Sunday 30 June 2013

Up, up and awaaaaaaaay....

Hello my friends. After last weekend, you could be forgiven for thinking that #flatmarley had gone into retirement......

@barneycoleman ave sum companee ...but napping be the order of the day...

There was a brief sighting of the old boy at Eileen Donan Castle in the company of Sir Herbert (@celpiescorner)....


...ansestrull ome.....

...but then afternoon snooze at Flatmarley HQ was interrupted by the whirring of the telegraph machine and the pinging of the radar.....incoming message from Wing Commander @smudgeBT....




...lissen up men....we haz sekrit mishun.....we usin C17 plane...The Marley....

...great planes of da Royal Fur Force at da ready.....

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I ask da co-pilut to fire up da engins.....
...get comfee for da mishun.....today we do be croosin at furtee eight fowsand feet and da wevver on root to Ibeefa be smoove and clear...
....who fitted da winscreen washers?...one on each side pleez...ow ard that to unnderstand eh?
Pleez commence boardin....thems in Terrier Club furst..then pups....finallee remainin riff raff...
....hmmm, we calculates that there be room for 700 border terriers inside but some ave brort peeple so might be bit cramped....
Urry up pleez....doors is closin....no dawdlin in dooty free.....
No runnin in da aisles pleez...carpet ave gone in for cleenin......
...and AWAY WE GO!......oh....*gulp*....hey! Waits for meeeeee......
Hurray for Mr Smudge and his very kind people. They are sending out laminated #flatmarleys to help you play the game too and are always amongst our most imaginative participants. A few facts from Mr Smudge about the C17 - It's a massive cargo plane flown by the brave men and women of 99 Squadron. It can fit a whole chinook helicopter inside and can descend at 25000ft per minute!! 

If you are enjoying the game and want to take part then you can just follow the instructions on the right side of the blog. We  just ask that you make a small donation to either Dogs Trust or Terrier Rescue before we post your photos. If you can't print your own #flatmarley then Mr Smudge can send you one if you just contact him via Twitter on @smudgeBT.....


Monday 24 June 2013

A quiet week of recuperation

After all the fun and frolics of the first weeks of the new #flatmarley season, last week was a week of rest and recuperation for our intrepid traveller....but he did get to spend some time with some very special friends indeed....

Its @lordpercypickleplum on his way in da family transpawt across Devon....Lord Percy do be the fur wot come along when my dear pal Bunners of @bunnersandharvs did go OTRB last year....

...and here ham Arvey his brofur....who did super job last year snoopervisin his pa, @robbiesvoice, who did take #flatmarley on John o'Groans to Lands End cyclin race.....

Arvey and Percee was takin I to see my eldest pal, founder member of da border terrier posse and a fur wot I met in real life,.. @diamondbertie and his lovely peeps......

Master Peter and Bertie scrappin over access rights.....
....please do keep playing and donating my friends. And if you need a #flatmarley of your own but don't have access to a printer then our stalwart pal @SmudgeBT can send you a laminated one for free!  We know that one or two have already been delivered. 

We hope to see a busier week of #flatmarley action this week .....he will certainly be at Wimbledon on Friday and I would not be surprised if he was at the start line for the Tour de France as well.....

Woof...Clapton, #flatmarley HQ

Monday 17 June 2013

Mouse in the House

Hello for you my friends....many of you are gearing up for a fun-filled summer of #flatmarley...

...@diamondbertie...tries to hem-you-late me....

...but proud border terrier posse member Mr Ennis and his mum @babsVK have already made it down to Disneyland.....

...it appear that VIP boardin facilitees is out of da akshun today and I have to join hoi-polloi....

...hims got big flappy ears...i dussnt fink any comparison do be werff makin....
...haz kleckted credenshulls and is off to da park.....

...Canadian rock band Off Kilter....who knew....

Pagoda....is pavillion where Yoda do live i assyoom....

...drummin up munee for Dogs Trust and Terrier Rescue.....see what I did there?

...and the Oscar goes to.....me, natch...Best Terrier in a Leadin Role

say wot? ....i fort we waz in Diznee?

...dussnt gib up da day job......

....#flatmarley: liklee to come off da rails at any momint.....

....?....submit entrees on da postcard


....just waitin for Tiger Woods....Epcot Open 2013....


Haz my own garden......haz my own gee-raff....


Even in Ham-erica a Englishdog always stop at free for tea....

...#FlatMarley taxis will be appy to serviss yore needs.....

...I haz moved in....just addin lick of paint to da kenellin and the new #FlatMarley office is good to go....

....keep up the good work my friends and donate to our chosen charity if you can....just head over to the JUst Giving button on the right to do that.....

Clapton, #Flatmarley HQ....

pee ess: by popular demand old Marley is doing the capshuns.....

Tuesday 11 June 2013

Whirrrrr....click....boing...we have lift off!

Hello everyone! We have exciting news to bring you...after our launch post the other weekend we have been contacted by at least three....THREE....people who are volunteering to take #flatmarley to Antarctica....WOHOOOO....there is a race to the Pole! How kind you all are....

....and as you can see, #flatmarleys from around the world are being brought out of cold storage....

Mr Murphy...@no1border....looks in the filing cabinet under F....
....and prepared for their journeys...

Mr Hurley .....@justanothertrnd.....seems to have been planning some monkey business on his way to meet @thegobros and @weeemungo at Meaford, Ontario,,,on Georgian Bay.


....@weemungo tries to help out Pooh Patrol by digging a handy pit to make sure all the doggies keep the beach clean.....

...".that's a big pit" say the @thegobros...."we hope Mr Hurley doesn't fall in"......

Name, rank and serial number only....they won't break us.......we never saw Mr Hurley after lunch.....
....of course, we are only joking and Mr Hurley is alive and well and larger than life as ever.....thanks for playing this week my friends....we have already raised £80 for Dogs Trust and so we have sent £40 to terrier Rescue like we promised we would....


Clapton, #flatmarley HQ.....

Friday 7 June 2013

Bonjour!

Hello my friends....the new season is less than a week old and we have already had our first entry from our good friend Mr Seb @mrsebbt....he and his staff have been down to Sete in the South of France.....ooh la la

...I haz asked for a room wiv a BBQ......

..I dunno my pal....i wuz expectin sum sun if I be onest......these be English clouds I fink......

...ok, that will do....haz you got da loshun?......

...i dunno Seb my pal...i fink it gonna take sum time before the wines do be at their best......

....haz to keep da sand out of da paws .....and da furs....and da butt.......

...them Frenchies fink dey is well dressed but I dussnt fink they seen ower bandanner/badge combo befaw.....read em an weeps Monsewer Shanell....

....is dinner time yet or wot Seb?.....

....I ree-claims these lands for Her Maj......
Hurray! Baguettes and Brie for all!  What a wonderful start....and *whispers* we have had TWO promises of a trip to Antarctica...YES! 

Clapton, Travel Terrier Inc........

Saturday 1 June 2013

#flatmarley 2013

Hello my dear friends, it's me Clapton.......one of the many things that Marley left for me to do when he passed OTRB last year was to continue the #flatmarley fun...and so I am announcing the start of the 2013 season. For those of you who have not played before,  you can see a link to the rules of the game at the top of this page or over there on the right......it's very simple...just download one of the pictures of Marley over there on the right ------> and print it out...take it with you as you go on holiday or to fun events and take photos of Marley along the way then email them to me at marleyterrier57 at googlemail dot com and we will feature them in a blog post....we ask our friends to donate a little money to the Dogs Trust for the fun of playing the game...you can do that by pressing the Just Giving button over there on the right hand side of the blog.....and again this year I will ask the Typist will donate 50p to Terrier Rescue for every pound that you donate to Dogs Trust....any questions?

If you are still puzzled by what we are doing then check out some of the older posts below....and just to make sure it's clear to you all I asked a couple of my border terrier friends to take me, Clapton, on their recent holidays in a mini-game of #flatclapton....

Miss Tilly (@whatwecalltilly) sent me off to Morocco with her ma and pa to join the adventure to climb Mount Toubkal, the highest mountain in the Atlas Mountains, North Africa, at 4,167m above sea level....eeek!  I went away with a group of experienced and hardy climbers called Jo (Tilly’s mum), Andy, Steve, Anna, Joe, Hannah, Maisie, Toby, David, Rich, John and Old John....


EasyJet like my pass-pawt...

We spent a few days in Marrakesh soaking up the atmosphere of the Souks. The main square (Djemaa el Fna) was so busy and full of people with minarets on all sides….not a place for a small flat terrier! The snakes charmers and monkey tamers were particularly scary so I hid in Jo’s rucksack.


The stalls in the Souks were fantastic. So many good things to see and eat and sniff….

We stopped for lunch in a balcony café and partook of the local brew of mint tea. Took a while to get the taste but very refreshing on a hot day in the mountains.


I met a chap who is the locksmith to the king and makes handmade locks which were fantastic. Such a nice old chap too.




From Marrakesh we took a taxi ride up to Imlil at 1740m above sea level. This is where the treking started. We had mules to take our overnight bags up to the refuge. I had to help load the bags…the mules are so strong!


The first day’s walking was nice and steady, on nice easy tracks, up to the first refuge (as 2550m) for a couple of nights and acclimatisation walks.

I made friends with some local goats who came to see us at lunchtime, just like dogs would do at home. They were happy to have a cuddle (and some lunch).

This is a spectacular frozen waterfall we climber past on our way to the second hut. 

And then at the top of the pass, we got our first view of Mount Toubkal.

The second hut was at 3207m just at the foot of the Mount Toubkal. 


We started our ascent the next day. The view at the top was fantastic. I could see right over to the Sahara Desert which was weird looking at sand dunes when you’re wearing crampons and wielding an ice axe!?!

At the top of the mountain is their weird triangular monument. I pretended I was in the space shuttle….

On the way back down we stopped at a shrine but I wasn’t allowed to go in as I am not a muslim so we stayed with the mules and had a refreshing glass of mint tea (got the taste for it by then).

Once we were back at Marrakesh, I was very tired and dreamed of sleeping next to one of the fantastic fireplaces in the old palace….just imagine a roaring fire in there….zzzz…..zzzz….zzzz
Regular readers of this blog and players of #flatmarley know that all trips are folowed by periods of rest and recuperation and so I next jetted off to Lanzarote with my friend @erictheborder and his family...

I demanded a window seat on the way out....

...and I was somewhat keen to get down to the harbour to check out the sights when we arrived....

...and I thought it would be prudent to get my towel down on a sun-lounger early in the day.....


....as I wanted to be sure I could dry off after my dip in the pool....

....and be ready for my night out on the town...

...the locals were all very friendly...although not quite what I had expected...

...it was sunny and we were never very far from the sea....

....there was entertainment every night....


...even if you had to provide it yourself.....
...no, we have not seen a rowdy dog around here officer....

...and there were some things that reminded us of home.....

...and plenty that did not.....

...and like every good holiday it was all over far too soon....

I do hope you will be able to join us in playing #flatmarley again this year and helping to raise some much needed money for two deserving charities. Feel free to ask questions if you need to...i am @claptonterrier on twitter...and I hope to bring you some lovely #flatmarley adventures over the summer...

p.s If anyone knows anyone in the Antarctic it would be hugely exciting for us to get a #flatmarley photo from there as it is the only continent on which #flatmarley has not yet appeared.

p.p.s. for newbies, the #flatmarley game came from an idea by our dear friends @piprufus1 in Twitter and we have ben playing for over two years. We've raised over £2,000 for our charities to date. That's all down to YOU!!