The Problem with Offering to Help

Hey, Stuffie Friends!

We just got back from a trip to the Cities. Our landlord & friend, Dan, had a lot of projects to get done. First, we stopped in Kettle River to plant some potatoes. (We hid in the car. Then, later we found out that we could have gone on a ride in the dryer if we’d helped out inside. Oh, well!) Then, we went to the lake house. When our people left to go do work on Caroline’s yard, we got left behind. Lucky us! Alone in the new house at last!

First, we took a very important nap with our friend Stella. That big oversized bag chair she loves to lay in sure is comfortable! She was really happy to see us and agreed to have this special memory photo taken. One for the ages, for sure.

After visiting and catching up on old times, we made it over to the window to check out the lake and flowers. It was a nice sunny day and we couldn’t wait to get outside to play! Scottie saw one of his cousins in the tree and could see how much fun they were having.

When we got downstairs to head outside, we discovered this awesome new ceiling in the kitchen area. My bird friends just flew right up. I had to figure out the best way to climb up there. I discovered that going up the railing and jumping over was easier than it looked. Maybe they built it just especially for us… in a few months it will look like a hanging jungle. (Don’t tell, but we already have plans to hide out there when they’re cooking so we can sneak food!) Sneaks said that sometimes he has to hang out up there when he’s eaten too much of Mr. Scratchy Faces’s coffee grounds. He’s not a big fan of the ceiling setup.

From our up-high view, we saw a cool new race track around the corner. At first, we couldn’t find any cars, but of course Scottie snooped around and discovered them. It took us a little bit to figure out how to drive them. Don’t worry- we got there! We had several exciting races with our favorite yellow car nosing out the black car every time. Can’t wait to come back and watch the professionals run this course!

Unfortunately, we were having such a terrific time racing the cars that we didn’t notice all the people come home. As soon as they found us in the basement, they put us to work.

Here’s the problem with offering once and being really good at driving wheelbarrows and moving things… people will keep asking you to help them with it! So, Vacation was OVER. We don’t mind too much. And, unlike Yeti who refuses to work without the prospect of cold, hard, cash, we’ll do it free!

They needed some more rocks hauled from the front of the yard so we quickly volunteered to take the wheelbarrow to get a load. We have a lot of experience at this job from Caroline’s project. And we’d rather drive the fun wheelbarrow than have to lift big rectangles of cement any day.

After we finished working, Flicker noticed something interesting on the next terrace level. We couldn’t figure what it was all about. Wol the Owl looked in the hole and couldn’t see anything but dirt. A mystery that didn’t get solved until the next day. We saw those silly humans walking back and forth a bunch, throwing little bags from one end to the other. They seemed pretty excited when the bag went through the hole or landed on the sign. Loonie overheard someone saying the game is called “Corn Hole” because those little bags are filled with corn kernels. Good to know… Very good to know! We’ll keep that in mind…

We told them we’d be back for a final inspection in a few weeks. They’ll get top marks and pass inspection only if they make S’mores over the campfire. Loonie is sure they got that message. I’m sure there will be plenty of crumbs dropped for us to enjoy.

Until next time!

Scottie, Flicker, Wol the Owl, and Loonie