One's position in the pecking order

I read some stories to GrandSon4 this afternoon, then he said, 'Is Spot there?' 

It's my own fault: I should never have got Spot down from his place on my shelf. I should mention that Spot was a hastily chosen name, a spur of the moment lack of ingenuity, for Spot is actually spotless.

Yesterday I thought GrandSon4 and his sister might be amused by a talking dog. I fear I have built a saddle* for my own back.

So after three stories this afternoon, GrandSon4 spent about forty minutes chatting with Spot and teaching him how to draw rainbows and fire engines.

After helping Spot do the required drawing it occurred to me that the camera didn't show Spot doing the artwork so I could have put him down and done it myself. But that's not the spirit, is it?

By the way, that's Spot driving the fire engine and Granny in the back hanging on to the hose. On our first attempt the fire engine only had four wheels. I noticed GrandSon4 had lots of wheels on his fire engine. When I remarked on it he said, 'That's because it's amphibious.'

I was telling Husband about it and he said, 'What difference would that make?' Yes, thinking about it, not a lot, but at the time I understood what he meant. It made perfect sense to me.

But what do I know? I play second fiddle to a stuffed animal.

* * * * * * *

For my birthday last November a friend gave me a hyacinth bulb in a box with a vase and instructions how to grow it. I have the killer touch with plants so it's just as well that the instructions said, 'Put the bulb and its water-filled vase in a box in a cool place for ten weeks.'

In other words ignore it. I could do that admirably. And the result:

* Is saddle the right word? Rod? But saddle will do.