WORD About ROTTEN RALPH

Now here’s something you can ask your mom and dad to get you for Christmas and I gare-ron-TEE they’ll move heaven and earth to get it for you.  What’s that, you ask? A few good books.

Last month I raved about The Most Beautiful Place In The World by Ann Cameron.  I hope you all got a chance to read That. This month, it’s all about the cat. And not just any cat. A big, red, fat cat named Ralph.

Meet Ralph, the often curmudgeonly, always incorrigible, mischievous cat who has been misbehaving his way through children’s hearts (and Hers) and eight picture books (plus four early readers) since he was created by author Jack Gantos in 1976.

Ralph lives with his long-suffering owner, Sarah, a young girl, wise beyond her years. Even when he’s been at his rottenest, Sarah loves him unconditionally. She may get exasperated with Ralph, but she always patiently helps him to see the error of his ways. She never gives up on Ralph and she’s always ready to forgive. Young Sarah is a good friend. That’s the kind of friend we should all try hard to be.

I know you’ll come to love Ralph as much as Sarah does. When you’re ready to read Rotten Ralph, I’m ready to lie down and listen. Collect all the books in the Rotten Ralph series. This can be a fun project the whole family will enjoy.

Goodwill Energies I direct

Toward each and every one of you

Each and every day!

“And there came to be evening and there came to be morning”

That's life today!

Vocabulary WORD:

curmudgeonly

incorrigible

mischievous

misbehaving

Exasperated

long-suffering

unconditional

Find out more about Jack Gantos and the illustrator of  the Rotten Ralph books, Nicole Rubel.

Read the latest Rotten Ralph: Click on the book below and read Rotten Ralph now!

It’s Summertime♫

Well, it’s the last weekend of September. The final one.  This is it. Summer is officially (unofficially) over.  And I, for one, am not sorry. Heat is hard on us English bulldogs and for all of us brachycephalic breeds. That’s a big scientific classification word that basically means pushed-in face or short nose. People love our pushed-in faces.

Pugs are a brachycephalic breed. So are the Boston Terrier, Pekingese, Boxer and Shih tzu.  Some cats are brachycephalic, too, like the  Himalayan cat and the Persian cat.  We have a low, low, low threshold for heat so I’m sorta glad summer is over.  I don’t like the heat.

It’s been pretty hot up in here.  Today I was supposed to go to a meetup with other dogs at a dog park, but She didn’t want me in the car for an hour each way so we went to Old Town instead. It seems as though every city in America has an Old Town or Historically preserved village that’s largely a tourist attraction.  She’s compiling a dog friendly resource book so She decided today was going to be a day of research.  First stop: Mad Madeline’s Grill.

What I liked most about Mad Madeline’s was the spritzer jets along the roof edge that kept things comfortable.  The next thing I liked was how really nice all the People were to me.  They gave me a burger patty (and it was pretty large, too). That was delicious! (You know she *never* lets me have People food).

And they served me a nice bowl of water in a neat bowl.  I don’t, as a rule, drink from bowls, but this time I made an exception.

Most of the customers there today were locals and of course, everyone wanted to take a picture of me and no one minded at all when I visted them at their tables.

I had a *GREAT* time at Mad Madeline’s. I give this casual burger and sandwich joint out of 4 Dog Friendly Paws  (DFP) up.

The criteria for this DFP rating are:

Accommodation: Are dogs welcomed inside the restaurant and seated among all the patrons?  Is there attached open-air seating or a cool, shady  or heated outdoor patio area or are People with animals treated like an after thought, relegated to a crummy section of the restaurant with “less-than” type service?

Service: Do People with animals receive the same level of attention as patrons sans-animals?  Is the wait staff friendly, empathetic and professionally prompt?

Food: Do People enjoy the food?  Is it well prepared and presented?

Extras: Clean water bowls or drinking fountain, a discrete potty area, treats or even an optional menu for pet partner guests?

She had the pastrami sandwich which was OK but the breading on the fried zucchini was too hard and dark. Definitely over fried or fried in overused oil.  I’m certain, though, that had She complained about the overly hard zucchini, they would have made her a new batch, but She’s not one to complain.  Unless there’s a fly floating in her soup or something, she just accepts that things are not always going to be perfect.

The atmosphere was so pleasant and nice, the place was well at capacity (perfect for people watching) and it was a really nice and happy experience for Her and for me, that’s what all that really mattered.

Mad Madeline's Grill 28495 Front Street Suite A (951) 699-3776

So I say take your dog to Mad Madeline’s.  Can I get a Woof! Woof!?

Goodwill Energies I direct

Toward each and every one of you

Each and every day!

“and there came to be evening and there came to be morning…”

That’s life today!