To the Tower With Him....

Hello my friends....I am sorry we have not blogged in a while....we have been busy with other things I am afraid...but I am happy to be able to catch up with you now....

....as many of you know, its the 100th anniversary of the start of the First World War this year and all over the world people have been commemorating and remembering...here in London there has been a special display of poppies at the Tower Of London....the poppy is the symbol we use to remember the fallen of the Great War....

.....I am wearing my poppy in honour os the typist's grandad who fought for four years on the Western Front in the 12th Heavy Battery of the Royal Garrison Artillery...he was there on the first day of the Battle of the Somme and at Passchendaele....but we are happy to report that he survived the war and returned home to England...and if you notice, I am at a train station on my way to London with typist to visit the Tower...

....this is the view from his office....as you can see, the weather looked reasonably good for our visit.....

....at lunchtime we went down into the tube system to catch a train to Tower Hill....we thought we could sneak away from work for an hour or so...

.....I think we can catch this one.....

....gosh, these trains are wobbly if you are standing up....

....so I made sure I was safe and secure in a seat of my own....making sure my poppy was on display....the train was full of visitors on their way to Tower Hill to see the poppies with us....

.....here I am at the Tower of London....can you see the enormous crowds?.....it's quite windy at the Tower too as we are down by the River Thames....my fur is a bit windswept...I was smartly groomed when we left home this morning as a mark of respect to the brave boys and girls who went off to serve their country...

......look at all the poppies down in the moat of the Tower.....I don't know if you can see but just above my left ear is the river of poppies flowing out of the tower through a window in the wall....it was a little gloomy at lunchtime but I shall try and use some camera trickery to brighten up the rest of our photos....

....the poppies flow in an uninterrupted river round the side of the Tower heading for the river.....we viewed them from the open public spaces but its possible to queue up to get a walking tour a little bit closer to the moat....and also to go into the Tower itself to see all the historic exhibits, including the Crown Jewels...

.....the poppies are all made of porcelain and I believe that each one of the millions that are there have been bought by members of the public for delivery when the display comes to an end shortly....the display is actually an "evolving installation" called  Blood Swept Lands and Seas of Red.... created by ceramic artist Paul Cummins, with setting by stage designer Tom Piper, 888,246 ceramic poppies will progressively fill the Tower’s famous moat....I think its full now....you can read all about it at the Tower's website HERE...

...the Queen and the Duke of Edinburgh have been to visit....(photo courtesy of the Evening Standard)

.....people have been adding their own small tributes to their relatives who served in the War to the railings....

....the Tower is open to visitors as usual during the display...but we did not have time to take a full tour...and I did not want to run the risk of the typist being recognised and escorted to a cell...

...you can see the river of poppies better from here....(photo courtesy of the Evening Standard)...can you see them pouring over the wall into the moat at the front of the Tower?...

....here they are doing just that.....

....aren't they beautiful?.....

....and although we did not have much time to spare we did manage to see Tower Bridge.....

...and the Shard, Europe's tallest building, as they were right on the doorstep.....

 
...you can read more about the display and see lots more professional photos of the poppies HERE....there is growing pressure to extend the life of the display.....and I am posting a video here about the making of the poppies themselves...



I hope many of you will have a chance to visit the Tower of London to see the poppies or to enjoy the millions of pictures of them on the web....and that all of you can spare a moment on 11th November to remember the fallen....

Clapton, London Correspondent for the Border terrier Posse....

Wagging tails....

Hello my friends...we are bringing you a special report this week on a new product from Wagg Foods....I do not get anything from Wagg for doing this...its just that Mr Dalton...(Chief of Foods at Wagg HQ) is a good pal of mine...we are very happy to assist....

....the handsome Mr Dalton...Nommer in Chief....

.....you can see from the badge on my blog that Miss Lola and I are official Wagg Reviewers...and proud members of Dalton's Pack!

....we have a bag of Moist Meaty Chunks with Beef.....you can read all about them on Mr Dalton's website  ...http://www.waggfoods.com/products/UK/wagg-moist-meat-chunks-with-beef

...i carefully read the serving suggestions before we started the test....Miss Lola will need from 75g to 200g per day......

....there was also a lot of interesting information on the back of the bag....

...Mr Dalton says that the MMCs contain....

"NO ARTIFICIAL COLOURS OR FLAVOURS
At Wagg we use colours from a mineral source found in nature and we don't add artificial flavours to any of our foods.

JOINT SUPPORT
With Yucca extract, an anti-inflammatory known to help support healthy joints.

DIGESTIVE SUPPORT
Added prebiotic (mannan oligosaccharide) to help support a healthy digestion.

IMMUNE SYSTEM SUPPORT
Enriched with Vitamins A, E and C to help maintain a healthy immune system. 

MOIST MEATY CHUNKS
Chewy Chunks full of protein help to support muscle growth and repair.

HEALTHY SKIN AND SHINY COAT
Balanced levels of omega 6 and 3 fatty acids together with chelated zinc help to promote a healthy supple skin and shiny coat."

....and most importantly i read the nutritional information.....

...its very clear on the bag so that we doggies know what we are getting....

here is the full detail according to Mr Dalton...

Composition

Cereals, Meat and Animal Derivatives (20% meat meal of which 4% beef), Oils and Fats, Various Sugars, Derivatives of Vegetable Origin, Minerals, Citrus Extract (0.18%), MOS (0.1%), Yucca Extract (0.06%).

Additives (Per Kg)

Nutritional Additives (kg): Vitamins: Vitamin A 12,000 iu, Vitamin D3 1200 iu, Vitamin C 200 mg, Vitamin E 90 mg. Trace Elements: Iron lll Ferric Oxide 1000 mg, Zinc Chelate of Amino Acid Hydrate 400 mg, Manganous Oxide 80 mg, Zinc Oxide 55 mg, Cupric Sulphate Pentahydrate 40 mg, Calcium Iodate Anhydrous 3 mg, Sodium Selenite 0.2 mg. Technological Additives: *Colourants, Antioxidant, Preservatives. *Colourants – from a mineral source found in nature.

Analytical Constituents

Moisture 17%, Protein 21%, Fat Content 9%, Crude Fibre 3%, Crude Ash 8.5%, Omega 6, 1.2%, Omega 3, 0.3%.

....Miss Lola eats twice a day and we usually give her one scoop of food each time....

.......i tend to just graze throughout the day.....

....we decided to do some scientific testing of the MMCs......one C does not weigh much!

...and Miss Lola's usual scoop of food is around 40g...so she might need a bit more than that for each meal....

.....we have a very rigorous testing process at BT HQ Labs......

....but no matter what typist asked me I refused to add it to the ingredients for the fruit cake which mum is baking today.....

...of course all products must finally face the ultimate test before receiving the Bt seal of approval....

...nom nom nom......

...Miss Lola whispers the results to me in secret so that there is no leak of vital confidential information ahead of a detailed peer review in the journals....

...but I am delighted to report to Wagg HQ that the MMCs have passed the test with flying colours....

....oh yes...they also do MMCs in chicken flavour....

Woof....Chef Clapton, Phd.....

Farewell to the Colonel....

*sigh*...we had to bid a fond farewell to Colonel Rocky this week....his family are back from their holiday and he was keen to get back to his headquarters to see them....

....Miss Lola will be very sorry to see him go....

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.....although there was some discussion about who would get custody of the regimental tennis ball....

...the Colonel made his views known.....

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The Colonel barks an order....

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......which made Miss Lola get out the "big guns".......(note to self: clip claws tomorrow)

....the Colonel was briefly distracted by squirrel and/or fox manoeuvres in the garden...

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When the Colonel senses squirrels ....

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....but he returned to insist on his tennis ball rights.....

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Let's do this for an hour.....

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.....there was some suspicion that this sustained battle wore the Colonel out....i insisted he have a nap....

.....Miss Lola was feeling quite pleased with herself....

.....until this morning...."Wot mean da Curnell haz gone ome?"....

....come back soon Colonel Rocky....we miss you at BT HQ...*salutes......rolls away regimental red carpet.....lowers flag*......


p.s....the day after the Colonel left, we sent the typist to ride in the Box Hill Sportive....after the race he met 6 times Olympic gold medal winning and 11 times world champion cyclist Sir Chris Hoy....

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It's typist and Sir Chris Hoy!

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...we think he might have been after that medal to add to his collection....BOL....what a nice man....

What Colonel Rocky did next....

Hello friends....as you may have seen from my last post we have had Colonel Rocky at BT HQ for almost tree weeks now...he started off his tour of inspection by making sure operations here were in order and all battalion members were shipshape.....so, it is with great relief, that I am able to say that there has been a more relaxed feeling to HQ since we passed our initial inspection....

.....he has found some time for sun-puddling....

...yes, that's right Miss Lola...the Colonel has declared today an RnR day...

.....the grounds of BT HQ have not needed much guarding....we saw off the squirrels, foxes and cats last week....

.....although we have had to post a sentry by the back door....

....the nights have been clear so we have been able to keep watch from the house....no need for night patrols or Fox Watch....

.....the Colonel has been able to sleep soundly.....

.....Ashtead...undisturbed....

....he has, of course, made sure that the barracks have been kept crumb-free....

....and has made the odd circuit of the garden.....softy, softly.....

...Miss Lola has been quite bemused....

....she has even been allowed some lap time.....

....there are no orders for today.....

....some junior officers have even be allowed a lie-in....

....we have had one demonstration of "making the best of meagre resources is the soldiers lot"....

....but generally the Colonel has kept to his office for the duration of the day.....

...stirring only for rations....

.....this high ground was secured for terriers last week....

...and previous occupants have made not attempt to reclaim it....

.....*sigh*.....

...no Miss Lola, no fresh orders for you today.....

I do believe the Colonel has been quite giddy with his achievements....

...he has allowed treats....

 ...although officers have been asked to respect the "6 feet from my chew" rule at all times...

.....but don't let all this fool you...he's been paying close attention...

....and I don't thing he is going to stand for this sort of sloppiness for long.....

.......uh oh.....

.....sheltering in a fox hole for hours on end......

....well, the Colonel has almost finished his tour of duty and will be returning to his Command & Control Centre on Monday....we are very grateful for his time and insights here at BT HQ....

Corporal Clapton, BT HQ Battalion ......woof, sir