Berlinfusion

Kita in the UK, Part 2

Hello! I'm back again! Kita the Shiba Inu here to tell you more about my holiday in the UK last year.

Near where we stayed with 'Nana' there are lots and lots of huge empty fields with amazing smelling pathways between them.

As there was nobody around, and no roads for miles, 'dad' decided to let me off my lead for the very first time in my life.

Well, I have been off lead before, but that's only when I've managed to escape either through an open door or dug under the fence. It is great fun, but the family get very upset and my 'sister' makes a dreadful noise about it.

At first I was a bit unsure and didn't leave their side very much. Little did they know I was lulling them into a false sense of security.

Intentionally let off the lead for the first time.

But just as I was about to run off to look for the rabbits I could smell, something even more wonderful caught my nose.

That smells good!

Oh my, that was so deliciously stinky I just had to roll in it. And it was GOOD!

Sweet, stinky heaven

 Oh so, so gooooood! This must be what Raymi Cat feels like when he's been at the catnip.

Dognip!

I was amazed they let me roll in it so much. They haven't let me do it since. Apparently it was dried up horse poo. Why won't they let me roll in nice wet super-stinky stuff like cow poo? I only got to do that once, I was really quick and got nicely covered, but didn't like the bath I had to have afterwards.

 

On the same walk on another day, 'dad' took me off the lead again. About five seconds after he unclipped it a deer jumped over the fence just a few feet away from me. Wow! How lucky can a Shiba be?!

I was off like a shot, of course. Boy, can those things move fast! So can I, but eventually I lost it in the field a long way away.

And those enormous fields aren't empty after all. They are apparently wheat fields. More like extra long grass to me. I couldn't see over the top however high I bounced.

I ran and ran and ran, but still couldn't catch the deer. Made some great patterns in the wheat though. Crop circles were nothing on my artwork.

I could hear the family in the far, far distance. Making quite a commotion, they were, especially 'sister' who was totally hysterical. I was having far too much fun to even think of going back to them.

I continued creating my work of art until suddenly I realised, just a second too late, that my  circuitous route had taken me back to the path. 'Mum' performed a rather amazing tackle on me and I was captured and quickly re-leashed in disgrace.

Maybe I'll get luckier this year...

 

Another place: now this was a huge stretch of very strange water. It tasted yucky and kept trying to grab me. It didn't go away when I barked at it so I kept my distance and enjoyed the view and the rather wonderful smell.

Big water!

Now, I don't know if you can see this in the next picture. I'm very good at spotting things in hedgerows and undergrowth. After all, that's what I was originally bred for - hunting small game.

I wanted to catch this but was pulled away very, very quickly.

Turned out it was a venomous snake called an Adder - Vipera berus. I guess being on a lead is a Good Thing sometimes. 

Adder - Vipera berus

I had a really good time on my holidays last year. I wonder what adventures I'm having now as you read this?

The Shiba Smile

 

 

Kita's First Trip to the UK, 2011

Hello, Konnichiwa, Guten Tag!

My name is Kita and I'm a Japanese Shiba Inu. I actually do come from Japan too - I was born in Ibaraki and my 'mum', 'dad' and 'sister' chose to bring me home with them to Tokyo. I love them and they love me, we're very happy.

The breeder who looked after me gave me a special certificate called a pedigree and on it I've got a really fancy name - "Maihime go Chikuseifusou", meaning Dancing Princess of Chikusei (or something like that, my Japanese is a bit rusty now). But the family call me Kita which is Japanese for north. The strange thing is that here in Germany Kita means kindergarten! And lots of people think I'm an Akita which is just silly. Even more people think I'm a fox and my 'mum' quite often gets asked why she's taking a fox for a walk. As if!

I think you've already heard quite a bit about me already but I wanted to have my own couple of pages to tell you about some adventures I had last year.

It was a pretty crazy and scary year, really. In March we had that awful, huge Tohoku Earthquake in Japan. 'Mum' has written lots about that here, so I won't tell you about that except that I was really scared but felt very safe with my family and 'mum' looked after us all very well.

Then we all moved to Berlin. I had to go on an aeroplane all by myself. It was awful, even though I had that fluffy, sharp thing called Raymi Cat nearby, he was in a separate crate and I couldn't get to him. Besides, he just slept the whole time.

I was so happy to eventually discover I hadn't been abandoned by my family and even happier to discover the enormous garden outside the house. It took me quite a long time to settle down. But I do like it here and the ground doesn't shake any more. And there are squirrels! One day I'll catch one. One day...

Then we all went on this really long car journey. Really long. Like forever! It was OK though because I could sit next to my 'sister' who cuddled me lots and let me lick her toes, which I find calming. 

On the road.

 

We stopped lots of times but nothing much exciting happened until we stopped at something called a hotel. The family took me for a walk and I spotted something that kicked my instincts into life. They had long ears and white fluffy tails and needed to be chased. A lot. Which is really hard when I'm attached to a lead. Apparently they are called rabbits and this was the very first time I'd seen any.

Finally we got the the end of the journey and I was overjoyed to meet someone I already knew and adored - 'Nana'. She loves me and gives me lots of tickles and cuddles. I'm always very gentle with her.

I needed a long rest to get over the journey.

I'm hiding. Leave me alone.

But they kept on insisting on taking me out for walks. They wanted me to poo. But I'm not going to poo in just any old place! I have standards, you know. I can't poo near my den. And I must poo on dried leaves. Not that I'm fussy or anything. I am a Shiba Inu. And it's what I've always done.

 

As there were no dried leaves anywhere I did not poo.

For three days.

It wasn't great, and 'mum' got so worried I had to do a little one in the garden just to stop her fussing.

Then things got fun!

I got put in a tree. Do I look happy? No. Being up a tree was fine. It's 'dad' saying "stay" that I'm miffed about. As if I'd do anything I'm told. I'm not an ordinary dog, you know. I only do what I want, when I want.

 

What do you mean, "stay"? I don't understand.

 

The walks were great. All sorts of new sights, sounds and smells.

But there was an awful lot of water around. I do not like water.

 

No. Just NO. It's wet. And cold. NO!

 

But I gave in eventually as I'd do anything for my 'sister', even get my feet wet. I am not impressed. But she is pleased with me and that makes it worthwhile. Almost.

 

Well, as it's you. But it IS wet. Ugh.

 

I'll tell you some more about my holiday in the UK in the next post.

Rhiannon's UK Trip 2011

Some more photos from last year's UK visit.

Rhiannon got to spend some time with a very special friend. First time she's seen him since her fifth birthday party! And they've always kept in touch. I'm so pleased we were able to get them together again.

Adults should do this on a date, too!

 

Kissing Gate swinging is a must.

This is on Dartmoor: Kita does NOT like water, as you can see!

"No way am I going in there! It's wet!"

At Powderham Castle. One of our favourite tourist spots, great for a day out for both adults and kids. Highly recommended. And serve one of the best Devonshire Cream Teas in the area. Also good for ghost hunting.

 

Meeting a bird

 

During the summer months, there are lots of activities and shows for the visitors to Powderham Castle: this was an interactive Robin Hood type tale with plenty of audience participation. Great fun!

 

Robin Hood and friends

 

And now for something completely different...

My Mum has an enormous Christmas cracker that's been around for as long as I can remember. I believe it was also around when Mum was a child. When I was a kid, it occasioannly came out packed with lots of treats. But since we haven't had a Christmas in the UK for some considerable time, it's been relegated to the loft.

Rhiannon does remember it though and had mentioned it a few times. So between us, Mum and I concocted a plan to create a summer cracker. OK, well Mum did all the work, but I did suggest it!

It's almost impossible now to buy the 'bangs' for crackers - 'elf 'n' safety, innit? But I found some discounted make-your-own crackers in John Lewis so bought a couple of boxes to cannibalise for the 'explosives'.

Isn't it fabulous?!

 

What a cracker!

 

And isn't it HUGE?!

It made a good bang and had some lovely surprise gifts inside. I love crackers!

The Big Road Trip

By the time you read this we will be on our annual Road Trip: back to the UK.

Approximately 1,000km of driving to accomplish, via all of Germany, enjoying the Autobahns, a smidgen of The Netherlands, a lot of Belgium (and trying to avoid Brussels this time!) and into France. We know about the new French breathalyser law so we have them on board, just in case. From France we head through the Channel Tunnel and into the bunched up, aggressive traffic in the UK and on to Mother's for a few days.

Photos are of entering the EuroTunnel from the British side because I forgot to take photos on the way over there as I was too scared. I really, really hate tunnels that go under water. Really hate it. I have to take myself off to a happy place in my brain in order to cope with it. It's only a 35 minutes trip so it's just about do-able with a lot of mental preparation.

Someone's carved this horse into the hillside. Makes for something nice to look at on the way down.

Driving into the EuroTunnel train thing

And then I heave a massive sigh of relief when I see daylight again!

Phew!

Last year, Rhiannon emphatically declared that she'd never travel that far by car again, but now she's really looking forward to it. Wonder how long that will last?

Once again, we'll stay overnight en-route in the lovely little hotel on the German border. And I can't for the life of me recall its name, but it's very dog friendly and we're allowed to take Kita into the restaurants. How cool is that?!

Looking back at last year's post I realise I didn't keep my promise to update you on what we saw, did and visited over there.

Well, there's not much time for me to sort that out now, and it's way too late anyway. But here's a taster - and I'll pop a few extra posts up with more photos so you don't forget about me!

A photo of the reluctant travellers: admittedly this is on the return journey so the car is full to the brim with purchases and a heck of a lot of tea bags.

And yes, before anyone comments - Kita does have a safety belt on!

 

Road Trip!

 

The weather was gorgeous in the UK last year. I fear we will not be so lucky this year and think it may be an idea to pack wellies and possibly a boat.

 

The River Test

It turns out I didn't take as many photos as I thought. Probably because we always visit the same places so it's not 'new' to me.

I've got enough for somw other posts though, so please keep checking back.

 

 

Bumble Bees, Dead!

If you found this matchbox, clearly labelled, what would you think?

What it says on the box! Obviously.

What would you do?

OK, a bit more information: this matchbox belongs to my Mum.

My Mum is a very talented artist; she's won medals, including gold, at the Royal Horticultural Society art shows in the past. She specialises in botanical art and produces gorgeous watercolours such as this one:

Arisaema propinquum by Jill Hallett

She also paints other things. She can't paint from photographs, only from live (or dead...) specimens. In fact, whilst in Tokyo I kept a dead cicada in a tub for her to paint on her next visit. A couple of years ago she had a collection of deceased dragonflies too. They were pretty.

Cicada. Dead!

 To me, this is completely normal and not at all strange.

Admittedly I did have an unusual upbringing what with Dad's constantly changing, and often escaping, menagerie. Giant millipedes marched out of cupboards on occassion, the piranha that fascinated my school mates, endless escaped lizard hunts, and countless other creatures sharing our home. Not to mention the menagerie's food... we had crickets chirping night and day in the house, and many more frozen creatures to surprise the uniniated visitors who wanted something from the freezer. So, normailty for me is not the same for everyone.

I also knew that random matchboxes may not contain matches, even though they weren't labelled as clearly as this one. They may contain an interesting beetle or similar insect that dad was keeping in order to identify.

Back to this matchbox...

Rhiannon found it when we stayed at Mum's last year.

She read the label.

She opened the box.

She screamed and threw the box across the room.

Oh, how I laughed!

"But you read the label. Why did it make you jump and scream?"

"I didn't expect it to actually have a bee in there."

Huh???

She has much to learn about the Hallett family.

The bees were a little bit broken.

"Bumble Bees, Dead!" has become a family joke now.

 

Very Proud Parents

School has finished now and the summer holidays are here.

Rhiannon graduated from primary school and is looking forward to starting secondary school in a few weeks.

So far, so normal.

However, Rhiannon was placed a year above her age group in this school, so is actually moving to secondary school a whole year ahead of her British educational system peers.

Not only that, the International Baccalaureate is a very different way of learning from that which she is used to. It seems to suit her down to the ground and I hope we can find a school running this system wherever we move next.

She's done very well indeed, especially as she's only been in this school for six months.

We were under the impression that the graduation ceremony was just for show, but we discovered that not all students actually graduated. Some had to redo the whole grade again. How upsetting for them.

We are so pleased with her!

Receiving her Graduation Certificate

After the ceremony, they put on a play: Rhiannon played the lead, something which surprised us as she's not particularly confident in front of an audience. And she had to sing too! Incredible how her confidence has risen now she's in the right school for her.

Triumphant!

And yes, that is the real BB gun we brought back from Poland... oops!

It was a great production and the whole afternoon was very enjoyable.