Coffee

A lot of my friends think that I am addicted to coffee, but that is not true. I really drink very little coffee, no more than one or two cups a day, often none at all. The thing is it has to be GOOD coffee. And when I get good coffee I like to tell people about it.

However, this blog is not about the beverage that is grown here in Tanzania so well. It is about the newest member of the Thomson family.

The name of this new addition is ... you guessed it - Coffee!

The little "Cowie" when we first saw her

We picked up this little bundle of fluff at the end of March. She was a little pup from an ex-pat family here in Arusha. Her mum was a village dog that the family had had since she was a pup. Her dad, well I guess he was a village dog too - no one knows.

The Children of the family had called her "Cowie" because she came out with spots, "just like a cow". Her brother was called Simbie (Simba is the Swahili word for Lion) so you can see the logic in the names.  Anyway, Anne and I did not want to go through life calling the little dog after a cow, so we spent a lot of time thinking of a name that sounded LIKE Cowie. Katy was living with us at the time and she wanted us to call her "Katy Beth" after herself and Elizabeth. I just could not bring myself to shout out those names when the pup did wrong. So after a lot of tries we came up with Coffee. She even looked a bit like a good cappuccino - white like the froth, brown like the expresso and even a little bit that looked like the chocolate sprinkled on top.

Mum and Coffee playing in our back yard

Coffee is Anne's dog - company for her when I am away, and the two have bonded very closely - they just love each other to bits. Well, that is when Coffee is not helping mum in the garden.

"Ah but mum, those Mother-in-laws Tongues looked like they NEEDED to come out!"  I always know when Coffee has been digging and then runs over the tiled floor.

All in all she is a good dog, quiet and intelegent. I think she will be a great comfort for Anne when times are hard.

Dad sometimes has to disciple her

One of those times. Toilet roll under the bed!

In her position as guard dog. Note her toy: a half coconut shell