Teddy Talk: Creating, Collecting, Connecting

Hi everyone....haven't posted in a while. I don't seem to have STOPPED, but never get round to everything.........
anyway - we are back from the trip of a life time........went to Ely last week, to joins a black bear field study, and had the most amazing time ever!
we stayed out at the WRI field station (eight of us) and under the superb supervision of Lynn and Sue, got to see an awful lot of bears close up. They have feeders all round the cabin - means they can keep any eye on a lot of the bears, plus right now, if the bears get food there they are less likely to visit the hunters bait (hunting season starts on wednesday).
Apart from being able to observe any number of bears around the field station, we went out every day with either Lynn or Sue, and visited some of the collared bears........Juliet and her delightful three cubs, June, who is an absolute sweetie, and best of all........well - imagine........we were walking along a narrow forest track, looking for June. Lynn was calling "it's ME bear", and "come June" - a rustle from a tree right by us, and out pops......HOPE!     
She is utterly enchanting, and absolutely exquisite.........but then she comes from a line of beautiful girls, doesn't she?
We learned such a lot, just watching the bears interact.......their body language and vocalisations so much more meaningful in context.
We watched cubs playing, slightly nervous yearlings who are trying to find their "feet" in a world without  Mum, adults of all ages and sizes, right up to the BIG males.........and they are HUGE! One of my favourites had to be One-eyed Jack - blinded in one eye by a hunters bullet and bearing several other scars, he exuded an air of calm benevolence - a real gentle giant (of 600 pounds plus!)
Watching them feed was amazing - they don't chomp their food like dogs would, but delicately use their tongues.........seeing Big Harry sifting thru a mixture of seeds and nuts and deliberately selecting his favourite almonds - for hours on end - WOW!
It was all utterly magical - relaxing and thrilling at the same time, lots of fun, and totally unforgettable!
Jeremy is sorting thru and awful lot of piccies - I'll try to post some soon.
Meanwhile, it's back to reality here.......cold, wet and thoroughly miserable......lots of emails to catch up on, tons of washing drying VERY slowly........sigh..........and eventually , a pile of ironing - ain't life great?

Congratulations, Tatyana! :clap:  :clap:  :clap:

Still not quite sure how I feel about this.........yes, everyone is entitled to their own opinions......but I find his opinions a bit OTT, bordering on offensive, and definitely unfounded. Just my two cents worth.........

Oh Beth - I am so sorry about Sienna..........you have my heartfelt sympathy! I still miss Liu, our first Leo - and she died 7 years ago.........it's awfully HARD, isn't it?

Actually neither of ours have ever been into sucking things........even FOOD (which rules their lives!)
The de-shedding conditioner sounds good - I'll have to investigate...........I've never known any dogs which shed as much as Leonbergers.
Oh - and BTW - LOVE your black bear avatar! I've been working on a couple more black ones, but the rate I'm going, I'd be better off if I WAS a bear - then I could just give birth to them!

AND YES - (US bears).........I DO wash the yarn before knitting it! I normally blend the dog fur with a bit of wool before spinning (and I use unwashed wool)........and Leo wool comes out almost like angora, as the undercoat is SO soft

ALISON - lucky you - a dog who.loves to be brushed! the only one we've ever had like that was our bloodhound - and he hardly needed it!   I'd really recommend the Furminator .............

huggies all
Maria :hug:  :hug:

AHA!!!!!!!!!! Chiengora explained..........thanks! :crackup:  :crackup:
And I'd have to agree - wet dog is NOT the nicest smell!................

Hiya
I figured some of you would have come across the FURminator before now...............and you're right, Daphne - I should have pointed out it's for getting all the undercoat out. But how I wish these combs had been round a lot earlier........Nounours is our second Leonberger, and a hatred of the BRUSH seems to be the norm ...........would have saved me an awful lot of work!
As for needle-felting a pup ..........takes me forever to just do a bear face. But I have (in pre-bear days) spun some lovely yarn from Leo undercoat - it's very soft, and NOT scratchy!

Kathy M told me that the new Teddy Bear Annual will be out on August 5th ( :dance:  :dance:  :dance:  :dance:  :dance: )
You can pre-order from www.collectors-club-of-great-britain.co.uk
Really looking forward to it! :dance:  :dance:

Some of you may already be aware of this - but in case not......I really want to share........
went to the vet on Monday and he introduced us to a new dog comb , which is supposed to effortlessly remove all the dead hair from your pet's coat.............I was pretty sceptical that such a short -toothed implement would do the job on our Leonberger's long THICK fur - but OMG - this thing really works! It's so nice these days to find a product that actually delivers on the manufacturers promises.
Anyway - it's called the "FURminator" (nice!?!).........so if you want to know more, just Google it...............and I would thoroughly recommend it!   
and Nounours, who positively HATES being brushed was really relaxed about it - think we combed out enough to make another dog!
huggies
Maria

HUGE congratulations, Melisa.........you SO deserved to win :clap:  :clap:  :clap:  Love your bears to bits    

Huge congrats, Sheryl  :clap:  :clap:  :clap: And being your very first award makes it doubly exciting -  :dance:  :dance:  :dance:  :dance:

Big congrats, Edie  :clap:  :clap:  :clap: .......and absolutely NO surprise that you were a winner! :dance:  :dance:  :dance:

Congratulations, Marg :clap:  :clap:  :clap:
Not only was it difficult to vote because of the amazing bears.......but there were just SO many!!!!!!!!
Lots of happy dancing? :dance:  :dance:

Big congrats, Susan.......well deserved! :clap:  :clap:

yes, Sue Ann - who needs soap operas? It's one drama after the next with Lily and Hope............makes you wonder how often mothers and cubs DO get separated!...............and we are only aware in this case because Hope is so closely monitored.
hugies
Maria

wow, Melisa  - lucky you! The yearling bear is so cute........but a Kermode - how great is that?????? And the eagles are stunning - thanks so much for sharing the piccies.
oh , by the way - huge congrats on your TBAAF wins - very well deserved :clap:  :clap:  :clap:
big huggies
Maria

Terrific, isn't it?????????????

Hi again
I have a price list here......but it's actually 3 years old, so I don't exactly know if the prices have gone up...........
but - lets see........
2mm schwarzeaugen an Öse.......12 cents a pair
20 mm - are 1.33 a pair.............
gives you some idea.
If you contact them I'm sure they'd give you a price list.
from past experience they are very pleasant to deal with.........and very prompt in delivery....
huggies
Maria

Hi again
I think you can just email them to order............and no - the postage isn't a lot!
huggies
Maria

In case anyone missed the news - the NABC got third place and won 100 000$ , and the WRI came 8th and won 20 000$ - pretty amazing!
Bear Power does it again :dance:  :dance:  :dance:  :dance:  :dance:  :dance:

Hiya
how about www.glasaugen-porzel.de  ? I've been buying from them for years........they start at 2mm, NOT expensive, and the quality is GOOD...............and - best of all - they're HERE, in Germany, so no worries about currencies or the dreaded Customs!
huggies
Maria

She's gorgeous!  Lucky you............
and of course - impeccable timing!
huggies
Maria

Oh - it's an absolute JOY to see them both -  together again.........and even if Lily does wander off again, we KNOW Hope can take care of herself.  But I SO hope they stay together...........Hope has her best buddy to play with again - and SECURITY.
It's a GOOD day today :dance:  :dance:  :dance:  - it's even cooler, and despite lack of sleep I feel almost human again (almost!).
Seems we were lucky here,  yesterday - some ferocious storms to the north of Germany and even a couple of tornadoes! Hells bells - we don't DO tornadoes..............these severe weather events are SCAREY!
And now to patiently (?) wait for the final, Chase-approved, results of the voting.........NABC are in 3rd place - but there were concerns as to how the top 2 got SO many votes..............

Thanks, Becky and Peter........isn't that the most glorious photo??? Even down to the identical poses...........and now we can really see just how much hope has grown!
I was going to bed EARLY tonight (it's got cooler!)......some hopes............
My face is almost sore from grinning ear to ear, and my contact lenses are all fogged up from the happy tears..........but it's all GOOD!

Isn't it the best news ever??????  And the latest piccie of the two of them asleep is just gorgeous..........but - sorry - no techno whiz, me - don't know how to "lift" it for here............PETER????????????

Have you seen the NEWSFLASH from an hour or so ago????????????
Lily and HOPE have reunited all by themselves :dance:  :dance:  :dance:  :dance:  :dance:  :dance:  :dance: .....................and we'll have to wait patiently for further details, till the daily update.........  Been crying buckets of pure joy here.........
and talk about timing! what a day.............

big happy huggies
Maria