2020 STATE OF THE ONION ADDRESS (10 photos + MUM + POP!)
HEY HIDEY-HO, FRIENDLYFRIENDS!! 😊❤️😊❤️😊❤️
Great googilymoogily that was sooperlongtimes since we got to hang out with you and stuff!! IKNOW!!
Just to get littlebits seriousface with you, it is ‘portant for you to know it was not ‘cuz we do not luvluvLOVE you guys!! NOPE!! Not even!! It was totally ‘cuz we did our very own for reals VACATIONTIMES and stuff!! Plus that pretty much NEVER happens for the Brindlebunch!! Yup!! Not so much the traveltripping kind, but more like the STAYCATION kind, with no ‘puterboxes or sillyphones or anythings like that!
NOPE!! Just lotsa HappyHeartHugs plus goofballery plus snugglesnorts plus cozypiles and stuff!!
You know … THE BESTEST STUFF!! ………
Anyhoozle … this is gonna be a sooperlong picturestory, but with not so much picturestories as WORDYBITS so sure hope you can find somethings ‘cozy to put your buttparts on ‘cuz we have lots’nlots for sharing with you!! YES!!
The TWENNYTWENNYTIMES is gonna be waymoredifferenter for the Brindlebunch, plus we wanna tell you alla ‘bout how come, plus what will maybe happen, so grab somethings to slurp, plus maybe some treats for putting in your belly, plus … GET COMFYCOZY AND STUFF, K? K!! ………….
Firstofalls, me plus Mirabelly just wanna say how much we know we are the luckiest ducklings in all of everywheres to have a so many friendlyfriends, plus a nice foreverhome, plus cozybeds and lotsa places for snugglesnorting, plus real good summies for our bellies and alla that stuff. Yes. All soopergood, plus sooper’portant for keeping our Hearts full-up with HAPPY.
‘Cuz truestory for reals no joshing seriousface, there are big piles of peoples all over our marbleworld that are not having such HappyFunTimes, plus it can get real easy to fill your HappyHeart with ‘fraidy scarings when you watch the TVbox or read the wordypapers ‘bout alla the ‘faridy happenigs goings on, ammirite!!?? IKNOW!!
So anyhoozle … we wanna start with lotsa shankshfullness for everythings you do plus for YOU TOO, K? K.
😊❤️ SHANKSH, GUYS!! 😊💜
FOR HELPING TO MAKE OUR LIVINGTIMES SO SOOPER ‘MAZING PRETTY MUCH EVERY DAYTIMES!!
H❤️H❤️H❤️
H💜H💜H💜
Prolly there is only won thing that me plus Mirabelly are barking plus making complainery growlings ‘bout, plus do you know what that is? DO YOU!!?? Or even WHO THAT IS!!?? ………….
YUP!! THE GOOBER OLD WINTERMAN!!
Butt just lookit, everybuddy!! Me plus Mirabelly really, really, REEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEELLY do not like to be anyplace that is chillybilly, but even we have to say this wintertimes is not even that crazybananas!! NOPE!!
Not even!!
Truestory, there has been lots’nlots of daytimes that have been almostly cozywarm for crying out Pete!! Seriousface!! Facteroid is, that the worstest part of THIS wintertimes is how zig-zaggery it has been!! ……….
One daytimes it is real freezy, then the nextest is not so much, then there is lotsa rainingdrops, then freezy slippy icings on everythings, then sunsmiles chase it a ‘way, then a buncha fluffystuff Pop has to shovellate shows up, then more rainingdrops!! What is goings on in the outsideplace for crying out Pete!!?? …………..
Anyhoozle … why we FOR REALS wanted to hang out with you is ‘cuz it is times a ‘gain for the sooper’mazing, sooperspecial, Brindlebunch only, won every yeartimes ……
…STATE OF THE ONION ADDRESS!!
Yup!! Plus this is when MUM plus POP get to do talkingtimes all by their lonesome!! For reals!! Me plus Mirabelly are gonna go do lotsa chewerational facercizes while YOU GUYS hang out with MUM plus POP so’s they can tell lotsa stories ‘bout what is goings on and everythings, K? K!!
All ready? All set!!?
OKEEDOKE!!
MUM!! POP!! TAKE IT A “WAY AND STUFF!!
😊❤️😊❤️😊❤️ …
Hello! 😊❤️
We know this may seem strange, but we are really happy to spend a little time “speaking” with you all, sharing some stories you would not otherwise hear about and letting you look “behind the scenes” a little bit at our life as THE BRINDLEBUNCH.
First, we also would like to say thank you to everyone who reads Archie’s posts and an especially big THANK YOU to those who have been with us since 2013 when Archie first started to share his adventures online. It’s impossible to believe, but this has been going on for almost SEVEN YEARS!
SEVEN YEARS!
A lot has changed. Five of those years were pretty steady and consistent, but for the last couple, our lives have changed a lot, both of us (Mum and POP) have different careers, different responsibilities and a LOT LESS FREE TIME, so we had to make the decision to stop helping Archie post for six months last year and then - when we were feeling a lot of pain and missed the entire experience so much - decided to come back in a part-time capacity, just so we could stay in touch and let Archie do what he does. They were both the right choice, despite how tough they were to make. And now we have some new and equally challenging new decisions to make for 2020.
2019 also delivered our biggest and most difficult challenge in the form of Mirabelle’s spinal surgery. We hope none of you has to experience anything like that and for those that do, we hope you get all the support that we did. YOU, our online friends helped us get through that in so many different ways. And the professionals we were lucky enough to work with through it worked MAGIC. Mirabelle was completely paralyzed from her waist back and - although not 100% - she is back and running and playing and living her fullest “MIRABELLE IS BIGGEST” life once again. We love her so much!
There have been little ups and downs as well, of course, but largely we are very, very lucky and have nothing of note to complain about. We live in a great apartment, in a great part of a great city in a great province in a great country and we get to work on things we feel passionate about. We’re very, very fortunate.
But we do have dreams we would very much like to see become reality and we hope to make some changes to accommodate that because we believe in the philosophy that “you must make room for new things by letting go of old ones”.
There are TWO subjects that we struggle most with in regards to the future and how to juggle everything in such a way that we (and of course Archie and Mirabelle) can remain healthy and happy. Two subjects that come up over and over again that we can never quite get a handle on. And they are:
When will we have a baby?
and
What does the future hold for Archie and his adventures?
The first one is simpler, but certainly not easy. We are not rich people, but we don’t quite yet have what we want or think we need to feel secure enough to - even temporarily - eliminate one of our income streams to have a baby. Right now, Mum’s company WITH LOVE STUDIOS is busier than ever and represents not only a significant part of our total income but an ongoing experience that is very creatively satisfying for MUM.
She is creating some of the best WEDDING VIDEOs, BIRTHING VIDEOS, LIFE MILESTONE VIDEOS and even select CORPORATE VIDEOS (with companies MUM believes in and can feel good about promoting) in our region, so it’s just plain tough to pull the plug on that. It WILL happen. SOON-ish, but not quite yet. Making it even more tricky is how Mum’s business books months and even years in advance, so even when she says she is going to stop, that could take upwards of a YEAR to happen because of all of the events and work that has been pre-booked. But success is the best problem to have, so we can’t complain about that. It’s a great problem to have.
There will be a baby. But baby’s arrival has perhaps, even more, to do with POP and his very unpredictable career than Mum’s. So he’ll be investigating a different kind of work that we can count on in 2020 and he hopes that he can transition into something that will allow MUM to quit (or at least pause for a time) without anyone having to stress about where the money is coming from. NO PRESSURE POP! 😊
And then, there is ARCHIE.
We love him and this experience SO MUCH. We cannot explain in words just how much we've been rewarded by sharing his adventures and giving as much as we can to his causes. Whatever we give, however much we work at it and no matter how much time, effort and money it requires, we always get more back. That is something Archie has taught us and brought into our lives.
So we want to keep going. But as Archie has now just turned SEVEN YEARS OLD, we also have to acknowledge that it can’t go on forever. So what on earth do we do?
We believe in our Hearst that given a chance, Archie can accomplish so much more. That he COULD get much more popular and reach the hearts and lives of many more people if we can find the time to do it OR … if we can monetize the experience in some way so it would support us without having to juggle other work. We say that knowing that is not an easy task. Even the owner of GRUMPY CAT had to keep her day job until the very peak of Grumpy Cat’s popularity and once Grumpy Cat became a world phenomenon, there is evidence that the obligations became so intense that it was no longer fun to do. So it’s a real puzzle.
Being a celebrity animal, of course, seems like a lot of fun, but we’re not convinced that it is for the pet itself. Celebrity of any kind can be a real drag at times, and although we want Archie’s profile to be as big as possible so that we can use it to do great things, we worry about what that would be like for him. It would also break our heart to know that he was not enjoying it any more because it was too much.
So … we’ve investigated an option we are happy with - but that maybe not everyone else will enjoy. But something has to change. So …
We’re now going to talk about a plan we have that we will never mention out in the open ever again. It may never come together, but if you would like to hear about this project and keep up on what is happening, then we encourage you to join Archie’s newsletter mailing list on his website. Truth be told we have NEVER sent out a newsletter yet because we built it with one idea in mind and then everything changed on us. So, now we are going to use it to OCCAISIONALLY - not monthly, only when something new has happened or if we have news about an upcoming event that we want you to know about so that you can have a chance to participate - share updates about what we are going to be working on for the foreseeable future.
You can sign up for updates here:
http://www.archiebrindleton.com/post-office/
Just scroll to the bottom of any page. The signup box will be on the left side for Archie’s “HappyFunTimes Newsletter”.
OK. So what are we talking about that would allow Archie to carry on for many more years without burning him out or creating stress for him (and Mirabelle)?
Last year, Pop helped produce a feature-length documentary on the life of Ernie Coombs and the cultural impact of his very famous Canadian children’s show, MR. DRESSUP.
(* It will likely be released late 2020 or early 2021)
During that production, he was fortunate enough to meet several of the world-class puppeteers involved in not only creating that show, but other milestone shows such as Sesame Street Canada, Fraggle Rock, Today’s Special and many more. And that proved to be VERY inspiring as he has been a lifelong fan of puppetry and specifically of people like Jim Henson.
Pop also travelled to the U.S. to speak with an award-winning puppeteer and puppet engineer who previously worked for Jim Henson (and many others) and discussed at length the idea of creating a show based on our real dogs, Archie and Mirabelle, that would be performed by life-like, but “enhanced” puppets. And we will be continuing to pursue that through all of 2020 with the hope of finally creating an ongoing series (likely internet-based, not broadcast) on Archie and his many years of adventures.
Because we love our pups so much, we wanted to be absolutely sure that this is something that both Archie and Mirabelle are ALSO good with, and as a Christmas present to ourselves, we purchase two sessions with a very highly regarded animal communicator named KATHERINE BOZZI so that we could ASK THEM DIRECTLY.
We know this sounds crazy to many people, but we believe in this type of thing and we were VERY excited to have a conversation with both Archie AND Mirabelle about the future and what we can do to make their lives even better. Katherine was wonderful by the way and we can’t recommend her more strongly. It was a TRANSFORMATIVE experience for us.
Here is her website: https://www.katherinebozzi.com/#/
We asked Mirabelle about how she felt about not being the baby of the family anymore (if we were to have a baby) and she was initially NOT VERY HAPPY ABOUT IT, but has come around and would be very curious to meet the baby. She may even LOVE the baby, but she is insistent that she will ALWAYS BE BIGGER. :) We also talked about her back injury and what we could do to make things better for her and she told us “I KNOW I’M DIFFERENT AND THAT’S OK”.
*At times these sessions were VERY emotional for us. It’s difficult to describe the feeling of CONNECTION that we did when communicating with both Archie and Mirabelle. It really was a gift.
Mirabelle is very excited to “be here”, loves everything she gets to do and is not troubled by anything that we worry about. Katherine also told us she loves to be the centre of attention, that she loves being held, and caressed and that she likes it when we tell her all about how great she is! LOL! Most importantly, she believes that “Life is short, so let’s make the best of it!”. That certainly sounded like our girl!
Archie’s session was even more revealing.
Katherine’s first impressions of Archie were that he is wise, alert, an old soul, very aware, sensitive, loving, gentle, nurturing, healing, generous ... and takes on too much. That last part had us worried knowing we were exploring bigger and more complex projects for him.
Katherine said that “ He takes on so much because he CAN ... and he’s a pretty powerful old soul, but that he has to remember that he’s (currently) in a dog body that has limitations.
So we told him about the idea of creating a double for him (and Mirabelle). Much like Santa Claus has “extra Santa’s” to help carry the load during the Holiday season. We wanted him to know that we would never literally “replace” him - that he will always be our favourite boy and we will ALWAYS want to spend time and go on adventures with him, big and small, but that we had hoped this new idea could let his voice reach more people without placing the responsibility squarely on his shoulders.
His response?
He enjoys the public service side of things. But he admits that he’s slowing down. “ I do enjoy it, but I’m slowing down. It’s a lot for me energetically. Less appearances maybe ... but ... not completely over”.
“He is asking to go into “SEMI-RETIREMENT”.
And on the subject of specifically creating a puppet to build a show around, Katherine told us that he was VERY ENTHUSIASTIC! And he said to her … “How creative you guys are!” and finds it very entertaining and would LOVE to see a puppet of himself. She did not get any kind of sense of him feeling replaced. In fact, she said he gets a big kick out of the whole thing!
And when we asked him about what we could do to make his life even better, she shared this:
Um ... he says “We’ve had a wonderful life together”. “You’ve given me so much. And I want to give back.” So, I told him that he is very generous and that he needs to take care of himself too. And he said ... “That’s true. I need to value my own needs.” So he’s been putting his own needs ... second? So, I told him that – well, your health starts to take its toll, right? So, he has to make that a priority.
“How can you make his life better?” (* This was one of the questions we asked before the session) “More relaxed time together in the house. Chilling out, just being a family.” ” Not overscheduling. We all love it and we all get excited about our public work, but let’s enjoy our private time too.”
So there you have it. As usual, Archie has very wisely shared some great advice. And, he’s very comfortable and supportive about the idea of his stories being translated into something new and different to be enjoyed in new ways by new people — even without him being directly involved.
Archie will, of course, be a producer of the show and Mirabelle will be our creative consultant, so no matter what happens or how, they will BOTH get to be involved for as long as they want to.
So for now, Archie’s page will carry on as-is. Very likely with fewer posts. We will try to stick to one per week, but we may not be able to do that and hope everyone will be okay with that and not worry. Eventually, it will come to an end, but not just yet and with any luck, something else that you can enjoy just as much will be ready to take its place by then. We plan on continuing to check in with Archie so that he has a chance to tell us when he’s ready to hang up his collar and let someone else take over.
And if you don’t like the new thing we may or may not create for any reason, then at that point we will just thank you again for following us for as long as you have because it has genuinely meant so very much to us.
Everything is great. Better than in a long time and we will never, ever forget how much YOU have all contributed to this wonderful life.
Much love to you all.
May you all have a wonderful 2020. We hope you also get a chance to go where you want to go, change in ways you would like to change, experience new things and touch other peoples lives. No matter how much or how little you can do, DO IT. You’ll be rewarded. You’ll be surprised by what comes back to you. We certainly have.
And with that, we’re going to hand things back off to Archie and Mirabelle. Thank you, everyone.
I hope we get to meet every single one of you someday. We’d like very much to tell you that in person.
MUM & POP
H❤️H❤️H❤️
WOWZERS!!
That WAS a whole buncha wordybits!! Gigantical piles of them, even!!
Wasn’t that part where me plus Mirabelly got to do talkingtimes with the ANIMAL COMMUNICATOR lady the COOLIST!!?? IKNOW!! It was awesometimes!! ……………
Anyhoozle … ‘fore we go-go-go, we wanna say that if you would like to be a helpful helperman for peoples who really, really REEEEEEEEEEEELLY need some extra lovings, we have some perfectal thinkingthoughts for you!
Yup!! ………………..
This here is our friendlyfriend, SUESMITH. 😊❤️😊❤️😊❤️
If you guys have been hanging out with us on the FayBo prolly you have seen her wordybits allover. She has been the nicest, most wonderfullist friendlyfriend in all of evertimes, plus she even comes allways from the Americaplace to do visitational hangout-ery!! For reals!!
But latelytimes she has been real sickybicky, plus her sickybickiness called DIABETES has really messed up her teefs. Plus it is gonna cost a whole buncha dollarpennies to get a doctoranarian to fix her up good as new. Yes. So our OTHER ‘mazing friendlyfriend AUDREYKOPOLOWHITCH has n’vented a GoFundMe page so’s you can send her any extra dollarpennies you have for helping. Click on these wordybits to go see it!
Sue’s Emergency Dental expenses
Now truestory, there are lots’nlots of peoples who need extra helpings, but if you do not know who to choose, then maybe choose SUE ,‘cuz she is soopernice, plus is not having HappyFunTimes just nowabouts, K? K.
Plus ‘member to not forget: every bits of lovings you send, you will get back plus waymorelots!! Promiseface!!
Shanksh, guys. Anythings you can do would be ‘MAZING, plus even if you do not have any extra dollarpennies to send, then maybe you can helperate by SHARING the linkybits, K? K!! ……………..
OKEEDOKE, everybuddy!! 😊❤️😊❤️😊❤️
That is it for this times and stuff!! Shanksh for coming ‘cuz great googilymoogily did we share gigantical piles or wordybits, amirite!!?? IKNOW!!
Me plus Mirabelly gotta get back to our chewertaional facersizes ‘cuz did you know why!!??
‘CUZ IT IS A BONE DAY FOR CRYING OUT PETE!!
** NOM ** ** NOM ** ** NOM ** ** NOM ** ** NOM ** ** NOM **
See you nextimes, everybuddy!! 😊❤️😊❤️😊❤️
😊❤️ Luvluvlove you guys!! ❤️😊
Forever plus everever for reals!!
H❤️H❤️H❤️
H💜H💜H💜
