Springtime walk

Yesterday my person had a day off work.  We have noticed some Spring flowers around Ryde so we decided to send Mini-Kolo out to look for signs of  Spring.  He may not have chosen the absolutely best part of the island to investigate.  We have seen flowers around here in the sheltered east of the island but Mini-Kolo went west where it is more exposed.  He had a great day though.

He asked our people to drive him to Freshwater and he started by climbing (aka being carried) up a steep hill.  From there he could look on one direction and see Freshwater Bay and in the other direction he could see the Downs and Freshwater town.

Next Mini-Kolo 'climbed' Tennyson Down, named after the Victorian Poet Laureate, Alfred Lord Tennyson, who had a house in Freshwater and walked the downs regularly.  This was  long slow climb.

On the way he stopped to look at the mainland.  This picture looks towards Hurst Castle which is joined to the mainland by a sand-spit.

He looked over at Dorset and waved to our pals Lillie and Archie and Chalky and Cuddles and their baboons Hairy Harry, Truffles Ruffles, Cocoa Bean and Joe Baboonosa.  Sadly is was a misty day as it often is in Spring.  But he could see the mainland.

Finally he got to the top.  We know it is the top because this is the Tennyson Memorial, set up to commemorate Tennyson.

After reaching the top we climbed down the other side towards the Needles. You can't see the Needles on this walk but the white chalk at the end of the land mass is just above the Needles.

He also looked towards the north where we could see Headon Warren, the down opposite to Tennyson Down.  It is covered with heather.

He had not seen any flowers yet, apart from flowering gorse, but we did see some caterpillars.  Mini-Kolo stopped and made friends with one of them.

He carried on towards the Needles where he came across a staircase in the downs.  You make think this is unusual, and you would be right.  These steps lead down into the Needles Old Battery, which is below and guarded the entrance to the Solent from Napoleon.  The National Trust look after it and you can pay to go in, but not by these steps.

At the end Mini-Kolo turned around and came back, greeting his caterpillar friend on the way.  He couldn't quite remember how far it was so he climbed a tree to see where he had got to.

Actually he did know where he was but he is a baboon and climbing is second nature.

Eventually he left the Needles Downs and got to the bottom of Tennyson Down.

Yes Mini-Kolo you did have to 'climb' back up.

Back at Freshwater Mini-Kolo had cheese scones and set out for home.  He did see Spring flowers on the way but couldn't stop on the narrow roads for all of them.  However at Chale Green he was able to pull in and have a look.

From his vantage point in a tree he could see what he was looking for.

So he went to have a look - crocuses

and daffodils.  Happy St David's day to all of our Welsh friends!!

We will look for snowdrops and primroses that we can photograph tomorrow.

February rehomings

More of our dear friends have been kind enough to take baboons into their homes.  For some it is the first baboon and others they are joining other baboons.

The first baboons to arrive at their new home didn't have to travel far.  On the right, in the yellow T-shirt,  is Hairy Harry who has been living with @lillieandarchie since March 2014.  They love Harry so much that they wanted him to have other baboons to be with .  This is Truffles Ruffles, what you possibly can't see that Truffles Ruffles has a tiny baby, Cocoa Bean.  Harry has been looking after a family of bears but now he has other baboons with him too.

Harry is going to be busy with all of these friends.

Next to arrived was Oliver.

Oliver is the one on the right.  He has gone to live with @PumpkinPuddy and their baboon Barnabas, on the left in front of Pumpkin's face.  What a handsome family they are.

Finally a first time adopter, our dear friend @myownshadow100 (JB) adopted Mac.

Mac has only just arrived as he had a very long journey.

We can see that all of these baboons have been welcomed and are settling in well.

Thank you to all of the baboon adopters, both old and new.  The rehoming has been going on since November 2011 and so far 116 baboons have found new homes, with two more underway.

My aim was to rehome 100 homeless baboons but its just grown and grown, thanks you all of you.  I should mention that we have 30 baboons living at Baboon HQ now, including me.  That is a large troop I need to manage!!

Happy Valentine's Day

I want to wish everyone a very happy Valentines day.  I sent out cards to all of those whose addresses I had but I'm sure I didn't get to all of you.  I have never sent Valentine cards before but I see that our US friends send them to all their friends, not just romantic connections, so I thought I would do that too, to show all of you that I love you.  If you didn't get a card from me it is not that I don't love you it is just that I don't have your address, or the postman hasn't got to you yet.

Some friends sent me pictures of themselves with their cards and I thought I would share some of them with all of you.  Again, if I have missed your picture it is just because there were so many but I love all of them.

Cards got as far as:

The Netherlands

Hungary

Even Australia

and Canada

And as near as:

the North of England

and hey just round the corner in the south of England!

Thank you to everyone who sent pictures.  I hope everyone has got their cards by now but I know what the post can be like.

The main message is that I love all of my friends and that means YOU!!  I hope you all have a happy Valentines day and that your humans do too.  Remember that you don't need a special love of your life to have a good Valentines day, just remember your friends who love you.

Autumn and January rehomings

I updated you on the autumn rehomings but I was not able to download the pictures at that time, now I have solved that problem, so I thought, while I was updating you on the January rehomings I would show pictures of the autumn ones as well.

Here is Sid's Lisa's Aldric on his road trip!! He looks really excited to be in the car.  I hear he is getting on very well in his new home.  In the previous blog our HQ baboon Barnaby stood in for Aldric as a body double!

Another baboon that we could not show pictures of was Sugah's @sugarmice's Benny.  Here he is with Sugah and family.

Our HQ baboon Ozzie was his body double in the earlier blog.

I told you about one baboon that had just arrived and had not been named yet, this is Beauregarde who has gone to live with lovely @EllieandEdmund, who do so much for anipals.

I obviously don't need to tell you how happy he is, look, he has pizza!  Baboons love pizza!!  Oh did I say that before??  Ozzie also doubled for him last time.

Now for the January rehomings:

The first baboon to arrive this month was with our dear friend @SirScamp.  Meet Bernard!

Here is Bernard with his new family.  Yes, his hoodie does look a little familiar!  Well this is because it is similar to the ones that a few of our HQ baboons wear.  Note I said similar, not 'the same' this is because his is a Liverpool FC hoodie not an Arsenal one.  That is fine, we Arsenal fans respect Liverpool and I am quite happy for a baboon to join a Liverpool family!  I think Bernard has had quite a good time watching his new football team so far!!

In my last blog I mentioned that we had a mother and baby baboon to rehome.  Lots of our lovely pals offered a home.  I conducted a draw on 15 January and Fred @summerstormum was the lucky pal.

Meet Honey and baby Andrew.  They look very happy in their new home.  They joined Fred's existing rehomed baboons, Jim and Little Jim!

As you can see they are much bigger than Fred's other baboons, but Honey and Andrew are very gentle, so it will be fine.  Little Jim looks very little compared to these two but he looks confident.

Four more baboons left HQ just yesterday.  Another mother and baby baboon to join @lillieandarchie's baboon Hairy Harry, a baboon like Fred's Jim (right of this picture), left to join @PumpkinPuddy and Barnabas Baboon, and another baboon left to live with our lovely JB @myownshadow100 as a first rehomed baboon there. This will make 116 rehomings overall.

Thank you for reading and being interested in the rehomed baboons, and massive thanks to all of our rehomers!! HUGS HUGS HUGS!!

Rehoming update!!

Oh dear, it has been a while since I did an update on the re-homed baboons.  This has been partly because my person has been off their game, partly because I have had trouble downloading photos and partly because we have had worries about a baboon who took a very long time to arrive.  However, all are safely in their new homes now so I feel its about time I did an update.

Yes, we are still re-homing baboons although it has been slower recently. There are three re-homings to report on, one on the way to his new home and one I would like help with.

I still haven't managed to download the pictures people have sent. However, rather than do a blog with no pictures some of the Baboon HQ baboons have agreed to act as stand-ins for re-homed baboons that look like them.

The first baboon to reach his new home, in September, was Benny who has stayed in England to live with our dear friend Sugah, @sugarmice.  Benny looks like our HQ baboon Ozzie, although he is larger than Ozzie.

We hear that Benny has had a great Christmas eating cherry liqueurs and watching television.  We know he has fitted into Sugah's family very well and is very happy.

The next baboon to be re-homed was Aldric, who has gone to live in Chicago with our dear lovely Sid's Lisa and the new kitties.  We know Aldric has been on a road trip to Iowa already, lucky boy!  He has been a great comfort to Lisa since she lost lovely Sid.  We had the great pleasure of meeting Lisa in Chicago this summer and talked to her about re-homing a baboon them.

Aldric looks like our Baboon HQ, detective mad baboon, Barnaby (apart from the Arsenal shirt)!!  We heard that, with his long arms, he is happy putting his arms around kitties necks and riding around on their backs.  What fun!

We were very relieved this morning to find out that another baboon had arrived in Georgia to live with @ellieandedmund.  Marshall Sheldon suggested them as great potential baboon re-homers as they do so much for wild animals.  Thank you for the suggestion Marshall.  This baboon took weeks and weeks to arrive.  We had not addressed it well (I said person was off their game), so well done to the US Mail for getting him where he needs to be.

Again, we could not download the picture but this baboon, yet to be named, is another one that looks like our Ozzie, but bigger.

Another baboon is on his way to live with our pal Sir Scamp in England, more about him when he arrives.

Now, I need your help!  A mother and baby baboon have arrived at Baboon HQ and need a home.  This is a large baboon, nearly as large as me!  So she needs a home where they are happy to re-home a big baboon with a very sweet baby.

You will see that this mother and baby will need a lot of bananas and banana milk.  If you are interested in re-homing them baboon please let me know by leaving a comment on this blog, sending me a DM on Twitter or a message on CBS, by 15 January.  On 16 January I will have a draw to see how will re-home them.  All entrants welcome, it doesn't matter where you live or whether you already have a re-homed baboon.  If you are interested please say.

Thank you for reading and for being interested in the re-homed baboons.

HUGS HUGS HUGS

Christmas Message

Hello friends. I am sorry that with all the disruption that's been going on at Baboon HQ this winter, we have not got around to sending out many cards.  So, I thought I would follow the example of our Queen and send a message to everyone.  However, our Queen has never sent one quite like this.  I want to tell an old familiar story but with some new characters.  Some of you!!

'Twas the night before Christmas, when all through the house

Not a creature was stirring, not even @SnuffyNorton.

The beer glasses were placed on the bar with care,

In hopes that @ToddyFur soon would be there.

The anipals were nestled all snug at the bar,

While visions of #TweetChoir danced in their heads,

And @Mogsbear in her kerchief and @HenryandFriends in his cap,

Had just settled down for long winter's nap

When out on the lawn there arose such a clatter

I sprang from the bar to see what was the matter.

Away to the window I flew like  flash,

Tore open the shutters and threw up the sash.

The moon on the breast of the new fallen snow

Gave a lusture of midday to objects below,

When, what to my wondering eye should appear,

But a minature sleigh with eight tiny anipals

With a handsome driver, so lively and quick,

I knew in a moment it must be @ToddyFur

More rapid than @Chalkybear13 his courses they came,

And he whistled and shouted and called them by name:

Now @OllyTed! now, @SpencerTeddy! now, @SirScamp and @Pete_Bear07!

On, Storm_Bear-Bill! on, @Sugermice! on @spybear007 and @NancyCakeFace!

To the top of the porch! to the top of the bar!

Now dash away! dash away! dash away all!

As wild leaves that before the wild hurrican fly,

When they meet with an obstacle, mount to the sky,

So up to #FurryTails roof the courses they fly,

With the sleigh full of beer, and @ToddyFur too.

And then in a twinkling, I heard on the bar

The prancing and pawing of each little hoof.

As I drew in my head, and was turning around

Into the bar @ToddyFur came with a bound.

He was dressed all in fur, from his head to his foot,

And his clothes were all white with the snow underfoot,

A bundle of beer barrels he had flung on his back,

And he looked like @TeddyBearScouts hiking with a backpack

His eyes how they twinkled! his dimples how merry!

His cheeks were like @RosieBear90, his nose like a cherry!

His droll little mouth was drawn up like a bow,

And the whiskers on his chin were as white as beer froth

The end of a bottle opener he held in his teeth
And anipals crowded around him like a wreath,

He had a broad face and a round little smoking cap

That looked very dapper a smart little hat

He was handsome and cheerful a jolly fine ted,

And I laughed when I saw him inspite of myself,

A wink of his eye and  a twist of his head

Soon gave me to know I had nothing to dread

He spoke not a word,but went straight to serving beer

And filled all our glasses with yummy banana beer

And laying a finger aside of his nose

And giving a nod onto the bar he rose

He sprang to his sleigh, to his team gave a whistle

And away they all flew like the head off my beer

But I heard him exclaim ere he drove out of sight

Happy Christmas to all and all welcome at #FurryTails

A very special bookplate

Hi everyone, I really want all of you to see this.  Our good friend from Twitter @xlografie made me some lovely book plates, specially designed for me.  You stick bookplates into the front of your books to show they are yours.  They are great because, as well as showing everyone it is yours, when you look at books in a secondhand bookshop, it is so thrilling to know who the book belonged to.

@xlografie designed this for me.  You can see there is a baboon, then other things related to me.  The shape below the baboon is the end of our island where you can see the famous Needles, further down you can see the Needles with the red and white Needles lighthouse.  You can see boats with Union Flags flying, our island is famous for sailing, with the famous Cowes week every August.  At the bottom you can see the Arsenal crest!  You can see how much research she has done about me.  At the bottom she has signed the plates although I don't think you can really read that on this picture.

The book plates take a lot of work, wood carving and several print processes, so they are not quick to make.  I feel that @xolografin has done fantastic work here.  I am so pleased with them and wanted you all to see.

You can find out more about @xlografie's work on her English website: http://www.xlographie.de/en/

 you can see the lovely work she does.

I think she is fantastically clever and if anyone is interested in getting bookplates she is definitely the person to get in touch with.