If You Go Down To The Woods Today...

Just put your paw into the sleeve!

Today I took Alfie for his first visit to the woods. I’ve been promising to take him, but the weather’s been rather wet and it’s been very muddy under paw, so we decided to wait till it dried out a bit. He’s been very impatient to get out, of course, and I’ve been just as impatient to take him, and eager to see his face when he would get his first look at the trees. They are massive, and there are a lot of them. He was so impatient to get out of the door he couldn’t get his paw properly into his jacket sleeve, but I managed to corral him on the window-sill (we hang out there a lot) and get him properly dressed for inspection before we were allowed out. The woods aren’t very far away, and it was just a pleasant walk to get to them. Alfie hasn’t been out of the house since he got here, so he was fascinated by everything around him. He wanted to look in detail at every Christmas tree in every window, and I had to keep tugging at his sleeve to get him past the houses. Can you imagine what would have happened if one of the people in the houses had looked out of a window and seen two bears peering in at them? Yes, me too. I don’t think we’d ever have been allowed out on our own again. 

Race you to the top!

I got him down the road eventually, and he stood and gazed up in wonder at the ancient, massive trees. “Has anyone ever climbed all of them?” he asked in wonder. I had to hide a giggle as I pointed out I’ll be surprised if anyone has even counted them, let alone climbed them. We made a start on a couple of them - not the tallest, as it’s still getting dark quite early and I’d promised we’d be back before then. We had a lovely time, and found a convenient place to sit for a while and watch the river flowing by, a long, long way below - the woods are on quite a steep slope, so even in a fairly small tree you can look down and feel as if you’re way up in the clouds! There was only one small disappointment - we’d forgotten to bring the picnic basket! Its contents weren’t wasted, of course, because when we got back we took it underneath the dressing-table (another of our hang-outs) and had our picnic there. 

OK, OK - who forgot the picnic basket??

Something else really exciting has happened, too - Alfie and I have been invited to a pawty at Culzean Castle In Scotland on New Year’s Eve! Now, to be fair, I ought to say that all anipals, including bears, stuffies, plushies and even their humans, are invited, too, but just try telling Alfie that. It’s his very first pawty, and he couldn’t be more excited! My first pawty was just before Christmas at #FurryTails, and I loved it, so I’ve got a pretty good idea of how he’s feeling. The upcoming pawty is a special edition of #caykclub and it’s hosted by @mogsbear, so it’s bound to be a lot of fun, and there’s obviously going to be the very best of food. Alfie says he isn’t going to eat all day to make sure he has plenty of room for cayk, but I’ll believe that when I see it. Going without food all day, I mean, not having plenty of room for cayk. Alfie always has room for cayk. Anyway, the pawty is at 10pm UK time. If you’re in the EST time zone, that’s 5pm, 4pm in CST, 3pm Mountain Time and 2pm Pacific. Hope to see you there! 

A Bear By Any Other Name

What’s in a name?: Ask Google

I hadn’t realized quite what a responsibility choosing a name would be until I tried it! Honestly, I spent hours scrolling through name after name on site after site, till they all were swimming in front of my eyes. 

It’s not as if there weren’t any good ones. There were lots of them. Hundreds of them - thousands, probably. What there wasn’t was a really great one, that would immediately call to mind the delightful little pal who needed one, and seeing no-one has bothered to give him a name before it seemed especially important that he should be happy with it.

I went through every family name that I could think of. I tried the name of probably every friend that any of us had ever had. I tried historical characters. Places. Character qualities. People in the Bible. Folks next door. 

Ladies and Gentlebears: Meet Alfie! 

Still nothing. And all the time, two eager little dark brown eyes were peering over my shoulder at the iPad screen. 

Finally, I did what I should have done in the first place. I turned to Twitter. And Twitter pals, of course, came to the rescue. Suddenly I had lots of suggestions to choose from. All of them were excellent, but one stood out above the others.    

His eyes lit up as he read the tweet from @MallyWolfe: Alfie! 

He immediately started running around the room, shaking paws with everyone in sight and telling them, “I’m very pleased to meet you - my name’s Alfie!” He said it to me, he said it to the humans, and he even said it to the TV! 

I’m very grateful to the Twitter pals who helped, especially @MallyWolfe and @TravelMonk2, and also for the very kind welcome and birthday greetings, with which Alfie is thoroughly delighted. He says that now he has a name he feels official, so I think all the effort that went into looking for one was well worth while, so thanks again to everyfur who helped, and... please meet Alfie! 

The Bear With No Name

Hi, everyone! Hope you’re all having as happy a Christmas, Hanukkah or whatever else you may be celebrating as we are. 

Let It Snow: Our new hooded jackets

First of all, we spent the morning watching Christmas services and singing carols on as many TV channels as we could find them on. I’m glad to say my new playmate has a good voice, and although a lot of the carols were new to him he learns fast, and was soon joining in with great enthusiasm. What he doesn’t have yet is a name. Wherever he was before, they never gave him one, and he’s understandably sensitive about it. We’ve promised not to call him anything he doesn’t like, and we’ve been looking at online lists of names, but so far nothing’s really appealed. It’s very important to have a name, and I don’t think he’s quite going to feel like one of the family till he has one, so the sooner we can find a name he likes, the better. 

First game of indoor soccer: Score 0-0

After dinner, we made a great discovery - I’d been so busy with the package that contained my new companion that I hadn’t noticed Santa had left other presents, too (and emptied the glass of whiskey we’d left out for him, and cleared a plate of fresh mince pies, but I reckon he’d earned all of them)! We had a great time opening them, and guess what? We have matching hooded jackets! They’re very warm, and we both love them. We got a soccer ball, too! We’re not really supposed to play with it in the house, but we got special permission today because the ground was wet outside and we’re even less allowed to bring mud in on our shoes, so we got to play with it indoors and had great fun, and we even managed not to break anything! How cool is that? 

Happy Christmas!

Happy Christmas, Hanukkah, or whatever you’re celebrating, to everyone, whoever and wherever you may be! 

It’s after midnight, and after much negotiation I’ve at last been allowed to open my parcel instead of having to wait till after lunchtime, and just look at what I’ve found!! A furry playmate, just as I asked Santa for! And there’s a card, too, with a letter inside from Santa himself! I never thought he would write back to me, but he has - just wait till I read it to you! 

“Dear Brenda, 

Thank you for your letter. I’m sorry not to have replied before, but I’m sure you’ll understand how busy things are here at this time of year.

I see you want a furry friend for Christmas. I’m very glad to hear that, because I have a very special furry who would love to have a home where someone loves him. 

He came here after he was given as a present to someone who, for some reason, didn’t want him. He is exactly as he came out of his box, with not a strand of fur out of place, and he’s never in his whole life had a cuddle. 

He sat around for a while, hoping that someone would play with him, but no-one did. Eventually he was given to a charity shop, where one of my elves who was collecting letters for me found him, put some money on the counter of the shop, and brought him here. He’s very kind and thoughtful, and has been helping wrap up parcels and look after reindeer. When I asked him what he’d like for Christmas he was amazed, because no-one had ever asked him that before, but when he’d thought for a moment he said the thing he wanted most in the whole world was a family, and especially a sister to have fun and adventures with. I’d just read your letter, so of course I immediately thought of you. 

I know you’ll be kind to him, and I very much hope you’ll like him. I know he will love you. 

With much love, and best wishes for a very Happy Christmas and New Year, 

Your friend, 

Santa Claus.” 

Well, he may not have had any cuddles before, but he’s making up for it now - he’s even being cuddled by the humans! Soon as they hand him back I’m going to have a long talk with him, and share my sweet mince pies with him, and we’re going to start planning lots of adventures. 

I’m so glad I managed to get him out of that parcel! 

*waves paw* Hi, everyone! I’m @BrendaBear1, from Twitter, and this is my new blog. 

Today is Christmas Eve, and I’m so excited! There’s a big box underneath the tree, and it has my name on it! I can’t wait to open it and see what’s in there. My friend @TravelMonk2 suggested I should see how heavy it is (about as heavy as I am!), and whether it would respond if I tapped on it. I tried that, and although I wasn’t absolutely sure I thought it did. I’ve tried it again since then, and I’m much more sure I got an answer this time. Also, I’ve noticed that there’s what looks like an air hole at one corner of the package, so I think it might be a furry playmate for me! I do hope so - I did tell Santa in my letter that I’d love one, but I don’t know if he reads all the letters himself or if the elves just read them for him, and I don’t know how elves feel about bears asking him for presents. 

Anyway, we’ll soon see - it’s only a few hours now till Christmas Day! *crosses paws tightly, & hopes for a furry playmate* 

UPDATE: @TravelMonk2 has had the inspired idea of playing music to the package to see if it responds, so I’ve rigged up a playlist on YouTube, and I’m sure something in there is tapping its paws in time with it! I’ve widened the air hole with a knitting needle, and (again at @TravelMonk2’s suggestion) tried putting some small pieces of cookie and a grape inside. All have disappeared. I’m convinced that there’s a furry in there who ought to be got out asap, but I’m not allowed to open the package till tomorrow! @TravelMonk2 suggested an anipal protest, which I may have “accidentally” let slip to the humans, because they’re muttering things about an Anipal Mafia, and some bears getting too big for their paws. Meanwhile, I am sitting beside the package making sure that no-one disturbs it while I play it Christmas music and eat cookies (and put fragments through the air hole while no-one else is watching). Will they relent after midnight once it’s officially Christmas, or am I going to have to wait till after Christmas lunch? Surely not...