a visit to ray

brian has been bemoaning the fact that the home of his old friend, fantasy writer, ray bradbury, in california has just been demolished...

here i am sitting on the famous mail box at 10265 cheviot drive back in 2003 and having a chat with the great man himself...

homeward bound

so our christmas and new year holiday is at an end and hippolyta and i will soon be heading homeward...

here we are on the roof terrace of our apartment with a little waif and stray we've adopted from the san marco abandoned hippo pound. wonder how he'll take to life in england? h and i will raise him together, turn and turn about. i'm sure he'll have warm welcome at the ascot hippodrome...

all good things...

...and, as i keep telling hippolyta, the memories will live on – indeed, i shan't be in the least surprised if she doesn't write it all up as a sensationally bestselling memoir.  

last evening brian and david went to something called mass at the big church in saint mark's square while we chilled out under the christmas tree which will, of course, be coming down tomorrow...

the romance of venice

hippolyta and i drinking in the idyllic romance of venezia as we gaze, at sunset, at the basilica santa maria della salute on the grand canal...

buon anno

happy new year from hippolyta and me in venice...

a night at the opera

last evening we were at gran teatro fenice for the concerto di capodanno... naturally hippolyta joined in most of the arias but, fortunately, there were no complaints and she is hopeful that it might have served as an audition for future concerts – only time will tell...

christmas day doings

hippolyta and i enjoy christmas lunch in piazza san marco, venice.

this is the life!

seasonal sentiments

here we are on the balcony of our venetian apartment, ready to say.....

happy christmas!

a seasonal surprise...

when we  got to roger and sheila's the other day i was delighted to find hippolyta waiting for me...

...with her luxury luggage packed and ready to go...

so... there we are! next stop: venice!

on the cards...

...well card, singular, actually. a happy summer memory from 2013 to please a certain lady hippo...

sign of the times

brian was signing 1500 copies of his new hobbit book yesterday, so i went along and was ready to hop in if he got cramp in his his paws...

boo!

trick-or-treating... *

 

*from the buttons archive

b(unny) b(broadcasting) c(orporation)

i popped into the bbc yesterday to help brian finish off the recording of his forthcoming radio serial based on the once and future king.

here i am at the control panel making sure that everything is set up ok...

...having a final check of the script...

...and giving a few notes to the darling actors...

a fine four-fendered friend

brian's making a radio programme about chitty chitty bang bang and we popped down to brooklands motor race course and took a spin in the lovely old bentley...

when brian was sitting in the car, i couldn't help thinking it was a case of a meeting of two vintages...

no comment

by the way, i'm now on facebook

by royal appointment

oh, buttons, oh, buttons,

where have you been?

i went up to london

to visit the queen...

there's nothing quite like...

...the first aperol spritzer of the day...

 
...a nice canal-side spot to have a sit...

...a decent seat at the theatre...

...a candlelight dinner for three...

...and a little comfort at bedtime...

a room with a view

enjoying my balcony in venice...

another helping paw...

still busy helping with brian's birthday presents...

(excellent choice, sharon!)

a helping paw...

just giving brian a little help with one of his birthday presents...

don't worry, roger & sheila, i'll let brian have the empty box for his disney collection!