Saturday 31 December 2016

Little Snowdog Pack 11 - Found At Tesco, Gateshead - Dogs 1 to 4

Hello again.

My name is Blob Thing and I am a small pink soft toy.  Together with my sister Winefride I have toured across Tyne and Wear over the course of two weeks and together we have attempted to complete the Great North Snowdog Trail.  This consisted of us having to find sixty-two Snowdogs and ninety-seven little Snowdogs.  That's one hundred and fifty-nine dogs in total.

And that's a lot of dogs.

We almost succeeded too.  We managed to see one hundred and fifty-eight of the dogs in their locations.  The only one we missed was called Patchwork who wasn't in Tyne and Wear at all.  Seeing Patchwork was impossible for us.  Never mind.  We saw every other Snowdog and little Snowdog and we are very proud of ourselves for this achievement.  We've also seen a lot of amazing sights along the way because Tyne and Wear is full of wonderful places.

For more information about our amazing quest and the way we were helped by our person, please see my first post on this blog.  It can be found at http://blobandthesnowdogs.blogspot.co.uk/2016/11/blob-thing-and-winefride-welcome-you-to.html  I confess that we all got more than a little obsessive about Snowdogs in the first half of November 2016.  There are worse things to get obsessive about.

Please remember that the Great North Snowdogs existed not just as an enjoyable addition to the landscape of our wonderful county of Tyne and Wear but as a way to raise funds for St. Oswald's Hospice which is our local hospice and which does amazing work.  To find out more about the hospice and see ways in which you can donate, should you wish to, please head over to their website.  It can be found at http://www.stoswaldsuk.org/

I will include the above text in all my posts.  It explains everything.  If you get obsessive about Snowdogs too then don't feel you should read it every time.  That would just be taking obsession a step too far.



Today's post contains pictures of the following Snowdogs:

Little Snowdog Pack 11

Photographed on 14th November 2016

Happy New Year to you all.  I'm publishing this post on 31st December and that's a very special day in my life because it's my first birthday.  I am one year old today.  Happy birthday Blob Thing.  I bet nobody remembers me or sends me a card.  I bet I'm forgotten about.  Oh well.  It's been a good year.

All together there were ninety-seven little Snowdogs to find and each one had been decorated by children from different places.  The little Snowdogs, for their own safety I think and so they would have some sane conversation at night like I do with all my friends, had gathered themselves together into packs of dogs.  The smallest pack had three dogs in it and the largest had nine dogs.  And we went to see them all.

Some of the packs I will show you in just one post.  Others will take more than one post.  When there are eight or nine dogs there are a lot of pictures.

The pack I am showing you today is officially pack number eleven, the fourth of the eleven little Snowdog packs to be living south of the River Tyne and the last of the little packs to be found in Gateshead.  After telling you about this pack I'll be back to telling you about the full size dogs again.  Hooray!  I'll be starting, I think, with a dog called Ziggy.

Here are our pictures of Little Snowdog pack number eleven.  There were eight dogs in this pack.

We had found these dogs on November 4th but we only took one photo of the pack.  That was partly because we weren't expecting to be on a quest to see all the dogs when we saw them - and incidentally succeeded in buying a pizza.  It was also because there was a barrier round the pack and lots of signs telling us not to touch the dogs at all.  We obeyed.

Ten days later we returned.  And we didn't obey.  We had all given up on obedience by that point.  Either Winefride or me or both of us were photographed with every one of the dogs.  That felt much better and we didn't hurt them.  In the end the only little Snowdogs we didn't sit on were those at the Sage who were sitting on platforms on November 4th and those at the shopping centre in Washington who we couldn't have sat on if we had tried.

So we found these dogs again on November 14th, the next to last day of our dog hunting.  It was a crazy day and we had to plan it carefully in order to see all the dogs we needed to see - including one dog in South Shields who we hadn't been able to see before that because he was ill, and the dogs at Washington Arts Centre which is impossible to reach by Metro.

I'll be sharing my photos in two posts because eight dogs seems to be a lot of dogs for just one post.  And I know how much you love the dogs.  Who wouldn't love them?  Winefride and I loved them dearly and it's sad that we won't be seeing them next year.  Never mind, we had a lot of fun finding and seeing them all.

You can see how excited and happy both Winefride and I were to be on the trail of Snowdogs.  We have had an amazing time.  And I think our person has enjoyed herself too.

This first dog is Ace, decorated by children from St. Joseph's Roman Catholic Volunatiry Aided Primary School.





The second dog is Billy the Busby of Bill Quay, who was designed by children from Bill Quay Primary School.









The third dog is Bubbles, who was designed by St Joseph's Roman Catholic Primary School.









The fourth and final dog for today is Foster, who was designed by the National Foster Agency.







Friday 30 December 2016

Little Snowdog Pack 10: Found At The Sage, Gateshead

Hello again.

My name is Blob Thing and I am a small pink soft toy.  Together with my sister Winefride I have toured across Tyne and Wear over the course of two weeks and together we have attempted to complete the Great North Snowdog Trail.  This consisted of us having to find sixty-two Snowdogs and ninety-seven little Snowdogs.  That's one hundred and fifty-nine dogs in total.

And that's a lot of dogs.

We almost succeeded too.  We managed to see one hundred and fifty-eight of the dogs in their locations.  The only one we missed was called Patchwork who wasn't in Tyne and Wear at all.  Seeing Patchwork was impossible for us.  Never mind.  We saw every other Snowdog and little Snowdog and we are very proud of ourselves for this achievement.  We've also seen a lot of amazing sights along the way because Tyne and Wear is full of wonderful places.

For more information about our amazing quest and the way we were helped by our person, please see my first post on this blog.  It can be found at http://blobandthesnowdogs.blogspot.co.uk/2016/11/blob-thing-and-winefride-welcome-you-to.html  I confess that we all got more than a little obsessive about Snowdogs in the first half of November 2016.  There are worse things to get obsessive about.

Please remember that the Great North Snowdogs existed not just as an enjoyable addition to the landscape of our wonderful county of Tyne and Wear but as a way to raise funds for St. Oswald's Hospice which is our local hospice and which does amazing work.  To find out more about the hospice and see ways in which you can donate, should you wish to, please head over to their website.  It can be found at http://www.stoswaldsuk.org/

I will include the above text in all my posts.  It explains everything.  If you get obsessive about Snowdogs too then don't feel you should read it every time.  That would just be taking obsession a step too far.



Today's post contains pictures of the following Snowdogs:

Little Snowdog Pack 10

Photographed on mainly on 4th November 2016

Another day, another set of dogs.  Hooray!  It's pack 10 and I'm over half way through.  Hooray!

All together there were ninety-seven little Snowdogs to find and each one had been decorated by children from different places.  The little Snowdogs, for their own safety I think and so they would have some sane conversation at night like I do with all my friends, had gathered themselves together into packs of dogs.  The smallest pack had three dogs in it and the largest had nine dogs.  And we went to see them all.

Some of the packs I will show you in just one post.  Others will take more than one post.  When there are eight or nine dogs there are a lot of pictures.

The pack I am showing you today is officially pack number ten, the third of the eleven little Snowdog packs to be living south of the River Tyne but the pack closest to the river.

Here are our pictures of Little Snowdog pack number ten.  There were eight dogs in this pack.

We found these dogs on November 4th when Winefride and I were out having an adventure with our person.  All she had to do was buy a pizza and somehow that turned into a full scale adventure involving Northumbrian pipes and a multi-storey car park.  Along the way we saw this snowdog pack and several of the big snowdogs too.  I'll be telling you about those lovely dogs in the new year.

We didn't take lots of pictures of these dogs though because we didn't know on November 4th that we would be undertaking a quest to see every dog by November 15th.  We just didn't know.  We thought we were just seeing some interesting things on the way to finding a pizza.

And then I had to order my person to take us back to the Sage before the 15th because I realised that she had made a terrible mistake.  It was awful and needed to be rectified urgently.  You see, she had only taken pictures of seven out of the eight dogs.  And I wasn't going to cope well knowing that we were missing a dog.  We had to go back.  Fortunately my person didn't argue about it too much otherwise I would have been quite cross with her, like I was on the 6th when she totally forgot to take Winefride and me with her on a snowdog adventure.  Silly person!

They're all very wonderful.

You can see how excited and happy both Winefride and I were to be on the trail of Snowdogs.  We have had an amazing time.  And I think our person has enjoyed herself too.




Ladies and gentlemen and non-binary gender individuals, I present to you ...  Actually let's make this simple:

People, I present to you the tenth little Snowdog pack.

You'll be able to tell which dog we saw on the 14th.  Ooh, I think you should know this too.  This pack contained two dogs called Patch.  How very confusing of them.

India

Mr. Rufferty

Mr. Rufferty

Neil Barkstrong

Parrot Pup

Parrot Pup

Patch

Patch

Snowhomes

Snowhomes

Snowhomes

Snowhomes

Tinga

Thursday 29 December 2016

Little Snowdog Pack 09 - Found At Gateshead Library

Hello again.

My name is Blob Thing and I am a small pink soft toy.  Together with my sister Winefride I have toured across Tyne and Wear over the course of two weeks and together we have attempted to complete the Great North Snowdog Trail.  This consisted of us having to find sixty-two Snowdogs and ninety-seven little Snowdogs.  That's one hundred and fifty-nine dogs in total.

And that's a lot of dogs.

We almost succeeded too.  We managed to see one hundred and fifty-eight of the dogs in their locations.  The only one we missed was called Patchwork who wasn't in Tyne and Wear at all.  Seeing Patchwork was impossible for us.  Never mind.  We saw every other Snowdog and little Snowdog and we are very proud of ourselves for this achievement.  We've also seen a lot of amazing sights along the way because Tyne and Wear is full of wonderful places.

For more information about our amazing quest and the way we were helped by our person, please see my first post on this blog.  It can be found at http://blobandthesnowdogs.blogspot.co.uk/2016/11/blob-thing-and-winefride-welcome-you-to.html  I confess that we all got more than a little obsessive about Snowdogs in the first half of November 2016.  There are worse things to get obsessive about.

Please remember that the Great North Snowdogs existed not just as an enjoyable addition to the landscape of our wonderful county of Tyne and Wear but as a way to raise funds for St. Oswald's Hospice which is our local hospice and which does amazing work.  To find out more about the hospice and see ways in which you can donate, should you wish to, please head over to their website.  It can be found at http://www.stoswaldsuk.org/

I will include the above text in all my posts.  It explains everything.  If you get obsessive about Snowdogs too then don't feel you should read it every time.  That would just be taking obsession a step too far.



Today's post contains pictures of the following Snowdogs:

Little Snowdog Pack 9

Photographed on 9th November 2016

Hello again.  It's after Christmas Day now and I hope that you all had a good time celebrating or not celebrating in whatever way you choose to celebrate or not celebrate.

I've now shown you pictures of every Snowdog who lived north of the River Tyne - excluding Patchwork Northumberland who we didn't see until the Farewell Event and a dog called Splodge who wasn't on the official trail.

I'm now going to start telling you about the dogs who lived south of the Tyne and I'm starting by telling you about the dogs of Gateshead, completely starting with the little snowdog packs from that town.  Gateshead was home to several packs, one at the leisure centre, one at the Sage arts centre and one at the big Tesco there.

I am surprised by one thing: There were no Snowdogs or little snowdogs at the Baltic.  That's a very big centre for modern art housed in an impressive building.  I've been there a few times in my short life.  Quite why the Baltic chose not to host a single Snowdog is a mystery to me.  I think they missed an opportunity by ignoring the St. Oswald's Snowdog trail.

All together there were ninety-seven little Snowdogs to find and each one had been decorated by children from different places.  The little Snowdogs, for their own safety I think and so they would have some sane conversation at night like I do with all my friends, had gathered themselves together into packs of dogs.  The smallest pack had three dogs in it and the largest had nine dogs.  And we went to see them all.

Some of the packs I will show you in just one post.  Others will take more than one post.  When there are eight or nine dogs there are a lot of pictures.

The pack I am showing you today is officially pack number nine, the second of the eleven little Snowdog packs to be living south of the River Tyne.

Here are our pictures of Little Snowdog pack number nine.  There were four dogs in this pack.

We found these dogs on November 9th on an enjoyable day on which I was able to take my sister Winefride to meet my old friend The Angel of The North.  We also visited Saltwell Park for the first time.  In the rain.  If only we had known about the pack in the Leisure Centre we could have seen those too - it's next door to the library.  But we didn't know.  So we had to make a special visit there on another day.  My person should have found out and got organised sooner to safe us all a lot of time and effort.

Never mind, the whole Snowdog experience was a lot of fun for all of us.


You can see how excited and happy both Winefride and I were to be on the trail of Snowdogs.  We have had an amazing time.  And I think our person has enjoyed herself too.

This first dog is A Changing River, decorated by children from The Drive Community Primary School.





Every little Snowdog had an information notice nearby
The second dog was called Community - Near & Far, and was designed by children from Cardinal Hume Catholic School.









The third dog was called Hedley, and was designed by children from Northern Counties School.






And the fourth dog was called Percy Perseverance, designed by people from Bede Community Primary School.










Wednesday 28 December 2016

Little Snowdog Pack 08 - Found at Gateshead Leisure Centre - Dogs 5 to 8

Hello again.

My name is Blob Thing and I am a small pink soft toy.  Together with my sister Winefride I have toured across Tyne and Wear over the course of two weeks and together we have attempted to complete the Great North Snowdog Trail.  This consisted of us having to find sixty-two Snowdogs and ninety-seven little Snowdogs.  That's one hundred and fifty-nine dogs in total.

And that's a lot of dogs.

We almost succeeded too.  We managed to see one hundred and fifty-eight of the dogs in their locations.  The only one we missed was called Patchwork who wasn't in Tyne and Wear at all.  Seeing Patchwork was impossible for us.  Never mind.  We saw every other Snowdog and little Snowdog and we are very proud of ourselves for this achievement.  We've also seen a lot of amazing sights along the way because Tyne and Wear is full of wonderful places.

For more information about our amazing quest and the way we were helped by our person, please see my first post on this blog.  It can be found at http://blobandthesnowdogs.blogspot.co.uk/2016/11/blob-thing-and-winefride-welcome-you-to.html  I confess that we all got more than a little obsessive about Snowdogs in the first half of November 2016.  There are worse things to get obsessive about.

Please remember that the Great North Snowdogs existed not just as an enjoyable addition to the landscape of our wonderful county of Tyne and Wear but as a way to raise funds for St. Oswald's Hospice which is our local hospice and which does amazing work.  To find out more about the hospice and see ways in which you can donate, should you wish to, please head over to their website.  It can be found at http://www.stoswaldsuk.org/

I will include the above text in all my posts.  It explains everything.  If you get obsessive about Snowdogs too then don't feel you should read it every time.  That would just be taking obsession a step too far.



Today's post contains pictures of the following Snowdogs:

Little Snowdog Pack 8

Photographed on 14th November 2016

Hello again.  It's after Christmas Day now and I hope that you all had a good time celebrating or not celebrating in whatever way you choose to celebrate or not celebrate.

I've now shown you pictures of every Snowdog who lived north of the River Tyne - excluding Patchwork Northumberland who we didn't see until the Farewell Event and a dog called Splodge who wasn't on the official trail.

I'm now going to start telling you about the dogs who lived south of the Tyne and I'm starting by telling you about the dogs of Gateshead, completely starting with the little snowdog packs from that town.  Gateshead was home to several packs, one at the leisure centre, one at the Sage arts centre and one at the big Tesco there.

I am surprised by one thing: There were no Snowdogs or little snowdogs at the Baltic.  That's a very big centre for modern art housed in an impressive building.  I've been there a few times in my short life.  Quite why the Baltic chose not to host a single Snowdog is a mystery to me.  I think they missed an opportunity by ignoring the St. Oswald's Snowdog trail.

All together there were ninety-seven little Snowdogs to find and each one had been decorated by children from different places.  The little Snowdogs, for their own safety I think and so they would have some sane conversation at night like I do with all my friends, had gathered themselves together into packs of dogs.  The smallest pack had three dogs in it and the largest had nine dogs.  And we went to see them all.

Some of the packs I will show you in just one post.  Others will take more than one post.  When there are eight or nine dogs there are a lot of pictures.

The pack I am showing you today is officially pack number eight, the first of the eleven little Snowdog packs to be living south of the River Tyne.

Here are our pictures of Little Snowdog pack number eight.  There were eight dogs in this pack.

We found these dogs on November 14th, the next to last day of our dog hunting.  It was a crazy day and we had to plan it carefully in order to see all the dogs we needed to see - including one dog in South Shields who we hadn't been able to see before that because he was ill, and the dogs at Washington Arts Centre which is impossible to reach by Metro.

I'll be sharing my photos in two posts because eight dogs seems to be a lot of dogs for just one post.  And I know how much you love the dogs.  Who wouldn't love them?  Winefride and I loved them dearly and it's sad that we won't be seeing them next year.  Never mind, we had a lot of fun finding and seeing them all.

You can see how excited and happy both Winefride and I were to be on the trail of Snowdogs.  We have had an amazing time.  And I think our person has enjoyed herself too.

This fifth dog is St. Cuthbert's Dog, decorated by children from St. Cuthbert's Catholic Primary School in Newcastle.  My person went to mass in that school sometimes when she was still a Catholic.







The sixth dog was called Thomas and was designed by children from St Thomas More RC Academy.











The seventh dog was called Westy and was designed by children from Western Community Primary School.




The final dog, at least in alphabetical order, was called Woofergate and was designed by children from Walkergate Community School.