet. I'm not hiding my light under a bushel, but just putting my so-called advice on a back burner !

That's all for this week, folks.

And don't forget : breaking diet from time to time keeps you PERKY !

BTW : Perhaps I could use the cone of shame the vet gave to Canaille ,to stick to my diet ... ( dog-owners know that cone !)

A TEACHER' S PRIVATE CONFESSIONS

CHAPTER 116 :

               

Hi everybody,

How are things ? Are you on a tight schedule or just hanging around in your jammies ?

Well, whatever you are doing, you know what ?

You've really blown my socks off ! No kiding !

You see, last week when I posted " Learning a foreign language is fun ", I couldn't imagine it would spark your interest that much. ' Vocabulary ' is not ranked among the top ten overly exciting blog topics, so I did a double take before publishing that post. Really, it was far from being a shoo-in !

An, lo and behold, within a few days my inbox got crammed with all your funny language learning experiences.

Thank you, dear Nathalie, for accepting to let me share yours with all the Perky Busy Bee Adventurers.

I really enjoyed reading about your first stay at your American penpal's.

I can easily imagine how baffled you were when she asked you if you liked cobblers !

You said that your first impulse was to take a peek at your shoes : they were not misshapen or worn-out, so it was not a gentle hint at such that kind of stuff. So what ?

Cobblers ? Did she mean shoe-repairers ? What a weird question, then !

Anyway, you were in US to practice and get fluent in English,so, even though your evening class teacher in Paris had never tackled the

' shoemaking ' vocabulary, you had a go.

You managed to explain that every trade has its own value, and you even added that you wished there were more cobblers in Paris, cause some shoes were worth resoling.

                                 

Phew ! You had gone through it ! You were tuckered out, but quite satisfied with yourself.

Fleeting satisfaction ...

Hardly had you finished praising cobblers when you friend burst out laughing !

Then, she apologized and said that the post was calling the kettle and that if she had been in your shoes, she would not have done better.When she was in France, she had also often got into the same kind of trouble with words with double meanings.

Then, she explained that, when she asked if you liked cobblers, she was just wondering if you fancied a fruit pie topped with biscuit crust,her mum had prepared, and that was called a ' cobbler '.

                                   

Jeez ! What a load of cobblers !!

Quite right ! Learning foreign vocabulary is an ongoing challenge, so never feel lousy, and keep going.

For those of you whose mother tongue is not English, I'll be thrilled to bits if my blog helps you to store flurry of new words !

As for grammar, that's another kettle of fish ...

When I started teaching English to French adult learners, I thought grammar was a matter to be taken seriously.

So,I spent the very first years of my job filling in paperboards with countable and uncountable nouns, regular and irregular verbs, simple and continuous verb forms, and all that jazz.

As time went by, I realized that, if one grammar rule a day keeps the mistakes away, unfortunately, too many keeps fluency away, as well.

And, when attending classes my students' main goal was nothing else but to be able to communicate.

So, I mellowed out and tried to be more flexible.

Little by little, I noticed my students were feeling more comfortable and self-confident, and thus less reluctant to speak. Great, then !

But a leopard can't change its spots...

I remember one year spending five days at a strech showering my poor English learners with  a heck of a lot of examples which, I supposed wrongly, would help them to go through the tricky uses of past simple and present perfect (a real headache for French people !).

After the weekend, when they came back to our class, one student raised his hand and asked me :

     " Will you keep harping on tenses this week again ? I'm sorry but

        I'm not interested in the past. Let bygones be bygones. Why  not

        learn about the future ? ".

For once, I was the one who was tongue-tied ! I was about to answer that when there is a will there is a way, but I had not taught them

' will ' , yet !

That's when I decided to work on made-measure lessons, and I hope my students made the most of it. Time will tell !

                            

                         

That's all for this week, my dear Perky Busy Bee Adventurers.

Thank you for sparing some time to read my blog every week and for sharing it with all the fun lovers you know, and I hope you do know quite a few !

And don't forget : BE PERKY !

Any questions ? As usual , drop a mail in my inbox :

perkybusybee@gmail.com