Thursday 30 June 2011

Wind Powered Tiddy!

Bonjour Messieurs Dammes (that's foreign french for ladies and gentlemen, but they put them the wrong way around for some reason).

Today, I want to tell you about a brilliantly fantastical thingy that I discovered on top of a mountain in French France. We shouldn't have been on top of the mountain, but we got very lost. Mrs C said to go right and then she said to turn round, now Mr P said turn left, but when Mrs C said turn round, Mr P said no it should be ok.

So you get the idea, that's right it was Mr. P's fault and we were very lost, and I did my best to help find the way home. Can you see me checking the direction signs? Oooh.. I do love climbing.

Anyway, when we were very lost, we found this brilliantly fantastical thingy that I'm going to tell you about, so I think Mr P did ok, even if that's not what Mrs C said. 

No I haven't had a propeller stuck in my head, I'm stood in front of a 240 tonne wind mill. It's so, so, so... tall!


They don't look very big across the fields, but up close they are humungusly massivish. The spinny bit is over 200 feet across and these ones make 24 million Kilo Watts of electricity every hour.

Now I haven't got a clue what a Kilo Watsit is but Mr P, who knows about this stuff, told me that it take three of them to boil our kettle. So all I know is 24 million would make an awfull lot of cups of tea, for sure.


They are not only very, very tall, but they are noisy as well. The loud humming noise they make is really wierd and a bit freaky. Then, there's the fact that we could see the electricity going down the cables. Honest, it completely freaked Mrs C out when we looked at the cables. Every time the spinny thing went around the cable would go black for about 10 feet and we watched the black bit move along and another one would take it's place. It was so spooky!


Can you see all the french talking words on the sign behind me? There are some more easy peasy foreign french words on it. Have you spotted any? I could see  Production, variable and service, but Mr P says there are more. Can you spot any? If you can, please tell me on the comments, cos it's doing my head in. Anyway, I think we should copy some foreign french words cos they sound nicer, like the word Investissement sounds much better than Investment. The extra middle bit makes it sound much more fun.

Well I've got go, cos Charlie wants to go on Ebay and she's been ever so kind to wait so long, but before I go, I think I should say one more thing. There's lots of people who think Wind Power Thingies are really good and lots of people who think they're not. Well I don't know enough stuff to know who's right, but I think that even though they are are freaky, spooky, noisy and huge, they're still so cool.

Bye for Now,

Tiddy x

Saturday 25 June 2011

Billy The Conker Champion, I think?

Bonjour Everyone,

I'm back to tell you all about the famous man who was in St Valery Sur Somme 945 years before we visited. I know all you clever people will have guessed who it was, cos my clue was too good. That's right! 2011 take away 945 is 1066, but did you know that William The Conqueror didn't play conkers. Honest. I was suprised as well, but Mr.P told me, and he's very old, so he knows loads of stuff about old things. 

It seems Mr Conqueror filled a load of ships with lots of soldiers and set sail for Britain in 1066. He landed here and had a big fight with King Harold II and his armies. The battle was in Hastings and Mr Coqueror won, so he took King Harold's job as King and stayed here. He was called King William the first.




I found some old boats, but they weren't 945 years old. I had great fun climbing on them and pretending I was Tiddy The Conker Champion setting sail for England to be the new King.





















We had a fantastical time exploring the place where so much history (that's old stuff) happened. We looked across the beach and it was funny to think what it must have been like in 1066.


Before I go, here's a picture of me by the pretty church in St Valery. I think the Gargoyles look awesome!

Bye for now,


Tiddy x

Friday 24 June 2011

Whizzy Tiddy!

Charlie here!

I thought I'd better post my blog entry, as Tiddy keeps putting little ones on before I can get to the computer. He's very keen and good at blogging. I think it is very clever of him to know lots of French words. I hope you are enjoying his lessons. So, here's my blog about a pretty French town.

Here is a photo of Tiddy and I at St Valery sur Somme, in Picardy, France.We are sat on a wall by the church. It is quite high up. Can you see the house behind us? It is very pretty. I'd like to live in a house like that!


We had cycled to the village square to see this church. It was very old, with very pretty patterns on it. I liked the clock tower. We arrived just in time to hear the bells ring for 7 o'clock. It was very loud! Tiddy cheered when the bells rang. He loves loud noises, but I put my hands over my ears. We couldn't go in the church, as it was locked, but we still enjoyed looking at the outside.



St. Valery has lots of interesting places, including the ruins of an old prison.  We cycled around the town, looking for clues about what happened there a long time ago. In school, they call that 'History'.

Look at this interesting bit of wall we found. I was very brave and climbed up a bit of it. Tiddy thought that it would be more fun to be higher up. He's so much braver than me! There was a stone plaque on the wall, saying that Joan of Arc had been there in 1430. That's a very long time ago.

Joan of Arc was a peasant girl. Her family were very poor. Even so, she became famous by flying a flag to encourage the army in the battles. There are statues of her all over France. I wonder if anyone will ever build a statue of Tiddy and me?


This last photo came out a bit blurred, as Tiddy couldn't keep still. He wanted me to take so many photo's that he kept whizzing from place to place. I was quite worn out by the end of the day. He's such a busy bear!

Charlie x

Another easy foreign french word!

Bonjour again,

me and Charlie have been chatting and, because she's a girl, and one of the famous people who stayed in St Valery Sur Somme a long time before us was a girl, she said that she will do the next blog. I agreed with her, but thought I'd just let you know, and give you another easy peasy foreign french word.

It's the word they say for canal, Le canal. Told you it was easy. Can you see the word in the picture? Can you see me posing in the boy's back pack?

Charlie next, but I'll be back soon to tell you about the famous man, who was where we were, only 945 years before us!

Bye,


Tiddy x 

Monday 20 June 2011

Exploring the top bit!

Bonjour Everyone,

 I'm back to tell you more about our French France Adventure. We started our trip at the top or, as Mr.P. keeps telling me, the north of France. I think the name for this north top bit of France is a nice word. It's called Picardy. France is famous for fast trains called TGV, but can you see the little steam train in my picture? Some France French words are easy, like for train they use le train, but when they talk it sounds like lur tra.

On our 1st night we went for a look around and I found some absolutely fantastical stuff to explore and climb on.


Can you see me and Charlie in the doorway of the old cafe? Look on the bigger picture below. That should be a bit easier, but remember, we're not very big.



We did all our exploring with Mrs.C and Mr.P on their bicycles. We had lots of fun, even when we didn't know which way to go. Mr.P would say, 'Well, we havn't seen any of it before, so we can't be lost.' Mrs.C would laugh, except if it was getting dark.


Back soon to tell you about 2 very famous people who stayed in this bit of Picardy in the top north of France a long time ago.


Bye,


Tiddy x

Wednesday 15 June 2011

Tiddy's New French Word.

Hi Everyone,

I'm back to tell you my newest french word that I've learned. It sounds like Miz yer, but they don't spell it like that. I know because I found this sign on a toilet. 


Messieurs means Gentlemen.

Back soon,

Tiddy x

Monday 13 June 2011

Tiddy's French Landing!

Bon jour Everyone,

that's foreign French talk for saying, 'Hi'. I know lots of them type of words now, cos Charlie and me have been to French France, where everybody talks French. Can you see what Exit is in French?

That's right, it's Sortie, which sounds a lot like the name some people call me... 'shorty'. I think the French people know that not many British people talk french words, and that's why they put pictures on the signs, so that the lorries, buses and cars know how to get out of the port. Can you see the bus on the bus road?


Before we could get out of the port at Calais to be inside France proper, we had to have our passports ready for inspection. I think that's why they call them passports, because you can't pass a port without one. Except for today, cos they was shut, so we drove straight into France.



It was fantastic fun being on the French France roads, cos Mrs.C. had to drive the car on the wrong side of the road!

Yes, honest, according to Mr.P. most people in the world drive on the wrong side of the road. I did think that, if most people do it, maybe it's not the wrong side, but I didn't say I was thinking it :-)

I thought it was really brilliant when Mrs.C. raced past a police car on the motorway. You must be very polite to French France policemen cos they've all got guns! Can you see the police car?


















We had a absolutely fantasticle time in the car, seeing so many brilliant things, but it was great to get to our caravan. From now on we are trading in the four wheeled car with an engine for two wheeled bikes with pedals. Look out France here we come!




Oriv wha (that's bye in French words, but spelt different)

Tiddy x

Saturday 11 June 2011

Here comes the bride!

Charlie here :o)


Tiddy and I interrupted our trip to go to a wedding. I thought you'd like to see photos of the day. Here we are with the bride and bridesmaid. Aren't they beautiful?








They travelled to the wedding in a huge stretch limo. Tiddy and I travelled in the back. Can you see us through the window? Tiddy dressed up especially. Can you see his dicky bow? He looked like James Bond!




After the wedding, the photographer took lots of photos of the bride and groom (that's the name they give to the new husband).They wanted a photo of us with the two of them, as we are quite famous now. Can you  see the groom's kilt? It's like a skirt, but especially for men. They wear kilts a lot in Scotland, just like Tiddy did. Remember his trip to Edingburgh?










After the wedding, there was a special meal. We had to travel for a few miles, so the bride and groom travelled in a fire engine! Tiddy thought it was really exciting, and climbed all over it! Can you see the pretty ribbon on the front?


Tiddy tried to drive the fire engine, but his legs were too short, so he couldn't reach the pedals. There was a blue light on top of the fire engine. It was just like he was a real fire man. I'm glad he didn't have to put any fires out though, as he would have been late for the meal!












Here's a photo of us travelling in the fire engine to the meal. There was plenty of room for us, the bride and groom, and some others, as it had room for 18 full sized people. Tiddy and I are only little, so we didn't take up too much room.


It was a very exciting day! Tiddy will be back soon, to tell you more of our trip to France.


Charlie x








Wednesday 8 June 2011

Our first trip abroad!

Charlie here!


We've been on a ferry to France! It was so exciting as Mrs C drove the car onto the ferry. Then we had to climb lots of steep stairs to get to the nice part of the ship. Tiddy found a door to the outside and had his photo taken with the white cliffs of Dover behind him. Can you see them? They are white because they are made of chalk. 
We found a lovely seat in the restaurant. There was a great view out of the window. Another ferry was turning around near us. It was massive! The captain welcomed us on board with a message on the speaker system. Then we had to listen to very important safety information.


We got pasties from the restaurant, which were very nice. Tiddy decided that he would need extra food incase the captain asked him to help steer the ship, so he ordered chips too. I had a nice big drink of Pepsi.




After lunch, we went exploring. Can you see all the machinery on the deck below us? It looked very impressive. Tiddy said he wasn't sure how it worked, so I said he should stay away from it incase he had an accident.




There were lots of cars on the ferry, but also, lots of huge lorries. Tiddy liked this yellow one best. Tiddy found out that, last year, over 2 million lorries crossed the channel, either going to or from Dover. That's a lot!


On the ship, there were advertisements for Disneyland Paris. We weren't going to Disneyland, but I found this very clever poster with Mickey Mouse on.  Can you see the beautiful princess in the pink dress and the handsome pirate? If you look closely, you will see something to make you giggle. There were holes for us to put our heads through. It's me and Tiddy!!!Doesn't Tiddy look brave?




Our holiday had started and we were very excited! We'll tell you what happened next very soon.


Charlie x

Wednesday 1 June 2011

Day trip to Blackpool.

Hi Everyone,

it's me again, and I'm back to tell you where Charlie and me went to spend all the money I made in Scotland. My idea for making money wasn't as clever as the banks up there who print it, but I did have a few pounds and we knew just the place to spend it.




Blackpool! The sea side capital of the north. We were so excited at the stories of the fantasticle things like, trams, arcades, shows, piers and a tower. We was
nearly busting with excitment as we got nearer and nearer. Then Mr.P said that they'd shut Blackpool!



We parked the car and went to investigate and it didn't look good. There were cranes, bollards, fencing, big holes and builders everywhere. I tried to make the most of it and see if I could have a go on a crane cos the trams were gone, but I got a bit stuck!

Mrs C came to the rescue and told me not to worry cos we could still go to the Arcade. It was loads more brillianter than a tram ride, and we spent stacks of my Scottish money.


After the arcade we went to find out if anything else in Blackpool was still working, and we found the most famous thing that Blackpool's got, The Tower!


The tower was so, so, so tall. I know I'm small, so even some short things look tall to me, but honest it's absolutely, humungusly bigger than big. Really it's so massive, you can see it from 30 miles away. It would take 367 and a half tiddy's stood on top of each other to reach the top, not a lot of people know that.

After The Tower we kept searching for the bits of Blackpool that were still working. We had to go through shops and down lanes to get around all the shut bits, but it was worth it cos we found The Pier!
It was so much fun running along the boards looking down to see the sea. Charlie was feeling tired so we had a sit down, but I wanted to see more of the sea.


There were loads of really great things on the Pier including shows like the big wheel, but my favourite thing was the Helter Skelter.

O' before I go, Mr P told us a really funny poem about Blackpool that he heard when he was a little, like hundreds of years ago. If you want to hear it check out http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AVbHIUA0S0U&feature=related .

Bye for now,

Tiddy x