Bart Bear's Blog

I am now 18 years old, officially able to drink and drive (but not at the same time). It has been a week of celebration for me. It started off with a morning at Shaw winery with the Oldies and Unka Chris. The winery manager even had a special Bart-size wine glass ready for me. Great wines and cheese, but the best thing was the present Unka Chris gave me - LEGO. This kit built a spaceship and satellite with an astronaut in spacewalk gear. With a bit of help from Dad I photographed the result and used Photoshop to make a scene of astronauts working on a satellite with the Southern Cross in the background. The Oldies gave me something that I have wanted for ages, ever since I found that Rawlings is the official supplier of gear to the US Major League Baseball clubs. Mum's family is Rawlings and I really wanted one of their labelled balls. Well, they gave me not just a ball but a catcher's mitt as well. The mitt is far too big for me to wear, but it makes a fine cozy seat. Finally, dinner at Belluci's Italian restaurant, with a new type of cocktail to share with Mum and a different Italian beer to share with Dad and another year closes. Now to grow my legs long enough to reach the pedals in the car and I can drive.

Labels: family

Dad and I usually build aircraft, ships and military vehicles from plastic kits and lighthouses or even the occasional building from card. We felt like making something different so when we found the template for this dragon on the web we just had to make it. 17 sheets of A4 card and lots of cutting and glueing this critter was complete.The result is something that I will not let him give away to any of the grandkids. This dragon is MINE. Now we really should (according to Mum) make a Chinese dragon to keep this European one company. I have found a template for it so Dad has no way out.....

Labels: animals, Canberra, models

People all around the world are wearing masks when they are away from home, in the attempt to avoid catching or spreading the dreaded COVID. I have been feeling left out and slightly abandoned. I had no mask and the Oldies just may be wrong when they claim that small bears are immune to the virus. My Aunty Noellen has fixed that. She made me these two Bart-size masks. One celebrates my favourite science, astronomy, and the other one celebrates my favourite place, Hawaii. I can now travel out with the Oldies in complete safety. Thank you Aunty Noellen, the masks are great.

Isn't it strange how my fur looks different colours in different light. I really am the colour in the first image. The pale colour in the second one is just the light, not because I am scared of catching COVID.

Labels: Canberra, friends

Every year we make at least one visit to the Bredbo Christmas Barn. Bredbo is a small village an hour south of home and the Barn is one of the few shops in the village. It is absolutely jam-packed with Christmas decorations, everything from huge Christmas trees to tiny dangling things for decorating the tree. There are Santa statues in all sorts of colours and ethnic dress and elves of all sizes everywhere. It's a great place for a small bear to explore while the Oldies try to find something that is different to what they have collected from here over the years. I always get a laugh from the animals that sing Christmas carols. This year the Bart Silly Prize goes to a turtle that sings a Christmas version of "Shout" while its neck gyrates in random ways (no image, I was too busy laughing). Now for the fun of getting all our Christmas gear out and turning the lounge room into a Christmas cave, ready for the old whiskery bloke (Santa, not Dad).
 

Labels: Canberra, Christmas

Every year Canberra has a big flower festival, called Floriade (you can see pictures from other years if you search the word). Normally it is held in Commonwealth Park and thousands of people visit it during the month it runs. Because of COVID, this year had to be different. People could not be bunched together along narrow paths around the flower beds. The solution; spread smaller flower beds around the city and suburbs where there is room for people to spread out. Here are images from the Gungahlin town centre and the Kingston foreshore. I enjoy hunting small critters among the flower stems and trying to see if I can smell any difference between the different types of flowers (that's hard for small bears like me). My favourites are the tulips with hairy lips, Mum's are the yellow and orange poppies. Hopefully by next September the world will have the virus under control and the main part of Floriade can be back in Commonwealth Park, but I hope there will also be flowers in the suburbs like this year. I like it.

Labels: Canberra, gardens