What to Buy a Bear: Part 1

So the New Year is finally here, and what cold and icy conditions it has brought with it. We went out this afternoon to get some fresh air and to admire the frosty landscape, but we found it very dificult to stay upright and our paws were slipping in all directions. We began to think we should have asked for skis or crampons for Christmas.

If we didn't get skis and crampons for Christmas, what did we get? We've already said that bears are experts at choosing just the right present, so we thought we might tell you about some of the presents we received. In some instances this will give you an opportunity to find out a bit more about us.

We'll start though with one of George and Yorkie's presents, which will come as no surprise.


What else can you give such a well-travelled pair of explorer bears than the biography of perhaps the world's greatest living explorer, Ranulph Fiennes? In our picture you see George and Yorkie enthusing about this very appropriate gift to their brothers Isaiah and Dale.

George and Yorkie are currently reading this book together as neither could wait for the other to read it first. It is obviously quite gripping as they've hardly been seen since they started reading. While we all admire Ran Fiennes achievements tremendously, we're not sure we'd want to be described as 'mad, bad and dangerous to know'. This is apparently how his propspective father-in-law described him. It's a wonder he ever got married!

We'll be back soon with more presents.

Lots of love, the Bears Unlimited gang xxx

Friends Re-united

What a wonderful Christmas we've had. The snowed cleared sufficiently for members of the other B.U. branches to arrive safely in Norfolk - some on Christmas Eve, others on Christmas Day - and once we were all together the fun really started.

Of course we remembered exactly whose birth we were celebrating, when we all crowded into the pews for church services, at midnight on Christmas Eve, and again on Christmas morning.


As you can see, there was no shortage of presents round the tree: bears simply love giving and receiving presents, and as we all know each other so well, we know exactly what to buy. We can't understand why humans find it so hard to find just the right present.

In fact, our present mountain was so big, we managed to lose (temporarily!) smaller bears, George and Yorkie in the present mound. We also had to have several instalments of present opening, breaking off for such important things as eating our Christmas dinner. Chef Oakley had once again excelled himself by cooking, Tina, our locally farmed, succulent Norfolk black turkey, to perfection, and there were plenty of sprouts to go round, another bear favourite.

On Boxing Day the sun shone and we went out for our traditional ramble, and we ate lots more and played lots of games. The Suffolk Branch had brought their W.I.I. we gave us hours of fun.

But far and away, the most important thing was that we were all able to be together. Bears never fall out at Christmas, and love nothing better than to be in each other's company (preferably with a beer and a big box of chocolate biscuits!).


You're probably used to seeing double, sometimes triple, when the various branches get together. Here you see the phenomenon yet again, with this picture of some of the gang, re-united with brothers and sisters from other branches.

We hope all our readers had an equally good time, and we wish you all a very Happy New Year.

Lots of love, all at Bears Unlimited xxx

Lots of Reasons to Celebrate!

We're returning (post wise) from the heat of Egypt to a snowy and frozen Norfolk to share 2 happy events with you.

The first is the news that this is our 500th post! Who'd have thought, when we tentatively published our first post some 3 years ago, that our blog would survive long enough to reach 500 posts. Not only is it still going, but we feel it still has a lot to offer, and we still enjoy writing it - so long may it continue. We will be getting the festive season off to a jolly start with a celebratory party tonight.

We're also looking forward to the arrival of 3 Bears Unlimited branches over the next couple of days and celebrating Christmas en masse. Our tree went up last weekend and Randolph has been diligently keeping him well watered with the cold contents of his tummy.


When the snow arrived in Norfolk last week, we began to feel really Christmassy. We have been out in the snow most days making snow bears and snow angels - this is the reason we're all flat on our backs in the next photo, not because we've had a drop too much!


During this cold snap we've also been remembering to keep the bird feeders topped up with food, as it is a very difficult time for our feathered friends, and we want them to have a happy, not a hungry, Christmas.


Marmaduke is a special friend of our local birds as he is out every day to check that supplies don't run too low. We hope you are doing the same.

We hope all our readers have a very happy and peaceful Christmas and will raise a glass, not only to celebrate Christmas, but also our 500th post.

Lots of love, all at Bears Unlimited xxx

Getting Even More Festive

It's Christmas Eve, and we're all getting very excited about Christmas, and especially the thought of meeting up with the Midlands and Suffolk Branches tomorrow. We can hardly wait!

Before then though, there's lots to do. Bris is currently helping one of our minders at a crib service and while he's out of the house the rest of us are wrapping up his presents. We quite enjoy present wrapping, apart from sellotape sticking to your fur, but the trouble is, we do so many activities together, that it can be hard to find a time when present recipients are not around to wrap up their presents.

Blue Bear is currently washing the Bearmobiles which have turned the same colour as yesterday's fog after the recent cold snap.

Randolph and Benji have the important job of looking after the Christmas Tree. This year's tree is not as big as the ones we've had in recent years, but what he lacks in size he makes up for in fine looks. We were caught out a week or so ago, when we discovered our usual supplier's stock of suitable trees had dried up this year. We had a hasty drive round the neighbourhood to find another supplier. We did find one, but all the big trees had gone, which is why we've gone a bit smaller this year.


We like our tree to last as long as possible, so Randolph fills up his stand with water from his tummy every day, so tree always has fresh water to drink.

We have received a special new decoration for our tree this year. This was a puffin, sent to us by one of our travelling companions on a holiday to Iceland that we enjoyed a few years ago. We sent so much time looking for puffins on that holiday (unfortunately they'd just flown a week earlier) that we keep up a steady stream of correspondence and gifts on the puffin theme. This is the latest fine offering.


You can see puffin hanging proudly alongside a collection of other decorations from distant lands (kiwi from New Zealand, jaguar from South Africa and Camel from India). Our tree is truly cosmopolitan!

Anyway, we may won't be blogging again before the big day arrives, although we hope to be posting again soon after, so we'd like to wish all our friends and readers a very merry Christmas and a happy and peaceful new year.

Have a lovely time,

Lots of love, all at Bears Unlimited xxx