Every true master has an apprentice. Someone to pass on the mantle to, someone to teach and train in the way. Coffee roasting is no different.
You have briefly met mine before. Now she is really part of the team, and we couldn't do without her.
She has made a big splash with the family - even NZ son keeps fully up to date, and daily wants to know how she is doing. He can't wait to meet her in the flesh. We can't wait to have another pair of ankles in the house for her to bite.
Our daily routine looks something like this:
6.00am - saunter bleary eyed and sleep encrusted down the stairs to get her up and outside to the well designed and highly engineered doggy latrine. Stand around in the cool morning air urging her to hurry up so I can get inside for the day's first coffee.
6.05 - yum yums time. Boy does she know that phrase!
6.06 - grubs finished - well the raw meat part - she farts about with the dry kibble for another 10 minutes. I'm not sure whether we are creating/allowing a bad habit to creep in, who would know, but she grabs her food (the dry stuff) and takes off with it, drops down on the mat, or the floor, or the couch! (she's been able to leap onto that for the past week) crunches through it, then back to the food bowl for another morsel. Why you might ask. No idea, seems super inefficient to me. It would be like 'human sits down at the table to a plate of something delicious, one gob full, up and off to the lounge to masticate'. etc etc
6.15 - 7.45 - various levels of madness as she plays, tears apart things, terrorizes llamie (one of her favourite toys), tries to eat us, etc etc. Life with a new puppy will be fun they said, she will melt your heart they said. Yes well that is true, but its a little like (well a lot like actually) having a human baby enter your world. All-consuming.
She has this thing where she digs like a maniac at her sleeping mat. I googled it to see why. Something to do with releasing something from glands in her paws. Seems dubious, I just think she is a total nutcase. It's a good indicator though that she has completely lost the plot and needs some down time. Crate time, pups. Funny thing is she usually settles straight away and nods off. I can almost hear her saying: 'Thanks I needed that, I was completely out of control and had no internal mechanism to get out of that vicious spiral'. Almost.
7.45 - outside to chat to the latrine again.
8.00 - bed time. Relief washes over me, time for a shower, and anything else that requires freedom from the four legged fiend. Like sweeping the floor. If you don't believe me, give it a whirl sometime.
anywhere from 9.00 - 10.00 - awake, play with me, play with me, play with me.
I won't give you an hour by hour account of the rest of the day, just re-read the above paragraph 5 times. The only difference is in there somewhere is a roasting session.
Out to the garage, pup on the long lead. Our backyard is in no way puppy proof, without the lead she would be off like a flash and out into the back lane - like the heart-stopping hi-jinks of yesterday! Man, is she quick).
But she likes being out with me learning the ropes. She can sniff out a stray bean that's escaped onto the floor from 50 paces, so I know she is going to be good in the quality control department. She also likes to keep a wary eye on the spinning drum containing the beans, so that's going to be an asset as well. At this stage it's more about the possibility of something to chew, but those skills will develop. She is still a mere apprentice.
10.00pm - "Its been 16 hours since this small canine animal first woke from the nest. (David Attenborough voice). Her parents can finally rest. It's amazing to see just how much attention the infant requires. Feeding, setting limits in play fights, exploring the natural habitat. Its truly remarkable the dedication of these overworked parents"
Too true David, I'm buggered, and saunter wearily back up the stairs to bed. Night.
Comments