Posing Like A Princess

The Graduates:
Bear Lodge Alumni

We’ve had so much excitement around here that I’ve actually managed to get Mama to sit down and blog about it! Wonders will truly never cease... 🙄

First of all, our Bear Lodge Graduation Certificates and membership badges have arrived from @MunroBear! He’s also sent us some souvenir pictures of our mountaineering adventure, and we’re thrilled to bits with them. We had such a pawesome time, and you can read more about it in a minute. 

Climb For Toddy:Your chance 
to be a mountaineering bear!

Before I get to that, though, did you know that you can have a very special mountaineering adventure of your own? Munro is setting up some adventures in honour of @ToddyFur & his valet, Kevin, & you can get to do a virtual climb of the north face of Ben Nevis! All you have to do is make a small donation to the fund to buy a headstone for the much-loved @ToddyFur and his valet Kevin (this particular adventure is for a fundraiser), and provide Munro with pictures as in the Climb For Toddy details given here, and Munro will organize your training! Couldn’t be easier, and I can absolutely promise you’ll enjoy it! 

Your carriage awaits: About to leave with
@babymonk13 and @TravelMonk2 for the #OTLFP studios

Have you ever felt like a real, live Princess? Well, I did on Saturday! @MillieOTLFP and @Pixie_Tooth had very kindly invited me to be a guest on #OTLFP, and Saturday was the big day. It started with a ride in #RosiesLimo, which is always a very special occasion in its own right, and this time involved being first presented with a beautiful tiara by Rosie herself, and then chauffeur-driven to the venue by @TravelMonk2 and @babymonk13! 

On parade: Crowds line the route to #OTLFP, with @MillieOTLFP,
BSP winner @tiffany_tzu, @AlfieBear13 and @Pixie_Tooth

It was so exciting being part of such a beautiful parade, with pals along the route waving and cheering! It felt as if all my wildest dreams had come true at once, and it was even better for having so many pawesome pals to share it with. 

Floating on a cloud: How it feels to be a Princess for a day!

It felt as if I was floating on a beautiful soft cloud! You’ve probably heard humans talking about walking on air - well, this is how it feels! When we got to the #OTLFP studios I was called straight away to Fur and Makeup, so there wasn’t time to be nervous, then suddenly Millie was introducing me, and we were live on air! 

Poster bear: Still can’t
quite believe I’m on this!

First of all Mille and Pixie asked me some questions, and Tiff, as Backstage Pass winner, got to ask me some questions, too. As pals have been kind enough to ask me for a transcript of the interview, I’m delighted to publish one! It was supposed to go in this post, but I’m having major problems trying to get Blogger to behave itself since someone kindly did an update (!), and after two days’ worth of struggling with text format and uploading pics it’s now decided that this post is long enough! And for some reason it’s just reformatted the entire thing in Bold type - three times... 😂😂😂😂 

So, I’m going to leave it here and do another straight away to update you on the story... soon as Mama’s had a cup of tea and stopped screaming and grabbing handfuls of her fur, that is! See you shortly... 

Show Time!

Bear-faced luxury; travelling
in style in #RosiesLimo

Last night’s #OTLFP show was so exciting that I hardly know where to start! It all began when the pawesome #RosiesLimo arrived, courtesy of @SheilaMSpence1 and #RosiesTV , to collect me and transport me along with @TourGuideTed to the studio. It was very luxurious, and made me feel like one of the Kardashians! When we got to the studio we were met by the show’s hosts, @MillieOTLFP and @Pixie_Tooth. They couldn’t have been kinder or more gracious, and immediately made me feel at home, so it was only when I was summoned to Fur and Make-up that the enormity of what was about to happen really kicked in! 

Congratulations to #OTLFP:
4th anniversary edition!

Once the show started, though, everything moved so fast that there wasn’t time to be nervous. It was wonderful to see so many of my furriends in the audience, but once I’d waved to them and the introductions were being made it took all my concentration to keep up with what was going on, and I wasn’t aware of much else! 

Intrepid airbear: @TourGuideTed
in TheAviators uniform

The interview with @TourGuideTed was terrific! He has so many interests and he’s been to so many places and done so many things that he’s a great subject to interview. He’s putting out a replay shortly, so I’m not going to include any spoilers here (I’ll tweet the link when I have it), but I can promise you it’s well worth reading! 

Meet my Mystery Mention:
Hetty @MooseSquirel11

After the interview, including my two questions (you can see them at the end of Ted’s interview), I got to make my Mystery Mention - a lovely little bear named Hetty @MooseSquirrel11, who lives with her human family and Rocky the red panda, is part of the #BearHunt and does her bit to encourage her humans to #StayHome - and she’s getting married on Easter Monday! She also bakes cakes, and is a pawesome pal to have, so if you haven’t met her yet I suggest that you stop by and say hello. You’ll like her! 

Up for adoption: can Felicia
be your new best friend?

Then came a very important part of the show, when Millie presented the Adopt-Don’t-Shop segment. This week’s furson in need of a forever home is the beautiful Felicia, a black and white kitty with a sweet nature, an appealing face and huge soulful eyes. All she needs is someone to love - could it be you? 

After that there was just time for some excellent advice on how to protect our humans and help keep them safe, and then suddenly it was all over, and pals were milling around excitedly talking about what a great show it had been, and how much they were looking forward to the next one. 

Golden ticket: the coveted
Backstage Pass for #OTLFP

It was a terrific experience, and I’d thoroughly recommend it, so if you get a chance to be interviewed or get your paws on a Backstage Pass, do take it! Millie and Pixie are so kind and helpful that you really will enjoy it. Bentz @littlebeastben is this week’s winner, and I’m sure he’ll have as great a time as I’ve had. 

And in the meantime, of course, don’t forget to come to #OTLFP next Saturday! 

PS - I’ve just got the link to @TourGuideTed’s re-run of the show! It’s available right now, and as well as his great interview there are lots of really pawesome pics! Don’t miss it - it’s great 😊 

The Big Day

Three bears in a window: Alfie,
Toffee and I on #BearHunt duty

We had a busy day yesterday! First we decided to keep each other company on window duty. There aren’t a lot of little humans coming by at the moment, so it gets a bit lonely perched up there on your own. It was worth it, though, because eventually we saw a little girl one, and then this morning there was a little boy one. Neither of them saw us at first, but their pawrents must have been doing the #BearHunt ‘cos they were looking very carefully at all the windows. They saw us and waved, then pointed us out to the little humans and they waved, too. We waved back, of course, and all of them were smiling as they went on their way. 

Winners: we get a share of the
#FurryTails Quiz Night spoils

Last night there was a quiz at #FurryTails . @Macwhittle asked the questions, and there was quite a lot of discussion about the answers! Joint winners were @TravelMonk2, @carsenault5, @jereth_samson and... us!! We all got a trophy to take home, and we’re looking forward to the next one in a month’s time. @TravelMonk2 has suggested we should start a quiz team with the #cheeringsection members, so that’s going to be great fun! 

Happy Birthday to a great show:
#OTLFP is 4 years old today

Now for tonight’s big adventure - #OTLFP !! I’ve got my questions ready for @TourGuideTed (and no, I can’t tell you what they are; they’re classified Top Secret till tonight 😉), and I’m really looking forward to his answers. Oh, and I don’t think I told you before, but I also get to give someone a Mystery Mention! In case you haven’t seen the show before, the Mystery Mention is a shout-out to a fairly new pal who hasn’t yet got a lot of followers, and it gives them a chance to meet new people, and be seen by others who haven’t so far had the chance to meet them. All I can tell you at the moment is that my choice is someone I believe you’re to like. Tonight is also #OTLFP ‘s 4th birthday show, and I’m sure it’s going to be a great one! Hope to see you there 😊 

A New Pal, And A Big Night

Delighted to say that I’ve managed to drag Mama away from doing human stuff (the nerve of it!!) and persuaded her to get on with typing up my blog for me. A considerable amount of growling was necessary, but I’m glad to say it worked. 

Sweet as his name: our
pawesome new pal Toffee

First of all, most of you will by now have met Toffee, the pawesome pal who has come from @DCMonkey3 to live with us. It’s the pawfect name for him, ‘cos he has the most beautiful toffee-coloured fur, and a sweet nature to match. He enjoys being brushed, so we bought him a special soft brush, and I’m in charge of using it (very gently!) on him. He’s very good when I’m brushing him, and doesn’t complain or wriggle at all. He loves eating sweets, cakes and cookies, but he doesn’t like getting wet, so we’ve promised not to take him out when it’s raining. He’s part of @TravelMonk2’s #CheeringSection for @DCMonkey3’s cricket team, #Toddysteamcc , along with @@babymonk13, @DennisandDoris1 and Alfie and me. It’s quite hard work learning the routines, but it’s great fun, and we hope to be ready to give the team some inspiring support once the season starts! 

The other great excitement around here is that I’ve been selected to have the Backstage Pass for #OTLFP on Saturday!! In case you haven’t been to #OTLFP before, it’s a great show hosted by pets, for pets - and if you hadn’t guessed already, it’s about... pets. The hosts are @MillieOTLFP and @Pixie_Tooth, and they’re absolute professionals. Each week they interview a special guest. Last week it was the pawesome @CharliePurrker, who had us all enthralled with the story of his early struggles and the wonderful home he has now. The holder of the Backstage Pass was @TravelMonk2, and he got to ask Charlie two questions. 

On show: honoured to be
on #OTLFP on Saturday! 

Well, this week the special guest is @TourGuideTed, and after his interview I get to ask him a couple of questions, too! I haven’t decided yet what they’re going to be - Ted has so many interests and such an interesting life that I’m really spoilt for choice! He’s a pawesome pal to have, so if you don’t know him already you might want to check him out and follow him. I can safely say say that you’ll enjoy his company! 

Anyway, the show’s on Saturday April 4, at 4pm Eastern Time, 3pm Central, 2pm Mountain, 1pm Pacific and 9pm in the UK. I do hope you’ll come! It’s going to be a great show, and I really think that you’ll enjoy it. 

See you there? 

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?