January and February at Baboon HQ

January was quite a quiet month at Baboon HQ, except that a new resident arrived and introduced us to something we baboons had not really considered before.

Yes, Paddington arrived and introduced Archie to marmalade. Lucas joined Paddington for marmalade on toast.  Now marmalade is a regular breakfast ingredient at Baboon HQ.

We were also joined by Ran-Tan the orangutan from Iceland supermarket, who champions their no palm oil message.  He introduced Paddington to banana bread.  We didn't feel that it needed marmalade to make it yummy.

In early February Harry and Mikey (from Leroy's pride 'Pryde of Ryde') took a walk in Yarmouth and started the investigations about when spring would be arriving.  They stopped on the causeway at Freshwater for a look around.

Spring wasn't too evident yet, but Mikey enjoyed Yarmouth Deli.  He fancied these macaroons!!

Valentine's day brought chocolates, Mikey, George, Paddington, Freddy and Jimmy were astonished at what was in the box!!

On Sunday 17 February Mikey and Harry took a walk to Fishbourne.  They were tempted by this scooter at Quarr Abbey, but didn't take it.

At Fishbourne they found primroses, snowdrops and daffodils.  Mikey got a wet bottom and complained a bit!!

They found this new bench at Fishbourne, it has doves and poppies so it must be for Remembrance Day.

Harry is a baboon, so tree climbing comes naturally to him.  As a lion, Mikey is used to keeping his paws on the ground, but he gave it a try.

On Sunday 24 February George and Jimmy went out to see what they could see.  They walked from the Toll Gate at Bembridge to the holiday camp above Whitecliff Bay.

They found daffodils on the path.  Jimmy played hide and seek, but his hiding needs a little bit of work.  We can see half of you Jimmy!!

The next hiding place was a hedge near the Crab and Lobster pub on the cliff path.  Sorry but we can see you both!!

Well hiding is not their strong point, but finding signs of spring was.  They found these light purple crocuses in Bembridge.

There were snowdrops too!!  Still need to work on their hiding skills though!!

Thank you for reading.  Spring is showing up well on the island and in Portsmouth.  The March winds are hitting today though.  Hope you all get to see signs of spring very soon!!

Swanage

We have been saving this blog up for a wet, wintery day, to remind everyone of summer.  Mini-Kolo (Jackson), Lawrence from Leroy's Pride and Harry took a short trip to Swanage, a little seaside town in Dorset, in September.

They traveled on the car ferry from East Cowes to Southampton and then drove through the New Forest and on to Swanage. 

It wasn't long before Jackson had to feed his muffin and coffee addiction in Starbucks!!  Then we went on to the historic town of Wareham, in Dorset, where we were stopping for lunch.

It was a lovely sunny day and we walked along the river and sat in the sun on the quay.  Its a very interesting town.

We stopped in a tea room where the boys investigated the local beer and then ate a melt on lovely bread.

We drove on to Swanage and checked into our hotel.  The view from the window was great and the boys loved the big bed!!

We went for a stroll around town and met two old friends.  The big bear from Corfe Bears, (you can see Harry on his shoulder), he is enormous, and our friend the octapus, who Lawrence met for the first time.

On a stroll in the woods the boys came across Isle of Wight Road!!  We live on the Isle of Wight so they were surprised.  Swanage is just about opposite the west of the island and you can see the Needles from there.

Jackson was excited about wearing his new denim jacket for dinner so he wanted to model it.  He is posing with one of the local Dorset beers.  They are very keen on brewing in Dorset.

The next morning the boys explored around the hotel and found nice gardens and this great cafe on the beach.

We decided to explore the woods again and on the way the boys found another statue.  There seem to be a lot of statues in Swanage, carved out of Portland Stone, which is quarried not far from there at Portland Bill, near Weymouth.

They explored Durlston Country Park and found a castle, a giant globe and this fascinating shell to climb on.

On the way back they came across a carved bench in Portland Stone.  They were glad of the rest!

There is one thing you absolutely have to eat in Dorset, and that is apple cake.  The boys bought a mini one for lunch and ate it in the hotel grounds.  It was delicious.

In the evening we walked back along the seafront to have some dinner.  Harry found this really big ice cream!!  It looks delicious, although he couldn't eat a whole one.

After dinner we sat in the garden for a while and Jackson posed in another outfit!

We had a lovely trip, it was hot and relaxed and we wanted to remind everyone that summer will come again!

Thank you for reading.

Planting

Yesterday Ozil went to the garden centre to buy a few things, including a bay tree and a new plant.  Today Edward did some planting.

First he planted the bay tree.  As baboons we wanted to climb and we got a variety of opinions about whether it was suitable for climbing.  An orangutan opinion was taken, as they are more habitual climbers even than we baboons are.  Joey says no, not yet, its not big enough!!

The lions were more interested in how useful it might be for shade, than climbing.  They also found it was not ready for that yet.

Next Edward planted the nice yellow plant that Ozil chose.  We liked that, just because it looks nice.

The lions could see that it was never going to provide much shade, but Lawrence decided it was shady enough for a little chap like him.

Next year the bay tree may be climbable and shady, this year we will have to look after it and the plant to help them to grow strong.

Food tasting and the garden centre

Hello!! Our person is taking a rest from work.  They call it holiday in workplaces.  We have been out and about this week doing busy stuff, most of it seemed to involve tasting food.

On Tuesday Aboo and Jimmy (who you probably know from @ThePalmOil2), did some food tasting.  First they visited Gossips cafe in Yarmouth and tried a scone.  It was so big that they shared it.  Aboo is a skinny chap and Jimmy is quite small.

Yes, they definitely liked the scone and Jimmy was able to check that it was #orangutanfriendly.  Moving on they got the End of the Line cafe in Freshwater for lunch.  They had walked all the way so they were pretty hungry by then.

Aboo went for a cheese sandwich in white bread and Jimmy had a tuna sandwich in wholemeal.  Both were happy with the flavours and textures and were able to be sure their lunches were #orangutanfriendly.

Today (Friday) Ozil went out food tasting and shopping.

Ozil went to Thompson's Garden Centre, in Newchurch.  He had to choose between toasted cheese and a egg mayonnaise baguette.  He went for the toasted cheese.  Very wise!!  It was delicious.

Then Ozil had a job to do.  He had to buy a bay tree, a plant, a large plant pot, plant food and some potting compost.  Quite a big shop!!

Ozil is a friendly chap and he sat down to talk about all the things he had to buy, with this flowerpot man.  The flowerpot man was very helpful and he advised him about what to choose.

Pushing the trolley and loading the car was a bit more challenging, but we helped and got it all in.  We will be planting tomorrow so we will show you the results.

Whitstable Tweet-up

Last Saturday Mini-Kolo and Leroy went on a Tweet-up to Whistable, in Kent.  We got up early and went on the car ferry and then had quite a long drive,

We met TGT, Tabitha, Baz Bear, some of the Emergency Teds and others at The Teddy Bear Trading Company, and had lunch.  It was a delicious lunch that got a high baboon rating for tasty food.

Mini-Kolo had decided to wear his biker gang outfit and the new constable on the Emergency Teds team felt he needed to check him out.  Mini-Kolo managed to persuade the constable that it was just a fashion look and that he was really harmless.  He got off without a warning.

Far more scary than the police constable was this chap.  Look at his size compared to Mini-Kolo and Leroy.  He is even bigger than me and I am the size of a four year old child!!

We met this very nice dog as well.  What is TGT doing to Leroy there?  Holding him up probably lions are a bit scared of dogs!!

After lunch we wandered down to the beach at Tankerton.  Sunbathing was nice.

Mini-Kolo and Leroy went for a bit of exploring with Tabitha Teddy.  They found this cannon.  Tabitha was brave and looked out for incoming invaders from the sea.  Mini-Kolo and Leroy stayed safe.  Of course they were ready to leap into action should an invasion take place.

Mini-Kolo found Whitstable Castle.

After a lovely day and a great walk we made our way to Sandwich, to stay at the Bell Hotel overnight. Our favourite hotel with a high baboon rating!  Mini-Kolo and Leroy loved the big bed.

They also enjoyed looking out of the window at the historic buildings.

Most of all the loved the games in the foyer.  They found lots of games to play.

The next morning we made our way back to Portsmouth and the car ferry back home to the island.  More adventures soon.