Santa, have mercy on me

Dear Santa,

Thanks for your reply to the previous post in comments.

Gossip flies and none of what they've told you is true. Well, maybe some portions of it. But nobody is perfect. In general, I would say I've been a good puppy and can prove it. As a matter of fact, if you review my list, you'll notice that item # 6 goes to the benefit of the Westie Rescue of America, a charity dedicated to help Westies in need. Therefore, the inclusion of such item not only demonstrates that I do have a heart but also my love and consideration to my neighbors as well.

I even went through the torture of a bath so I can meet you looking my best. My fur is now as white as the wings of an angel. (I am an ANGEL).

Come! I am waiting for you. I put up my stocking and customize it for this special occasion. The front side of the sock reads this:

and the back reads:

And there is more:

I prepared cookies for you and got fresh milk...

For us to share and enjoy this magical night. I want to sit and talk. Hear all about your delivery schedule for Christmas Night. Waiting for you to come...

... and waiting...and waiting...and waiting...

"ZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz.........."

My Wishlist

Dear Santa,

I hope everything is going fine at the North Pole. You wouldn't believe how good I've been this year. Down here in my kingdom, I have everything under control (although some people still insist on stating the contrary).

The days of running and rolling in the mud are way gone. I am a new dog. I have grown. I have matured. That's why I think that I deserve all and each one of the items enumerated on this list:

Item #1: Red Squirrel with Nut



Imported from the United Kingdom. The perfect toy for me to chase and chew on. UK Price: £16.99

Item #2: Ropes

For my "tug-a-war" sessions.

Medium size - 9" - 11" - $3.25


Item #3: Pork skins

The humans I live with have never given me a bite. Not even the crumbs.

I've always wondered what they taste like.

Bring me a box. I don't care what flavor. I'll wolf it up anyway.

Shipping Weight: 2 lbs.
Container Size: 10" x 10.25" x 12.5"
Case Cube: .74 cu. ft.

The box contains 12 Bags.

Price: $13.60

I won't hold my breath on this one...

speaking of breath:


Item #4: Yip Yaps

To keep my breath fresh and clean.

On sale for the friendly price of $1.49.


Item #5: Ray Ban sunglasses

Just like the ones Tom Cruise used in the movie Risky Business, (1983)

Item #6: Westie Scarf

At the Westie Rescue Website, a non-profit organization committed to helping Westies without a home. (It's a charity organization and it's the Holidays for Goodness sake!)


And last but not least:

Item # 7: Convertible Mini Cooper 2006

This version comes with a sport brake kit, customized pedals for dogs and a limited-slip differential.

Another change this year is a Checkmate styling package; a specially patterned anti-scratch dash panel with a blinking speed regulator, uniquely patterned cloth/leather (I prefer leather)sport seats, a musical horn and suspension with stability control for uneven terrains.

(This last feature makes the driving experience much smoother, especially when chasing cheetahs and kangaroos).

There's also a few new stand-alone options, including the leather upholstery, the new dash trim panels, silver exterior highlights, and the new wheel design with claw indentations.

If for some reason you can't get me any of the first six items, then just bring me the car.

Oh! And I almost forgot: I want it in the same color as that retriever Leroy Hatsis from dogster.com

(Price starting at $30,600).

Yours truly,

Simon the Westie

Christmas Cutout Cookies

That card got me very inspired to make my own Christmas Cutout Cookies.

Generally, I am very lazy, but when it comes to food I am willing to do the most unbelievable stunts in order to get what I want. That is how I decided to give it a try. The tools I needed were right there: my great-great-grandmother's recipe along with her cookie cutter:


I searched around and found most of the ingredients...

Then I mixed, stirred, rolled, cut with milimetric precision...

and baked in the oven in order to create...

multiple copies of an edible version of me.

(A very important tip: the secret is in the lemon zest).

I know that if my great-great grandmother Simone knew I am revealing her recipe to the world she would wake up from the grave and kill me. But I am different because I was taught since I was a little puppy to share so here and for the first time you can find the rest of the recipes she collected throughout the years. All the cutout cookies from her repertoire and how to make them if you dare...

Merry Christmas!

There are rare instances when a camera lens is able to capture magical moments in its most authentic and purest form. It requires a lot of work, calculated planning and big dosages of patience, especially when dealing with dogs as the object of study.

That is what seems to have happened when professional photographer Koren Trygg offered his skills to create the most beautiful image of the season in which a Westie with a melancholic look is getting ready for the long awaited moment when Santa finally arrives and gets in through the chimney with his bag full of presents.

Notice how all the elements are in perfect balance: the mug, the milk, the white cut-out cookies, the effect of the contrast of the white over the plate and its vibrant red color, the green tablecloth, the colors of Christmas...

Red Licorice Scottie Dogs

I was given this present. A closer inspection revealed they were red licorice in the shape of scottie dogs.

If I eat them... would that be cannibalism?

Oh, well!

Yummy!

Lessons of History (II)

By the early 1900's, McLeod was the most famous Westie, not only in England, but in the world.

His face was all over: printed on whisky tags, on posters, in catalogs, on coasters and any sort of alcoholic publications. He was venerated by drunks and even appointed Lord by the Queen of England in 1905.

One morning in 1906, Simone, his most rebellious daughter, who could no longer live up to her father's fame, decided to leave home in search for a more peaceful place.

She ran away and headed to the port of Liverpool where she ran across a nice couple who gave her shelter and food. He was a Frenchman, who had served for many years in the Foreign Legion and his wife was an Irish cook. They told Simone they would be leaving soon for America, where they had relatives waiting for them. She agreed to join them in what turned out to be a defining moment; the moment she knew was changing the course of her life for ever.

They bought the tickets (with the money they had from selling their cow) and a couple of days later where on board a ship called "Hope" that arrived Ellis Island in January 1906 (cointidentially, one hundred years ago).

The trip wasn't easy: seasickness, dizziness, sweat, dirt and lice. But all was forgotten once they got to the port: the view of the Statue of Liberty lighting the torch on the promised land. So far, so good, if it wasn't for the health control that immigration authorities conducted on the new arrivals. They had heard on the ship that they had to pass a strict health examination that included eyes, neck, skin and, in her case, fur.

One flea could mean sending her over to quarantine or, much worse, sending her back to England, as she had heard someone on the boat comment. That was the most nerve-racking experience: the fear of being returned home. But the couple searched all over her fur and didn't find anything other than some dirt and mud. "Don't worry, you're fine. All you may need is a bath, but as far as fleas, you are much cleaner than most of the humans on this ship".

They unloaded the only suitcase they carried and Simone, walked down the stairs, past the immigration booth. They got their names registered, their passports stamped and 'voila!', sooner than they thought they were already in America...

(copy of the registry of the passengers of the S/S "Hope", 1906, Simon's great-great-grandmother appears listed as Simone McLeod, photo courtesy of Ellis Island Archives)

Lessons of History (I)

"IN THIS JET-AGE CENTURY fortunes are made at the turn of a wheel, lost at the drop of a share index, men become millionaires in a year and great businesses mushroom up from nothing in a matter of months.

Yet the twentieth century tycoon has by no means created a precedent or established a monopoly on the romance of a quick fortune and the creation of a business empire. Many staid Victorians did something very much like It.. . . a little more unobtrusively, perhaps, but with a vigour and relentless opportunism which has earned the Un-dying admiration of those who followed them.

The tall, distinguished young Scotsman who rather dourly began a business career in 1879 as London agent for a well-known firm in the whisky trade, might have remained just that. If he hadn’t realised that at that time London and indeed the rest of England was an untapped market for bottled Scotch whisky.

Whiskies available to Londoners then were chiefly Irish and ‘self’ whiskies heavy Highland and Lowland malts brought in casks from individual Scottish distillers.

He chose his blend well, and bottled it under the name ‘Buchanan Blend.’ It is no exaggeration to say that ‘Buchanan Blend’ changed the picture of the entire Scotch Whisky trade. Each distillery produced whisky of a different character and flavour, but with ‘Buchanan Blend’ came a bottled Scotch which could be absolutely relied on for consistency and quality.

All Buchanan had set out to do was to capture a reasonable proportion of the London spirit trade. He ended up by making Scotch Whisky a universal drink.

From his foresight and shrewd judgment the taste for Scotch of a known proprietary brand evolved at a tremendous rate.

Then came his second stroke of luck - He marketed ‘Buchanan Blend’ in a black bottle, with a neat white label.

For a short spell, the actual name changed: to ‘Buchanan’s House of Commons’ Scotch Whisky,’ commemorating Buchanan’s first notable step on the road to success. . . . a contract to supply, against keen competition, the House of Commons with whisky. This was in 1885, not so long after Buchanan started in business.

But despite the name change, the bottle was still black, the label still white. And this was how Buchanan hit the jackpot.

For the people of England, in general, didn’t ask for the Buchanan Brand by name - They merely said: ‘Have you got any of that black and white whisky?’

Without knowing it, the public had created one of the most famous and enduring spirit brand names in the world: ‘Black and White’ Whisky.

But James Buchanan had other ideas. He saw the potentiality for a blend ‘sufficiently light and old to please the palate of the (English) user,’ to quote his own words.

Buchanan quickly realised the publicity potential of the new brand name, and just as quickly adopted it.

It was a shrewd move.. . . within a remarkably short time, ‘Black and White’ backed up later by the trademark of a Black Scots terrier and a White West Highland terrier, became famous from end to end of the world.

He advertised widely, in trains and on the sides of buses as well as in newspapers and smart magazines. And he was not afraid to spend money on advertising...."

(Excerpt of an article written in the Illustrated Bristol News 1961)

Searching for a dog called Lord McLeod

Remember this guy?



This honorable dog is my great-great-great-great-grand-father! He had forty children and eighty grandchildren. One of his daughters, Simone, is the one who came from Scotland to America in search of a dream in the early 1900's. The precise data I don't have yet (I am confident I'll eventually find it)...It's amazing how much information you find hovering around on the web...



Of course, all this wouldn't have this much of relevance if it wasn't for the fact that Lord McLeod belonged to a very wealthy man in Inverness, Scotland who commissioned him to manage all the moors he owned in that region. He was the most sought-after dog in Scotland back then....

But there is more: his image became legendary and immortalized forever after James Buchanan, an acquaintance of McLeod, asked him to pose for the Black & White portrait that was used to tag the famous Scottish whisky he had created....



Coming up next, I'll be revealing more of this fascinating story! With documents, memorabilia and pictures from the McLeod Family Trust Archives.