THE FIRST STEP IS ALWAYS THE HARDEST ...

                                         

Hello you,

No inner drive today ? Just feeling like a pick-me-up ?

Great then ! You've come across the right page to slow down a bit and lighten up.

No tedium, here, nothing to suck your energy out, just short stories to have fun and look on the bright side of things.

Hold on a sec ! Sometimes those funny but true-to-life stories are told by me, Perky Busy Bee, or, by one of my dogs, Canaille, an English Springer Spaniel.

Yes, guys, a dog ! 

But he is mighty good, and all his posts trigger so many views that I just wonder if he is not getting big-headed, and plotting to run my blog for ever !

Anyway, this week I have no choice, he'll fill my shoes one more time, cause ...but let him tell you what happened.

Hi everydoggy,

A woofing hello from Canaille, the wanabee blogger !

So, the spotlight is on me again. I'll try not to hog it and shine it on Perky, but believe me, it won't be a piece of cake, cause that girl is sometimes a hard nut to crack.

Nearly one month ago she prodded me to blog for her, because here in France it was the Summer holidays season kick-off, and she wanted to make the most of it.

I'm anything but a slacker, so I got cracking immediately.

Since early July I've kept my nose to the grindstone, and I must admit that blogging is a pretty thrilling and " pawsitive " experience : a bunch of new buddies all over the world

lots of cheering ' keep going ' mails, and,of course, scrumptous treats ! Hey, come on, hard work deserves a fair reward !

Everything is going smoothly, so what's wrong with me ?

Well, this week was my week off, and I had planned to go on a nosework training, cause you know what ?

I've lost all my squeaky toys in the garden !

Yes, all of them reported missing, except one uber-bouncing ball, but unfortunately torn to pieces by a cheeky magpie !

But Perky looks so miserable that I can't let her down. A friend in need is a friend indeed, so I'll put off my scavenger hunt till late August, and here we go again !

No need to wing it, anyway.

Living with Perky is a foolproof way not to fall into a daily grind. She has the knack of jumping into a whirl of twists and turns, and pop out of it with something funny to tell all of us.

But what happened to her last week, well ...I guess she would have prefered to keep that close to the vest...

Unfortunately she has given me the green light, so it's her turn to be my laughing stock. I have often been hers, then it's fair game, isn't it ?

Of course, I don't mean to hurt her. I dig her too much !

If you ' snoop ' a little around her blog, you will  realize that Perky has two quirks.

First, she is an incorrigible diet-breaker,

and then not a big subscriber to workout.

She always finds a lame excuse to succumb to the sirens' song of her sweet cravings, and when it comes to sweating out the sugar-and-butter-soaked Kouign Aman, or the huge double scoop of ice-cream,it's always the same old tune : rainy weather, tight schedule, friends to come, blah, blah, blah ...

Poor Perky ! Striving to master balance between her two foibles is just like learning tightrope walking.

                          

So, easy to figure out that when a local youngster took over a bakery going down the drain, Perky thought the best way to help him was to advertise his products on social media.

Then, guess what !!

Before launching her advertising campaign, Perky Busy Bee turned into Perky Greedy Guinea Pig, and experienced all the baker's specialties !

Pistachio and chocolate butter cake, chocolate and orange bun, toffee donuts, prune custard flan and what not !

An all-inclusive test !!

But listen, not a wee bit of those mouth-watering temptations for me, the poor starving dog ! Always the same " It's for your own good" record !

Then what was to happen happened...

Perky hit the target and customers started queueing outside the shop, but at the same time she started wallowing in self-pity, complaining that the weighing-scales kept bugging her whenever she tiptoed on them. You see what I mean ...

Suggardaddy put his oufit of Dearhubby, and offered to join a nearby health club, and have some workout together to calm down Perky's tastebuds.

Well, running in the garden with me and playing ' Fetch the ball ' would have been a better journey to fitness and well-being, but, you know, human beings are sometimes weird.

Jeez, when Perky came back from her very first training, I didn't recognize her. No kidding ! Her face looked like an old slice of ham left too long in the fridge, you know, a kind of science project !

                        ( a photo of Perky just back from exercising)

She was tuckered out ! She slumped onto the couch and so did I, cause I thought a heartfelt snuggle would do her good. 

For me it's the best medicine, so why not for Perky ?

Quite sure she was washed out, cause she didn't even demand an immediate " jump down " from me !

So, there I was, curled up in her lap, ready for a nice cuddle. Have I told you that I am a first-rate cuddler ?

We were so comfy that Perky had a heart-to-heart with me, but in such a thin voice that I thought she wanted to shoot a remake of " The Horse Whisperer ". 

I was thrilled to bits ! She and I topping the bill !

The title would be " The Dog Whisperer " !

But when she told me what happened at the health club, I bade farewell to my great expectations.

The coach who welcomed her said he would show her a 45-minute total body workout routine to kick off her new lifestyle of fitness.

Perky strived to do her best, but once she had gone through the warming-up session, she was already drained. She knew she was as stiff as a poker, but that stiff, what a shame !

The rowing machine and the elliptical trainer chipped away what was left of her mental health.

Anyway, she managed to keep smiling ,cause the coach was really friendly, caring and enthusiastic, but actually she was downcast !

Quite normal after a first session, I thought.

But when she told me why she was so low-spirited, I couldn't believe my floppy ears ! 

Guess what made her so desperate !!

Expecting your answers on perkybusybee@gmail.com

Continued in the next edition !

Enjoy you reading, share it and don't forget : BE PERKY !

PS : A clue is to be found just below the red lines of the post " Addictions " dated April 16, 2017.