Christmas eve and Christmas day at Baboon HQ

Christmas eve promised to be a busy day at Baboon HQ so we started with breakfast at French Franks, in Ryde.

Croissants of course.  It was Harry's first visit there.  When we got home there was cooking to do.  Edward started it off by making the apple cake that we baboons have for breakfast at Christmas.

Edward is a methodical baboon so he assembled the ingredients first.

Then he mixed them in the bowl.

Eventually it was ready for the oven.

Then Yaya decided to stew some fruit for breakfast, the pears and nectarines wouldn't ripen so that was the best way to use them, and its very tasty.

Learning from Edward, Yaya assembled the ingredients first.  The he had to cut up the fruit into small pieces.

Once he had done that he mixed in some ginger, allspice and honey and then left it to simmer.

In the meantime Edward's cake was ready to come out of the oven, he left it to cool while he made a veggie lasagna for our dinner.

In the afternoon we walked along the seafront for some fresh air after all that cooking.

You can't see them clearly but Harry found some primroses, on Christmas eve, strange!!

On Christmas morning we ate some of Edward's apple cake for breakfast.

Marley and I found it very tasty, we also had some of Yaya's stewed fruit.  Great team work!

After breakfast some young baboons got a bit over excited.

Little Tony climbed the Christmas tree, silly boy!!  Don't worry we got him down unhurt.

Then Arne got excited about climbing the vegetables and called Ozzie to join him!!  Oh those boys!

We had a lovely light lunch of smoked salmon, salad and baguettes.  Tashi is just waiting for his baguette.  That calmed the little ones down a bit and they watched The Wizard of Oz in the afternoon.

Here are Oregon and Jack just waiting for their dinner, we had mushroom en croute, from Marks and Spencer, roast parsnips, carrots and potatoes and some peas.  It was lovely.

What really interested Jack was the crackers,  yes, Arsenal crackers for Baboon HQ this year!

Harry is out again - 23 December!

Today was a beautiful day and Harry went out again to look for more signs of Christmas.  Harry is young but he knows what to expect from December.  So he was surprised when, from the car, he saw some things he didn't expect in December: snowdrops, primroses, flowering palm trees and daffodils.  It is very warm this winter, so far, so we are seeing strange things.  Anyway Harry started his walk at Horringford and walked to Alverstone.

If you could actually call it walking, someone was walking but was it Harry?  Anyway he found a signpost to Alverstone so he knew where to go.

Alverstone is a very small village on the island, with a vineyard.

He started off walking towards Newchurch which is about half way.  He came across some wintry looking trees.

No leaves, that is reassuring after all of those signs of Spring in December.  After quite a long walk he got to Alverstone and turned back to return to the car.  He was hungry and lunch was the next stop.  We went to Thompson's garden centre at Newchurch.  Look who Harry met there.

He was just sitting resting among the flower pots!  He probably is tired now.  Harry had a look at Christmas wreaths.

This was the one he liked best, very tasteful I'm sure!!  He met this rather unusual reindeer.

I'm not sure he looks quite up to dragging Father Christmas's sleigh around all night tomorrow but who am I to judge!

Then lunch, Harry ordered far too much food, toasted cheese sandwich, salad and chips.  He didn't realise there were crisps with the sandwich.  Never mind, like a good baboon he ate all the salad and the crisps, most of the sandwich and he shared the chips.  Good lad!!

Tomorrow will be Christmas eve, a busy day at Baboon HQ.  Harry will go out for breakfast at French Frank's and then we have lots of cooking to do so a few baboons might join in that.

I think Harry has found Christmas now!

Kolo's Christmas Tribute to FurryTails 2015

It has become a tradition that I pay a tribute to FurryTails at Christmas, so here is this year's effort.  I would have liked to have mentioned everyone but that would go on for ever.  It helps if your name rhymes with 'be'. Here we go to the tune of Jingle Bells!!

FurryTails FurryTails, its the place to be
With Toddy serving beer from Belbaer's brewery

With Chalky and Cuddles in the kitchen

and Ronja serving tea

Oh what fun it is to be in FurryTail's company.

FurryTails Furry Tails, its the place to be
Chatting with TyrFur about football and hockey

Breakfast buffet with Mogsbear

and with Pasikas for tea.

Oh what fun it is to be in FurryTail's company.

FurryTails, FurryTails, its the place to be
Watching football in the lounge when Arsenal beat Man City
Discussing important events
No Jose at Chelsea

Oh what fun it is to be in FurryTails company

FurryTails, FurryTails, its the place to be
Here comes Nanny with the cubs, I'll read them a storeey

Oh here comes our friend Tulip, with Mr Poldark for a cream tea

He seems a jolly nice chap, but is he really better looking than me?

(or me)?

Oh what fun it is to be in FurryTail's company

FurryTails, FurryTails, its the place to be
Sitting by the fire, reading with Sally
Loverrly and warm
With logs brought in by Biddeee

Then dinner of chips with our dear Henree

FurryTails, FurryTails, its the place to be

Oh what fun it is to be in FurryTails company

FurryTails, FurryTails, its the place to be

Christmas time has come with Martha's team at the top of the tree

We're thinking of having new outfits made for us by Snuffeee

Lets all raise a glass of beer to our dear Toddy!!

FurryTails, FurryTails its the place to be

Oh what fun it is to be in FurryTails company

HAPPY CHRISTMAS EVERYONE!!

21 December - Harry out again!

Harry is taking his duties of finding signs of Christmas very seriously.  Today he decided to go to Bembridge.  Actually he wanted to have breakfast at the Bembridge Bakery, so off we went.  When we got there the bakery had not opened yet so we had a look around.  Harry found some interesting Christmas vegetables at the Bembridge Deli.

Starting with brussel sprouts in their natural state.  Harry was happy to have a picture taken with them, but he didn't want to eat them.  He won't have to, Baboon HQ is not a sprout eating organisation.  Interesting to see the natural state of them though.

He also found these funny coloured baby carrots.  Orange, yes we are used to those, but the pale ones looked like parsnips and the others looked aubergine colour.

The Bembridge Bakery opened and Harry checked out the decorations.  He thought they were nice.  Although there was a manic looking snowman, you can see part of him in the next picture.  You wouldn't want to see his face!! He stared at us all the time.

He enjoyed the breakfast even more.  Toast and marmalade with coffee.  Nothing better than breakfast out!!

When we got back to Ryde we went to buy our own Christmas vegetables.  We went to the fantastic local green grocers Barrow Boys.  We bought potatoes (they advised maris piper for roasting so we got those), carrots and parsnips (all to roast), no sprouts!  While he was there Harry was impressed by the variety of tomatoes.

Multi-coloured like the carrots in Bembridge!  Harry wanted to buy some of each.  We will do but not today.  He thought even the tomatoes looked Christmassy!

Harry is doing well with his outings.  Today he will go to Marks and Spencer to pick  up the mushroom dish we are having instead of turkey.  I wonder what else he will get up to!!

20 December - Harry looks for signs of Christmas

On Friday our people started their holidays for Christmas, so on Sunday Harry Baboon decided to go out and search for signs of Christmas.  He decided to go to Yarmouth, where Mini-Kolo and #MiniBreeze have walked.  He had to get there by car.  He thought he could drive but that didn't work out so well!!

He was starting his walk in Freshwater at the End of the Line cafe so he has coffee first.

He found his first signs of Christmas in the cafe.

First the candle!

Then cranberry sauce and mincemeat, which is not meat at all!!

After coffee he walked down the disused railway to Yarmouth and then back to Freshwater.  Back in the car they drove to Yarmouth, where Harry found the next sign of Christmas.

Holly!!  Don't worry he isn't actually sitting on the prickly holly!

When the rain started there was a dash for Gossips cafe.  When #MiniBreeze was there he got a good view but Harry just saw the rain.  Never mind he will go back there on better days.  Anyway he was really there for lunch.

Cheese and pineapple melt!!  Very tasty!!  After lunch he checked out the cafe decorations.

Plenty of fir tree branches and pine cones.

Well that was Harry's first outing.  He will be chasing down more signs of Christmas tomorrow!!

Who is newer at Baboon HQ

I realise that it is a long time since I did an update on the personnel at Baboon HQ.  I did three part Who's Who at Baboon HQ in March 2013 and updated that in June 2013 with Who's New at Baboon HQ and then I introduced Hoppo in the same month, in a mixed blog.  That made 22 baboons.  I have done nothing since and there are 33 of us here now.  I'll let them introduce themselves.

Hello I'm Chesney.  I arrived in October 2013.  Kolo was curious to have me here because I look like the other medium sized baboons (Roko, Denis, Austin and Thierry who were introduced in March 2013), but I am a different colour.  I am called Chesney because I have big hands like a goal keeper and the Arsenal goal keeper at the time was called some version of Chesney, although not spelled like that.  The other medium sized baboons and I are about 14 inches so around 2/3rds of Kolo's height.

Hello I'm Ozil, after the Germany (and now Arsenal player).  I chose that name because I came from Germany to an Arsenal household.  I was going to be rehomed but I came from a house where people smoked and Kolo didn't want people to think we smoked at Baboon HQ.  I had an adventure in the washing machine and by the time I was dried out (sitting on the radiator in the Baboon HQ living room), I was part of the family.  I don't smoke by the way.  I arrived not long after Chesney in October 2013.

Hello I am Jack.  I look brand new and have a label saying I came from Hamleys toy shop in London.  I was going to be rehomed but things didn't work out.  I am called Jack because I sat in a box in the Baboon HQ bedroom for a while waiting to be sent and manperson called me Jack in the Box.  I arrived in December 2013 in time for Christmas.  I am almost as big as Kolo. Just an inch or so smaller.

Hello I am Lukas.  I got called Lukas because I arrived just as Lukas Podolski scored a winning goal for Arsenal.  I am the same size as Jackson (Mini-Kolo), which is about 11 inches so about half Kolo's size.  I think I arrived in September 2013.  I'm a shy baboon so I don't go out socialising like Jackson but I did have coffee with @MarthaBBear in July this year.

Hello I'm Tony after Tony Adams, famous Arsenal captain.  Its a bit funny really because I am 1/3 of Kolo's size, only 7 inches, so they call me Little Tony, cos Tony Adams is big and tall.  Kolo couldn't believe that there was a baboon like him that was so small, even smaller than Jackson and Lukas.  That makes four sizes of baboon like Kolo.  I arrived in May 2014.

Hello I'm Waverley, named after the steam ship that cruises around the coast of England, because I arrived in Ryde on the same day in September 2014.  I have had a rough life so Kolo brought me he to be part of Baboon HQ where I would have friends.  I have had my tail ripped off by children and my joints are lose so Kolo thinks I have been roughly treated.  I am nearly as big as Kolo.  He gave me his Arsenal hoodie to help me to keep warm and sit up straight.  I am very happy to be here.  Well we all are aren't we!!

Hello I'm Santi-Alexis, named after two Arsenal players who were playing awesomely well at the time I arrived in autumn 2014.  Kolo brought me here because he thought I looked different.  I seem to be a bit like Ryan in one way and like Yaya in another way.  I have great fingers and toes.

Hi I'm Tashi, a big baboon like Kolo.  I arrived in February 2015.  I was going to be used as a party prop by the students' union and Kolo didn't want me to have to suffer that, as it would not have been good for my health and welfare.  I have a Buddhist name because I am a meditative baboon.

Hello I'm Washington, I arrived in September 2015.  @TinyPearlCat sent me from Seattle, when my people had to postpone their holiday to Seattle.  I'm called Washington because I come from Washington State.  I'm quite new at Baboon HQ, but I love it.  Do you like my Arsenal cap?  I'm really getting into British sports.

Hi, hi, hi, I'm Harry, I'm a smaller version of Archie.  I came to Baboon HQ to do a particular job.  Mini-Kolo does all the socialising and has been doing walks, but he is awkward to pose on walks and falls off things.  I don't think he likes country air much.  When MiniBreeze was here Kolo found he was much easier to pose being smaller and more flexible.  So he got me for walks.  Mini-Kolo will continue to do social engagements, but I will do walks and some social engagements.  I haven't actually done anything yet but I got a great scarf and will be starting going on outings in the Christmas holidays.

Hello I'm Oregon, named because Kolo likes going to Oregon, and Washington set the trend for being named after states of the great US of A.  I came from Somerset in England.  Kolo saw that I had been on sale for two years and he decided enough was enough, so here I am.  Just settling in.  Ready for Christmas.  I am a big baboon like Kolo and some people think I am the most like Kolo of all the other baboons.

So that is the eleven that have joined us since we last updated.  We are a large happy troop of baboons.  I think Baboon HQ really is full now.  We had trouble finding somewhere for Oregon to sleep but we did.

So we have eight large baboons, 10 large/medium baboons, 10 small/medium baboons and five small baboons.