Sammy

This is Sammy on a field trip to Devon.  We heartily approve of your reading material, Sammy!

Thanks for the great photo, Elina.

Paprika

Paprika is an otter with love in his heart, and his heart held firmly between his paws.  And clearly his heart is set on escaping this dull weather and going somewhere a tad more exotic.

 Do send us a postcard if you do, Paprika.  And don't forget your board shorts.


A little later . . .


Look! A postcard from Paprika.

I'm not entirely sure what he's up to, but it does look very pretty.

Chabas

Nick bought Lucy a little otter for Christmas.  She named him Chabas.  Chabas has gone to live in Doha, Qatar via Abu Dhabi.  He is an international otter.

 

Chabas hanging out in the bar at Crowne Plaza Yas Island.  He looks dead chuffed.  Or is it jet-lag?

Making an appearance at the Grand Prix circuit!

I have a sneaking suspicion there will be more exotic showing off from Chabas in the days to come.

Oh, and here it is.

 

Chabas marvels at the cheap price of petrol.  (Amazing how quickly he's picked up Arabic.)

Aaahh - time for a coffee break accompanied by an otter-sized pink macaroon.  Chabas is just leaning in to ask Lucy if the squishy stuff in the middle is taramasalata and whether he can use the mug as hot tub afterwards.

 

Look how noble and proud Chabas looks as he poses 'with' the Qatari royal family.

 Enjoying the sound of the call to prayer.  Nice green light.  Are you underwater?

Hanging out with the design boys in the graphic design department.  And causing some alarm by the looks of things.

Wow, Chabas -I'm so impressed with this shot (and also that the falcon didn't eat you).

Chabas is making a big contribution to the project - by his mere presence.

Hanging out in the catering tent.  Should otters be drinking fizzy pop?

Happy Christmas

Happy Christmas to you all!

Love from Fuzzy xxx

Eric

Eric has gone to live with Ilona and his little brother Oscar.  They all LOVE science! Here is Eric have a jolly good sniff around the school laboratory.

 Thanks Ilona!  x

The Graduate

Meet my brother Finlay.  He's a graduate!  We're not sure what he did his degree in EXACTLY.  Possibly fishing. Or lazing around.

He's a graduation gift, so I hope we get some pictures of Finlay and his new owner comparing notes on university and mackerel.

Otter Pick Up

Should I go and stand there and see what happens?!

Otto And Nemo

Goodness gracious!  Otto Otter travelled to Germany to hang out with a real live otter - little Nemo!  It looks like they are becoming good friends, and Nemo even appears to be letting Otto near his dinner as well as playing fun games with him, like rolling on the lawn.

 

 

Thanks to Dr Wolfgang Gettmann for the pictures.  For more info on Nemo click here.

What Olympia Did Next

Well, it seems that Olympia is having a whale of a time with Benjamin & Michael from TheBigForest!

She is having so much fun that they have been documenting her activities (which seem mostly concerned with property matters at the moment).  They are promising more fun and photos as time goes on, so I have kindly offered to devote this one post to her and update it as they come in. Stay tuned!

(Actually, I'm quite jealous.  Maybe I can go and stay with them for a while.)

Olympia's new seaside retreat (compact and bijou).

"Now, where's my medal? Ah - there it is".

I'm such a hungry girl! Now where are those kippers, donuts, trifle, full English, roast dinner . . .

Olympia meeting with a dashing Ginger. His name is Millard. At first we thought they were exchanging drugs but  then realised it was a boy/girl thang  . . .

Olympia was just off to the front garden to trim some mint to sprinkle on the new potatoes for their evening meal when she made a shock discovery! "A bear, Millard, a bear!"

Another little Olympia (yes, there is more than one!) went to live in France with a nice lady called Béatrice.  She is currently holidaying with her in Germany and Béatrice has kindly taken some pictures of Olympia trying to practice her diving in the pool. There appear to be a few issues with that, however.

Olympia finds a good vantage point to check out the facilities.

Now, shall I dive in from here . . . ?

. . . or here?

Er . . . oops.

In that case, better have a sit down

Fun With YouTube

PSSSSSST!

Is the coast clear? Has Olympia finally gone?

I mean, I do love you and everything, Olympia, but can I have a go now?

So now I've got my blog back, I'm going to share some of my favourite otter videos with you. These have been selected after positively YEARS of intensive research and are big favourites in our den.  Sarah likes to watch these when she's feeling a bit sad because they always make her laugh. (Click on the links below to see them.)

Here's our current fave, from Point Defiance Zoo & Aquarium. We call it 'Nellie & The Cups'.

 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wavh47RpLz4

Her face when the red one won't fit is quite priceless.  I've been practising that expression in the mirror for when there are no more chocolate fish left in my bowl.

The next one, from Chris Cohen, clearly demonstrates just how talented otters are (but for God's sake don't let Olympia see this, or she'll get ideas and start showing off again).

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s1-MbAAnXJ0

Mwah! Mwah!

And finally . . . well, there really are no words for this one.  Turn up the volume.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sFqeWTfVi3I&noredirect=1

It Must Be Love!

Olympia has begged me to share just ONE MORE shot with you before she goes into retirement.  Here she is having a cuddle with the magnificent lion made by the lovely chaps at TheBigForest, who won her in the Twitter competition.  Then they said some really nice things on their blog. Awww.

Fencing

It's the final day of the London 2012 Olympics and sadly this brings Olympia's sporting achievements to a close (and maybe I'll get my blog back now, Olympia).  However, we've saved the best 'til last, as this is our personal favourite. 

Who said she has a tea strainer on her head?