My 100th post !!!

Dear furry and human friends, I have a very exciting number 100 post to thank you for all the kindness and support you've given me since I started blogging.
My good friend Mango the Maltese Kiddo has made this beautiful picture to celebrate in style - thank you Mango, you are an angel !

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Here comes Ollie
And what better way to celebrate than to introduce to you a brand new blogger; you have seen him before, but this is the very first time that he has his own spot in my blog (or should I say our blog...). So while I go out with the girls (more on that later), I hand you over to the one and only, the wonderful Papillon Puppy, Ollie !

Thank you Bella, I'm most honoured; I may be a little puppy but I have lots to say, you know !
I'd like to be able to fly like a butterfly so Mum got me these wings; they look nice, but I didn't quite manage to get off the ground !
If I can't go flying, maybe I can go sailing, here's a nice outfit, all I have to do now is to find a boat !

And Bella's ready to go too !

Did you know ? The Papillon is one of the oldest breeds of dogs with a recorded history in Europe going back nearly 700 years. It is believed that the name was given by Marie Antoinette who was fond of Papillons. Until the French revolution (1789), Papillons were the most popular breed of dog in the courts in France. Look at this picture of Louis XIV, there's a papillon who looks like me !

And until next time, take care my lovely friends and have a nice week-end !

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A girl's afternoon out
Thank you Ollie, I'm proud of you.
While Ollie was blogging, I had a girl's afternoon out at the park with my friends Maggie and Rosie - look at our matching outfits !

We walked around the park, and found lots of good things to sniff :

Here we are with Amelie's friend Bronwyn, and my sisters Anais and Amelie :

That was a great afternoon with my friends, we'll have to catch up again !

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Hat Parade news
Mango and Maggie received their prizes for the hat parade and I'm really happy to see how much they've enjoyed them.

Read more about Mango and Maggie's prizes and say hello to them.
I got a beautiful card from Maggie Mae, and George got my card in the mail :
I've received some beautiful cards; I know that more are on the way so I'll wait a little bit before showing all of them to you in a special post !

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News Flash
We took Ollie to the vet clinic yesterday as he was coughing and sneezing; the vet said he had a bronchitis, which is very rare in dogs so he is on antibiotics. Today he is already better so we are very grateful.
Have a great week-end and take care, we love you all !

(99) I love my new pram !

I had a great time at Little Princess Luna's slumber party, and when I got back, Mum had a surprise for me, a new pram ! (remember how much fun I had with my grandma's pram ?). It's really great, thanks Mum, I love it !

It's very comfortable too !

So comfortable, I could sleep in it !

Come on Ollie, put your pajamas, it's time to go to sleep :

So, let's play, I'm the Mummy and you're the baby.

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Today is my Friend Shiros' birthday, she is turning 5; best wishes to you !
Here she is as a puppy, isn't she adorable ?

And on Wednesday, it's Puddle's birthday - go and visit her here to wish her a happy birthday

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Good night, sweet dreams and best wishes from Ollie and Me :

Best wishes of happiness to all our human and furry friends...

(98) Meet my little brother Ollie the Papillon Puppy

When Mum, Dad and Anais went to get my little brother Ollie, I was so impatient !
Yesterday I asked Mum to get him a jumper so he wouldn't be cold on the way home ; here he is, look at him, isn't he gorgeous !
After I gave him a lick, I showed him around the house and the garden.
Then I told him about my blog. He particularly liked the hat parade, so I told him not to worry, that he wasn't too late :
"Bella, Ollie's a boy, find him something more appropriate !" I made him try another hat and another jumper :

"Bella, he's only a little puppy, he's going to need a good rest after all this excitement"
Have a good rest, my sweet little brother and thank you so much Mum and Dad !

"Happiness is a warm puppy" - Charles M. Schulz



PS : Can you please check out the Photo contest at Thoughts Fur Paws - I'm in it, but of course, vote for your favourite dog or cat !

(97) How can butter fly ?

I've heard Mum and Dad talking about the new member of our family; his name is Ollie and he's a Papillon.
But what is a Papillon ?
In French, it means butterfly, but why is is it called butterfly, I've never seen butter flying !
Dad is fascinated by the origin of words, and he's found how butterflies are named around the world :
In English the word comes from the belief that butterflies stole milk and butter.
Psyche in ancient Greek (also meant "soul", and "breath")
Petaloudia in modern Greek (related to the words for "petal", "leaf", "spreading out").
Farfalla in Italian (the pasta farfalle, often called "bow-ties" in the US, are really butterflies)
Mariposa in Spanish (from "la Santa Maria posa" = "the Virgin Mary rests")
Schmetterling in German (from "Schmetten" meaning "cream", referring to butterflies' tendency to hover around milkpails and butterchurns)
Zomerfeygele in Yiddish ("summerbird")
Babochka in Russian (a diminutive of "baba" = "woman, grandmother, cake)

Look, I won't be the only butterfly !

"I do not know whether I was a dog dreaming I was a butterfly,or whether I am now a butterfly dreaming I was a dog." (inspired by Chuang Tse) .

"Wait a minute Bella, I think you may have got carried away a little, look I'll show you a photo of yor little brother" He's so cute, I love him ! I can't wait to see him !
So on Saturday we'll be welcoming Ollie into our family and I'll tell you all about it ! The whole family is so excited !!!!

(96) Presenting my family

What a great idea Oskar had of getting to know each other's family.

I love my family, so I'm very happy to present them to you. All my family was born in the town of Grenoble which is right in the middle of the French Alps, not far from Switzerland. Pascal, my dad, came to Australia with his parents, sister and aunty nearly 40 years ago. He went back to Grenoble when he was 25 where he met Isabella, my mum; they had 3 lovely children and then moved to Australia 9 years ago to have a better life and to be closer to my Dad's family.

My Mum is 41, in France she worked as a nurse, but she has been so busy adapting to her new country and looking after her family that she hasn't been able to consider working because she would have to go back to nurse school to be able to work here. She is very creative, loves drawing and sewing and she finds me all my outfits and uses her "magic scissors and needles" to make them fit just right for me. She is the sunshine of our home, loves cuddling us and making us laugh.

My Dad is 49, he is a project manager at a bank. He loves photography and spernding time with his family. He walks me on the week-ends and sometimes at 11:00 PM if I need to relieve myself (we do have a garden, but it's a good excuse for an extra walk...). Sometimes there is a casual clothes day at his work which confuses me because the only way I can tell whether it's the week-end or a week day is by looking at Dad dressing up in the morning !

My big sister Amelie is 20 and works in a kindergarten; I went there once and all the children wanted to pat me. She is my secretary in charge of typing the comments on your blogs (dictated by me of course) and also in charge of giving me my weekly bath. My little sister (in fact she is taller than Amelie !) Anais is 17, she is in year 12 at high school, and loves to keep fit so when she takes me out it's either for a walk or a run depending on how fit she wants to be - I do prefer the walks because I can sniff more. The other love of her life is Charlie the cockatiel, isn't he beautiful ?
My brother Matthew is 11 and loves WWE wrestling; he doesn't like Dad laughing at the wrestling because it's very serious business. He plays with me and makes sure I am looking in the right direction when Dad takes photos for my blog.
I've been hearing things about our family getting bigger soon; I don't think Mum's expecting again, maybe it will be a furry brother or sister, I wonder...

I will investigate and will give you an update at my next blog post, so stay tuned.

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It's coming up to my 100th blog post, it's so exciting and it's thanks to all of my friends encouraging me and leaving kind comments.

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Mum and Dad are working on a new edition of my book; it will have twice as many pages as the first edition, but the best thing about it is that it will feature photos of my friends who have participated in the hat parade, flower festival, pajama party or who have sent me a photo (there's still time if you want to be in it - they say that it should be ready in a month or two, but I say "hurry up !" because I'm so impatient... )

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"When you look at your life, the greatest happinesses are family happinesses." ~Joyce Brothers

(95) Cuddling cute koalas

I love koalas, they are so cute, cuddly and relaxed, I'd love to live like one, so Mum dressed me as a koala, can you tell which one is me ?

Did you know ?

Because their diet is so low in nutrition, koalas spend up to 20 hours per day sleeping and the rest eating.
(They eat only a few types of eucalyptus leaves from which they get all nutrients and water requirements, but they must eat over a kilogram per day, because eucalyptus leaves only contain 8% fat, 5% carbohydrates and 4% protein. Eucalyptus leaves are toxic but the koala has a stomach which removes the toxins the leaves)

YAAAAAAAAAAAWN..............

ZZZZZZZZZZ.................

Dad : "Wake up Bella, you haven't finished your blog !"
On second thought, I don't really want to sleep as much as a koala because I wouldn't have time for all my friends !

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Thanks to my friends who sent such beautiful photos, everyone found the Fantastic Festival of Fabulous Flowers really wonderful; if you missed out, don't worry - send your photos of you with flowers to westiebella@gmail.com and I'll publish them next week !
I got a postcard from George the lad today, thank you so much !

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I've heard that many of you in the northern hemisphere are suffering from the heat, so I'm sending you some cold air from Melbourne to refresh you.

And here's a preview of fashion for your next winter, modelled by my friends Cookie and Cinnabar :

In winter, this is my favourite place :

That's all from me, have a great week-end and take care, I love you all !

There is nothing more comforting than knowing you are near the ones you love.

(94) Featuring the Fantastic Festival of Fabulous Flowers

Welcome my friends, I'm glad you could come to my Fantastic Festival of Fabulous Flowers, which was made possible thanks to the contributions of my friends who have brightened our winter days here in Melbourne, Australia with their fantastic photos of flowers :

We have a special guest, Sally the scarecrow, Marthas and Bailey's resident gardening expert.

Here's Martha is sniffing a rhododendron

Here's a lovely Dahlia from their garden :

 The lovely Zelle is wearing a beautiful flower made by her very talented Mum.

Thanks to Mango, I have travelled all the way to Texas to play "Stop And Smell The Roses" in a Blue Bonnet (the Texas State flower) field. What a great trip, thanks Mango !

And here's a pretty flower bike from Mango's garden, I love it :

A beautiful bunch of flowers from Derby and Julep's garden :

Nana and Uyanga are as beautiful as the flowers :

One of the many splendid flowers from Remington Drive

The wonderful Kira and Scampi relaxing in their yard :

 

Superb sunflowers and marigold from Dory, Jacob and Bilbo's garden

Booker Man, Asa  and a splendid Crepe Myrtle.

Doesn't Cooper look great with these orchids ?

Thanks again my friends for these lovely flowers, we cherish these beautiful gifts.

Thank you Pip for your card from Chicago, once we have more I will show them in a special post.

I've been invited to Little Princess Luna's slumber party and 100th post party, I'm so excited !

You can enjoy the beauty and smell of flowers wherever you are, they bring sunshine to our lives.
"My garden of flowers is also my garden of thoughts and dreams. The thoughts grow as freely as the flowers, and the dreams are as beautiful."~Abram L. Urban