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Me And Me

/ Miki de Goodaboom / Leave a comment

By Truffle McFurry

(Illustration by Miki de Goodaboom)

Hallo everybody!

My Mom and me are very busy writing and painting our two books, it is a huge work! I think it will take ages until we are finished.

One of the books is about our Tour de Yorkshire with our reporter Ann La Mar. I am not allowed to tell you many details, but I can show you the images of the book which have to do with the Teddy Bears or other furry creatures we met.

But today, it is just about me and me. Ann la Mar loves me very much, and has me on her screen on her new iPhone. Miki sent her the photo of me posing as a professional footballer for the Europa Championship, some months ago. She loved it so much that she is looking at it all the time on her phone.

On the painting, I am sitting in a lovely Cafe in Whitby, on the English coast, with Ann La Mar’s phone. More about it in the book.

Be patient!

Take care, love you all

Truffle McFurry

whitby-truffle-and-iphone-s

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Dingle

/ Miki de Goodaboom / 1 Comment

By Truffle McFurry and Mahé The Free

(Illustration by Miki de Goodaboom)

Hallo Everybody, Truffle writing here, with great news front the front!

While I was on a painting and football trip in Portugal with my parents, our new reporter at “Go Teddy!”, Mahé The Free, from France, was herself on a mission in Ireland. In the town of Dingle she met an Irish beautiful girl bear. They spoke a lot with each other and Mahé told her about me, and showed her images of me. Dingle was so excited that she said:

“I want to go and live with Truffle on Planet Goodaboom!”

So Mahé took her back to France, and from there sent her to us. She arrived 2 days ago. We were not expecting her so soon, it was such a wonderful surprise!

As she saw me, she got so excited that she hugged me all the time, and kissed me, and did not sop saying “Oh Truffle, oh my little Truffle!”. She has got a very lovely girly voice, and a funny Irish accent. She is a bit smaller than me, and very cute, and wears a beautiful green dress and a green bow on her head. She has got such a lovely little face!

I was a bit embarrassed though, with all these cuddles and hugs and admiration, and also it was very hot! But Dingle didn’t care, she kept hugging me and cuddling me the whole day. Then Miki put us in front of the air con and everything was ok.

At some point she noticed that I was wearing a football T-Shirt and she asked me if I loved footie, and I said yes, of course, and she told me that she loves it too. And we came into a deep discussion because she even knew some of my heroes, the Rams, who play for the national team of Ireland: Jeff Hendrick,  Richard Keogh and Cyrus Christie! It was so wonderful, I had never thought that such a fine elegant girl could know so much about football!

Yesterday Mahé sent us an email to tell us about Dingle’s departure from France.

“… I had installed Dingle comfortably in a shoebox, not very wide,  with much bubble wrap and I had made loads of small holes on the top of the box so that she could breathe all along her journey! I had closed laterally and in the middle and write your address in the half lower part of the shoe box.

I arrived at the post office and gave my pretty box to the postmistress. I know her well. She looked at me and asked gently:

“What is in there?”

I said the truth:

“A little Teddy bear”.

And here she told me:
“I do not advise you to make her leave like that, in a box with all these holes! Customs will open the box and think that it is about illegal animal traffic, something like that! In any case, they will open it!”
So I got Dingle out of her beautiful travel box travel and put her it into the  thick mailing envelope. I got a real pinch in the heart, I was afraid that she chokes!
I saw the look of people who lined up… one can imagine

 

I was really looking forward to hear that she has well-arrived. She is so endearing, so fragile! Truffle’s shoulders will surely protect her.  I wish them both much  happiness! 😘😵😘
.. .and please, take car that nobody hurts her, I do not trust guys!

 

Big kisses, tell her that I love her and please give me some news from time to time..  and tell her that her friends send kisses and hugs.
Mahé”
Isn’t it a an amazing story? I love it!
See you again soon, I hope, with other exciting news from The Teddy Bear World!
Dingle And Truffle McFurry S

Heather For The Ones We Love

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By Miki de Goodaboom

(based on a photograph by “Go Teddy!”‘s reporter Ann La Mar)

Yesterday Ann La Mar went on a walk through her beautiful North Yorkshire Moor and picked up some heather for Truffle McFurry and me. She knows how much I love the heather, and as far as I remember, I have never seen some “live”.

Then she went home and had three of her lovely Teddy Bears sending the heather to Truffle and me. From right to left they are:

Marlon, Fluffle & Travis

What a heart-warming gesture!

I have already introduced you to Marlon, – his full name being Marlon Blanco-, from Spain but living with Ann in the UK now. I have painted him at different occasions, last time being at the Tour de Yorkshire.

But it is the first time I have painted Travis… he has a touching story, told by Ann:

“… He is small and cute his little patches are made of something like rain coat material and were going all hard and crinkly in Spain so I brought him back they feel better now.
A little back ground on Travis…..I went to my dentist one day and was sitting in the waiting area and in the corner of the room was an open box all I could see was two dark eyes staring at me. I went to look and there was a little bear starring at me with several others. My name was called so I went for my check up and came back to pay. I looked round and this little bear was still looking at me…..I had to have him…the receptionist said they were being sold for a local charity so that was it I bought him. In the back ground was music it was ‘why does it always rain on me! By Travis…..outside it was raining so he became Travis…..”

Travis is immensely lucky to have been adopted by Ann!

As for Fluffle, the big fluffy one in the middle, I will paint him again one day, and tell you his story then.

For now Truffle and me just want to add:

THANK YOU SO MUCH, ANN, MARLON, TRAVIS & FLUFFLE!

Heather For The Ones We Love S

 

The Bears From The Yorkshire Moor 05

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By Truffle McFurry

(Illustration by Miki de Goodaboom  based on a photograph by “Go Teddy!” s reporter Ann La Mar)

Hallo everybody, it’s me, Truffle, writing again about the Teddy Bears from The Yorkshire Moor!

Now, I have never seen in my life such sad Teddy Bears!!! It breaks my heart only looking at them.

I don’t know exactly why they are so sad. If I had been there I would have asked them. But it is Ann La Mar who sent me the photo, and I think she forgot to ask them. Well, I think they are so sad because they are stuck in a suitcase. I don’t know why so many people put Teddy Bears in suit cases to sell them. Oh yes, it kind of looks cute, with their heads popping out of the suitcases, and normally the suitcases are beautiful, but have these people ever thought how we Teddy Bears feel about it? It is like when you put people in a drawer… you know, people don’t like that either!

Well, these two they do look as if they need to be rescued. I hope they will soon find their adoptive house! Who ever you are out there, please write to me if you have adopted one of them. And how you have called him. I say “him”, but I am not sure they are boys. The one on the right is perhaps a girl. I will tell you something which I am a bit ashamed of: I don’t know how to recognise if a Teddy Bear is a boy or a girl when he/she does not wear clothes! I know that by human, it is almost the contrary: you can recognise it better when they are naked!

My Mom Miki puts a bit of heather in the background, to make the painting look happier… she so much loves all that heathering stuff!

The Bears From The Moor 05 S

Truffle McFurry And His Girlfriend From Portugal

/ Miki de Goodaboom / 1 Comment

By Truffle McFurry

Hello everybody, are you ok?

We have come back from the Algarve in Portugal, we had a beautiful trip in our new car “Hey Juke”, and we saw many lovely things, and even our footie heroes “The Rams”, and Miki did many paintings.

And I fell in love!

There was this doll in our flat, she had such amazing blond hair, and that lovely face with the bright blue eyes and the  cute red mouth… Miki had told me to be more careful with girls, after I had my heart broken by an island princess in Tenerife some years ago. And I was very careful, I never fell in love again. But this time, I could not resist, it took me by surprise, it happened in the same moment as she looked at me with her bright blue eyes.

Her name was Veronica. She was so nice to cuddle!

Now we are separated again, but we have promised to be friends for life, and to write to each other. I still haven’t done though, I was too busy with other stuff on Planet Goodaboom. She hasn’t written either, she must be busy too… I am not sure if I should be worried…

What I am really worried about is the colour of my fur. Normally I don’t go in the sun, Miki does not allow it, saying it is bad for me. But in Portugal we had to be in the sun, it was everywhere, we could not escape it, and now my fur is lighter at some places. I don’t understand: Miki is the contrary, after the sun, she is darker in some places. She says she will soon be white again, but she says too, that my fur will stay like that, with these lighter pieces. She says, we will call them “highlights”, it is very modern and fashionable and girls like it. But I am not sure if Miki says it to please me… on the other side, Veronica did love me exactly how I was… I wonder if I should dye my fur now… it does look so weird! But I think Miki would not let me… she is scared that I am allergic to the chemical stuff… she is always scared for me! I guess, it is because she loves me so much…  🙂

The Girlfriend From The Algarve S

 

The Oxfam Camel And Teddy Bears

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By Miki De Goodaboom

(Illustration based on a photograph by “Go Teddy!”‘s reporter Kev Le Chat)

It is wonderful to have these reporters, such as Ann La Mar and Kev le Chat, so dedicated and committed to our cause in “Go Teddy!”. Every time they sent me some Teddy photos, it is an immense joy for Truffle McFurry and for me. We love so much to see all these bears from around the world!

Kev le Chat who often goes to charity shops, mostly in search of books, has noticed that there are great motifs for “Go Teddy!” there. And this is true. Most of the time, the bears and other soft animals he sees in these places are quite old, and look so different from all the modern Teddy Bears. Having started very late (only 3 years ago) to be interested in Teddy Bears, it is a whole new fascinating world opening to me. I really do not know how Teddy bears looked like in earlier days…

When I see these Bears from earlier times, I feel that they carry many stories with them. You can feel that they have been cuddled many times, that they have comforted many children (and adults like me probably), and that they have listened to many secrets. They are so touching!

And it is so interesting to see how different they look like and feel. They are less sophisticated than the modern ones, and made out of different material. Material that last forever, I guess. I was amazed as I had once in my hands Benjamin, Truffle’s oldest cousin. He felt so unusual, it was because of the stuffing. I think it was made of real straw. And there was the other one – I don’t remember which one it was,- he was so heavy, I think he was full of lead pearls!

Here is a wonderful motif coming from OXFAM, in Derby I think. A camel and his Teddy Bear mates… judging by the looks, from many different eras!

The Oxfam Camel And Teddy Bears S

Dory The Fish And The Teddy Bear

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By Kev Le Chat

(Illustration based on a photograph by “Go Teddy!”‘s reporter Kev Le Chat)

 

“Mmm….” thought Dory, ” I’m going to swim, swim, swim down to the
bottom of the ocean today”

Halfway down, she wondered what she was doing there, and very nearly turned
around and headed back up where the shafts of sunlight pierced the deep blue like tiny daggers…

….but something had caught her fishy eye down in the depths…a small figure..
It seemed to be waving at her…

So she swam and swam, and the small figure came into focus..it wasn’t really waving,
It was the gentle currents on the ocean floor making its arm move to and fro.

She got a little bit excited then, it was orange and white striped, was it her friend Nemo??

No! She swam closer and saw that it was a Teddy bear wearing an orange and white striped hoodie – which made him look just like her friend! Now, Dory didn’t really know what a teddy bear was, and even if you told her, she would forget almost immediately, but she DID think it was cute!

She swam alongside his soggy fur, and he gurgled “I can’t really drown, but I would really like to get back to the surface and let the sunshine dry my fur”

“Okay!” Said Dory, “I can do that! let’s swim, swim swim together!”
So Dory helped the teddy off the ocean floor and they headed for the surface where the sunshine sparkled like diamonds.
“What do you want?” Asked Dory suddenly when they were halfway there.
“Err…” Said the confused bear. He didn’t realise fish had short memories, and Dory’s was shorter than most. But as it transpired, Dory even forgot that she’d forgotten who he was and continued to swim to the surface. Eventually, they emerged into the sunlight, Dory splashing and jumping in and out of the waves.

She nudged the little soggy bear to a nearby beach, and they spent many happy days with Dory playing in the surf and teddy sunbathing and diving in and out of the ocean.

Surely there has never been a more unlikely pair of friends, or indeed a happier one!

 

Dory The Fish And Her Teddy Bear S.jpg

My Teddy And Me 05

/ Miki de Goodaboom / 2 Comments

By Miki de Goodaboom

(Illustration based on a photograph by “Auntie Nelle”, from France)

I have recently started a series of paintings featuring children in emotional and intimate connection with their Teddy Bears.

Here is a new one: a little French boy sleeping between his big bear “Caramel” and his fish “Merlu”. As I saw the photograph so kindly sent to me by his mother Nelle, I was so much under the charm. I did feel how soothing the bear and the fish were for the little boy. They looked like as if they were building a nest around him, protecting him from the whole world and allowing him to have a peaceful sleep. … simply wonderful!

 

My Teddy And Me 05 S

The Bears From The Yorkshire Moor 02

/ Miki de Goodaboom / 1 Comment

By Miki de Goodaboom

(Illustration based on a photograph by “Go Teddy!” s reporter Ann La Mar)

 

My Teddy Bear Truffle McFurry presented recently the first group portrait of The Bears from the Yorkshire Moor. But there are so many of them that I had to do another painting featuring them.

Truffle is following the Brexit referendum, so he hasn’t got any time to write right now. His Dad is in the UK at the moment, and Truf’ is very scared that he wont ever see his Dad again if they vote for Brexit. I have found no way to calm him down.

Ann La Mar, one of our star reporters at “Go Teddy!” sent us some wonderful photographs from the Moor Teddy Bears. They are so interesting, so different from all the Teddies I know. I love to pain them. Truffle was very upset about the one with the red label showing a 25% discount. He asked:

“How can they put a discount on a Teddy bear? This is not a farm animal market!”

I have to admit, that bear looks very sad. And I understand Truffle’s logic. I answered:

“You know, Truffy, when they sell him cheaper, he will find very fast a lovely family who adopts him!”

But Truffle was not convinced:

“Then it will be a family with not much money, and money is important!”

Oh here we are, I thought, that philosophical discussion about money again.

“Yes, Truffy, money it is important. But Love is more important!”

But my Truffle is not daft. One can’t fool him him so easily. He said

“One can have much money and much love as well! Look, if we had no money at all, we could not go to the bear picnic in England this summer and we would not meet Auntie Ann, and ClaireBear, and Georgia, and Pedro, and all these wonderful Teddies from the Moor! This would be awful!”

I gave up. There is no sense in discussing with a clever Teddy Bear, you will always be wrong!

The Bears From The Moor 02 S

 

My Teddy And Me 04

/ Miki de Goodaboom / 1 Comment

By Miki de Goodaboom

I had a very happy childhood, great parents, great brothers, great cousins,  great friends, great places where we lived, great holidays every year… and yet, looking backwards, I think there are two things I haven’t had which are important in the life of a child:

  1.  A Teddy Bear (of course!)
  2. Somebody reading me stories before sleeping.

Now, I don’t know why I had none of them. The Teddy, I guess, is because in France, at least in those days, they rather gave dolls to girls, and bears to boys… and I hated dolls!

As for the story telling, I have no idea why not. Fact is that even now, in my “old age” of 61, I adore it when my partner tells me a story before sleeping. It has a deep soothing effect on me and I do fall asleep fast immediately then… me who has normally such difficulties to fall asleep because my brain does not want to rest. Of course, it is a bit frustrating: I never hear the end of the stories!

I did this new painting of the the series “My Teddy And Me” with this in mind… how cool would it have been (and still would be!) to have a bear who reads stories to me before sleeping! Wondering if I should teach my beloved Truffle McFurry to read?…

My Teddy And Me 04 S