Fresh Fuzz

Little Charlie Tucker, Adopting Big Red

by Crystal February 18th, 2011 - No Comments »

After a short ferry ride over to the Sunshine Coast and a little drive to Sechelt, Mrs. Tucker, along with little Charlie, met up with Mr. Tucker in the parking lot of the SPCA. Mr. Tucker had come straight from his work so they could all find a new dog!

“Hey dad, this is the best thing ever,” little Charlie exclaimed, giving his dad a hug.

Upon entering the SPCA, a kind lady greeted them and asked some questions about why they were looking for a new puppy.

Mrs. Tucker explained the scare she had had in the morning with the wolf visiting their farm. She stated how she wanted a family dog, but also a dog that could look out for the farm as well, and who would be good with kids and animals alike.

“I’ve got just the dog for you. Please come with me,” the lady behind the counter said with a smile.

Then the Tuckers followed her into the kennel area with little Charlie being placed in between his parents.  As much as they were friendly dogs, some of them appeared scared and were upset to be in cages. Just in case one of the puppies was in a bad mood, little Charlie was not to find out the hard way.

“Here you go, this is our hound dog,” said the lady, pointing to a Coonhound.

“Really,” little Charlie said, looking up at the lady.  He continued, “You mean this amazing puppy could be our new puppy?  Mom, dad, can we take him out of the cage?” little Charlie asked.

“I don’t know, Charlie. Can we?” Mr. Tucker questioned, looking at the SPCA lady.

“You sure can!  Why don’t you all go wait in the front room? I’ll put his lead on him for you all so you can take him for a walk and get to know him,” she replied.

“That’s a great idea,” Mrs. Tucker said with enthusiasm.

Then the Tuckers went back out to the front room and waited.

“Gee, mom, that is one beautiful dog. Why, I’m going to call him Big Red; he just reminds me of that story of the big red dog, Clifford, mom,” Charlie said with glee.

“Ha, no kidding, you know he did look like that storybook dog a bit,” Mr. Tucker said in agreement.

“Look, mom, here comes Big Red now,” little Charlie said, standing up.

“You can put your hands out for him to smell you all, if you’d like,” the lady suggested.

But before little Charlie could raise his hand to greet Big Red, the lovely fellow gave Charlie the biggest lick on the face and nudged his hand.

“Why, did you see that?” Mrs. Tucker questioned Mr. Tucker.

“Looks like we have a new best friend,” Mr. Tucker replied.

“Mom, he loves to be patted, and look, I’m scratching his ear for him. See, he likes it,” little Charlie said happily.

And so it was, that a new family member was added to the Tuckers, Big Red Tucker, but boy did he have a hound-like howl!

“This dog is going to be a wonderful companion pup for all of us, aren’t you? You’ll even get us all out for more walks, too,” Mrs. Tucker said, while patting his soft head and long ears.

For more information about adopting a pet, please follow this link! SPCA web-site.

© 2011 Crystal Buchan

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Little Charlie Tucker, The Honeybee Centre

by Crystal January 25th, 2011 - No Comments »

It was 7:15 in the morning, and as usual, Mrs. Tucker was about to have her morning tea. The kettle was on the stove and it was about to starting whistling in earnest; just now, a hissing sound was coming from it, which was most unpleasant.   It almost sounded as if a cat were having a run-in with a dog.  The hiss would soon pass into a full-blown whistle, and later, a much needed, peaceful silence would ensue.

As always, Mrs. Tucker placed her breakfast tea bag in her favorite big-rimmed, clay teacup, and her last step was to add a spoonful of honey.  “Oh darn, I am almost out of honey,” she thought to herself, looking into her honey pot, which was almost empty.

The Tuckers loved honey and they used it to cook with as well.  Mrs. Tucker was a firm believer in eating clean and avoiding refined sugar.

“Good morning, Charlie,” Mrs. Tucker said, looking at her little son still wearing his pajamas.

“What are we having for breakfast, mom?  I’m starving,” he said with a yawn while pulling himself up onto a stool, which was still too big for him.

“Well, how about some Cream of Wheat with some maple sugar crumbles?” she replied.

“Sounds great, mom,” he said, still a bit groggy and rubbing his eyes.

While preparing breakfast and her tea, Mrs. Tucker spoke again, saying, “We are going to go inland today, Charlie, and visit The Honeybee Centre, as I am almost all out of honey!”

“Really, that’s great, mom, I love watching those bees, mmmmmm and the smell of honey is wonderful.  Maybe today I’ll finally spot the queen bee,” he said enthusiastically, while trying to finish his last spoonful of Cream of Wheat.

As the day went, they arrived at the Honeybee Centre by mid-afternoon.  Charlie went straight over to look for the queen bee with some other youngsters while Mrs. Tucker proceeded to look for her favorite honey.

“Mom, did you know a queen bee can lay up to 2,500 eggs per day?  It’s amazing,” he said, bringing his hand up in the air to emphasize his new information.

“I didn’t know that, my goodness that queen is a buzzzy lady, she said with a chuckle.

By now at the checkout, Mrs. Tucker and Charlie had managed to accumulate lots of lovely items.

The cashier began to speak while scanning the items through, “Let’s see, you are buying our Pure Creamed Clover Honey, a couple of honey combs, a honey gift pack, the Dehydrated Honey Crystals…” Pausing, the cashier said, “Don’t you love how these honey crystals can replace table sugar?”

“Yes, they are great,” Mrs. Tucker replied.

“You found our beeswax candles, I see, and…” The cashier reached down and took the flavored honey sticks from Charlie’s little hands. “Ah, yes, these are very good,” she said smiling down at Charlie.

Now at their car, Mrs. Tucker asked, “Do you know which types of bees will eventually pollinate our apple trees?”

“Nope, which ones, mom?” he questioned.

“Both honey bees and mason bees will efficiently pollinate our trees, and maybe we can, when the time is right, become beekeepers!” she responded.

For more information about honey and bees, please visit the Honey Bee Centre

© 2011 Crystal Buchan

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