Angus, Ede, The Netherlands

magicwoman Posted Feb 5, 2008, 10:25 am	Hello everyone I am Angus and i'm a rat.I live in Holland so i'm a Dutch rat.I like living with my owner,but i want to see the world I like climbing every where,and every object I love the climb on this is me And I love to climb in this vase,its my favourite one and ...oops..here I was climbing in the lamp,my owner didnt like this trick from me,but later on she laughed about it
magicwoman Posted Feb 5, 2008, 5:30 pm	Yea,finally i've found a country were I can see other cultures,i'm so glad and happy.I'm going toooooooo:NEW YORK!!!  and then to Australia My travellist for so far -Michelle One L (new York,U.S.A.) -Miss Nadine (Russia) -Olgamaus (Germany) -Drakie (UK) -2012 (finland) -Meg-Ireland
magicwoman Posted Feb 8, 2008, 3:49 pm	Today my big trip is gonna begin I'm going to NY,At the moment i'm somewhere I think on a plane or something dont know More travel news soon! When i'm in New York
Michele_one_L Posted Feb 19, 2008, 5:31 pm	Hello Mom! I arrived in New York this morning. It was a long trip but I am safe. It is very cold here today, I'm happy that my host was home when the postman dropped me off. I'll update with some photos later. I'm off to take a nap!
Michele_one_L Posted Feb 20, 2008, 5:18 pm	Here are my pictures when I arrived to my new hosts house. I heard some voices while trying to get out of my envelope. I couldn't imagine who would be waiting for me. It turned out to be Coop, Coco, Nicki Bear and Honey Bear. I was surprised to find out that they are all bears! I thought this might be interesting, I wonder if Michele knows how to take care of TV's that aren't bears. I guess we will find out! Once I freed myself from my envelope we all sat together and introduced our selfs. Michele asked us to come together for a group shot, she said say "Cheese!"                        "Cheese!"
Michele_one_L Posted Feb 20, 2008, 5:31 pm	Today Nicki Bear was leaving for her next host's house. I didn't get to know her very well but she was very nice to me. I wished her well on her journey and said that we may meet again someday. Good Luck Nicki Bear!
Michele_one_L Posted Feb 26, 2008, 11:14 pm	Last night we got to see something rather amazing! I still can't believe what it was. During the day Michele told us that there was going to be a Lunar Eclipse. She said that we had to see it as there wasn't going to be another one until 2010. We didn't know what an eclipse was but Michele explained it to us. At around 10pm we went outside to see the eclipse. It was too cold for us to be out there so Michele said that she would try and take pictures for us. They are a little hard to see but it really cool.
Michele_one_L Posted Feb 26, 2008, 11:39 pm	Last night we were bored, so Michele asked if we wanted to read some books. I told her that we are still learning to read and speak English and that I don't know if we could read the books. She said that it was okay if we couldn't read English as these books had great pictures in them. I don't know......She brought back 3 books from her spare room. Humm....they had interesting covers. We each picked a book that we wanted to read.
Michele_one_L Posted Feb 26, 2008, 11:51 pm	Coop decided that he wanted someone else to read to him, so he went and sat with Coco. I saw that they were reading a book with monsters in it. I had a thought....... I wonder if I can scare them. I saw a small monster on the night table and went to get it. I put it on my hand and hid behind the book. I yelled Rrroarrrr while waving the monster next to the book. No one screamed or yelled! Coco said "Angus we know its you, you can come out now!" Darn my plan failed! I showed Coop and Coco the monster, they laughed at me and said "good try."
Michele_one_L Posted Feb 27, 2008, 12:02 am	After all of our joking around Honey Bear asked if we wanted to have a sleep over. We all said sure and settled in for the evening. Michele tucked us in and told us to go to bed.
Michele_one_L Posted Feb 27, 2008, 12:12 am	I was bored today so I thought that I would wonder around and see what I can find. I'm sure that there was something I could climb on. Aha....a fire place with a mantle! I climbed up there and as I was exploring I heard Michele calling my name. Oh no I have to hide.....Do you think Michele will find me here?
Michele_one_L Posted Mar 3, 2008, 5:33 am	We woke up this morning hoping to go outside and do some exploring, sadly that wasn't possible. We (Coco, Coop and I) all gathered at the window to see what type of day it was and we were sad to see that it was snowing. We didn't know what we were going to do. Michele said she had some cleaning to do and that we could help but we didn't want to. So we decided to take a nap and see how the weather was a little later.
Michele_one_L Posted Mar 3, 2008, 5:41 am	We woke up from our nap and were hungry. Michele said that it was lunch time, so we went into the kitchen to help make some lunch. Michele said that we were having pasta, yumm....While the pasta was cooking she gave us some pretzels to eat. I decided that I would find the right one for each of us. Eating pretzels can make you thirsty so we shared some juice. Our lunch was ready and I could wait to eat.
Michele_one_L Posted Mar 3, 2008, 9:44 pm	A new TV arrived today, his name is Fuzzy Wuzzy. He is very shy and doesn't like to talk much. Michele said that he will open up more once he gets to know everyone.
Michele_one_L Posted Mar 5, 2008, 3:18 am	Yay! Today we were able to get out of the house. We were all happy as we haven't been able to go anywhere since Michele's husband left for Peru. Luckily he came home today and he and Michele had plans. She said that we could come as long as we were on our best behavior. Here we are in Michele's bag all ready to go.
Michele_one_L Posted Mar 5, 2008, 3:27 am	Since Michele's husband was away on business on their anniversary they were making it up tonight. We all went to the 99 Restaurant for dinner. It seemed like a nice place from the outside. We were seated at our table and order something to drink. I shared Michele's mango Iced tea with her, it was pretty good!  Coop and I looked at the menu to try and help Michele find something to eat. There were too many choices.
Michele_one_L Posted Mar 5, 2008, 3:39 am	I guess people in the USA order something before their meal called an appetizer. We weren't sure what it was but we were happy to try it. We decided on something called Boneless Buffalo Wings and Potato Skins. They were interesting, I'm happy that I had the chance to try them. The buffalo wings were a little hot for our little mouths. Michele said that most people dip them in blue cheese dressing so they aren't so hot. For dinner we ordered a bacon cheese steak burger with a side of loaded mashed potatoes (instead of french fries). Yum......
Michele_one_L Posted Mar 5, 2008, 3:46 am	After the waitress cleared the table we posed for one last picture before we headed to Target. Michele told us that we had to stay in her bag in Target. We didn't argue as we were so full from dinner. I think most of will be sleeping before we even get to Target. We were told that we will be running a lot of errands tomorrow. We are excited to see where we will go!
Michele_one_L Posted Mar 8, 2008, 1:11 am	Today we helped Honey Bear look for a tea set for his Teddy Bear party. He has been begging his mom to let him have one and she finally said yes. Since we couldn't leave the house we decided to look on Ebay. Well Honey Bear did most of the looking, we (Coop, Coco and I) were just there for the entertainment. Every once in awhile Honey Bear asked us what we thought. He was quite the computer hog.  Michele told him that she wasn't going to buy the first set that he found. She said that we need to compare prices and find one in her budget.
Michele_one_L Posted Mar 8, 2008, 1:27 am	Tonight Michele told Honey Bear that he could order the tea set for his party. He was so excited! We asked if there was anything we could do to help. Honey Bear asked Coco to make a list of the things he will need for the party. And Coop and I were supposed to read the numbers off of Michele's debit card to him. Our job was harder than you might think! That debit card looks like it has been used a lot.  I guess Michele likes to shop.
Michele_one_L Posted Mar 8, 2008, 1:42 am	Today Honey Bear's tea set arrived! He was sleeping when the mail man dropped it off so Michele opened it up for him. Later in the afternoon he woke up from his nap and showed him. He was SO happy and over a tea set.  Maybe I don't understand? Once he stopped hugging the basket he opened it up so we could see. Honey Bear said that we can have a test party in a couple weeks.
Michele_one_L Posted Mar 8, 2008, 1:55 am	This morning we ran a lot of errands like Michele said we would. But she didn't tell us that it was going to be so cold outside! First we went to Dunkin Donuts for breakfast, then we headed to Wal-Mart to do some shopping. After Wal-Mart we went to P&C and the dollar store. We went home to put the groceries away and for Michele's husband to take a nap. Later in the afternoon we went to Price Chopper and a gift shop. We were so tired at the end of the day. Michele told us that we had a couple of days to rest before we went out again. Phew..... We are going to need it.
Michele_one_L Posted Mar 8, 2008, 2:21 am	A new TV arrived today! We were all anxious to see who it was. It was weird because there was a voice coming from the envelope, it was saying "Let me out of here!" Michele opened the envelope and Coop and I looked in to see who it was. It turns out that it was JamaBanaDukLuv. We posed for a picture than sat down to get to know each other better.
Michele_one_L Posted Mar 8, 2008, 2:35 am	We were watching American Idol today when Michele's husband came out and asked if we wanted a snack to share. Of course we said yes! He said that he had something special for us since it was JamaBanaDukLuv's first night here. He came out with a slice of Marble Brownie cheesecake from the world famous Junior's in Brooklyn, NY. He said that Michele ordered it as a surprise dessert for their anniversary. Wow! We couldn't believe our eyes...
Michele_one_L Posted Mar 8, 2008, 2:43 am	Another new TV arrived today. We were surprised to see such a small envelope. We thought that maybe someone was playing a trick on us. Michele opened the envelope so we could see who it was. It turned out to be a little bear named Hazle. She was little but very cute! Right away she started to tell us about herself and where she came from.
Michele_one_L Posted Mar 9, 2008, 10:05 pm	When Michele, Daryl, Riley, Fuzzy Wuzzy, JamaBana and Hazle returned home from running errands and we were all ready for dinner. Thank goodness Michele and Daryl had picked up subs! There were 2 different subs for us to choose from, Ham and Cheese or Tuna. Coco, hazle and I chose to eat the Tuna. Coop and I helped ourselves to the Cheetos. Michele said they were for everyone to share. Yumm.......
Michele_one_L Posted Mar 9, 2008, 10:19 pm	After dinner JamaBana and Hazle wanted to meet Honey Bear and Piggy (they are Michele's at home TV's). So we all went down the hallway to Michele's room where they were staying. We climbed up on the bed and saw that Honey Bear was hiding. JamaBana was brave and said "Hello Honey Bear! My name is JamaBanaDukLuv and I will be staying at your house for a few weeks." There was no answer...So Hazle decided to try, she said "Hello Honey Bear! My name is Hazle and I have come to stay at your house for a little while." There still was no answer....Someone yelled for Michele to see what was wrong with Honey Bear.
Michele_one_L Posted Mar 9, 2008, 11:05 pm	It turns out that Honey Bear was a little nervous to meet the new TV's. After Michele talked to him, he stopped hiding and came to greet everyone. We posed for a picture and sat around talking for the rest of the night.
Michele_one_L Posted Mar 9, 2008, 11:44 pm	With the help of Michele's friend Laura we rescued some animals from the Goodwill. Here we are with our new friends. Some of them Michele is going to keep and some she is going to find new homes for. We were inspired by Nicki Bear and BunTraveler's rescue last week.
Michele_one_L Posted Mar 9, 2008, 11:55 pm	This afternoon Honey Bear asked if we could meet him in the bedroom at 4pm for a special meeting! We were anxious to find out what Honey Bear was going to tell us. 4pm came and we met in the bedroom, we were surprised to find that Honey Bears friends were there too. We thought, this must be some announcement!
Michele_one_L Posted Mar 10, 2008, 12:14 am	Once we arrived to the bedroom we each found a place to sit. Now we just had to wait for Honey Bear to tell us why we have all gathered here. Honey Bear came out and said; "I want to thank everyone for coming to my meeting today. It's great to see everyone again. I'm sure you are all wondering why I've asked you to come here today. Well I'm having a teddy bear party in a few days and I would like to invite everyone to it." The crowd erupted in cheer! WOW, a teddy bear party! What an honor to be invited. Of course we told Honey Bear that we would be there. I wonder how many of his friends will be coming? He sure does have a lot of friends.  Michele asked everyone to squeeze in close so she could take a picture of us.
Michele_one_L Posted Mar 13, 2008, 2:18 am	Today Fuzzy Wuzzy left on a special mission to Florida. He was asked if he wanted to join the USA TVT for a month. Of course he jumped at the chance! So we said our goodbyes and off he went....
Michele_one_L Posted Mar 13, 2008, 3:02 am	Yay! Today we attended Honey Bear's Teddy Bear party/picnic. We went to the picnic spot to find Honey Bear waiting us. He had the Teddy Bear Picnic song playing (too bad it wasn't about Rats ). We decided to play bobbing for gummi bears first. I went first and I think I got a little too carried away with myself. I couldn't help it the sweet smell of candy was clouding my judgement. Next was Hazle's turn. She was a little too small so I helped give her a little boost. After everyone had taken a turn Honey Bear decided that he would dump the bowl of gummi bears on the table. Michele told him that it wasn't going to be a good idea but he did it anyhow. We all dove into the pile of gummi bears! It was fun....and no one was hurt!
Michele_one_L Posted Mar 13, 2008, 3:22 am	After we cleaned up all the gummy bears, Honey Bear set up his tea set for us. Michele brought us some teddy bear shaped cookies and tea. Not everyone wanted tea so some had milk. We sat around talking and enjoying our snack. We told Honey Bear that maybe next time he can have his tea party in the park! He thought it was a good idea but said that it's too cold outside right now to do something like that.
Michele_one_L Posted Mar 13, 2008, 3:39 am	Some of us were getting sleepy, this was more fun then we've had in awhile. Honey Bear said that before we go he has a surprise for everyone. We had no idea what it could be! He left and came back, when he came back he had these bags with him. We asked "what are these?" Honey Bear said these are goody bags and I made them special for everyone coming to my party. WOW! That was very thoughtful of Honey Bear. We couldn't wait to see what's inside of them. Michele says that she will send them home to our mom's when we are ready to leave her home.
Michele_one_L Posted Mar 13, 2008, 3:48 am	Before we said our goodbyes and thank yous, we posed for one last picture.
Michele_one_L Posted Mar 14, 2008, 3:27 am	Today Coop and Coco left us! We were sad to see them go...We have become close to both of them. We sat around and talked about all of the special times we had. Who knows maybe we will see one another again someday. Good Luck Coop and Coco!
Michele_one_L Posted Mar 18, 2008, 9:57 pm	We were surprised by the arrival of a new TV today! Her name is Wolletje, she's a cute little black sheep. Michele helped her out of her travel envelope and right away she started to talk with us. We sat together and introduced ourselves then posed for a group picture. Wolletje said she was tired from her long trip and needed to take a nap.
Michele_one_L Posted Mar 18, 2008, 10:13 pm	Today we all got up early because we were going to spend the day with Michele's sister Jessica. She lives 1.5 hours East of Rome in Schenectady, NY. We were tired so we cuddled together in Michele's back and slept on the way there.
Michele_one_L Posted Mar 18, 2008, 10:18 pm	We arrived at Jessica's house at about 10am. She was happy to see everyone. We dropped off Michele's dog Riley and went shopping!
Michele_one_L Posted Mar 18, 2008, 10:25 pm	Our first stop was to Krause's Candy Shop! It smelled so good in the shop, it was almost like a dream. It was very busy as Easter is coming, so we didn't get out of Michele's bag. Which is probably a good thing. We helped Michele pick out some chocolate bunnies for her brother and step father. Of course we didn't leave there empty handed.
Michele_one_L Posted Mar 18, 2008, 10:33 pm	Next we went to Jo-Ann Fabrics and Target. Michele and her sister were looking for yarn and thread for bracelets at Jo-Ann's. Who knows what they were looking for at Target. It was really busy and we couldn't find a good parking places. We had to keep riding around until we found one.
Michele_one_L Posted Mar 18, 2008, 10:41 pm	After Jo-Ann Fabrics and Target we went to Petco. Michele was looking for some treats for Riley that she can't find where she lives. We were afraid to get out of Michele's bag, it smelled in there. And we could hear birds singing. Luckily she quickly found what she was looking for and we were out of there. Now we are headed back to Jessica's house.
Michele_one_L Posted Mar 19, 2008, 11:30 pm	Once we returned to Jessica's we had some lunch and took a short nap. We were all tired from all of the running around we did. After our nap we helped dye Easter eggs! Michele said we could each have one egg to dye, we were so excited. It was fun but messy! Michele's husband Daryl had butterfingers and kept dropping his eggs.
Michele_one_L Posted Mar 19, 2008, 11:36 pm	Here is what all of the eggs look like. One was thrown away because of Michele's husband. That's okay we still had 17 more eggs left.
Michele_one_L Posted Mar 19, 2008, 11:41 pm	We returned to Michele's house late last night. We were all so tired so we went right to bed! This morning we woke up and were told that we were going to Wal-Mart to pick up a few things. It was really busy in the store, thank goodness we had a list and knew what we were getting. On the way out we decided to ride in the shopping cart back to the car.
Michele_one_L Posted Mar 27, 2008, 3:40 pm	We were bored tonight and asked Michele if we could watch a DVD.  She said of course and that she had the perfect DVD for us to watch. To our surprise it was Disney's 101 Dalmatians. We were so excited! She asked if we wanted to share a snack before the movie. Of course we do! Michele brought us two boxes of girl scout cookies, Lemon Chalets and Tagalongs. Yummy.....
Michele_one_L Posted Mar 27, 2008, 3:47 pm	After we were done eating Michele told us to go get into bed and get ready for the movie. We all rushed to the bedroom and got into her bed. She didn't know it but we were going to make this a sleepover.  Michele tucked us in and turned the movie on. Yay, we were so excited!
Michele_one_L Posted Mar 27, 2008, 4:03 pm	Today we went with Michele and her husband to get their taxes done. We were excited to get out of the house but Michele and Daryl didn't seem to be too happy. We don't know what taxes are but from what we told we were happy that we don't have to do them.  We stayed in Michele's bag so we didn't get in the way. It was VERY quite in the office, we didn't know if it was good or bad. Almost 2 hours later we returned to the car. We can only guess that things went okay in there because there was no screaming or crying.
Michele_one_L Posted Mar 27, 2008, 4:12 pm	After going to H & R Block we took a trip to BJ's Warehouse Club. Michele said she had to pick up a few things before going home. This place was huge!!! This place is a little different then shopping at the grocery store. It seems as though everything comes in large quantities. WOW! We looked around the store and found what we were looking for. We checked out then headed home.
Michele_one_L Posted Mar 27, 2008, 4:22 pm	We woke up this morning and found that the Easter bunny came last night! We were so excited to see that he left something for each of us.  Too bad we couldn't meet the Easter bunny! Michele was surprised to see that the Easter bunny left us stuff as well. She said that we must have been good Little TV's this year.
Michele_one_L Posted Mar 27, 2008, 4:31 pm	We took a quick trip to Walmart today to pick up some travel envelopes for JamaBanaDukLuv and I. Our trips in NY are coming to an end and we will be going to visit with a new host.
Michele_one_L Posted Mar 30, 2008, 5:03 pm	Since JamaBanaDukLuv and I are leaving tomorrow, Michele thought it would be nice to have once last treat. Wolletje, Hazle and I shared some vanilla ice cream with rainbow sprinkles. It was delicious!  Though it would have been nice to have my own. JamaBana shared a.........banana split with Michele's husband. It looked yummy!
Michele_one_L Posted Mar 30, 2008, 5:37 pm	Today was my last day in New York! I said my good byes to everyone and I thanked Michele for allowing me to visit her home. I promised to remember all of my TV friends, maybe we will meet again someday. I'm off to Russia to meet my next host!
olgamaus Posted Apr 19, 2008, 6:27 pm	Hi Mummy, I arrived in Remscheid today. Photos will come later, I have to feed the rats - yes, real rats! Everything is fine, I was not stolen again. Bye Angus
olgamaus Posted Apr 19, 2008, 8:03 pm	Hi Mummy, when I arrived today my new host and Moony, another ToyVoyager, opened my envelope. I was really glad  to arrive savely. My host Katja was reading the newspaper and drinking coffee. Katja told me that the fun fair started yesterday. They have a big wheel. It's raining today, maybe next week the weather will be better and then we'll visit the fun fair. Bye Angus
olgamaus Posted Apr 20, 2008, 3:26 pm	Hi Mummy, today Moony, Katja, a friend of her and me took a walk. We planned to walk for about 90 minutes so we could see the “Müngstener Brücke”, Germany’s highest railroad bridge. This bridge is overstretching the river Wupper, which is the border line between the towns Remscheid and Solingen. One part of the bridge belongs to Remscheid, the other one to Solingen. This bridge is more than 100 years old and about 107 meters high. We walked through the outskirts of Remscheid. We walked through a forrest where many smaller creeks are flowing downhill into the river Wupper. Not far from this creek you can find a beautiful viewing pavilion. It is called “Diederichstempel”, it was donated by a rich director of Remscheid in the year 1901. From this pavilion you have a stunning view at the Müngstener Brücke, the river Wupper and the landscape around.
olgamaus Posted Apr 20, 2008, 3:29 pm	We reached Solingen-Unterburg where we saw an old little church and a graveyard with graves of the years about 1750 until 1850. The tombstones are all made in a similar style of a special sort of brownstone. Some of them are really weathered while some of them still are in a good condition. First we rested among some beautiful flowers in a flower bed. Now we will show you the front door of this little church and some of the tombstones. Now we are walking towards the bus station to take a bus back home to Remscheid. Here you can see more of Solingen-Unterburg, in the background you can see Schloss Burg, a medieval castle. Now Moony and me are going to play a little bit. Bye Angus
olgamaus Posted Apr 25, 2008, 2:08 pm	Hi Mummy, today Katja's daughter is celebrating her 16th birthday. That is a very important date in Germany because at the age of 16 you are allowed to buy beer. Angus and me even bought a little present for her - chocolate sweeties filled with wafers. From Katja she got a new backpack. When the postman came he brought an envelope with another ToyVoyagers. Chompers arrived today! He is really cute, but very very large ... larger than Moony! We told him that today was the exactly right day to arrive because of Alex' birthday. So we could celebrate in the evening. But before joining the party Katja took us to the fun fair. Here is a carousel for the small visitors (Hey, I may be small, but I am not a child!!!) Here I am with Chompers: After visiting the fun fair we joined the birthday party. There we a lot of girls and some boys. They had sparkling wine, coke and beer. Alex had a strawberry torte and a soup with leek, mincemeat and cheese. We made some funny photos. Hey Mum, when will I be 16 years old? I love this stuff ... Maybe we should sleep a little bit longer tomorrow ... Bye Angus
olgamaus Posted Apr 26, 2008, 4:57 pm	Hi Mummy, Katja's sister invited me and the other TVs to spend the weekend with her. We'll come back on Monday. Bye, Angus
olgamaus Posted May 1, 2008, 12:25 pm	Hi Mommy, today it's my host's birthday. She is now fourty-something years old. In the morning she had to go to work and in the afternoon her family arrived for coffee and cake. They were her parents, her aunt, her sister with her son, her nephew and her own kids. We all had cake. Katja made an applecake with amaretto and she bought a strawberry-torte. Too late she realised  that the torte was a really low-fat-thing. It tasted really like there was missing some cream. But the torte was eaten up either. Later we opened a bottle of sparkling wine and the presents were opened. From her children she got a funny candle that looks like a glass of beer. It is a real beer glass with a jelly candle in it. From her sister she got a nice heart made of metal to hang at the ceiling and to light a candle into it. Here you can see us celebrating. For dinner Katja ordered asian food. Everyone could choose what he liked among four different dishes. We had one completely vegetarian, one with baked fisch, one with beef and another with chicken. It was really delicious. Later, when all guests were gone, we tided up the kitchen a little bit, but only a really little bit. Bye, Angus
olgamaus Posted May 1, 2008, 12:45 pm	Hi Mummy, My host told me that she is a member in Germany's biggest association for pet rat keepers. She is an active member who is working for the association's magazine. She also adopts pet rats that are given into an animal rescue or those who has been found when some irresponsible people released them into the wild or left them alone in the apartment when they  moved out like a thiefe in the night. On Friday two young rat girls will arrive here that has been brought pregnant  into the animal rescue. One of has given birth to the babies on April, 20th and the other one on Katja's birthday. Katja told me that it is better for the rat babies to be raised within a family, so they can get used to be handled. In an animal rescue they have not enough time to handle the rats and to play with them. The rats are crepuscular animals, so they like playing and eating in the late evening. At his time  every animal rescue is closed. Of course the rat moms need a cage for themselves. Katja has an extra cage for them, but is only has one little door. So it would not be easy to clean the cage and to handle the rats. She cut a larger hole into the grid and made a larger door of an old hamster cage. She also built in a larger door into the cage top. We helped her .... ähhm.... we played with her tools. Here you can see us sitting in the cage with the now large doors. I'm looking foreward to meet even more rats! Bye Angus
olgamaus Posted May 1, 2008, 12:51 pm	Hi Mommy, today nobody has to go to work. So we had a very late and very long breakfast. First we baked some bread rolls. We had bread rolls with pork sausage and with cheese. Katja's son had rat girl Greta sitting on his lap, I accompanied her. Greta is really cute and cuddly. Now Katja has to do updates for the other TVs. Bye Angus
olgamaus Posted May 4, 2008, 6:34 pm	Hi Mummy, today the weather was really nice. In the afternoon Katja, her daughter Alex,Chompers, Galaxy Bear and me took a walk. First we went into a little park in front of the police station. We sat on a rocking horse. Then we went into the muncipal park. This is the observatory. Here you can see more of the park. We went through an old district called „Hasten“. Here you can see a famous company, Keiper. They are building bucket seats and racing-style seats for mainstream manufacturers. We came to a district called “Morsbachtal”. Here the creek Morsbach is running. In this district the first industrial settlements took place long ago. Along the creek tools were made, in the early centuries of industrial settlement the fabrics were run by water wheels. Here we are all sitting on the balustrade of a bridge running across the creek. From here you can walk into forrest and follow the route along the historical “Gelpetal”. The river Gelpe is flowing through the valley, coming from Wuppertal. Here you can find an old sledgehammer which is now a museum. Around the hammer some beautiful old houses remained. We were sitting on the edge of a little standpipe. On the picture you cannot see the water flowing, but we all got a little bit wet. But that doesn’t matter because it was so warm. On this plate the history of the company that you can see in the background, is explained. This plate belongs to a serie of such plates along a special trail along the creek and its industrial culture. We rested on a bench in the sun. We found a rock that was worked into the shape of an easy chair. Alex enjoyed the sun again and we did also. On our way back home we walked along the “Werkzeugtrasse”, the route of tools. This is a lane built on an abandoned railway track. Along this route you can find many signs of local industrial companys who sponsored this lane. This is a bench made of a huge screw clamp. We went through the muncipal park again, along a pond with ducks. You can also find goldfish and several sorts of turtels who were released into the wild by their former owners. It was a very nice day and we all are very tired now. We will help Katja and Alex doing our updates and then we will go to sleep. Of course I will take a look at the rat babies before. We have 17 babies with two mums. Unfortunately one of the moms does not care about her kids, so the other one has to feed all babies. We hope that all babies will survive. Bye Angus
olgamaus Posted May 5, 2008, 9:33 pm	Hi Mummy, today Katja took us with her when she went to the post office. She showed us the town centre with the shops. She also took Galaxy Bear with her because Alex has to learn for school. Here you can see some pictures of the pedestrian area. These large forcepses are marking the entrance to the pedestrian area. Here you can see the town hall. Unfortunately the tower has a scaffold, but it will be taken away soon. When we were back at home we relaxed in the midday sun in the kitchen window. In the meantime Katja made coffee. She wanted to read today's newspaper and eat a doghnut. It's called "Berliner Ballen" here, it is the same dough but it does not have a hole but it is filled with jam. These are some of the older rat babies. They are 15 day old today. I was not allowed to get closer because I had icing sugar at my nose. I think the babies wouldn't have cared about that. Bye Angus
olgamaus Posted May 7, 2008, 6:57 pm	Hi Mummy, today I played with one of the rat babies. Seven of them are 17 day old now. This is one of the little rat girls, the coat pattern is called "Husky". She already tasted the infant cereal that was meant for her mum. I have a lot of fun with them. They are absolutely cute. Did I look the same when I was a baby? Bye Angus
olgamaus Posted May 11, 2008, 5:45 pm	Hi Mummy, today we visited the flea market, that is held every year on Pentecost here, on Sunday and Monday. Katja wanted to buy a few things. She wanted to look for a "Rumtopf", that is a pot for fruit in rum. Here the name "Rumtopf" means as well the pot as the result in it. She really found one. She also bought a bowl made of ceramics with a large sunflower painted inside. She also bought two dvd's. One of it is "L.A. confidental". Katjas likes Kevin Spacey very much and she did not see this movie yet. Her daughter wanted to buy shoes, she found a nice pair. Here you can watch us walking along the flea market: Look, I suddenly felt like being at home: A Dutch chip shop called "The flying Dutchman". You could buy french fries and frikandels there, also the other stuff I know from the Netherlands. I like these gingerbread hearts very much. I bought this one, but I don't tell you what I'm going to do with it. Here you can see what we bought today: In the evening we will watch one of the new movies. Bye Angus
olgamaus Posted May 16, 2008, 2:13 pm	Hi Mummy, yesterday Katja and I went to a friend to  talk and to have a beer or two. While the two ladies talked I looked around. They talked and talked and did not recognize that I climbed onto the lamp and onto the espresso machine. Katja's friend Karin has a little cupboard standing on the window sill with two dolls and a rat sitting on it. Tomorrow I will leave Remscheid. I will travel to Finland than. Bye Angus
olgamaus Posted May 16, 2008, 9:23 pm	Hi Mummy, yesterday in the evening it started raining like hell. We are living in the attic storey here and enormous raindrops fell onto the windows in the ramp. Today in the morning there was still a little bit rain but at noon the sun was shining again. Katja met her friend Kerstin to take a long walk. Of course Chompers and me went with them. We drove to Solingen-Höhrath to walk around the "Sengbach-Talsperre". This is a water reservoir dam and you are not allowed to walk close to the water. The walking path goes uphill and downhill around the lake and from some points you have a stunning view onto the dam. We parked the car close to some stables. On many paddocks we saw horses. On our way to the dam we came along  this funny fence. The owner had fastened small wooden boards to the fence. On these boards he put real shoes in which plants are growing. Katja told us that these shoes are standing there for years already. We went into the forrest. In the background you can see "Schloss Burg", a medieval castle built in 12th century. We reached the dam. The sign explains to you that the dam contains drinking water and what you are allowed to do here, better what you are forbidden to do. This is the concrete dam. The dam is one of the oldes dams in Germany. It was built from 1900 until 1903. These turrets are built on the concrete dam. I think that they contain a staircase into or out of the dam. To the water front the dam is barred. We made our way around the lake. The path went uphill and downhill. Sometimes we could not see the lake, but then the view was beautiful. This is a motorway bridge. We walked for almost three hours! Back home we tried to measure the walked distance with google earth. It must have been about 10 - 12 km. We are all tired now, good night Angus (Tomorrow I will travel to Finland - I'm already excited!)
olgamaus Posted May 17, 2008, 2:53 pm	Hi Mom, today I start traveling to Finland for new adventures. Katja made a new red sign for me that should be read and obeyed in case I should get lost again. We also wrote a postcard to my next host and we also sent something to you, Mommy. I hope I will arrive in Finland soon. Bye Angus
2012 Posted May 22, 2008, 5:41 pm	Here I am in Finland! First thing when I crawled out of the package was to see my host smiling at me. She said that she had been waiting for me and that I would meet another toyvoyager called Pien. But she warned me that Pien (being an elphant) had a fear of mouses (and perhaps rats too) and so I would have to be very clever to win his friendship. So I put my friendliest expression on my face and approached Pien from a distance. The poor thing got so surprised that he jumped on top of a lamp. I tried to explain to him that I wasn't a mouse, I was a rat and that he had no reason to be scared. After some long and witful discussion Pien finally seemed to warm up to me and now we are good friends as you can see. P.S  My host wanted me to thank olgamaus for sending the nice card!
2012 Posted May 22, 2008, 6:55 pm	Hi again! We have been busy today. When I had won Piens trust we went biking and visited The Church of St. Lawrence (Pyhän Laurin kirkko, in Finnish) which is situated between Vantaa and Helsinki. The church dates back to 1460 A.D. Here is some text my host found as an info for me: "Helsinge, or Helsinki Parish, is known to have been populated by Swedish-speaking people by the 14th century. Documentary evidence shows that a wooden church stood here as early as 1401. The patron saint of the wooden church was Sankt Lars, better known as Saint Lawrence or Laurentius, a deacon martyred in Rome in the year 258. The parish village with its church was favourably located on the coastal road between Turku and Viipuri. A branch of the salmon-rich River Vantaa ran through the village as well. A traveller approaching the village on the great coastal road, known as the King’s Road, could see the Church of St. Lawrence from afar, since the village was surrounded by fields, and there were no other big buildings to block the view. Helsinge was an established centre of population by the time Helsinki was founded in parish territory in 1550. In medieval times, the interior of the Church of St. Lawrence was dark. The windows were smaller than at present, and candles were the only alternative sources of light. There were no pews. The outer walls were whitewashed. Lack of heating made the church cold and damp in wintertime. For the common people the church’s massive stone walls were both a reminder of man’s smallness before God and a visible expression of the combined power of the Roman Catholic Church and her loyal supporter, the secular government." Anyway, here in the first two pics we are sitting on a beautiful bench in the surrounding cemetery. Then there is three pics of the church itself. Quite pretty stone church, huh? And in the last image Pien and I are sitting at the foot of a stone statue that was raised on someones grave.
2012 Posted May 29, 2008, 1:37 pm	Today we were quite bored as Minna, our host, had no time for us. She said she was busy writing an essay on History of Chemistry. So we took a look at one of her books, which was in Finnish. I have to say I didn't understand the text at all! Pien was so excited that he tried to read a cartoon in Finnish. Afterwards Minna teached us some Finnish words and phrases. Here is a few: Hei = Hi Kiitos = Thank you Kyllä = Yes Ei = No Hyvää päivää = Good day Hyvää huomenta = Good morning Hyvää yötä = Good night Näkemiin = Goodbye Mitä kuuluu? = How have you been? Miten voit? = How are you feeling? Voin hyvin = I'm fine Voisitko auttaa minua? = Could you help me , please? Hyvää päivänjatkoa! = Have a nice day!
2012 Posted Jun 3, 2008, 6:21 pm	Hi again! Today we went to Helsinki, the capital of Finland, and Minna showed some places to us. First we visited the Botanic garden. There were some pretty flowers and plants. Here is a pic of me in front of one of the glasshouses. It's called the Palm House. We didn't go inside though. In the second pic I'm watching at one shallow pool in the garden. Third pic is of the museum building and some hillside plants. There is also a few pics of some pretty flowers, don't remember their names anymore. After the Botanic Garden we saw the Finnish National Theatre. The statue in front of the theatre shows Aleksis Kivi, Finnish national author and poet. His major novel, Seitsemän veljestä "The seven brothers" (1870), the classic of Finnish culture, has been translated into several languages. In the last image you can see Pien and me and behind us is the Helsinki Central Railway Station and its clocktower.
2012 Posted Jun 7, 2008, 4:51 pm	Today I said goodbye to Pien and hugged him. He will continue his journey to Austria. I'm still going to stay with my host Minna awhile.
2012 Posted Jun 12, 2008, 9:26 pm	Hello again! Today we went to Helsinki again. I saw a Swedish sailing ship named Götheborg. It is a reconstruction of a ship from the mid-18th century and one of the largest fullrigged wooden sailing ships in the world. Doesn't seem so big in the pic, though. The third pic is of Uspenski Cathedral. It is a Russian Orthodox cathedral and was built between 1862 and 1868. In the last image I gaze towards the Helsinki Cathedral also called St. Nicholas' Church and Lutheran Cathedral. You can see how different these two cathedrals are, as they are made by behalf of different  religions. At this point the sky turned dark and rain started to pour down so we had to leave.
2012 Posted Jun 29, 2008, 5:59 pm	Hi, My host visited in Turku at Medieval festival and I can't believe it but she forgot me behind! So she apologised for doing such a mistake and allowed me to try the calligraphy feather and the seal she had bought. She also showed me some pics from the event. In the second pic they are roasting a whole pig in medieval style! The third shows Turku Castle, which was first built in 1280s and then constructed also in next couple of centuries. In 1600s it was already like what it's today. The fourth pic shows some swordfighting. The last images are of the tournament and the knights. By the way, on monday I'll continue my journey to Northern Ireland! Bye Finland!
meg Posted Jul 6, 2008, 8:39 pm	Hi everyone I am letting you know that I have arrived in Northern Ireland........gosh it has not stopped raining since I arrrived. I am very tired after my journey so I am off for a sleep and also to meet all who live here. Hi Mum this is me getting money from the Ulster Bank Portstewart. This is wher my host lives. It is a very popular seaside town and has visitors all year round. I went on a visit to St. Patrick's Church of Ireland. St. Patrick the patron Saint of Ireland founded this church and it ihas beautiful stain glass windows. I did some shopping on the Main Street in Coleraine. In olden days traffic flowed through the town but it has all been pedestrianized. I treated myself to a Starbucks Coffee. I got some strange looks as the froth went over my wiskers.
magicwoman Posted Nov 13, 2008, 6:20 pm	I'am home ,i'am safe and well.It was great to meet you all.T told Magicwoman all about my travells Bye bye Angus

Back