Get your lesson in English history!!!

As some of you told me, they find it very interesting to learn more about the places Lippe's hosts live in, I did some research and talked to Fuzzy, to add more information to my new blog post about Lippe's time in Oakham. So, get ready for a little, funny lesson in English history!!!

Fuzzy and his pal Wheatus take great effort in showing Lippe around!!! They already took two trips into the countryside with him!!! One led them to Rutland Water by bus and the other to Burghley House.

Okay, let's start off with Rutland Water:

Rutland Water is a drinking water reservoir in the county of Rutland, not far away from Fuzzy's hometown Oakham. It is one of the largest artificial lakes in Europe - set in 3,100 acres (13 km²) of countryside and has a 25 mile (40 km) circular track for walking or biking.

In 1975, the Gwash Valley was flooded and Nether Hambleton, as well, as most of Middle Hambleton, were demolished. Upper Hambleton survived and now sits on the Hambleton Peninsula within the lake.

Normanton avoided flooding, but St. Matthew's Church did not. An embankment was built around the church, so that it's upper part could become a prominent feature, showing the reservoir's story to the public. Nowadays, it's a museum, presenting the history of Rutland Water.

Rutland Water is a reservoir, but also a sports center. Visitors enjoy fishing, sailing, biking, walking birdwatching and of course resting there...

But it has been a long day at Rutland Water and time came, to wait for the bus home!!!

Please, note the funky red waistcoat, Fuzzy's human made for Lippe!!! He is being treated like a prince!!! To me, Fuzzy, Wheatus and Lippe are "Team Red" now!!!

But there is much to see around Oakham and their motto is: "Another day, another attraction"!!!

Next stop: Burghley House!!!

Burghley House was built for Sir William Cecil (later called Baron Burghley) by the end of the 16th century and was completed in 1587, situated in Stamford, Lincolnshire. Baron Burghley was Lord High Treasurer to Queen Elizabeth I, which means, he knew better about money than her - you know girls and money = plenty of shoes and dresses, but no money left...

Burghley House became the residence of Baron Burghley's descendants, the Earls and Marquesses of Exeter and is now owned by a charitable trust.

It is one of the principal examples of the 16th century English Elizabethan architecture and has 35 major rooms, more than 80 lesser rooms, plus halls, corridors and bathrooms!!! I'm more than glad to hear, no one got lost inside there!!!

The house is set in a 300 acre deer park, which is home to a herd of fellow deer!!! Of course, Lippe had to pay the deer a visit as well!!! One of them was not shy at all and came really close, so that Wheatus was able to take this pawsome pic of Fuzzy, Lippe and the deer!!!

Then, they went into the shop, which is no surprise to me, as Lippe loves to shop!!! But what they found in the shop really surprised me - my salt and pepper look-alikes!!! I guess, Lippe was surprised to see me at Burghley House too!!!

Before they left homebound, Fuzzy told Lippe, that Burghley House is also well known for historical movies. Even parts of "The Da Vinci Code" were shot there!!!

You may find all the latest pics in Fuzzy's TwitPic as well!!!

And if you haven't met @i_am_fuzzy and @Wheatus24 yet, it's time to get to know them!!!

Lippe entered England!!!

Our little pal Lippe entered the shores of England yesterday!!! @i_am_fuzzy and his brothers gave him a warm welcome in German - and made our eyes water!!!

Lippe also met Fuzzy's friend @Wheatus24, who paid them a visit. They went out together to see Oakham Castle...

and the All Saints Church, where they had flowers planted in Lippe's eye-colour to welcome him!!!

Then, after an exciting day, bed time came. Fuzzy put on his plaid pyjamas, which matches perfectly with Lippe's shirt and read a good night story to him, to make him feel cosy and at home!!!

Thank you so very much for giving our Lippe such great times, Fuzzy!!! He looks sooooo lucky in the pics you took!!! We send all our love and BIGGEST HUGS to you!!!

But there was another surprise waiting for us, when we opened the mail box today - a post card Lippe sent us from the Netherlands before he left to England!!! Everybody was freaking out and wanted to read the card first, but we finally decided, that Hugh should read it out loud, as he is @bijntje 's cousin and I sniffed on the card, to make sure it has Lippe's smell on it. I can tell you - it has!!!

Here is what Lippe wrote:

Dear family,

I am leaving this town and go on my way to England. I am missing you all but am very excited about my trip around the world. I promiss that I'll be a good boy and let you know about what I am doing.

Love & kisses

Lippe

England here I come

Enjoy your stay with Fuzzy, Lippe!!! Have a wonderful time, Fuzzy is taking good care of you!!! But we miss you though!!!

I fall for you boy...

My mom loves music and she loves to play drums!!! Her favorite drummer is Andy Hurley from Fall Out Boy. And guess what?! She once ran into Andy Hurley in Cologne, when she was out to do some window shopping!!! And now, guess again - did she talk to him??? No, she didn't!!! She was close to a heart attack, but cool enough, to pretend, she wouldn't know him!!! Did I mention, I have a silly mom before???

However, I just found a pawsome comic builder called bitstrips on the internet and created another version of her "Hurley drama"...

Lippe's time in the Netherlands...

Little Lippe spent wonderful times in the Netherlands!!! @bijntje and his family were great hosts to him and made him feel at home right away!!!

They live in Maassluis, which is a very beautiful Dutch town, with some nice attractions to pay a visit to!!!

One of Maassluis' attractions definitely is the old mill!!! It was built in 1690 and Lippe had to see it!!!

Here, you can see his posing in front of the mill!!!

The entrance of the Maassluis' Korenmolen.

Lippe sneaking into the mill's shop...

Did Lippe find himself a new place to live in Maassluis?!

Brave Lippe loves adventure!!!

After Lippe went to see the windmill, he visited the harbour.

There is a very interesting open air museum with lots of tugboats to see.

This steam tugboat has been shown on a Dutch TV series!!! Maybe Lippe will become a TV star too!!!

Or he thinks about becoming a sailor...

...or even a nautical engineer?!

What a nice view, Lippe!!!

Lippe also went to see the old town hall of Maassluis...

...and Bijntje told him a lot about the history of his hometown and the meaning of these city arms.

The other day, Lippe went to Naaldwijk with Bijntje's mum to buy new contact lenses for her.

Here he is in Naaldwijk.

He also went to work with Bijntje's mum, but it seems like all he had to do there was more posing...

...and touching stuff... oh, oh, not the precious football!!!

Her working place looks like paradise for Lippe...

Back at Bijntje's home, he watched Grey's Anatomy with Bijntje and his human sister Selina...

...and had a play with my piggy pal Snoefje.

One last ride through Maassluis...

...and time to say goodbye came much too soon!!!

Thank you Bijntje and family for the wonderful time Lippe spent at your home and for all the nice pics, which made us become a part of Lippe's adventure!!! You were pawsome hosts and he will definitely want to come back to you!!! BIG BIG HUGS!!!

Lippe is currently on his way to England, where he will visit @i_am_fuzzy next!!! He is looking forward to some funky ABBA dancing with him!!!

Send piles of post cards for a brave human girl!!!

Anipals, please take a few minutes, to learn about a brave little human girl!!!

Her beautiful name is Satori, she is 10 years old and has Spinal Muscular Atrophy (type II). She can't crawl or walk and uses a power wheelchair. As she is physically weak and her body doesn't hold it self up well, she developed severe scoliosis, which means, that she has a crooked spine. I know about this disease, because my mom suffers from a type of scoliosis as well.

Satori's curve of her spine is now starting to crush her lung, so on March 31, she will have full spinal fusion. She will travel to California to get this done and the Docs will open her back from the neck all way down, insert 2 titanium rods, one on either side of the spine, wire the whole thing up and place donor bone in between all the vertebrae. Then everybody has to cross their paws and thumbs, that it will all grow together fusing her spine into one long bone!!!

Satori has to stay in hospital for 7-10 days and her mom had the idea to get people to send her post cards from all over the world!!! I found out about her plan on Twitter and thought to myself "Mookie, you're a professional post card collector and you know well about scoliosis = you're perfect to offer your help!!!

Now, anipals, PLEASE, I know we're able to move sooooo much!!! We're BIG in animal charity and now, Satori's mom Melissa needs our help, to put many, many smiles on her little girl's face!!! And it's sooooo easy, to make her brave daughter Satori happy!!! Just pick nice post cards to send to her into hospital!!!

The mailing address is:

Satori Lewis
Surgery date 3-31-10
Davis 7 Pediatrics
UC Davis Children's Hospital
2315 Stockton Blvd.
Sacramento, CA 95817 USA

It is very important to include the surgery date!!!

If you are in the US, you should mail your post cards on or about March 25 through April 2nd.

If you are outside the US, you should mail your post cards in time to arrive in California on March 30 through April 5th. Note: I know that post cards from Germany/Europe take about 7-10 days to arrive in California.

For more info, or to contact Satori's mom Melissa, see:
@HautTotes and http://postcardsforsatori.blogspot.com/

Introducing Mookie 2.0

Yesterday was my Gotcha Day!!! I have been living with my mom for 3 years now!!! She always took good care of me during these years and from time to time, she made me presents. My opinion - it could have been more...

But however, she wanted to celebrate my 3rd Gotcha Day with a very special present - the Mookie doll, aka Mookie 2.0!!!

There are so many artists in our Twitter community, like @snuffynorton, who designes pawsome clothes and is blessed with great talent; or @elineof, who makes adorable cute teddies and puts all her heart and soul into her handmade goods; or @ZackRabbit, who is a comic artist, as well, as a more than popular cooking chef!!! There are sooooo many creative anipals, it's impossible to mention them all. But you all inspired my mom and gave her ideas!!! So, she decided to make the Mookie doll for my anniversary!!!

She has no clue about all that stuff and just tried to fix all parts together!!! heehee Here is the result: Mookie 2.0!!!

Thank you for the present, mom, I'm happy we met... And you're lucky, I picked you to spend my life with!!!

Lippe's 1st day in the Netherlands!!!

Good news everybody!!! Our little pal Lippe made it safe and sound to his first destination in the Netherlands!!!

@Bijntje and Opa gave him a warm welcome and took good care of him!!!

And look, Lippe even has his own little bed at Bijntje's home, with sexy senorita Shakira watching over him!!! I bet, that was after Lippe's fancy and he had some sweet dreams!!! heehee

Thank you very much for taking these pawsome pics, Bijntje!!! Everybody may comment on them in Bijntje's TwitPic as well!!!

We know, Lippe is having a beary good time with you!!! We're looking forward to more news to come!!! Thanks and BIG BIG HUGS!!!

Love is in the air...

It's still chilly here in Cologne, we had 4°C/39°F today, but it has been sunny the whole day long!!! The days are getting longer and it seems like spring is lurking to finally break through!!! I see the birdies building their nests in the trees and feel that love is in the air - but I am single...

You might know, that I have a little crush on @grrlysquirrel, but she is human and has a human boyfriend. When I found out, she won't leave him for me, it almost broke my piggy heart, but I said to myself "Mookie, you have to accept her decision!!!" And believe me, I won't fight her boyfriend, as he could break all my bones with his little finger!!!

But lately, in my dreams, the vision of a wonderful piggy beauty shew up again and again!!! I asked my mom to paint her for me, so I can show it here on my blog.

So, if you're somewhere out there, princess of my dreams, remember, here is a handsome, young male, who has piles of carrots to share, seeking you...

Lippe got ready for take off!!!

First of all let me say a BIG thank you to all my wonderful anipals!!! I was overwhelmed by all your positive and kind reactions on Lippe!!! You rock, you rule, you made me smile and my mom's eyes water - oh yes, she is one of these emooootionaaaal mom's, that like to cry their eyes out!!! Did I mention, I'm a guinea pig with issues???

But this is not about me, it's about Lippe and his trip around the world!!! So many of you commented on my post, or contacted me, to let me know, they would like to host Lippe and show him around at their places!!! And you made it possible, that Lippe left us today for his exciting journey!!! THANK YOU!!!

If you are still interested in hosting Lippe on his trip, please let me know!!! He would like to visit as many anipals as possible!!! And please remember, we offer a place for our stuffed pals in beautiful Cologne as well!!!

Before Lippe could start off his trip, he had to get prepared for it. Most important - bathing!!! He was not amused about this point, but I told him, it had to be!!!

Here, you can see him dry on the heater.

After drying and dressing up, Lippe spent his last day in Cologne...

He went down to the Rhine, to look at the shippies for a last time.

Then he went down to the water, where he saw some duckies and two swans.

He sat down on a tree and watched the scenery with a touch of melancholy.

More shippies came by and the swans had a little chat about Lippe and his trip.

Back home, Lippe and Fredi looked at an atlas and Fredi shew Lippe all the places, where he will go. But I'm not sure, Fredi really has a clue about that stuff...

Then, Lippe, Poldi, Fredi and Hugh had a little party to say goodbye to Lippe. They had popcorn, chips and fun. I beg your pardon, I know, that little Fredi has no manners!!!

This morning, I said goodbye to Lippe too and gave him a little kiss on the cheek.

Lippe's time to hop into the envelope and start his journey came.

Mom brought him to the little post office...

...and mailed him to his first destination in the Netherlands, where he will visit @Bijntje!!!

Thank you sooooo much, for becoming his first host, Bijntje!!! We know, you will take good care of him and we're longing for news!!!

Have a pawsome and safe trip little Lippe and please come back to us one day!!!