Sunny Sussex - Part Two (Winnie-The-Pooh)

As I was staying close to Ashdown Forest we had to see if we could find Pooh!

Ashdown Forest is famous as the setting for the "Winnie the Pooh" stories which were written by A. A. Milne for his son Christopher Robin. There are lots if places that are in the stories that can be found on the Forest. Places such as Poohsticks Bridge, Galleon's Lap, Roo's Sandy pit, the North Pole, the Hundred Acre Wood, Heffalump Trap and The Dark and Mysterious Forest.

More information about the Forest and Winnie-the-Pooh can be found here.

Ashdown Forest is big and for a Forest it doesn't have as many trees as I'd expected. Two thirds of it is heathland, so why is it called a Forest? Beats me! My hostess told me it's 6500 acres, which sounds an awful lot to a little bear like me. I was a bit worried that she'd expect me to cover all of these acres (whatever they are) on my little legs in our search for Pooh.

Here I am with some of the Forest (see no trees!) behind me.

Although I didn't actually see Winnie-the-Pooh, Piglet, Tigger, Eeyore or Christopher Robin but I did see some of the places they play.
This is the Sandy Pit.

This is The Enchanted Place where there is a memorial to A.A. Milne and E.H. Shepard

This tree is the Lone Pine. I didn't want to go to close because underneath it lies a "Heffalump Trap". Pooh and Piglet planned to capture a Heffalump in this hole and I was a bit frighted there might be one there. I don't actually know what a Heffalump is but I was in no hurry to find out.

It was disappointing not to meet Pooh or his friends. Maybe next time.

I've packed my bags and prepared my carriage, today I set off to Wales!
See you soon!
love Scarlett.xx

Sunny Sussex - Part One

I’ve been spending some time in Sussex close to a place called Ashdown Forest. Apparently Ashdown Forest is the home of another special bear called Winnie-the-Pooh. We went looking for him, but more about that later.

The weather was lovely so I got to spend time in the garden digging holes and planting things. I think I might have caught the sun a little bit it was that sunny!

Unfortunately my hostess was rather poorly for a few days so I was called upon to perform nursely duties. It mainly involved passing the tissues and being sympathetic. At one point I though I was going to disappear underneath tissues, tablets and potions! It took my hostess a little while to get back on her feet but when she was feeling better we all went to visit friends.

I met lots of other dogs but I wasn’t allowed to get too close as they are known to be Shredders-of-Bears! Fancy taking me to a place like that! Outrageous!

While there I learnt to fly a plane, well, not a real plane but by using something called a Flight Simulator. It was fun! I took off with a little bit of help and then cruised along the South Coast before attempting a landing. I think my landing needs more practise. Ooops.

When everyone went out for walks my hostess, Murphy and me had our own little outing. Murphy has been poorly and can’t go for long walks like the others. We had a little walk along the Thames and watched some birds. I saw a Kingfisher!! It was very blue and very fast. We then sat in the sunshine and waited for the others to come back. Murphy makes a good cushion; luckily he’s not one of those that do Bear-Shredding.

On Monday evening I attended Dog Training classes. My hostess is an assistant trainer so I went along to see what’s involved. It all looked like hard work to me! The puppies were funny and did stuff that even a bear like me can do, but then the next 2 classes looked a bit complicated. I did attempt a Send Away but got distracted by some biscuit that had been dropped on the floor. A lovely curly dog called Liberty helped me out. Liberty is very pretty, she is an Irish Water Spaniel and it a yummy chocolate colour. Her fur was very soft; I nearly fell asleep on her!

I'll tell you all about Winnie-the-Pooh in my next update!