christmas sparklers

i spotted this in a shop window and immediately thought of my friend, hippolyta, the diva of hippos...

unfortunately, brian said we didn't have enough euros: he's such a spoilsport!

early pressies

hippolyta and i had a very romantic get together over the weekend...

obviously two minds with but a single sweet thought: i gave hippolyta a bumper bar of hippo-embellished chocolate and she gave me a basket of marzipan animals – a bit of a bizarre collections as it turns out: a bear, a pig(let), a rabbit, an owl, a kangaroo ––– and a penguin...

except i'm beginning to feel there's a theme going on here and i wonder if she forgot and gave me a present that was actually intended for that well-known pooh-person with whom i happen to live...?

oh, yes and now we've also got an non-edible a penguin with ear muffs...

forever young

yesterday: celebrating hippolyta's **th birthday...

on with the show

brian's asked me to look after these – as well as that penguin...

 so, all i need now is an owl and a kangaroo and i've got my christmas show sorted:

buttons the rabbit

starring in

the next house at pooh corner

stalked!

it just followed me home...

rabbits and bears and penguins, oh my!

at the launch of the new 'pooh' book brian has contributed to, the best bear in all the world...

lend a paw

here i am giving brian a helping paw with his recording of watership down...

with a little help from my friends...

i get by with a little help from my friends,
i get high with a little help from my friends...

tricky business

we're not sure what these things are, but we're definitely making headway in teaching them tricks...

hippolyta is going to design costumes for them ("sort of in the style of zandra rhodes") and buttons hippo is giving them lessons in the history circus, theatre and music-hall with special reference to the work of p. t. barnum's lesser known second-cousin, sid.

we should easily be ready for the next season of bgt.

extended stay

hippolyta and buttons hippos got their big people to agree to their being able to stay on with me for another week's holiday.

so, early this morning, we waved them off...

 

then, as the car disappeared down the road, hippolyta gave a sigh of relief and said: 'right! now we can get on with some serious partying!' what a girl!

beach games

some young people play 'mummies and daddies' or 'doctors and nurses', but when you're with hippolyta, you can easily find yourself playing 'cinderella and prince charming'...

something fishy

of course we are in the land of myth and legend, but this rather surprised me...

 
i sang a couple of choruses of 'under the sea', but didn't get a response ––- guess she only speaks greek.

jus' chillin'

contentment

perhaps the best bit of a holiday is just sitting and gazing out to sea with no need for any words...

one fine day

like all great divas, h has been waiting to make an entrance! she's obviously been watching 'madame butterfly' again...

holiday blues

i feel as if all the colour has been drained out of my life... three days on b and d's greek island (as they like to call it) and no sign of miss h.

her people are certainly here, but not very communicative about the whereabouts of my favorite dive... no idea whether she missed the plane or got a better offer or what...

have been trying to calm myself down with b's kombolói ('worry beads' to you), but last night i finally decided that the only answer now is probably drink...

on the shelf

sometimes one just has to buck the system...

besides when brian said we were going to the RA, i thought it was probably 'the rabbit academy'!

divas i have known

went with b & d to see sunset blvd. of course glen close was very good indeed as norma desmond, but i couldn't help but think how magnificent hippolyta would be ain the part! 

i can see her now, descending the staircase in the glare of flash-light bulbs: "all right, mr de mille, i'm ready for my close-up."

"let them eat cake"

i was reminded of the words of a famous regal figure when hippoylta and i settled down last week to tackle a piece of royal cake as a tribute to queen liz the second's 90th birthday...

we both thought that it might be worth writing to her mage and suggesting that – since lions and unicorns are bit olde worlde for the 21st century – she might like to consider having a rabbit and a hippo for her heraldic shield bearers.

just a thought...

medallion rabbit

i had no idea that my fame in europe had spread as far as spain, but, apparently, it has!

some friends of a friend of brian's – leo leon, osi canguro and coli koala, who live with sacra cantero mancebo – invited me to become a member of their exclusive order known as 'fraternitas cuniculorum'!!

it turns out i get a special certificate and a gold medal embossed with a rabbit motif! while brian was busy with his nose stuck in watership down, i borrowed his ipad and skyped the guys so they could tell me all about it.

my spanish was a bit rusty so we used the universal 'fluffy' language, and although i quite often drifted into 'stuffy', i did manage one or two words in 'plush'.

anyway, here's the certificate...

in translation (i'm told) it say: "granted by the spanish delegation attending his merits as a member of the international community in the fluffy world."

Then, a couple of days ago, i received the medal...

i think i look pretty chic – just hope hippolyta will like the medallion bunny image.

The guys also sent a sensationally yummy bar of spanish chocolate with nuts that i'm trying to eat as much of as I can before brian and david get a taste for it...

now i've got to go and polish up my medal!

who makes up this stuff?

brian is doing research for his 'watership down' project and has started reading this book that was apparently one of the sources used by the original author...

i have to say, as rabbit, i don't recognise anything in this book as being even remotely connected to my own experience of the world. I obviously missed out somewhere...

look out!

ever had the feeling that you're being watched??

easter goodies!

i had a lovely easter sunday with hippolyta, catching up on news and planning our summer holiday in greece.

i gave h a pencil tin with lots of easter hippos on the lid and kinder hippo biscuits inside...

...and she gave me a fab 'monty bojangles buttons bedazzled' egg – perfect!

then, while the oldies were having supper we sat by the fire and came up with a plot to see if we can trick brian into working a hippo into his radio version of watership down!

it's TODAY!!

time for chocolate!

happy easter!

it's tomorrow!

only one more day to go!

nearly there...

just a few more days...

getting closer...

only five days to go...

it's beginning to feel a lot like easter...

one more week!

the truth about the easter bunny?

just received this rather disturbing easter card –– not sure what to think...

rabbit review

the news got out recently that brian was going to be dramatising some book for bbc radio entitled watership down that is, it turns out, all about rabbits!

so i've been having a look and i think, quite frankly, that  it's totally unbelievable!

last glimpse of venice

lion hunting in venice

the holiday's almost over and, without 'h' this year, christmas wasn't the same...

I did indulge in a little lion-hunting...

...and had another trip to the theatre...

...but not the same without a star on my arm. and new year's even dinner was a rather lonely affair...

never mind, i'm looking forward to greece now...

happy new year...

...from me and him!