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Diary – 2009 May to August
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All my diary pages going back to 2009
DRAWING & PAINTING:
1 May 2009
Day out to Gillingham, Chatham and Rochester.
This coat of arms is on a bridge in Chatham and I like the words
"Loyal and True" – I expect everyone in Chatham is doing their best
to live up to this.
Rochester Castle with funfair being made ready
the festival over the Bank Holiday weekend. Chair-O-Planes have been
around for a huge amount of years.
These are my favourite climbing rocks along the
Esplanade, because there is not far to fall and only onto soft
grass. Brown Teddy did his best and made it to the top of the ridge.
We got up a good appetite for our sandwiches of soft quark cheese
and sprouted mung beans. If you stick the mung beans into the cheese they don't fall out of the sandwich and you can make patterns
before you eat it all!
7 May
I had a go at sprouted aduki beans on my quark
rolls. Too much flavour for me, I will stick to the mung beans. Dino
loves them of course because they are FOOD. Brown Teddy thought he
probably liked them, but I think it was because they are brown, and
he did take a very long time nibbling!
Sometimes there is the odd rock hard one that hasn't sprouted, which is not good for teeth! I always check them first – the hard ones are still small and haven't swollen up.
We had some new fish in the pond today, donated from someone who had too many. They behaved very well and I will get a picture when they come to the surface in the better weather.
14 May
This is me writing my name in Shorthand. It
says YELO TEDI. I have never seen this kind of writing before and I
am liking it very much. I am going to get some more words and
start a notebook to keep them in. Sometimes I sign my notes YelTed but
this is even quicker.
17 May
Day out to Stockwood Park in Luton. We looked
round the Radio Rally Boot Sale, then ate our sandwiches in the car
to the sound of pelting rain. The sun came out, and Brown Teddy and I
checked out the new Discovery Centre in the park. Brown Teddy went
on the spider web climbing ropes, and I had a go on the
miniature climbing wall. There is a huge log climbing frame with
slide
and all the ground is soft with rubbery and bark bits.
This lion is so friendly-looking that Brown
Teddy didn't mind him at all. There were two lions. I think I would
like to build a conservatory like this and then I can sit in there
with my puzzle books and eat vanilla yogurt, and I would enjoy
watching the rain! The third picture is a
large wooden sculpture of a woodpecker. I did not climb it, but
someone helped me look through the hole.
The perfume from all these flowers in the
greenhouse was amazing, and I would very much like some scented soap
like that! This is the
first time I have seen a banana plant and it was in a long hot
greenhouse against a sunny wall. No bananas on it – too small!
These chickens live in the Wartime Dig For
Victory garden, that shows how town people were encouraged to provide food for
themselves. The chickens are very
friendly, they were talking to me in chicken language all he
time, but I think they could
probably peck a bit hard!
We went home through Blackwall Tunnel which
goes under the River Thames at Greenwich. It takes about two minutes
to go through.
9 June
I saw one of my little froglets today under the bushes. He was hopping away from my gardening fork so I did not get a picture. He was about 2 cm long and exactly the same as a big frog. I am always careful when poking around the garden as frogs are the same colour as old leaves and lumps of soil.
I started my Shorthand Page today and you can
see it on the other website. I have been given this lovely
paintbrush that holds water in the handle. I made up some pink
painty water. You have to squeeze it to get more paint out, but it
can get a bit blobby so you need a tissue nearby. The paint has to
be very watery or you can just use plain water and dip it in
the paint.
My page is on www.long-live-pitmans-shorthand.org.uk/Yellow-Teddy.htm
14 June
I like this road sign because I am Ted and I
live in the West! Across the road is a building with my name on as
well.
Here is Pedham boot sale where I spend my 50p
sometimes. It is a very big field out in the countryside near
Swanley. I like looking for treasures and interesting books. Some
people get bored with their treasures and want to make some money to
buy new ones. I always take an apple and bottle of water because it
takes all morning to go round.
16 June
Sometimes I throw a big bit of bread in for the
goldfish. They eat it really fast and there's never any left
floating about. The usually get pellets. The netting is to
keep the herons and cats away from my fish.
18 June
Here are some of my sunflowers. They are
miniature ones, but they all look big to me. We put vaseline cream
around the stems to stop the snails getting up. It mostly works
unless we leave a gap by mistake. On the edge of the pot you can see
a sparrow looking for crumbs. He gets a few but not all the time. I
have seen my sparrows eating greenfly from the roses, so they do a
good job. I think it's their version of sweets.
2 July
Day out to Danson Park in Bexleyheath. We parked the car by the
playground where there was a water play area with jets of water
squirting out of the ground and out of posts. It is a brilliant idea
for a hot day because pools are not safe for very little children.
First of all we went into the woody bit where I found a little
stream with rocks you can step over. There are lots of bigger
climbing rocks and places to play hide and seek.
There was a secret pond covered with duckweed. It looked like you
could walk on it but you MOST DEFINITELY CAN'T! I thought this bird
was walking on it but when I got closer he was on a log just under
the water. When he got to the end of the log, he swam through the
weed and made another stripe in the pattern.
Danson Lake is quite big and there are sailing boats at one end. In
the second picture you can see some tents which were being put up
for a festival and fairground the next weekend.
16 July
Day out at Mote Park in Maidstone. The "Never Give Up" cherry tree
that I saw last time (23 April) is still doing well and the
new branches on the broken old trunk are growing as if nothing had
happened. I like this tree because I never give up when there is a
problem or a puzzle to solve. When I get the answer to something I
always write it in my notebook.
Brown Teddy found some sand in a hole. There is a mini-putting green area with mown paths, and the sand holes are there to make the game harder. We prefer playing with the sand which was very dry and warm. The best thing to do with it is to sit on the edge and draw shapes with a stick. You can even play noughts and crosses in it.
There is a big lake at Mote Park. The River Len fills it up and then
the same river leaves the park at the other end. Here is the
floating safety ring, and Brown Teddy says there should be some
words in the middle, like "Throw this in to help people."
There is a model train track with bridge. The trains run on Sunday
afternoons, but we are always there on a different day!
Bearsted sounds like my kind of place. I hope they are keeping it all neat and tidy, and that they have a little tea shop with fresh cakes and orange drinks, and a village green with a water drinking fountain. Maybe we should go there and find out!
3 August
We visited Auntie Sheila in Hassocks. Before we
left home, we had very tiny breakfasts so that we would enjoy all
the lovely plates of things that Auntie Sheila always makes. Auntie
Ann had the job of feeding Dino because he was too excited to hold
his ice cream spoon properly.
Auntie Sheila congratulated Dino on keeping his
claws very clean and sharp. He didn't say much but I know he was
secretly very pleased. In the garden we saw a sundial. The shadow
was pointing to about 2 o'clock on the circle. I wonder if I could
build one in my garden?
We went on to Newhaven on the south coast. I
saw this little house on wheels by the harbour side. It has a window
with a flashing light for the ships. I am still wondering what is
inside it. On the other side of the harbour we saw a dredging ship.
We heard a big roaring sound and it was a lorry tipping some scrap
metal onto those big piles.
There are big chalk cliffs at Newhaven. We saw
lots of people on parachutes, taking off from the grass on top of
the cliff. Sometimes they floated back to the cliff top but some of
them came down on the beach. One lady who was folding up her
parachute on the beach said it was really great fun to be up with
the seagulls.
We found a cave hole near the bottom of the
cliff. Dino had a good look for fossils. There was a row of stones
and rocky bits sticking out of the chalk. How did they get there?
There must be lots more hidden in the chalk.
There is a lighthouse at the end of the breakwater. The breakwater
needs mending so you can't walk along it any more. Instead we sat at
the top of the steps where the sun had made the concrete very warm.
The journey home seemed quite short because we all fell asleep in
the car.
11 August
Day out to the seaside at Hastings. We came
down a huge number of steep steps to get to the town. I just love
these beach toy shops. It takes a long time to choose the best
colour. If you have a swirly pattern bucket, you get all the
colours! The windmills are good because you can use them at home in
the garden.
This donkey picture was on the side of a very
very old timber house. Putting patterns in the plaster is called
pargetting and the date is nearly 170 years ago. All that time ago
they might have used donkeys to carry things. The Beacon sign and
flag was flying near the top of the hill. I live on top of a small
hill but there is not enough wind to fly a flag. There is a real
beacon on the other hill in Hastings, which is a very big wooden
post with an iron basket on top to hold a bonfire.
Back to the car for lunch and Brown Teddy is
making sure that everyone gets a piece of everything. Dino likes
Linseed Bread – we have to make quite a lot of extra sandwiches for
Dino. Then we went back down some different steps to the old part of
town and the seafront. We watched this Speed Wave ride but it was
very giddy making. The people on it enjoyed making a noise. I hope
their sandals were not loose!
I prefer these ones shaped like balloons and teacups, and they have
nicer music! The galloping horses on the carousel are the best, they
all have names.
This dog drinking water is outside the big RNLI
Lifeboats shed. On the bowl it says Sea Dogs, which is really a
friendly word for an old sailor. Here is the lifeguard watching the
sea very carefully in case swimmers need help. He never reads a
book, he has to keep looking with his binoculars. The seagull is
also watching very carefully for when people throw bits of
sandwiches out of the cars.
This noticeboard tells you all about the fish
in the sea at Hastings. Dino was absolutely delighted when he found
the dinosaur noticeboard. It said that Iguanodon fossil footprints
had been found in Hastings. Dino said he remembers good old Iggy
very well, and that Iggy and his cousin Oggy are now living with
some other teddies and a friendly family in another town. I wonder
if they might write us a letter some time? We talked about Iggy and
Oggy all the way home.
18 August
Went went to Rochester. Look at this leaning
shop, the camera was upright but the house timbers are very very
old. The lions on the bridge look a bit fierce. I wonder if they
growl when a car is going too fast? I think they must be made of
iron and there is another one on the other side of the road. The
town on the far side of the bridge is called Strood and next time we
will walk over to see if there are more lions there.
Brown Teddy always reads the notices,
even the long words. Well, who would want to swim in a muddy grey
cold river anyway? It's not a good idea at all. We saw a cormorant
in the river diving for food, so I think the notice is talking to
people and teddies. On the way home we visited Blue Bell Hill. Dino
wanted to stay for hours. His eyes are very good so he enjoyed
seeing all the roads and villages. He said he thought there was a
dinosaur in the quarry below but I think it was a big tree waving in
the wind. Blue Bell Hill is one of my top favourite places.
Look at all these rolls of hay that we saw
while driving home. They look small in the picture but really they
are huge. I am glad the farm animals will have lots to eat in winter
when the grass is not growing and it's snowy and cold. They will be
in their cow and sheep sheds where it is a lot warmer. I would like
to see the big tractor cutting the hay and making the rolls.
A rainbow coming from the living room mirror
onto the hallway cupboard. They are always welcome but they don't
stay very long. Fortunately we always have the photos of them to
admire, especially if you have them on the computer screen in a dark
room, when they can glow like they did when they were real.
The pear tree is producing well. We had only one surviving pear last
year, and this year there are six. This is the biggest. We ate one
that had fallen. It was sweet but still very hard. I like making
things and I like trees that make things – especially food! This is
the tallest sunflower we have this year. The others have flowered
but this one kept growing up before opening the flower. It is facing
the way the sun rises.
You can use the space on your 404 page to help find missing people by embedding info from notfound.org See Yellow Teddy's 404 page
Where to report a lost or found teddy or
toy in
the UK:
https://www.facebook.com/LostboxTeddyBears
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