Jessie, Fort Purbrook, UK

ProfessorRiverSong


Posted Apr 10, 2012, 2:21 pm
Hey, everyone!

This is my first entry, so I'll just quickly introduce myself. My name is Jessie and I am planning to travel the world with my horse Bullseye. Currently we are still at home with Lucy and have spent the day watching her revise...but then to get distracted and play Lego Harry Potter on the Wii with us (so not a good day for her tut tut).

Anyway we are hopefully off to Portsmouth to spend sometime with Lucy's pen pal in a few days, so hopefully we might do some fun things there. Lucy has told us that it's really nice there and when she went she had a wonderful time.

Hopefully going to the beach this afternoon...have to travel by pocket but when we get there we can go out in the sun! (Not much there at the moment...maybe it will come out for us?). Tomorrow should be a good day too, if Lucy sticks to her plans; a bike ride of Herne Bay and a promise I can come along too.

Bye for now everyone!

Jessie & Bullseye xx ;)
ProfessorRiverSong


Posted Apr 12, 2012, 11:49 am
Hello again!

Today was my last day at home before the adventures begin! I'm going to Portsmouth! Off to visit MySongIsLaughter...really quite excited :D

Today I was able to spend sometime with Frances' TV Rosalind we went down to the seafront for a while after having gone to the charity shops and Lucy buying yet more VHS's. But it was lovely meeting Rosalind and she has told me how lovely Frances is.

So wish me luck everyone! I'm off...

Jessie xx :)
MySongIsLaughter


Posted Apr 13, 2012, 3:56 pm
Hello everyone!

Bullseye and I arrived in Portsmouth this morning, just as Frances was about to have breakfast! She was quite impressed by how fast we travelled.

Over breakfast, we helped her write a letter to ProfessorRiverSong. Well, she tried to write and we distracted her by asking what we were going to do today!

After breakfast, she took us up to show us our room. It's quite big, and very comfortable! I was a bit confused by the amount of furniture, but Frances explained that she's expecting a few more TVs to arrive soon and so she set up the room for a group of us.

So today we went for a trip into town. Bullseye and I sat in the outer pocket of Frances' bag, so we could see where we were going, and enjoy the sunshine. Our first stop was the post box, so Frances could send the letter she wrote to Lucy. After that, we walked into town! In one of the shops, we saw a few familiar faces!

After spending a lot of time wandering around the shops, we set off home, and Frances had a suprise for us. We saw Charles Dickens' house! Although it turns out he doesn't live there any more. But we got to see it anyway!

On the way back, we climbed up a tree so we could see the ferry port and all of the big crates of fruit and stuff that come into Portsmouth. The majority of the country's bananas come in via Portsmouth. Bullseye and I found a giant skateboard, which we played on for a while. We then took a very big detour so we could see the sea! It wasn't the most tourist-y bit, and the tide was out, but it's Frances' favourite bit (mainly because it's only 15 minutes from her house at a reasonable walking pace. I wasn't going to complain!)

There's a really cool wreck there, that you can walk out to but only if you have wellies on because the mud's all squelchy around it. We didn't have wellies, but we still got to see it! We also saw where the water was, and where the water would be if the tide wasn't so far out. Frances then let us play in the sand for a bit, before it was time to go home.

We really miss you, Lucy! We hope you're having a good time!

Jessie & Bullseye :) xx
MySongIsLaughter


Posted Apr 15, 2012, 8:04 am
Hello everyone!

Today, Frances has a lot of visitors because it's her Dad's birthday, so we all went to Gunwharf for lunch and a walk! We got to travel in the car, which was quite excitng, and on the way there we saw where we went yesterday!

Gunwharf used to be part of the naval base, but after it was abandoned for a while it was turned into a shopping area, with the iconic Spinnaker Tower! It is right by the sea, and we walked along the seafront for a while and saw lots of ferries leaving to go to the Isle of Wight and France!

We walked quite a lot, then came home to rest while the family had their party.

Jessie & Bullseye :) xx
MySongIsLaughter


Posted Apr 16, 2012, 9:45 pm
Hello out there!

Today Frances had to go back to college, so we went with her! It was a B-Tec Music and English Literature day, with lots of enrichment in the middle which was quite fun!

In Music, we met a duck called Debussy. He's really friendly, and he's been to Rome AND Paris, so he showed us some of his photos.

We're looking forward to going to Explorers tomorrow night!

Jessie & Bullseye :) xx
MySongIsLaughter


Posted Apr 17, 2012, 9:27 pm
Hello!

Whilst Frances was out at college today, a mysterious package arrived. It was very difficult not to open it until she came home, but neither of us was strong enough to break the seal!

When she (finally!) got home, she opened the envelope and out came Alberto! We were very happy to see him, because we've been tracking his progress ever since he set out on his journey to come and stay in Portsmouth!

Unfortunately, Frances' dad's car broke down so we couldn't go to Scouts, but instead we had a great time getting to know Alberto. Tomorrow, we will go into college again!

Jessie and Bullseye :) xx
MySongIsLaughter


Posted Apr 27, 2012, 8:43 pm
Hello!

Today, we went to the hospital. I was a bit scared beforehand, because I thought there would be loads of scary machines and blood and stuff but actually there were just some BRIGHT ORANGE WALLS, weird beds, flowery curtains and friendly doctors and nurses.

We had to sit in a waiting room for a while, but not too long, and then a nice lady came and asked for Frances, our host, to come through. We then had to walk down a REALLY long corridor, until we came to a room where there were lots of beds with curtains around them. I'm not really sure what the bed was for, because everyone seemed to be sitting on chairs next to the beds.

There was no blood or needles. In fact, they just talked for a while and then left. I think they said something important, but I didn't really understand much of it because they used weird words!

We then walked back, as it was very sunny, and in the evening I watched the brass final of the BBC Young Musician of the Year, which was quite cool! I've decided I want to learn the tuba, and Bullseye wants to learn the trombone!

Tomorrow, we are going to go into Southsea! I can't wait!

Jessie and Bullseye :) xx
MySongIsLaughter


Posted Apr 27, 2012, 9:00 pm
Hello!

Today we went to Southsea with Frances, her boyfriend Chris, her sister Ruth, one of her sister's friends and Alberto. We went to visit Albert Road, which has lots of cool shops along it including LOADS of vintage clothes shops.

On the way, we passed a plaque which told us all about Arthur Conan Doyle. He created Sherlock, and he lived in Southsea. Frances took a photo of us by the plaque, but when we went to load it onto the computer we found that the memory card was corrupt and had deleted all of the photos from today except one of me with a wonderful hat I found in one of the vintage shops!

In Albert Road, we also went into a chocolate shop, where we bought some delicious tablet and of course some chocolate, a deli, where we bought some refreshing rose lemonade, and a fish and chip shop where we shared a plate of chips whilst sheltering from the rain.

All in all, a very fun day out!

Jessie and Bullseye :) xx
MySongIsLaughter


Posted Apr 27, 2012, 9:16 pm
Hello!

Today was very exciting, because we got to go to Explorers with Frances and her sister Ruth! We met a lot of the Explorers yesterday at the St George's day parade, but today we got to spend a lot more time with them and we had a lot of fun.

The leaders had found out some new games for them to play. We didn't join in, because we were a bit worried about getting hurt, but we watched. The first one was particularly funny to watch because it involved them all trying to balance in very weird positions. At one point, they were in groups of 3 trying to stand on only 1 foot between the whole group! It was all rather amusing! In another game, they were trying to balance small candles on teaspoons and pass them to each other, while standing on chairs. I was scared they might set the building on fire, but it turned out that even if they dropped the candles they went out immediately.

We're very excited about tomorrow too, because we are going to go to London!

Jessie & Bullseye xx
MySongIsLaughter


Posted Apr 27, 2012, 9:31 pm
Hello!

Today we went into London with Frances and her dad, because they wanted to look around the Royal College of Music.

On the train, we helped Frances write a letter to ProfessorRiverSong. As we got nearer to the station, we could see lots of tall buildings and the London Eye, so we were very excited!

At the station, we bumped into one of Frances' friends, who had also come for the open day, so we got a taxi with her to the Royal College. It was raining very heavily, so we were glad to be inside and very happy that we were dropped off near the door! On the way, we passed Big Ben and Buckingham Palace.

The College was very cool! We heard a lot of different music during the day, ranging from a saxophone quartet to a group doing a historically informed performance on recorders, strings and a harpsichord! We also got to look around the museum, which has the oldest stringed keyboard instrument IN THE WORLD, and the library which had hundreds and hundreds of books which were apparantly all sheet music!

On the way back to the train station, we helped Frances find a post box so she could send her letter to Lucy. We then fell asleep on the journey home, because we were very tired!

Jessie & Bullseye :) xx
MySongIsLaughter


Posted May 5, 2012, 11:38 am
Hello!

Today we got to go to London again! I was very excited, because I knew that this time we would have more time to look around.

We had a fun time on the train, hanging out with Alberto and trying not to distract Frances too much as she did her maths revision.

We travelled around on the underground quite a bit, which was fun although I had to keep an eye on Bullseye to make sure he got on the right trains each time because we had to change quite a bit and I didn't want him to get left behind anywhere!

It was raining a bit in the early afternoon, so we went to a big art shop and had fun finding paints in every different colour we could think of, and seeing the different types that you could get as well! There were also brushes in lots of different sizes.

Later on, the sun came out so we visited Trafalgar Square to say hello to Admiral Nelson, and also to peek into the National Gallery!

It was a really exciting day, and we had a lot of fun!

Jessie & Bullseye :) xx
MySongIsLaughter


Posted May 6, 2012, 7:37 pm
Hello!

Today was very exciting, because I got to travel back in time! Along with Alberto, and Frances and Chris, we went to an Iron Age settlement where they were celebrating the Pagan festival of Beltain (also sometimes spelt Beltane).

So we didn't actually go back in time, but it felt like it! Beforehand, we went on Frances' laptop to find out what happens at Beltain. It's a fertility festival, where they do certain things like burning a huge Wicker Man (a man made out of bits of wood). Originally, he would have been filled with live sacrifices but the website assured us that they don't do that anymore!

At the festival, the first thing we did was an African drumming workshop which was really fun, but also very noisy! After that, we went to a roundhouse where we listened some storytellers. The stories were very exciting! We then had a picnic whilst listening to some live music (sea shanties and folk, mostly, but also Teenage Kicks was sung in a folk style), and then we went off to see some big birds such as owls and falcons, and then to watch a man casting an axe head. We finished off by returning to the storytelling hut, where we enjoyed some more stories before going to watch the burning of the Wicker Man.

The Wicker Man burnt quite spectacularly! Everyone cheered whenever a new part of him caught fire, and when he eventually collapsed. I hope this means we're going to have good weather this year!

Jessie & Bullseye :) xx

PS Frances is sorry you can't see us properly in the last photo. It was dark and we were too close for flash to work, and the Wicker Man was too far away!
MySongIsLaughter


Posted May 12, 2012, 9:48 pm
Hi!

Today it was lovely and sunny, which was a nice change from the rain we've had over the past few days. Unfortunately, Frances had to study so we couldn't go off on an adventure, so instead we went out and played in her garden!

Alberto and I climbed high up in the apple tree, which still had some of its blossoms left! From up there, we could see all across the garden!

We spent some time sunbathing and soaking up the much-needed Vitamin D, but not too long as Frances warned me that with pale skin I would burn easily!

Trying to find somewhere to cool off, we stumbled upon a pond. We decided not to go for a swim, though, because we didn't want to disturb the many tadpoles! Bullseye did decide to take a quick dip in the bird bath, but fortunately no one came to drink from it while he was there!

After that, we played hide-and-seek in the long grass. We also, of course, helped Frances do her studying, and we helped her eat her picnic!

I hope this weather continues so we can spend some more time outside!

Jessie & Bullseye :) xx
MySongIsLaughter


Posted May 20, 2012, 8:31 am
Today something very exciting came in the post!

We were all lying in bed, because Frances had finished her English course so didn't have to go in to college as early, and we heard something coming through the letterbox. Frances ran downstairs, and brought it up saying that she thought it was for us.

It was hard work opening it - obviously it had been carefully packaged so no one would break into it while it travelled, but that made it hard for us toys to get in! Bullseye found that his teeth were very useful, but we had to stop him eating the envelope! We knew it couldn't be another toy, because it was the wrong shape, but we couldn't think what it could be.

Eventually we got it out. It is a beautiful notebook! Inside, there was a lovely letter, and the pictures of the toyvoyagers who are staying with mmm105. We had a lot of fun reading it!

Alberto and I are planning on writing in the notebook at some point on the weekend. We just need to work out where Frances keeps her crayons...

Jessie & Bullseye :) xx

PS Hello out there other TVs! If you want to participate in this travelling notebook, get your host to visit this forum post: http://www.toyvoyagers.com/forum/index.php?a=topic&t=5555#p5
MySongIsLaughter


Posted May 22, 2012, 4:36 pm
Hello!

Today we went into Frances' college again to see what an exam is like. It was boring! Alberto kept having to wake me and Bullseye up as we fell asleep a lot. There were rows and rows of students at desks, and a HUGE clock projected on the wall at the front.

Afterwards, we were all a bit restless from sitting still for so long, so we decided to go for a walk! In fact, we decided to skip the bus and walk all the way home!

It was really fun! Right next to the college is a field of horses, which Bullseye was very happy to see! He has decided that if we come to college with Frances again he will spend the day there instead of coming to class!

We passed a golf course, but no one seemed to be playing (although we saw some people later with golf bags!) After about half an hour, we reached the top of the hill and could see out over all of Portsmouth. Frances pointed out the places we had visited, and also some of the places she had taken ProfessorRiverSong last year. She then pointed out her house, and our hearts sank. It was a very long way away. But we were not going to let the distance stop us, so we picked up the pace, and stuck our tongue out at every bus we passed!

We were passed by a lot of buses. Frances said that was good, because it meant we were going the right way.

Eventually, we came to a big sign that implied that we'd made it to Portsmouth. Unfortunately, the sign was just to let drivers know that they were nearly there. Cars go a lot faster than people, so for us it just meant we were still heading in the right direction.

In Cosham, we found a fire station which was quite exciting! There wasn't much action while we were there, but that's good as it means there weren't any fires!

We stopped to catch our breath on the bridge, that goes over the creek that separates Portsmouth from the mainland. The water looked cool and refreshing, but I could see there was a lot of mud at the edges so I stopped Bullseye from going in!

We passed the place where the Portsmouth newspaper is printed, which looked like an exciting place! Unfortunately, it started to rain while we were there, so we moved quickly on!

After an hour and 45 minutes (instead of the 20 minutes it takes on the bus!) We came to the stone that marks the original boundary of Portsmouth. This was a relief, because although the journey was fun we were very tired!

Jessie & Bullseye :) xx
MySongIsLaughter


Posted May 25, 2012, 11:03 am
This evening, we wanted to do something because it is Alberto's last night in Portsmouth. We asked Frances what she thought we should do, and she produced some crayons and postcards and suggested that we write home!

So we wrote out a postcard to ProfessorRiverSong, and then we dug out the travelling notebook so we could write in it while Frances wasn't looking! I drew a picture of Alberto, and he drew me, and Bullseye drew himself, and we wrote "Hello" in different languages!

It was very fun! But we will be sad to see Alberto go tomorrow :(

Jessie & Bullseye :) xx
MySongIsLaughter


Posted May 25, 2012, 2:10 pm
Today we sent off the postcards we wrote, and the travelling notebook. We also helped Alberto set off on his journey to Germany.

We were very sad to see him go (and quite jealous!) But we hope we will see him again on our travels!

Jessie & Bullseye :) xx
MySongIsLaughter


Posted May 29, 2012, 9:48 pm
Today, Frances' sister and a few other Scouts were invested into her Explorer unit. To celebrate, they went to an indoor, underground climbing wall at a Fort. It was really cool!

To get there, we had to go through loads of tunnels which echoed a lot. They were very dark and mysterious - you could imagine a horror film taking place there!

There were 30cm deep mats on the floor, so we didn't need to use ropes or helmets as if we fell we'd have a soft landing. Bullseye and I climbed really high in the training room, but there was another room that was more like a rock face and it was harder for us to climb as there were no level bits to balance on.

We had a great time - we want to join Explorers now!

Jessie & Bullseye :) xx

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