Wednesday Cathedral Whinnies!

Violette: Pretty Neighs, Everyone! As Vidock mentioned on Monday, we had a very exciting day on Sunday. In fact, it was so very exciting that we will cover it over two different posts this week and next. I will start this week with our late morning activities. You see, we were invited to be part of a Percheron honour guard at the exit of the great mass of the wine-growers at Chartres Cathedral. For those of you who might not be familiar with it, Chartres Cathedral is a UNESCO World Heritage Site and is considered to be one of the most spectacular Gothic cathedrals in Europe. It is particularly well-known for its stained glass windows.

Vidock was ridden by Uncle E and I was ridden by Mr. JPD who worked with me last spring and is now working with Vidock. #1 says we both looked totally outstanding, so here are some photos for you. First, the cathedral itself:

The two of us:

 

Vidock facing the cathedral:

 

The rest of us were on both sides of the great doors:

 

There was a big procession of all the food-related guilds: 

 

And then, the most amazing thing happened! The Bishop of Chartres came out in his white robes and as he went by, he stopped in front of only one horse and stretched out his hand. It was ME!!!!

I felt truly blessed!

As for Vidock, he was mobbed!

We took a souvenir photo with all the horses:

 

And then, we headed back.

 

 

Dear Friends, it was a truly amazing experience!

Tama-Chan Tuesday

Tama-Chan: Quite honestly, Dear Friends, I do wonder whether I should even be doing a post today, but I do not want to leave you high and dry, and so I am imagining whether this one photo of me will give you the strength to soldier on until my next TTT post. I do hope so!

Manly Monday

Vidock: Studly Neighs, EveryFriend. I am kicking off this post again because , as you know, #1 has not been taking many photos of the Gang of late, but she has been taking lots of me! I had the most amazing adventure yesterday (as did Violette) and I will let you know more about it on Wednesday whinnies, but here is a little taster:

Here I am...

 

And this is what I was facing:

 

It was totally awesome, and there was a lot more awesomeness besides that, so please come back on Wednesday to read all about it!

Tomaso: I had such a great time with Sofia. Sadly, she has now returned to Italy. But before she left, her Mum gave me a bit of a groom:

 

Da Beebs: BEHOLD!

 

Da Genj: And me, And ME!!!

 

The Traveller: Ssssssshhhhhhht... I'm hunting!

 

We would like to say a big THANK YOU to all those who have continued to leave nice comments even though we have been so bad about commenting ourselves. We really appreciate it!

Scant Snuggles on Sunday

Tama-Chan: I think you have the idea, don't you? The madness has been such that #1's indoor photo-taking has been very scant indeed this past week. So, this week's SoS post is very curtailed.

We do have this one of Tomaso getting mega-cuddles from Sofia's Mum:

And here is Da Genj snuggling with #1:

 

Tommy and Da Beebs:

 

The Big V getting a cuddle from Uncle E:

 

And Sofia's Mum took this nice photo of #1 snuggling with Violette just after her bath:

And that's all, folks! Happy Snuggling!

Simply SEIturday

Sei-Chan: #1 is going through another period of total madness. She says it will be over next Friday and then, life will be slower and gentler. We will believe that when we see it. In the interim, she leaves early, comes back late, and is shattered when she gets home, although she does remember to feed us and clean out litterboxes (and feed The Traveller and the birds!).

So, did that set the scene for the paltry photo situation this week?

 

 

 

Well, at least there was a pink toe close-up, right?

Vidock Vendredi!

Vidock: Studly Neighs, EveryFriend! I had a really fun day yesterday. You see, one of our visitors from Italy (Sofia's Mum) is Simonetta Ferrarin, a famous Italian rider who does dressage and shows with her black Percheron stallion. Yesterday, she rode me for the first time and she said she really enjoyed it, and that I was a really good boy!

Let me share some potos with you:

We started out slowly...

 

A little light trot...

 

I was with a Lusitanian horse being ridden by my teacher, Mr. JPD. I was a very serious student whereas he was fooling around...

 

And then we picked up the pace!

 

Can you see how big her smile was?

 

 And after all that serious work, I decided to give a 10-year old girl who was visiting a big treat and asked her if she would like to ride me. As you can imagine, she had never been on a horse my size before.

 

Before I sign off, I must tell you that Violette and I are going to be doing some extra cool stuff on Sunday, and we really look forward to telling/showing you all about it next week!

Terrific Tommy Thursday!

Tomaso: She's here! They arrived as scheduled late morning yesterday!

We were so happy to see one another!

So many kisses!

 

And in the aftermoon, we went to visit another girlfriend of mine, Gypsy!

 

In the car, Ms. So had fun putting sunglasses on us, and even a hat on me!

 

Oh, and Sofia brought me a beautiful new collar and lead, and some gourmet cookies. I am such a lucky boy!

PS: #1 is going to be crazy busy through next Tuesday so our commenting is going to be patchy. Sorry!

 

Waiting Wednesday

Da Beebs: We are waiting for our guests to arrive late morning today. We are all very excited, most especially Tommy who can't wait to see Sofia. In the interim, Da Genj and I helped #1 with getting the bed ready for them:

 

Tama-Chan Tuesday

Tama-Chan: I can't believe that it's Tuesday again, and time for my special "me" post!

Now, let me see... You do know, of course that that Beebsy boy is my son, and that my relationship with him is a little strained? I have never been able to figure out why he didn't leave with the others after I weaned them. But does he love that #1 of his! The greatest love story ever! Anyway. Here he is coming over for a little chat the other day:

 

I gave him the hairy eyeball and he didn't bother me for long...

 

#1 sometimes tells me that he is so needy because I am not very nice to him. Ha! I would rather be basking in sunpuddles!

 

Or helping #1 with her work whilst enjoying a catnip toy!

 

I am also very good at helping with the ironing:

 

I am Tama, The Queen!