Boogie's adventure so far...(2001877)

Hello!
We've made it on to the Isle of Wight.  It's a really lovely place to be and we had lots of good weather. We decided to do some sightseeing and the railway caught my eye.  A steam railway, it was brilliant watching the trains.  When the trains came into the station they had to be filled up with water, to make the steam and you could see the man climb onto the train to put the big hosepipe in.  Brilliant fun!
lots of love
Boogie

Hello!
I'm out on the road again.  We've travelled south and got to Southampton.  We didn't hang around long here though, the traffic was very heavy on the motorways so we basically drove up to the ferry and got straight on just seconds before it cast off into the sea.  It was a gorgeous hot sunny day, so it was nice to be out on deck with the wind in my fur.  More soon!
lots of cuddles
Boogie

Evening!
I'm back from The Netherlands and I've had quite a lot of fun watching the World Cup Football.  I was supporting Holland, as we'd just been there!  It was very close, but well done to Spain!  Of course the only instrument that I could play after the world cup in South Africa was of course.... the Vuvuzela!  It was very noisy and really sound like a buzzing of bees.  I'm not sure I really want to play this instrument very often, but it was lots of fun!
lots of love
Boogie

Evening!
We drove all the way through France and then Belgium and ended up in Th Hague in The Netherlands.  My family were playing a house concert there and then recording, so we were very busy.  There was a wonderful wooden harp sitting on the side, I did try to play it, but it was rather too big for me. I couldn't seem to be able to play it at all, but it was also quite old and I was scared of knocking it over.  It was a really great weekend though.  I had lots of fun!
lots of cuddles
Boogie

Hello!
I've finally managed to come out on an adventure!  Yay!  My family are on the way to The Netherlands for the weekend and to get all the instruments to our destination we drove (well I passengered) and to get the car there we took the Eurotunnel.  We sat and had breakfast at the terminal and bought car headlamp deflectors in the AA shop and then drove onto the train.  It was very strange driving onto the train and then sitting in a silent car seeing the world move past the window, but not being able to feel any movement.  Very strange indeed!  I think I like the Eurotunnel, I'd like to travel somewhere else by this mode of transport too!
lots cuddles
Boogie

Hello!
Well, here I am back in sunny old Essex.  I was supposed to go to Milan, but you guessed it, the volcanic ash stopped me from travelling and so I've got stuck back at home.  I wonder how many other bears have been stuck at home?  I'd love to hear what everyone has been up to being stuck at home :(

Anyway, so whilst I was at home I decided to play a new musical instrument, well it's a old instrument really, the shawm.  It's a medieval instrument and was around from the 13th to the 17th century.  It's like a really, really old oboe and it's really, really loud, so I wasn't rally allowed to play it for very long.

I hope I get to go on a new adventure soon.  Sigh.  I think I'd like to go to the volcano that has caused all these problems, hmm, maybe I should see if I can get a flight there, oh, hold on, that's where all the ash is, maybe not...

lots of cuddles
Boogie

Hello all!
Today was our big walk, we climbed Snowdon, the highest mountain in Wales.  Everywhere was so beautiful.  The weather was wonderful (unlike the rest of the country where it was raining!)  There were so many people that we had to drive to car park 3 miles away and then take the park and ride bus.  You can see me with my rucksack on the bus.  We walked and walked, taking the Miners track up.  When we got to the top I was so surprised to see a train!  You can take a train all the way up.  It was so busy at the top, people everywhere, it was quite a squeeze to be able to get onto the triangulation point to have my photo taken!  We had lunch and then walked down the Pyg Track, which is shorter, but steeper than the Miners track.  It was a really great day.  I definitely like walking up mountains!  A new adventure soon I hope!
lots of love
Boogie

 Hello!
We've headed on over to North Wales and Snowdonia for a weekend of walking.  Today we had a warm up walk for the the 'big climb' tomorrow.  Just a nice walk from Betws-y-Coed round and about, taking in the Swallow Falls.  It was a lovely waterfall, but because we had walked from Ty'n Llywn we didn't get as good a view as we could have done from the otherside, but the walk was lovely ... a bit wet and rainy, but very nice!
lots of cuddles
Boogie

Hello everybody!
I've been having such fun!  We had a friend come round and she had the most amazing instrument I think I've ever seen.  The Hurdy Gurdy!  Wow!  It's got lots of strings, keys and you play it with a wheel!  I couldn't really reach the wheel and the keys at the same time, mind you I couldn't reach the wheel or the keys really!  It's a really old instrument, from at least the medieval times and isn't played so much any more.  But it's getting more popular and I can see why, it was amazing!  Time for a new adventure soon I think.
lots of cuddles
Boogie

Hello!
We've come back home from France, where I enjoyed my sledging very much and have travelled over to the other side of the country to the lovely Cotswolds.  I could definitely live here, very pretty, quite hilly.  Not as hilly as France was, but definitely hillier than Essex! A very brief visit, just in and out again, but very nice!
Hopefully another adventure soon!
lots of cuddles
Boogie

Hello!
We made it to our destination - La Tania Ski resort in France.  We came here last year, but it was so much fun that we came back again.  La Tania is the Olympic village that the athletes used back in the 1992 Albertville Winter Olympic games.  I wore my olympic hat at every opportunity, but only saw one the whole week.  As you can see from the pictures I had a fun practising on the button lift, I didn't really feel very safe though.  I was very good and wore my ski helmet too, but it was a bit big and uncomfortable and made a much better sledge!  I also made sure that I drank lots and lots of water to keep myself hydrated.  I've also heard that you're supposed to drink lots and lots anyway, it's called Apres Ski, so I got lots of practise in!  That's all for now, I hope to get on a new adventure soon!
lots of cuddles
Boogie

Hello!
We've made it to Geneva airport, it's a strange place.  You get put on buses to get everywhere and have to wait lots and lots!  You can see me waiting for my bag, sitting on the carousel, along with lots of other people.  The funniest thing about Geneva airport is the announcement chime.  It is exactly the same as the start of the song "How much is that doggy in the window?".  So you have to sing that at the top of your voice every time an announcement is made.  I did get a few funny looks I must say!  It's now onto a coach and onto our destination!
lots of cuddles
Boogie

Hello!
I'm finally off on another adventure!  I've been a long time sat at home, twiddling my paws, not going anywhere, but hurrah, here I am at Gatwick airport getting ready for my next adventure!  When you're flying places you have to make sure that you're prepared and I borrowed a pair of noise cancelling headphones to listen to on the flight.  They were very wonderful, it's just a shame that the flight wasn't very long!  I'll update you very soon when I arrive!
lots of cuddles
Boogie

Hello!
I'm back home again after my wonderful weekend away.  Whilst I was in Sweden I got to hear about a most amazing story.  The OS-mössa, or Swedish Olympic hat.  Some of the Swedish athletes at the Winter Olympic Games in Vancouver have been wearing hand crocheted hats.  A website published the pattern and ever since then there has been a mass of crocheting around the country.  There has never been such crocheting, all the shelves are empty of the special yellow and blue yarn!  My family managed to get hold of enough yarn to make some hats before the whole world ran out and I'm very proud to wear my OS-mössa, especially as Sweden won gold in the ladies curling last night!  Heja Sverige.  Tee hee!
lots of cuddles
Boogie

Hello!
I'm back in Sweden again, skiing! Just for the weekend, so it was a flying visit really, but it was soo cold! Infact it was far too cold a little bear really. When it gets very cold bears actually hibernate, so I wasn't allowed to go out just incase I fell asleep on my paws! We stayed in a really wild hotel, up in the dome of a large shopping centre. You can see the shopping centre in the pictures, if you look closely you can see the windows right up in the dome. It's been very snowy over in Sweden and the snow was covering the window of the hotel room.  I was allowed out of the car just long enough to have my picture taken with the slope, it was very, very cold, -19 degrees. Way too cold for me! It's been a long winter!
lots of cuddles
Boogie

Hello!
Well, I'm back home again and twiddling my thumbs for a few weeks, so I thought it was time to learn a new instrument.  I felt like trying a small bear size instrument again, so here I am playing the Jaws Harp.  This instrument has got many different names and instruments like it an be found all over the world.  In fact, this is the second time I've played on of these, the first one was the Dan Moi.  This is a modern version of the instrument and some of the other names include English Trump and Guimbarde, some people also call it the Jews Harp.  But because you place it against your mouth you're really using your jaw to play it with, so it's name is the jaws harp.  I like that name.  I hope I'm not going to be hanging around for long before my next adventure though!
lots of cuddles
Boogie

Evening All!
I've been out on the road again.  It was very good to get out and stretch my paws a bit.  My family had travelled all the way up north to Southport to the Bothy Folk Club.  A very, very nice evening!  A bothy is actually a basic shelter, somewhere that a traveller can lay their weary head when travelling, so it was a good place to visit for a travelling bear.  Maybe one day I'll visit a real bothy, this one was actually a Golf Club. Tee hee!  I hope I get out again soon!
lots of cuddles
Boogie

Evening,
I've just been on a little trip into London to the BETT show, it stands for the British Education and Training Technology Show.  There were lots and lots of really cool educational people there all showing off their wares, websites, courses, computers, wow!  I have to say that the best thing in the entire show was a musical stand (it would have to be!)  the musii, it was awesome!  A really tactile music making inflatable, light, cuddly, music making piece of artwork!  You can see me having fun on it in the pictures, you have to check out the movies on their website though to really appreciate how much fun I had on it! We came back via Liverpool Street Station and I recognised the place where Treacle had sat and has his photo taken, so I had to have my picture taken there too!
Another adventure soon!
lots of cuddles
Boogie

Hello!
We're having another "snow event". I love snow events, they're brilliant. You can do really cool things like build snowmen! So that's exactly what I did. I built a full size snow man. I did get a bit cold, so I thought he might get cold too, so I leant him my scarf to keep him warm! I did feel a little bit sorry for all those bears that were stuck in transit though, I know that Mini-Sven is coming back from an adventure today and that his plane got redirected and connections will be missed. Sigh, good luck Mini-Sven! In the meantime, I'm going to go and have a snowball fight with my new friend!
lots of cuddles
Boogie

... and what happens on a snowy day when Boogie is a bit bored

Today I played an organ.  

It is a sort of church organ - but it wasn't in a church - so I guess it is a practice church organ.

The problem with organs is that they are ABSOLUTELY ENORMOUS and there is SO MUCH to do at the same time.  This organ has two keyboards (called Manuals),  a foot-keyboard (called pedals) and lots and lots of buttons that make different sounds (called Stops).  I don't know how church organists manage to do all of the jobs at once!

I was going to sort out one photo for you seeing me play the organ - but it was so big I didn't know where to sit.  So then we came up with a plan.  Using Photoshop, we managed to take lots of pictures of me playing different bits of the organ (and reading the music) and then stick them all together so it looked as though I was doing all the jobs at once.  Now I've had a look - I think this is how many little bears you would need to make the organ work.

I'm glad that this was a modern electric organ.  The old organs had pipes that were driven by bellows and I don't think a bear my size could manage that!

I had sooooo much fun playing this.  But it is a good thing that you couldn't hear the noise I made.  It was very loud!

That's all for now.

Lots of cuddles

Boogie 

Hello!
Today we went on a train adventure.  We drove out to Langwathby (very icey!) and took the train from there all the way down to Settle in the Yorkshire Dales.  The Carlisle to Settle Railway was built in the 1870s and then nearly closed again in 1960 and in 1980, but the local people really didn't want to lose it and so fought really hard to keep it open.  I'm really glad they did!  The best bit was definitely the Ribblehead viaduct with its 24 arches, amaxing! It was a lovely journey with wonderful views of the dales and hills.  We had a lovely long walk, which was very icey and we slipped and slide around everywhere!  Soon we hopped back on the train and headed back up into the Lake District again.  A lovely day!
lots of cuddles
Boogie

Hello!
I've come all the way up to the Lake District to celebrate the rest of Christmas. It's really lovely and snowy up here.  Very icy roads.  We had to drive very slowly this morning!  We went to Keswick for a walk next to the Derwent water.  Lots of ice on the water as well as on the paths.  It was a lovely way to relax and stretch out after the long drive yesterday and the lots of food!  I hope to do some more walks this week, so I'll let you know how I get on!
lots of cuddles
Boogie

God Jul!
I know I live in England, but we celebrate Swedish Christmas here where I live, so God Jul!  You can see me in our christmas tree that I helped to decorate.  We also had help from the Julbock, you'll find a julbock under every single Swedish christmas tree, going back for many, many years, quite probably all the way back to when the god Thor was around and that's a very, very long time!

I'd like to wish Brookdale and friends a very Happy Christmas and also Oggie and of course Treacle, MIni-Sven and Bamse where ever in the world you guys are now!  I'm off on the road early tomorrow morning back up to the north of the country again.  It's still snowy up there (the snow has pretty much melted here!!)
So Happy Christmas for tomorrow and a God Jul for today!
Lots of cuddles
Boogie

 Hello!

I'm in Vilnius - and a very nice place it is too!  In the top picture, I am on Gedimino Prospektas - the main street that runs through Vilnius.  Although it was right in the middle of Vilnius, it was nearly empty of cars during the evening - which is why you can see a picture of me sitting in the middle.

Mind you, we were there quite late ... so I had to go for a bit of a bear-kip straight afterwards.

If you look at the bottom two pictures - you may recognise the background.  Yes I was at the  Lithuanian Government Offices .... and Oggy Ogbourne has been here before.  I think that this is very cool!  I met a man whilst I was sitting on the Government Building Sign.  He said something to me.  I don't know what he said because I don't speak Lithuanian.  I wonder if he was a friend of Oggy.

Anyway .... It's not raining at the moment and I have had a whole day of exploring without getting wet.  I think I'll get back in my suitcase before the weather turns nasty!

Lots of Cuddles

Boogie
 

Hello!
I'm back home now and it's time I played another instrument! My family have got quite a few penny whistles, so I thought I'd try a different one, this time a low F whistle. It looked and sounded very nice, but it really was too big for me to play, so I put it away again! I definitely need to try some smaller instruments again next time!
lots of cuddles
Boogie

Hello!
The Eurostar is really, really great. It only took 2 hours to get from Brussels to London, amazing! you only need to get to the train about 15 minutes before it leaves, so it's much, much quicker than flying. Totally amazing! You can see me in Brussels and then in the tunnel, but you can't really see anything, it's all dark there, tee hee! Then you can see us speeding through the Engish countryside. Brilliant!
lots of cuddles
Boogie

Hello!
I've taken the Eurostar to Brussels, which is the capital of Belgium. We had a good look around and saw a lovely old church, the Notre Dame du Sablon. I met a lady, who gave me a lift around for a little while, ok she didn't move very much as she was a statue, but she was very nice - Madam Chapeau. The we went into a chocolatiere, which was lovely, you can see me pressing my noise against the counter whilst looking longingly at the chocolate - mmmmmmm, we bought some to bring back with us. More soon!
lots of cuddles
Boogie

Hello!
Well, I came home from Poland and warmed my fur up by the fire. Although it's not as cold here as it was in Poland my family have now started to have open fires again. Very lovely. I decided I wanted to play another bear sized instrument, so here is the penny whistle. The penny whistle has been around for many years and most people seem to think it's Irish, you can find very old whistles in Ireland and it is very popular over there. It makes me want to go back to Ireland again, but I think it would be quite cold at this time of year again! This penny whistle was a little large for me, but only just! I'm going to go and warm my fur by the fire again before I head on out for another adventure!
lots of cuddles
Boogie

Hello!
We've now driven back over to Gdansk to take the Ryanair flight home, but there was enough time to go to the beach. A good friend of mine went to the beach here in Poland and I think he had a great time, got into a bit of trouble, but had a great time. I think it must have been earlier in the year though, it was soooooo cold, I had to sit on a plastic bag to make sure that I didn't freeze my fur! I also tried to go and see a train. Trains in this area don't go very fast though, but they this one was really noisy and it was hailing and I was so cold. The train went so slowly that we could see the train driver give us all a very strange look. I don't know if it was because it was hailing and he was wondering why we were out in this weather, or if there just aren't very many travelling bears in this area? We didn't stay long anyway and drove straight to the airport to warm up again!
lots of cuddles
Boogie

Hello!
I've travelled all the way over to Poland. We flew into Gdansk and then hired a car and drove to Mragowo. It is so cold here! I've been to some great warm places over the summer and it's even still quite warm in the UK, but wow, it's cold here in Poland! We went to visit a statue of the Pope, I tried to copy him, tee hee! I had to have a bit of help, but I think I managed it quite well. Then we went to a lake. There was a guy fishing there, he was very, very still and I did wonder if he'd frozen solid! I copied him for a minute, but it was too cold and we really had to leave! I have no idea how the ducks could stay in that water! A new update soon!
lots of cuddles
Boogie

Hello!
I've had a lovely time at home, relaxing, catching up with my bear friends, but it's time for me to pack and get back in the saddle again!  Hurrah, I love to travel and I'm itching to be out on the road again!  Having been to Israel and seen all the wonderful things I saw I was reminded that the time when Jesus was condemned, crucified and rose again is celebrated at Easter. Of course there is one thing that makes me think of Easter and that is Easter Eggs, so there was only one instrument I could play when I came home, the shakey egg!  Hurrah!  The skakey egg is far more versatile than you'd think, you can do all sorts of rhythms on it, triplets, syncopations.  I love it, I think I should always keep one in my pocket (along with the ocarina!) just in case!  Well, I'm off again tomorrow, so I'll update you very soon on where in the world I've gone!
lots of cuddles
Boogie

Hello!

I'm now back in the United Kingdom after my amazing trip to the Holy Land. Wow, what an amazing adventure that was!!! Back home again now though, sigh! I will never forget that adventure! So here I am at Terminal 5 at Heathrow. I wanted to try to find somewhere that bears could all have their pictures taken and I thought this could be quite a fun place! The water fountain outside the terminal building, next time I'll try to get my picture taken in the fountain itself! Tee hee! I wonder who will be next to have their picture taken here?

Anyway, I've got a quiet couple of weeks and then I'm on the road again!
lots of cuddles
Boogie

Hello!

We've travelled down to Jerusalem now and this has to be the most amazing city that I've ever seen!  The picture in the top left corner was taken from the Mount of Olives looking at Jerusalem.  From here we walked down the mount and back up the other side into Jerusalem.  We saw so many amazing things, Mary's tomb, King David's tomb, the place where Jesus was crucified and was resurrected.  We went to the wailing wall, saw Roman roads and even the plant that made the crown of thorns.  Totally and utterly amazing!  After that we saw Bethlehem (but couldn't go into the city) and then went to The Knesset, where the Israeli parliament meet and saw the giant Menorah (which was designed by a Jewish English sculpture) and donated to the Knesset by the British Parliament in 1956.

This is the end of my amazing journey to Israel.  I've been places and seen things I never thought I would.  It was a brilliant trip and one I won't forget in a very, very long time!
lots of cuddles
Boogie

Morning!
Our next adventure took us to the River Jordan and the baptismal site at Yardenit, which is where John was baptised into repentance and where Jesus was also baptised.  It is also a river that has suffered badly from pollution and also from water diversions that mean the volume of water in the river is really compromised.  The area we went to though has been kept very clean so that people can dress up in white gowns and be baptized.  I didn't dress up, but I was allowed to put my little paws in the water, I had to be really careful to dry out properly again!  Sigh!  It was amazing to see all the people lining up and walking into the water!  More soon!
lots of cuddles
Boogie

Hello!

Wow, what an adventure!  We travelled north up to Tabgha and the Church of the Multiplication of the Loaves and Fishes.  It's on the north west shore of the Sea of Galilee.  You can just see the alter behind me and the rock where the multiplication happened.  We then went to the Sea of Galilee at Capernicum, which is where Peter lived.  What was really interesting was that the Sea of Galilee (which isn't really a sea, just a very large lake) is where Israel gets a third of its drinking water from.  There hasn't been much rain recently and the level of the lake has gone down by 6 meters!  That means that all the rocks you can see in the bottom picture should be underwater, but aren't!  Because of this they're going to start desalinating seawater to use.  Quite scary really!

Another update very soon!
lots of cuddles
Boogie

Hello!
Today is a very special day, it is my travelversary.  I have now been travelling for exactly a year and it's been totally amazing!  I've been very lucky to have been with a family that has visited so many different wonderful places.  I hope that this next year is as awesome!

I am now in the most amazing country I think I've been to so far, Israel.  Today we are in Nazareth, which is where Joseph and Mary lived.  The church with the lovely stain glass window was actually all made of concrete, well at least the upper church part was, the lower part was a very old stone building where Mary lived, it's called the Church of the Annunciation.  Just over the road is where Joseph lived, you can see me sitting on the railing where his bath was, there is now a church above it called St Joseph's Church.

The map only works in satellite view, so you'll need to swap view to see anything, it just comes out grey otherwise!

So much history and so many old places!  More very soon!
lots of cuddles
Boogie

Hello!

We went for a second walk around Aira Force.  I loved it!  It reminded me of the waterfall I visited not that long ago, Lydford Gorge.  We drove up and you can't see it, but you walk to the river and there it is, massive and wonderful!  There has been a lot of rain recently up in the Lake District (unlike back home in Essex where it's really dry) and the waterfall itself was amazing!  I goes on and on and just when you think it has been as amazing as it'll get, there's another bit that's even more amazing!  It rained and the waterfall was full of misty droplets, so I had to go home and dry off again, sigh!  But it was definitely worth it!

Another update soon from my summer travels!
lots of cuddles
Boogie

Hello!

I really like to climb mountains and see waterfalls and places like that, so we've driven all the way up to the north of England and to the Lake District again.  (It helps to have family way up here in the north!) Our first trip out was a walk around Caldbeck.  We did a lovely walk with the aid of Mr. Wainwright and one of his books.  The book is all handwritten and very pretty, the problem was that we couldn't always see where the path went or where we were supposed to go.  So these are pictures of us getting a bit lost and standing around getting wet feet and wet fur (of course it rained!).  It was a really lovely walk though and although we walked further than we meant, it was a great day that really blew the cobwebs away.

More very soon
lots of cuddles
Boogie

Hello!
We've made it home from Finland.  It was a lovely trip and I really enjoyed not getting my fur wet, that was nice (for a change!)  I looked around the house for a new musical instrument to play.  I'm really enjoying playing small bear size instruments and I saw hanging on the wall, a set of panpipes.  (A present from a friend who went somewhere in South America).  It looked like it would be a good size for me, but it was a bit awkward to play, so I decided that the panpipes weren't really for me.  It was hard to get my mouth to blow over the holes in the right way, tricky!  The panpipe is a really old instrument and you can find them all over the world.  The word pan comes from the Greek Shepherd God Pan.  So I guess he was the first person to ever play them.  Very cool!
I'm off on another adventure very soon, so another update very soon!
Cuddles
Boogie

Hello!
My second day in Tampere was as wonderful as the first.  We went on a walking tour and found more random pieces of art.  There are some artists that have decided to brighten up the city by knitting and putting them on things around the city.  You can see me sat on the best piece, I loved it, so colourful and bright, but not damaging to the thing it's put on.  Amazing!  We also walked past four statues on one of the bridges.  Two of them have got shiny bright toes, the story goes that if you touch the shiny toe you'll get good luck, so of course I had to touch the shiny toe of one of the statues! 

Tampere was a really lovely wonderful city and it didn't rain, so I didn't have to dry off once!  I would love to have stayed, but there are so many places to go to, I'm off on another adventure just as soon as I get back home again!

Lots of cuddles
Boogie

Hello!
We've taken a break from all the music and flown over for a weekend break to Finland, Tampere to be exact.  It's a lovely old city, first established by the King of Sweden in 1775.  It's a city that sits in between two lakes that are joined by some rapids.  These rapids now power electricity, but back then they would have been watermills. There are an amazing number of factories and industry.  It's really really pretty here and lots to do.  The city is quite small and we walked up to the park and up the observation tower.  You can see me on top looking at the northern lake. We then walked around the city and saw some random art installations.  From most angles the star just looks like washing, but if you stand in exactly the right spot, it forms a star, totally awesome!  Then we walked around to the southern lake.  You can just see the observation tower as we sat and sunbathed from a lovely sunny spot by the lake.
Another update tomorrow!
lots of cuddles
Boogie

Hello!
I managed to find a friend at the wonderful Bideford Folk Festival.  A cat called Garfield, he's an old hand at festivals and even has his own his vis jacket and morris bells.  I helped him on the door and then enjoyed the concert with him.  We had such fun talking about travelling in campervans  Brilliant!  Anyway, that's all from Bideford, a new adventure and a new country soon, hurrah!
lots of cuddles
Boogie

Hello!
We've now made it to North Devon and up to Bideford.  This is the Bideford Folk Week and it's been brilliant!  The weather has been much better, some rain in the night, but I've been able to come out of the van without fear of getting wet!  You can see me in the picture all ready, with my lovely head torch, lanyard and wristband!  What more could a bear want?  I got to go and see some morris dancing, which I thought was totally amazing.  I definitely want to be a morris bear!  Maybe I can get some bells of my own!  I just need to meet someone who will teach me! Anyway, more from my adventure very soon!
lots of cuddles
Boogie

Hello!
I had a great time at Sidmouth, but we couldn't stay forever and we left to drive to north Devon.  We stayed in a wonderful B&B in the middle of nowhere to dry out from the mud (luckily I'd stayed inside most of the week, so that I didn't have to dry my fur out, but my family was quite soggy!  We spent a wonderful day walking at Lydford Gorge.  You'd miss the gorge from the road because it's cut very deep in the earth, but it's fabulous!  I was very relieved to see the sign about dogs being kept on a lead, small bears like me need to be careful with big dogs!  (I've seen Treacles adventures and he seems to get into trouble all the time!)  At one end of the gorge is the white lady waterfall, which was beautiful and at the other end was the Devils Cauldron, which was amazing!  Inbetween the river winds through all sorts of different areas, you'll just have to go ad see it for yourself, it was brilliant!
Another update to my tour of the Southwest very soon!
Lots of Cuddles
Boogie

Hello!
I've come home from Detroit now and I'm on tour in the campervan.  My family and I are down on the south coast at the Sidmouth Folk Week.  The first part of the week was spent running around all over the place, my paws hardly touched the ground.  It was very very rainy, I hid in the van most of the week, so as not to get my fur all wet.  We try to be ecologically sound and have a solar panel, you can see me checking it's ok (on the one day that we've had with sun so far!) You can also see one of the venues, a long steep walk, but worth going up there.  Another update soon, (as long as it's not raining).  I fancy trying some morris dancing, I wander if I can find a morris dancer that will show me how to dance?

lots of cuddles
Boogie

Hello!

I've ended up back in Detroit again but this time the weather is much better.

This is a great trip ... we went to the Motown Museum where I got to stand/sit/fall-over in "Studio A" - the place where so many of the really great Motown musicians recorded their music.  People Like Marvin Gaye and The Contours and The Spinners and the Isley Brothers and The Supremes and .... of course ..... the Jackson Five. You can see their website at http://www.motownmuseum.com . It was very very cool.

On the outside of the building was a shrine to Michael Jackson.  I didn't want to sit too close to the shrine because I might have made lots of friends, got talking and missed my next journey.

As usual, I fell over a bit ... but for once it wasn't raining so I didn't get wet.  YAY!

I'm only here for a short time - and then it is time to shoot back to England to do some more music stuff over there.

Must scoot.

Cuddles

Boogie

Hello!

I'm back at home again and I decided I liked playing Bear size instruments, so I looked around for one... I found this instrument.  It's called the Vietnamese Dan Moi.  I remember when it arrived and my  whole family wondered for ages what on earth it was and how to play it!  A friend that had one already showed them how to play it.  I was ok at playing it, but not as good as this gentleman!

Well, I'm off on another adventure very soon!

Lots of cuddles

Boogie

Hello!

I'm up in the Lake District taking a little break.  We decided to go for a nice long walk up a mountain.  My legs were a little bit small though and I had to be carried in a rucksack, as you can see.  It kept me nice and warm though and out of any puddles!  I  had fun sitting on a couple of cairns, but it was very very windy and my fur blew all over the place!  I had to help a little bit coming back down the mountain though, my map reading skills are excellent, as you can see.  We were soon back home again, safe and sound, just before it started to rain.  I was glad to be in the car before it rained as I really couldn't face drying out again!

Another adventure very soon!
lots of cuddles

Boogie

 Hello!
Well, I'm  back home again safe and sound.  It took me days to dry out, I had to take all my clothes off and make sure that every tiny bit of fur was properly dried.  Not fun at all!   It was a very fast tour of Australia, so I think I'd like to go back again sometime when I'm not in so much of a rush!  There was only one instrument that I could play after going to Australia, so I searched the instrument box and found a didgeridoo! It was a tiny one, they're usually anything from between 1 to 3 meters long, but this one is totally bear sized and perfect for me!  The name didgeridoo isn't the original name for it, there are lots of Aboriginal names: Ilpirra, paampu, martba, the list goes on!  It really is an amazing instrument and I wasn't any good at it.  You can see Jeremy a really great player on this video.  I didn't really have enough puff to do it very well!
Another adventure soon!
lots of cuddles
Boogie

 Hello

Well, we have reached our last destination in our Australia tour.

We are in Sydney.  I was hoping to have some time to wander around the most fantastic Opera House and the great big Harbour Bridge, but in the end the weather was really really wet! In fact, it rained so hard that I thought I might drown - or get blown away (or both).

We found a plastic bag that I could use as a seat, a hat, a poncho and an all in one suit ... which was really fun.  You can see my new bag-coat-hat in the top pictures. Do I look cool or what?

You can see me by the Harbour bridge hiding in my bag-coat.  And in front of the Opera House in my bag-hat.

Guess what .... yup .. I fell over again.

So excuse me whilst I go and dry my fur AGAIN.

lots of <soggy> cuddles

Boogie

Hello!

This really is a flying visit.  It is day six of our adventure 

We are in Melbourne now and we've spent a lot of the time walking around the city.  I was hoping to see some Possums in the trees in the park, but they must have been hiding today.  We also went up a really tall building in the middle of the city and looked down on all the people.  That was fantastic - and the view got even better when the sun started to set.

I liked the cathedral (St Paul's) too.  It looked really old from where I was sitting - though I guess it wasn't really - it was built in 1880.  I did wonder if a bear had helped build the cathedral - but I've realised the first Teddy came along in 1902 - so a bit too late to be helpful.

Anyway.

Back in my case - we're off to Sydney

lots of Cuddles

Boogie

 Hello!
I've travelled over from the West of Australia now to Adelaide, I'm still really warm, I think it is time to change from my jacket, although this is supposed to be winter!  We had a really exciting day today.  We had to get up really early to go to the ABC radio station.  I met two wonderful new friends, Bananas in Pajamas, they showed me around and even let me up to the microphone, but I was a bit shy to say anything much!  We're moving on again today, a real whirlwind tour of Oz!
Lots of cuddles
Boogie

Hello!
I'm on a really, really big adventure, I'm not sure I could go any further away from home if I tried, well, maybe, but this is pretty far!  I'm all the way over on the other side of the world in Australia!  This is really, really exciting!  Although I do feel a bit sorry for my friends left at home, although come to think of it, most of my bear friends are all out on adventures just now! I love Australia, but I am a little warm in my lovely jacket.  When I landed I had a funny conversation with the people we met. I was told that I'd really be grateful of my jacket, because it was a bit cold at the moment, it being winter and everything.  I laughed, it is June after al!.  Well, I thought, after the ice-hotel and everything... well .. it turns out it was a bit cold ... for Perth, it was only 17 degress... I was SOO hot!!!  I went to the beach to cool off a little ad I met this seagull, he just flew on in and said hello!  It was really cool!

Anyway, another report from down under very soon.  I'll just have to keep wearing my jacket though, I didn't bring anything else to wear and I 'm a shy bear at heart!
lots of upside down cuddles!
Boogie

Hello!

I'm home after galloping around musical England doing Chips and Fish and Bude.  I think I want to learn to Morris Dance.  They even have a "bear dance" I think.  COOL!

I have had SO much fun - and it has been great meeting lots of friendly people.

But now I think it is time I went on a trip that was a bit further away - so I have come back home to study maps and timetables and all those complicated things you have to do before you go away.  I know I don't really have to worry - someone else will probably sort it out - just so long as I remember my passport.  But it is always good to know where I am going.

So - here I am - getting ready.

I shan't tell you where I'm going next - you'll have to wait and see.

Lots of cuddles

Boogie x x

Hello!
I got my wish!  It's been so hot and I've managed to go to the beach.  Hurrah!  The best beaches in the country are definitely down in Cornwall and this one in Bude was amazing!  Full of sand dunes and people playing with beach balls and getting sand in their fur!  Of course I fell over and got sand everywhere, but it was worth it!
Lots of Cuddles
Boogie

Hello!
We had such a great time away that I decided for my instrument to learn this week I wanted something small that I could reach properly.  So I found in the musical instrument box this tiny little whistle.  It fits me perfectly, but the only problem is that no-one knows how to play it or where it came from.  So I had difficulty in playing it, which was a shame.  If anyone knows what it's called and what country it's from leave a comment!  I suspect it might have come from a Scout Camp somewhere because it looks like the little whistle on this website.  Oh well.  It's such hot weather now I think I'll try to get my family to go the beach next!
lots of cuddles
Boogie

Hello!
We made it all the way over England and continued over into Wales, reached the end of the M4 and continued until we hit the sea!  We're all the way over west in Fishguard for the Fishguard Folk Festival.  So that's why it was Chips and Fish (tee hee!) My favourite part of Fishguard was this wonderful old stone circle.  The view down to old Fishguard was lovely!  No rest though, we're back on the road again!  A new adventure soon!
lots of cuddles
Boogie

Hello!
I'm back from Sweden and I'm now on the road travelling all the way across the country.  We stopped half way at the Chippenham Folk Festival.  We went to a really lovely venue called the Cause, an old church.  The acoustics in there were really, really lovely!  The festival was great too, but we couldn't stop long because we were in the car and travelling even further west.  I guess the title of this blog should have been Chips and Fish, but it didn't sound so good.  You'll see why in my next entry....
lots of cuddles!
Boogie

Hello!
I've flown all the way over to the wonderful city of Gothenburg, although I think whilst I'm here it should really be called Gothenboogie, tee hee.  We went to see this really tall ship and it was very white and totally amazing.  The weather was really fantastic too.  For dinner we had a tibetan curry, which was strange seeing as we're in Sweden.  Maybe one day I'll go to Tibet and have Swedish meatballs!
Another musical adventure coming up very soon.
Take care.
lots of cuddles
Boogie

Hello!
I'm back in England again and working hard. My family are back in the recording studio and I'm doing my best to help as much as possible.  I saw this instrument hanging on the wall and I thought it would be perfect for me to play.  It's called the Mountain Dulcimer and comes from the Appalachian Mountains in America.  It's the perfect size for me, I can sit on the table and play away on it to my hearts content.  I found a video of how it's supposed to be played.  Amazing.  Another adventure very soon!
lots of cuddles
Boogie

Hello

I seem to have spent most of my time in really cold places just recently so it was fantastic to find that I've come to Faro in the south of Portugal.  It's nearly 30 degrees centigrade and bright blue sunshine and the coast is beautiful and everything is fantastic - and even the trains are really cool.  Fortunately Ben was holding me - so I didn't get run over.

I tried to climb a Palm tree - but it was more difficult than I thought.  but it was ok - I didn't fall off.  That makes a change doesn't it?

I don't know where I am going next yet - but I hope it is warm like this again.  I might have to take my scarf off!

Lots of cuddles

Boogie

Hello!
I'm back home again from France.  I had a great time.  I managed to avoid getting a panda face, unlike the rest of my family!  It would have been odd for me as a normal brown bear to have looked like a panda, funny though.  Maybe next year!  Having been to France I thought it was about time I played the big old French bass that is in the corner of the room.  It was waaay too big for me, I think I'm better off playing the little ukelele, but it was great fun! The bass is really versatile, you find them in all sorts of music, jazz, folk, classical in fact, it could be in anything!  I found a really cool clip with some amazing double bass playing in it.  Maybe if I eat all my green vegetables I'll grow enough to play the bass properly!  I'm on my travels again next week, so another adventure soon!
lots of cuddles
Boogie

 Hello!

Today we went skiing!  it was loads of fun.  We all fell over quite a bit.

It's really warm up here at the moment because it is the end of the season so it is really funny to be skiing on freezing snow one minute, and then sunbathing in a T-shirt the next.  Here's pictures of me during the day as we travelled around Courcheval.  

We went in lifts and cable cars and drag lifts and chairs - and in between we ate chips and Twix and we drank Orangina ... and in between all that, we went skiing and fell over.

It's a good thing Bears don't bruise easily.  The only downside of falling over is you get a bit wet.

So - I'm off to dry my fur again.

Lots of cuddles

Boogie

Hello!
I've spent the last 24 hours on the road, travelled from England to Switzerland and then into France. I felt a little ill on the coach with all the windy roads up into the mountains of the ski area called The Three Valleys. I wonder if I'll be able to do some yodelling? If there are three valleys then maybe I'll be able to hear three echoes? This picture is from our hotel window looking back into the valley. The snow is a bit melty down here, but hopefully the slopes will be just fine. I'll let you know very soon.
lots of cuddles
Boogie

Hello!
I'm back home again, brrr, it was really cold in Sweden!  Because I've been on the road so much my old jacket got a bit torn on the back and was falling apart :(  So my family spent ages trying to get a new jacket for me, but they couldn't find the same jacket, so I've got a brand new one from Sweden.  It's lovely and big and warm, it should keep me going for  a good long while!

So when I got home I decided that I'd like to play another instrument that I could actually reach, and I spotted this lovely ocarina on the shelf.  I love it, it's blue and shiny and makes a wonderful sound.  I found a gentleman on youtube that has got lots of videos, he plays very nicely!  Apparently the ocaina was probably first played about 12,000 years ago in China, wow!  The name that we use now though comes from the Italian meaning little goose, tee hee!  I like that name!

That's all for now.  I'm back on the road again next week, so I've got a few days to catch up on my sleep!
Hope you're all well
Lots of cuddles
Boogie

Hello!
I've flown all the way over to Sweden and have gone to school for the day.  When I left England it was warm and sunny and springy, but as soon as we landed at the airport it began to snow, I was very surprised this morning looking out from the classroom window and seeing all the snow everywhere!  The bit I liked about this music classroom was all the instruments everywhere.  I found the perfect instrument for me!  It's called the Ukelele, which means jumping flea in Hawaiian!  It's just the right size for me to play.  I'm not very good on it yet, but who knows I could be as good as Jake Shimabukuro!  Well maybe not!  That's all for now, but another update very soon!
lots of cuddles
Boogie

Hello!
I finished my trip to Wales by climbing up a huge hill to the Symonds Yat rock.  We couldn't get to the rock itself, but the view I got was amazing!  I made a lovely friend called Morgan who helped me on the fence so that I could see better, thank you!  On a good day you can see Peregrine Falcons, but we didn't see any on this trip.  I think I'd be a bit scared of them anyway, they're much bigger than me!  It was a lovely walk up that hill, a bit much for my little legs so I had to get a lift in a rucksack.  Tee hee!

I'm really proud to be bear of the day on the wheresmyteddy.com website, thank you so much!  I'll keep travelling really really proudly!  Another adventure soon, I'm off again on Sunday, hurrah!

lots of cuddles
Boogie

Hello from Chepstow,
I've come straight back from Austin and gone to Wales.  It's my first time in Wales and I really rather like it.  We got to visit another castle, which was great fun.  Bears like to climb trees so I thought I'd climb a tree to get a better view of the castle.  It was a bit uncomfortable though, so we went closer.  I love that I'm as big as the castle in the picture, it made me feel very important! We only stayed overnight in Chepstow before moving on, further in to Wales....

lots of cuddles
Boogie

 I'm in Austin Texas!

we heard that the weather was really hot there (even warmer than Barcelona) but I'm really glad I took my jacket because when we arrived, it got cold and started to rain.  Just like home.  (in one picture I'm sitting on a bag to stop me getting a wet bottom ... again).

These are pictures of me at the Texas State Capitol Building - I guess that is where all the important people decide important things.

It looks a bit like the White House where President Obama lives - but it is more of a cream colour.  I guess that would make it the cream house ... or something.

Now - excuse me whilst I go inside and dry my fur.

lots of cuddles

Hello!
I've come back from Barcelona to go to a wedding in Sheffield. We got to Sheffield and booked into our hotel and then went to check out to the Peace Gardens just outside.  It was really pretty with the water cascading down from the sculptures and the water fountain.  I don't know which bit I liked the best,  but the Goodwin Fountain has 89 jets of water that change height, I loved it!  I'm off on another adventure very soon, so I need to get some rest in now!
Bye for now.
Lots of cuddles
Boogie

 Hello from Barcelona

After all the cold in England, Barcelona in Spain is really nice and warm.  We sat outside and had coffee in the sunshine.

We are only here for a couple of days, but already the snow of Essex seems a long time ago.

Barcelona is nice.  Lots of people driving around on mopeds and lots of funny buildings designed by a man called Gouda ... no hang on - that's a cheese, Gaudi.

Lots of Cuddles

Boogie   :)

Hello!
We've had lots of fun here at home.  It's been snowing for the last 24 hours!  It's not as much snow as we had in the north of Sweden, but it's a lot for round these parts, so I'm told by my wise old friend Wobbly Ted.  He tells me that this is more snow than we've had for about 18 years, which is half a lifetime ago for him!  My family have got a rain gauge so I went out to check how much snow we'd had.  There was about 50 milimetres in the gauge, I was really excited.  Then I found out that snow is about 10 times fluffier than rain, so it was only actually about 5 milimetres of rain!  I'll let you know how much it was when it melts.
More adventures soon!
Lots of cuddles
Boogie

Hello!
I'm back home from Detroit now.  That was quite an adventure, I loved the cars that I saw.  I'm now back to work as a musical bear again.  I'm here in the studio with my family recording hard.  They let me sit at the desk and even found some bear size headphones for me to wear, fantastic!!  We're here for a few days, playing and playing and playing, everything again and again and again.  I'm loving hearing some of the tricks of the trade, but those secrets are safe with me!
More soon.
lots of cuddles
Boogie

2009 has only just started and I am in Detroit!  The weather is cold - a lot like it was i jukkasjärvi but there isn't so much snow.  That's probably good - I'm quite small and could get lost in a snow drift ..... brrrrr.

Detroit is the farthest I've ever gone from home - so far.  So it was really exiting.  Everything as so big (to a bear). Their cars were huge and their roads were enormous.

As you can see from the pictures, I went to the Henry Ford Museum.  It was really awesome.  We went around and looked at all the old cars that Ford used to make.  We saw Ronald Reagan's limousine and JF Kennedy's limousine and Rosa Park's bus and the first ever Model T and an aeroplane and a train and a round house made from aircraft materials.  (I thought that was funny.  It is hard to hide in the corner of a round house).  There were so many really cool cars there that I've only ever seen in old films.

Whilst we were in there it stated to snow.  That looked really nice.    It is a shame we were only there for three days. I'd better sign off now and  jump into the suitase ready for my next adventure.

Lots of cuddles

Boogie

Hello!
Well, after the most fantastic Christmas ever I'm back below the arctic circle again.  When I first saw the sun again I was amazed at how bright it was!  The sun never came up whilst we were there, it got light, but only dusk and dawn and I guess our eyes just got used the light.  So when I opened the curtains and looked out at the glorious sunshine it was so bright!

Seeing as we'd been to Sweden I wanted to play a Swedish instrument when I came home, so I got to play the Swedish Willow flute.  It's a flute with no finger holes, just one to blow in.  The air goes over a fipple (recorders and whistles have fipples that make the sound).  Then to change the pitch you have to blow harder or softer.  I wasn't very good,but I did enjoy it.  One of the best players of the Willow Flute is Jean Pierre Yvert, he is awesome and actually made the instrument that I played.  They tend not to be made out of Willow any more because plastic piping lasts pretty much forever and willow only lasts for a few weeks in the spring!

I'm off on another adventure next week, but I think it will have to be pretty amazing to beat meeting Santa Clause (or Tomte as he's called in Sweden) and sleeping in a room made of snow.  I really would love to go back!
More soon!
lots of cuddles
Boogie

Hello!
We went ice-fishing, it's called pimpla in Swedish.  We didn't catch anything, I thought I'd be really good at it being a bear and all.  I was wrong, though, I'll stick to fishing with my paws next time!  Our trip is now nearly over.  I've had the best time ever up here in Lapland.  Maybe one day I'll come back!
Lots of cuddles
Boogie

Hello!
I had the most fantastic night on Christmas Eve.  I slept in an ice-room. -5 degrees celcius all night, wrapped up in really really warm sleeping bags.  Totally awesome!  We stayed up really late and then collected our sleeping bags and then walked through the hotel to our room.  It slept eight and we were six (including me) and we were woken up early in the morning by a gentleman with warm lingonberry juice.  A wonderful, wonderful night!
More soon!
lots of cuddles
Boogie

Hello!
It's christmas and I've had such fun!  Yesterday was Christmas Eve and I met Father Christmas!  Swedish people celebrate christmas on Christmas Eve and Father Christmas comes to visit everyone.  We met him before he started off on his long trip around the world, he arrived on his sleigh drawn by a reindeer, it was fantastic!  I got a very kind boy to hold me whilst having my picture taken, (thank you,  I hope you had a great christmas!).  More reports tomorrow!
lots of cuddles
Boogie

Hello!
Today we flew to the fur freezing north of Sweden.  We are at the ice hotel in Jukkasjärvi in Lapland.  I'm so happy that I've got my hat, scarf and coat because it's -15 degrees outside!  There are about 900 people living in Jukkasjärvi and 1700 dogs, mostly huskies! I don't know it I like dogs, they're bigger than me!  Tomorrow is christmas eve and I'd love to meet Santa, or Tomte as he's called here.  This is a picture of me in the ice chapel, it's really really pretty.  We saw the northern lights this evening, that was amazing, all green and curtainy!  More tomorrow.
lots of cuddles
Boogie

Hello!
We had a long old drive back this morning and the first thing I wanted to do was have a go on a banjo, so here is me trying.  It's very big and I can't reach, but I had good fun trying!  I love banjos, they're great!  I found a wonderful movie that you can hear how it can be played, I'll have to keep practising!
More soon, I;m going on a biig adventure!

lots of cuddles
Boogie

Hello!
I've been up in the North of England again.  I had great time up at Kirkby Fleetham, a finger picking good evening.  I met some great new friends - Moss and Teddy and their owners.  I was a little bit scared of Poacher the dog, but he just wanted to play lots and lots and lots with his plastic toy.  I also met some great musicians and loved the banjo, I think that's the next instrument I want to try!  I'd love to go up to Kirkby Fleetham again sometime when it's not raining.  Thank you to everyone who made my stay so fantastic!

lots of cuddles
Boogie

Hello!
I'm back from good old Italy now, another place I'd like to go back to!  So I thought it was time to try another instrument.  I know that the accordion was invented in Italy, but it's very famous there and the accordion that my family has is an Italian instrument.  A 72 bass instrument and it was sooo heavy, I couldn't lift it and it was too big for me to be able to play both my left and right hand.  You play the right hand like a piano and the left hand does chords.  Very, very tricky, but great fun!  I think one of the best players at the moment has to be Karen Tweed, so here is a movie of her playing.  Maybe if I practise hard enough I can be like her?  Maybe I need to grow a bit more first!  Here's hoping!
More soon!!
lots of cuddles
Boogie
 

Hello from Rome in Italy.

We've been travelling around the really old Roman part of Rome today.  It is really amazing - to think that some of these buildings are 2000 years old!  Do you like my picture?  It was raining a bit so I had my expensive plastic-bag-seat with me.  Very attractive.  It was a good thing this was a still camera and not a movie camera.  Just after this picture was taken, I fell off and landed snout first in a puddle.  No harm done, but I had a wet face and I was a bit embarrassed.
lots of cuddles
Boogie

Hello!
I came back from Ireland and so enjoyed my brief trip there that I wanted to have a go at playing the bodhran.  You pronounce it bowrahn (roughly speaking anyway).  You play it with a beater, that you hold in your hand a bit like the way you hold a pencil.  Then with a really relaxed wrist the beater can hit the skin of the drum with either end.  It's great fun, but I'm not very good at it!  I think the best player has to be a guy called John-Joe Kelly.  Here's a video of him playing, he is totally awesome!  He gets so many different sounds out of the instrument, it sounds just like a full drum kit.  Most players these days try to sound like him.  I'm having a rest now for a few weeks, but I'll be on the road again very soon!
Lots of Cuddles
Boogie

Hullo from Dublin Airport

It seems like only yesterday that I was in Cyprus which was nice and warm.  Now we are in Dublin.  Which is very nice too but its a nippy wind and its going up my sleeves and making me cold.

I have been to the Digital Hub ( http://www.thedigitalhub.com/ ) which seems to be in the middle of the old Guinness Factory (yippee) and I've been meeting lots of people who like Apple computers and who use them to help children and bears learn.  (We're doing this blog from an Apple Mac don't you know).

Anyway, it's really really early in the morning and we are about to fly back to Essex again.  I'm just having a cup of hot chocolate and a muffin, and I'm looking forward to my warm bed.

Love and cuddles

Boogie x

Hello!

I'm back home again safe and sound.  We had a very very early start!  Cyprus is two hours ahead of UK time and the flight was really early, so we got up at 2am GMT!  Taxi ride, back to the Turkish side of Cyprus and then flew back home again.  I had a lovely stay in Cyprus, but it was a bit short! I enjoyed watching a band play Cyprus music, but I haven't got any pictures of that.

So I'm back home again for a few days and thought it was time I tried some instruments.  My family are very musical and are going to let me have a go on all their intruments and I'm going to tell you all about them!  The instrument I decided I wanted to play today was the Swedish Cittra, it was sitting on the side and I could hear it talking to me. Well, not really talking, but it has 89 strings and they all ring slightly when you talk, it makes you sound a little like you're in the bathroom.  Cittra is really zither in English and you can get different types.  The one I'm playing in the picture is a chord-cittra, you basically strum the chords that are laid out with your right hand and damp the previous chord down with your left hand.  You're supposed to sing at the same time, but I found that really hard! You can get them with a melody string area too, they look amazing, but really hard.  This instrument was really popular in the early 1900s in Sweden, especially in churches.  I've found a link to an American chap playing a slightly more developed version of this instrument, he is amazing, a guy calld Ekam - awesome stuff!

I'm off travelling again this week, so maybe I'll have another new instrument to try later one!  Take care!  (Especially, Noah, Finlay, Jacob and Daisy - thank you so much for having me to stay!!!)
Lots of cuddles
Boogie

Hello!

I've made it over to Cyprus, it was so exciting getting on the plane, changing in Turkey and then ending up in Turkish Cyprus.  We had fun getting over to the Greek side of the Island, I'm not looking forward to getting back to the airport again tomorrow!  For now, it's sun, sea and balconies.  Hurrah.  I wonder what the music is like here, I'll try to find some instruments!  Another update soon!

lots of cuddles
Boogie

Hello!

I'm back home again, and I've met up with an old family friend...  Wobbly Ted. He's my families original travelling bear and has stamps in his passport going back 26 years!  I'm honoured to be in such company!  His passport has been really carefully looked after and is stitched by hand. I've uploaded some pictures of it.   I only hope that I can carry on the travelling as well as this old master!  So onwards!  Tomorrow is a long day, I'm on the road again!

lots of cuddles
Boogie

Hello!
We're back home again after our long journey back.  We had another club on Sunday night, which was awesome and then a long drive over night back down to Essex.  I can't wait for my next journey!  I've decided I want to go and see some friends at the other end of the country now, down in Devon, so I'll let you know how I get on very soon.

Tonight we had a bit of a bear party.  There are three of us bears travelling in this area just now, me, Platie and Wilf.  We all got together to wish Wilf well on his grand Wild adventure.  He leaves these shores very soon to go to Australia.

Good Luck Wilf!
lots of cuddles
Boogie

Hello!
We left the lovely little village of Etal and began our drive south to get to the Guisborough Folk Club.  We took the scenic route via the coastal road, the sun was shining and it was beautiful!  We stopped off at Bamburgh Castle, a really old castle with history going back to the Anglo Saxons.  The Vikings destroyed an original castle there, but this one hs been restored and looks fantastic!  We couldn't stay there for long though and soon had to continue our way south past Newcastle.
More news soon!
lots of cuddles
Boogie

Hello!
We spent Saturday evening in the tiny village of Etal.  They have a fantastic village hall that has been renovated and they put on concerts.  It's a lovely acoustic in the hall and nice and warm with a wood burner at one end.  The best bit was going to visit the castle and sitting on the large canon.  It's a 12th century castle, really old and really falling down!  I think I like seeing castles!  I'm definitely enjoying this tour and seeing so much more than just the music!
More later!
lots of cuddles
Boogie

Hello
Here I am at the Angel of the North.  The Angel was HUGE!  I thought the he looked like a big aeroplane.  According to his information board, he is 20m high and was born in 1997.
We spent last night in Otley and saw some fantastic singing and dancing from JigJaw.  We are on our way up to Northumberland - that's nearly Scotland!  I've very glad of my new coat because it is really cold here.
More later....
Lots of cuddles.

Boogie

Morning!
We're on our way up to the north of England now and we've been shopping!  Because the autumn is really kicking in I really needed a jacket.  I'm hoping to go to some really cold places this winter, so I've now got a lovely jacket and trousers.  I've heard it's really cold in the north of England and tomorrow we're going to be a long long way north!  We're stopping off in Keighley for th Bacca Pipes Folk Club tonight.  More very soon!
Lots of cuddles
Boogie

Hello!
An exciting evening, my first trip into London.  I caught a glimpse of the big green cucumber building, I hope to see that one day closer up.  Because my family were working (playing) I didn't get to see much of London, but I know they'll take me back.  It was such a hot room I nearly had to take my scarf off!  I think I'd like to play the guitar when I get a bit bigger, it's such a lovely instrument and I'd like to sing.  One of the nicest bits of the evening was listening to the Angel band play lots of fantastic tunes.  I loved the English feel and even recognised one or two!  I think I like London, I'd like to come back again!
Lots of cuddles
Boogie

Morning!
Today we're off on tour round the country.  It's not a big tour, just four gigs, but I'm really looking forward to it!  This morning I helped load up the car ready for the off.  You've never seen so many instruments!  Guitars, Bagpipes, Nyckelharpa, Flutes... I was quite tired by the time I'd helped loading up.  Well, ok, so I hitched a lift on one of the guitars, but it was the thought that counts.  Hurrah!  I'll let you know all about the first concert tomorrow, maybe I'll be allowed on stage again!
lots of cuddles
Boogie

Hello!
Last night (23rd September) I went to the first gig on my tour round England.  It was at the Colchester Folk Club, a club in an old church.  It was amazing  The echo from the music was amazing.  I sang along really loudly to all the songs.  I was even allowed to have my own microhphone for a bit.  Maybe I'll be a star one day!  I can't wait for the next concert!
Lots of cuddles
Boogie

Hello!
I'm a musical bear, wich is why I'm called Boogie, I like to Boogie on down to the music.  I'm going on a big adventure, I want to travel the whole wide world and meet lots of new people and have lots of cuddles.  I love cuddles more than I like music and that's saying something!  My first adventure is to go on tour with my musical friends round England.  As it's coming up for winter I was given a new scarf made by my owner to keep me warm.  I'm going to need it because we're going north on the tour next week.  I think I'll need a jacket too!  I want to meet lots of family, so I can't wait to get going on my BIIIIG adventure!  I'll update again very soon!
Lots of cuddles
Boogie