Meet the Family

With a name like Horatio, there could only be one finishing touch for Horatio's new outfit.


We all thought he looked very distinguished with his Nelson style eye patch. As it restricts his vision a bit, we told him he didn't have to wear it all the time, just when he was on display to the public.

Talking about being on display, no sooner had Horatio's outfit been completed, than it was the start of the North Walsham Hippo Hunt week. People came from near and far to track down and 'tick off' some, or all, of the 50 hippos who were hiding round the town.

Unfortunately, a busy week in the B.U. office, meant we didn't get to do the trail ourselves. However, we did turn up to the public hippo gathering at the end of the week, where many of the hippos were re-united for public viewing, prior to a charity auction, where they found new and permanent homes with generous bidders.

Here are a few of Horatio's friends who were there:

First there was the glamorous Priscilla, who Horatio secretly rather fancies,


Then there were Nobby and Tiny. Nobby was an artistic delight, displaying a wonderful Norfolk Broads scene, but his coat was clearly a professional, rather than a community production and, as a result, we felt something of the spirit of the event was missing.


Tiny, however, really epitomised the event. She was a eye catching shocking pink and all those tiny hand prints told us that some fairly tiny tots had been involved in the creation of her coat. We completely approved.

Our last picture shows you a selection of the others:


Gus in the foreground stood out with his 3-D coat and he was rightly very proud of it.

But of course, where was Horatio, and what happened to him at the auction?

Horatio wasn't there as he was being allowed to make his temporary housing association home, a permanent one. This was because some kind contractors who work for the association had stumped up the cash to buy Horatio, so avoiding the need for him to go into the auction.

We were delighted by this news as it means that every day when our minder arrives at work - and we frequently go with her - she/we can give Horatio a pat and say hello. It certainly gets the day off to a good start.

Lots of love Chelmer, Curly & Horatio xxx