Conan in Mississippi

Conan is a recent addition to the furry travel buddy family. He's quite fearless as demonstrated by his propensity to stand on his head and befriend large animals. Thanks to Amanda for her great pictures.

Conan poses outside the Oxford City Hall, Mississippi.

Conan used to be in the SAS so he can't help himself when he sees suitable camoflage. William Faulkner in the background is not impressed.

Sight seeing can be tiring work, so he hitches a ride with his buddy who unlike some pets decides not to bite his head off and listens attentively to Conan's waffling.

Last stop sushi, Conan's favourite stop of the day. California rolls are his favourite.

Sonny goes to watch baseball

Thanks to Heidi for taking Sonny to his first (and probably last) baseball game.

Sonny arrives at the Angel's Stadium and feels small in comparison.

Sonny feels like he stands out but red doesn't really suit him.

To steady his nerves before his first game he heads off to get a beer.

The lights from the cameras are blinding as the players take to the field. Sonny starts to fade a little.

His mind starts to wonder. Isn't Glee Club on tonight he thinks. It's his favourite show, he hopes someone Tivo's it.

He must have dozed off and is rudely awoken by a lot of cheering. The red team won, hurray and more importantly Sonny gets to go home. He realises he prefers tennis. (There's no pleasing some FTB's!)

Still, he's had a fairly relaxing time, so he can't complain.

If you have some FTB pics you'd like to share be sure to drop me an email. Thanks :)

Wade in London

Wade has had a busy year and this Summer was no exception. He managed to squeeze in a visit to The Tower of London and Hampton Court. Here's his story.

Hampton Court is so big Wade can barely fit it all in. Still you get the idea.

He glances at the clock. Is that the time already ? He starts to worry, there's so much to see and his legs, well they are short, so he can only go so fast.

Now, if his legs were as long as the chap in the picture, he could fit the maze in. Still, he likes the trimmed bushes they remind him of an upturned ice-cream cone surrounded by lollipops.

Wade stops to admire the facade. Those tudors knew how to build. He wonders how many cups of tea and biscuits were consumed during the build.

Praise be, Wade gets a temporary reprieve and is given a walking tour of the rest of Hampton Court. Now he's making progress.

Wade at the Tower of London

Wade's feet hadn't quite recovered from his epic adventure at Hampton Court but he tries to keep his chin up.


This entrance doesn't look too promising as there's water on the other side. He decides to give it a miss.

Wade heard about big black birds from his cousin Ivan who was caught by one. Legend has it that these birds can't fly. Still, Wade keeps his distance, he doesn't like flapping wings and who can blame him ?

Classic tourist shot, Wade is all smiles with Tower Bridge in the background. He doesn't like to get too close to the water though.

Unlike Hampton Court, The Tower served as a prison as well as a fortress hence the rather small windows. Perfectly sized for Wade mind you.

A parting shot before going home, Wade really enjoyed his visits and feels most knowledgeable.

Thanks to Ciara for her lovely photos. I love getting updates on the FTB's so don't be shy. Even if they have just been keeping you company on the sofa, email a pic.

Marlene Part Deux Croatia and Greece

As promised this is Marlene in Greece and Croatia. As part of her cruise she stopped off at various points and here's what happened. Don't forget to check out my new blog.

Don't be shy leave a comment, thanks.

Marlene surveys the boats in Greece. So small compared to the big one she just came off.

Marlene poses for the camera in front of a scenic view. Its hard being an FTB celebrity sometimes but its her job.

The indignity of it all ! A ball lands on her sun lounger and catapaults her into the sand. It's a long climb to get back on top.

Victorious view from the Sun Lounger.

This is Marlene in Croatia. She doesn't know what these men are doing but they are taking it very seriously.

There are a lot of tourists taking photos still Marlene is clueless as to why.

Marlene takes a break and views the landscape below.

She loses track of time as she takes an unplanned nap. She is also sun burnt and isn't that her cruise ship ?

Marlene realises that she is stuck in Dubrovnik and doesn't speak the language. How will she ever get home ? TBC

Thanks to Uncle Richard for the photos.

Sky, Constance and Brenda in Spain

The FTB's are back in force. So many blogs to publish. Apologies for the delay if you've emailed photos. The flip flop photo below has got to be one of my favourite FTB pics ever. I love it, so thank you Emily for your great photos. A side project which is in very early stages is Furry Travel Buddies - The Story so Far. A colour photo book in which the best photos of the last year and a half will be featured. It make take a while but that's the plan. I hope everyone had a great Summer and here's to Winter.

Constance, Brenda and Sky arrive in style ready for their holiday in Spain.

At the private pool, Brenda catches up on some tanning with SPF protection obviously. Meanwhile Constance and Sky drift aimlessly on a Boogie Board.

Sky and Constance get into an argument about holding the leash and Constance falls in while jostling for more control.
Its Brenda to the rescue, ever inventive she jet-skis on a flip flop to save Constance who is rapidly sinking.

Constance is in shock after her recent plunge, but more distressing is the damage to her hair do! Brenda knows how to get rid of frizz and sets about damage control.

The girls take a breather after the morning's crazy events and decide to stay on dry land for now.

Troy at the US Open

Troy who as you know is a surf afficionado couldn't miss out on the action at the US Open of Surfing in Huntington Beach. With 12ft waves and with several surf legends showing their tricks. He had a fabulous time even though it was really, really hot.

Troy watches Rob Machado on one of those big waves.

Here Troy is able to see what Rob look like up close and personal in a screen printined collage .

Behind the scenes he drops in to see how surfboards are shaped. In the background Bill Stewart reveals secrets of this mysterious craft.
As I mentioned earlier, it was super hot and Troy having watched the entire Men's Surf contest won by local Brett Simpson and the Master's Event went home for some R&R.

Stanley in Amsterdam

Stanley who we last saw some months back with some stylish knitted items is back again. It's always so reassuring to hear from a furry travel buddy so a big thank you to Tamaan for her wonderful pics.

Stanley takes to the skies for his latest adventure. The journey is so quick he barely has time for a nap before he's buckling up for the landing.

Upon landing there's not a taxi in sight but what there are a lot of, are bicycles, hundreds of them Stanley can hardly stand still for a minute without placing himself in bodily danger.There's nothing for it, he hitches a ride and heads downtown in search of his accommodation.

His human cycling driver informs Stanley that he has arrived at his destination. Stanley looks around. "How can this be ? " Stanley can only see water and nothing that resembles a hotel. Maybe he thinks, I'm supposed to be on that barge. What follows next is nothing short of reckless.
He jumps......and he misses landing on the tiniest of ledges which is all that stands between him and a watery end. Overcome by the realisation that he is in a very sorry predicament, he lies there thinking negative thoughts. Not for long........

Lucky for him a hand from a passing barge scoops him up from the precarious precipice and informs him that he is just in time for dessert. Stanley needless to say perks up from his traumatic state when handed an ice cream. He is a comfort eater after all. Nothing can possibly be that bad if there's ice-cream.

Marlene's Cruise Ship Album

There were so many photos to choose from for this post. I think they will be strong contenders for the 2010 calendar. As I explained in the newsletter my dad had had technical difficulties when it came to photographing Marlene on his overseas trips so upon learning that half the family were going on a cruise I cheekily asked Uncle Richard if he wouldn't mind taking a few snaps and I wasn't disappointed. Apparently other family members also did their part to remind him to take Marlene on their tours so thanks to Aunt's Desiree and Sooi.
Without further ado, here are a fraction of the pics.

Marlene's travel companions included some Canadians and Brits.

Marlene's mode of transport for the vacation. A rather large cruise ship.

First stop Venice. Marlene gets her first taste of living at sea.
No trip to Venice would be complete without visiting Murano where a lot of glass is made. Notice the area is under surveillance but Marlene manages to bypass security and blend with the ornaments.
This rather impressive glass sculpture is made entirely of handblown glass. Marlene is seen here hoping that the sculpture is securely anchored to something.
After all the day's activity its back to the ship for a beverage and a nap.
Stay tuned for part 2 Croatia and Greece coming soon.