Snowdog 09: Patchwork, Found at Wallsend

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. We will be seeing Patchwork too, at the Snowdog farewell event at the start of December.


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 Snowdog:


Dog Number 09

Photographed on 8th November 2016

This dog is called Patchwork.

Well isn't that confusing.  I've already told you that we didn't get to see the dog called Patchwork.  And here I am telling you that this dog is called Patchwork.  It's true.  We didn't.  And it is.  It's a paradox only solved by the realisation that there were TWO dogs called patchwork.  You read that right!  TWO dogs!  All the other dogs had different names.  Some of the little Snowdogs had the same name too, Patch.  That was confusing too and it got even more confusing because two dogs called Patch were living together in The Sage in Gateshead.  How was anyone to know which was which?

This dog lived, for the duration of the Snowdogs festival, at Richardson Dees Park in Wallsend.

The dog was painted by Jill Barklem and the design is based on her stories.  She wrote the Brambly Hedge series


That was the last dog we saw on 8th November.  We had already seen nine dogs and we would have seen another one but it wasn't there.  Winefride and I both sat on its plinth and wept because we couldn't see it.  But my person took us back to see it on 14th November and it was there then and it did look very sparkly indeed and happy to be back in South Shields.



Here are our pictures of Patchwork.


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.

Snowdog 08: Shaggy Dog Stories, Found in Wallsend

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. We will be seeing Patchwork too, at the Snowdog farewell event at the start of December.


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 Snowdog:

Dog Number 08

Photographed on 8th November 2016

This dog is called Shaggy Dog Stories.

This dog lived, for the duration of the Snowdogs festival, at Richardson Dees Park in Wallsend.

The dog was painted by Chris Riddell.  He's a famous author and an artist too.  He's written lots of books for children.  I don't think my person has read any of them though but she says she's been tempted to plough through one series he wrote, The Edge Chronicles.  Today she finished the first book in a series by someone else, Jonathan Stroud, who also writes children's books.  That must have been a good book because I even heard her chuckle a couple of times.  She seems to have like it too.  I am currently sitting on top of the second book in the series.  Maybe one day she'll try The Edge Chronicles.  Chris Riddell is a very important man.  He's won some medals named after a woman named Kate Greenaway and he's the Children's Laureate too.

I think another series he wrote sounds much more exciting.  My name is Blob Thing.  And this series is called Blobheads.  That sounds good doesn't it?



Here are our pictures of Shaggy Dog Stories.


My person especially liked the mention of haiku because she planned, until it got cancelled, to be at a workshop about haiku the next day.  I think there should be haiku written about Winefride.



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.

Little Snowdog Pack 01: Four Dogs at Blue Reef Aquarium, Tynemouth

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 1

Photographed on 15th November 2016
 
These dogs lived, for the duration of the Snowdogs festival, inside Blue Reef Aquarium, Tynemouth.

My person says that since I've posted pictures of seven Snowdogs I really should start posting my pictures of the little Snowdogs too.  I think she's right or they'll all get very bunched up at the end.  So today I am going to show you the first pack of little Snowdogs.  They were very cute.

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 one.  But it's the pack that we visited last.

It's quite funny really.  I showed you a week ago Snowdog number one and said that dog was living outside the Blue Reef Aquarium in Tynemouth.  Well that was true.  But when we saw that Snowdog - on a quest to find an interesting door knocker - we didn't know that we were going to be trying to see all the little Snowdogs too.  And we didn't know there was a pack inside the aquarium.  We had come so close to seeing them but hadn't done so.

So on 15th November we had to go back to Tynemouth.  It was a day of catching up.  We had left home early that day in order to do catching up that we wouldn't have had to do if my person wasn't so forgetful.  You see, on one day she had gone out to see six Snowdogs and had forgotten to take me and Winefride along with her.  After a lot of nagging and convincing and a bit of diplomacy and tact we got her to agree to go back and see all those dogs again.

So we had already done that.  We had walked all the way to Gosforth Park to see the first of those dogs and then all the way from there to Seven Stories.  It was a very long way but we saw all the dogs.  And three packs of little dogs too.  And then we walked to the metro station at Byker and travelled to Cullercoats.

And we walked from there all the way to the aquarium just to see the pack of four dogs there.  And then we walked all the way from there to Tynemouth station taking a detour so we could eat chips in a place that was very pretty indeed and didn't have any people.  We sat and watched oystercatchers and turnstones and a heron and a curlew and it was all very magnificent and much nicer than being in the shopping centre I told you about yesterday.  At least that's what I think.  Some people seem to like shopping centres more than they like sitting quietly above the water watching birds and watching the sea slowly covering rocks as the tide advances.

We did all that walking on the coast just to see little Snowdogs.  And then we had to go back into Newcastle to see just one little Snowdog.  Yes.  One.  Because my person had forgotten to take a picture of that one a few days before.  That particular dog was our 158th Snowdog in total.



Here are our pictures of Little Snowdog pack number 1.

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 Flag Dog, decorated by children from St Oswald's CE VA Primary School.

The second little Snowdog we encountered at Blue Reef was called Lego.  Lego was decorated by children from Richardson Dees Primary School.

The third little dog is called Neve Snow and was decorate by children from St Cuthbert's Roman Catholic Primary School, North Shields.

I find this one quite interesting.  The school is twinned with one in Curitiba, Brazil and the art on this dog is based on the work of a Brazilian artist named Romero Britto.  It also contains the idea that the statue of Christ the Redeemer in Rio looks a bit like my very good friend The Angel of the North.

Here are a couple of pictures showing Neve Snow standing with Flag dog.  Very smart indeed.

The fourth dog in the first little Snowdog pack was called Snowdog Hits The Beach and was decorated by children from Monkhouse Primary School.  The official website says that someone called Ollie who was in the reception class invented this dog after rolling around in the sand.  The beaches along the coast are very nice.  I like to walk along them and my person has promised to take Winefride and me to see all the rocks too and one day we'll go collecting sea glass.  I'm looking forward to that day with much anticipation.

Snowdog 07: Rosy Posy, found at Royal Quays Shopping Outlet

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 Snowdog:

Dog Number 07

Photographed on 7th November 2016

This dog is called Rosy Posy.  The Snowdogs website - and I don't know how long that will exist and I hope it's still there when I'm writing about dog 61 - says that this dog was inspired by three different flowers.  All of the flowers have got long names that are too difficult for me to spell.

This dog lived, for the duration of the Snowdogs festival, at the Royal Quays Shopping Outlet.

It was a challenge to get there.  We had to get off a Metro at Meadow Well and walk for ages along busy streets that we had never seen before.  And then we had to cross a big road.  But it was worth it to see two Snowdogs.

That's not a place we've ever visited before and it's not a place we're planning on visiting again any time soon.  I'm not a big lover of shopping outlets or shopping centres and would prefer to be sitting on a hill or walking through woodland by a river.  But as shopping places go I have to admit that Royal Quays was quite nice.  Some of the shops looked more interesting than others and there was even a proper music shop selling all kinds of music and instruments.  But we only went there to see Chilly Dog and Rosy Posy.

It was an interesting day.  My person had an appointment all morning during which she was assessed for something or other.  A woman came to the house and asked her all kinds of questions and she talked about me and Winefride and about her warthog and about how our friend called Portal is named after the Archbishop of Canterbury.  She seemed happier talking about all my adventures than about all of her own and she even embarrassed me by talking about how Winefride and I were nearly arrested.  The woman seemed to think it might have been my person who was nearly arrested that day.  But it really was us, and all because Winefride ran off and made lots of noise.  She was just being herself.  After that we went to see some dogs in a business park and I was very excited and look forward to showing you dog number 10 because that one was pink like me.  And then we went to the shopping centre.  We wanted to go and see more dogs after that but it was already getting dark.

The dog was painted by Sarah-Jane Richards.  She is a freelance artist who, the Snowdogs site says, has a signature quirkiness.

Here are our pictures of Rosy Posy.

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.

Snowdog 06: Chilly Dog, found at Royal Quays Shopping Outlet

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 Snowdog:

Dog Number 06

Photographed on 7th November 2016

This dog is called Chilly Dog and is based on the idea of warming up on a cold dog.

This dog lived, for the duration of the Snowdogs festival, at the Royal Quays Shopping Outlet.

That's not a place we've ever visited before and it's not a place we're planning on visiting again any time soon.  I'm not a big lover of shopping outlets or shopping centres and would prefer to be sitting on a hill or walking through woodland by a river.  But as shopping places go I have to admit that Royal Quays was quite nice.  Some of the shops looked more interesting than others and there was even a proper music shop selling all kinds of music and instruments.  But we only went there to see Chilly Dog and Rosy Posy.

It was an interesting day.  My person had an appointment all morning during which she was assessed for something or other.  A woman came to the house and asked her all kinds of questions and she talked about me and Winefride and about her warthog and about how our friend called Portal is named after the Archbishop of Canterbury.  She seemed happier talking about all my adventures than about all of her own and she even embarrassed me by talking about how Winefride and I were nearly arrested.  The woman seemed to think it might have been my person who was nearly arrested that day.  But it really was us, and all because Winefride ran off and made lots of noise.  She was just being herself.  After that we went to see some dogs in a business park and I was very excited and look forward to showing you dog number 10 because that one was pink like me.

The dog was painted by Sally Adams, who has also designed a gorilla, a dragon, and some ducks.



Here are our pictures of Chilly Dog.  You can tell we really liked this dog because there are lots of pictures.  We especially liked Chilly Dog's comfy hat.

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.

Snowdog 05: Rover Codex, Found at Northumberland Park, Tynemouth

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 Snowdog:

Dog Number 05

Photographed on 8th November 2016

This dog is called Rover Codex

This dog lived, for the duration of the Snowdogs festival, in Northumberland Park, Tynemouth.

Rover Codex is a very pretty dog.  It's decorated with lots of Celtic knotwork and you can see a wild goose on it too.  Rover Codex was inspired by the Lindisfarne Gospels.

The dog was painted by Ellie Tarratt who is a local artist and props manager who has made things for people not just in the UK but in Australia too.

We found this dog when on a photographic challenge.  My person had been asked to look for interesting door knockers and door handles.  She found some that fit the bill.  We combined the challenge with a long day of Snowdog finding and managed to find ten Snowdogs in a day.  We would have found eleven but Rhino to the Rescue was poorly and in hospital that day so we had to go back and see them on another day.

We actually found this dog before dogs 3 and 4 who we found on the same day.  The first five dogs formed a very pleasant walk from Cullercoats Metro to the Tyne Ferry.  It would have been a very nice walk even without Snowdogs to see.  That wasn't the end of our walking that day though.

We all had fun in the park too.  Winefride and I met a lion who was friendly enough to let us sit with him.  And my person went on a zip wire and even videoed the experience because it was so fun.  She likes zip wires.  She used to say she hated them but then my person convinced her to try them again in a park in Ruabon or Rhiwabon.  She liked it so much that she went on it over and over again.  My person said to try it.  And she tried it.  And she was glad.  That was an excellent day.  It was the day after my sister Winefride was born.  I've written about the day on my main blog and recently wrote about our quite scary experience on Wrexham or Wrecsam railway station when Winefride and I nearly got arrested by these two policemen.

 Here are our pictures of Rover Codex.

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.

Snowdog 04: Skipper, Found on the Fish Quay, Tynemouth / North Shields

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 Snowdog:

Dog Number 04

Photographed on 8th November 2016

This dog is called Skipper and was inspired by North Shields and the River Tyne

This dog lived, for the duration of the Snowdogs festival,on the Fish Quay at Tynemouth.

The dog was painted by Joanne Wishart.  She is an award winning artist and had the privilege of painting not just one, but two Snowdogs.  It will be a while before I show my photographs of the other dog because that one is Tails of the Sea who lived in Sunderland and who was the 46th dog on the official trail.



We found this dog when on a photographic challenge.  My person had been asked to look for interesting door knockers and door handles.  She found some that fit the bill.  We combined the challenge with a long day of Snowdog finding and managed to find ten Snowdogs in a day.



Here are our pictures of Skipper.

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.