Groeten uit Amsterdam!

That means ‘Greetings from Amsterdam’ in Dutch – I’ve been practicing all day!

I’ve been having lots more fun here in Amsterdam. Anna and I have been for more trips round the city. We found a big shop full of cheese! The cheeses were huuuuge and in big round wheels, orange and yellow and very heavy.

 I asked Anna who made the cheese, and she took me to a lush green field to meet the cows. They were munching grass and saying MOO a lot. I wanted to ask them whether they were saying MOO in Dutch but one of them gave me a funny look so I thought I’d better not.

Guess what we had for tea that afternoon!

The next day Anna said she had arranged a surprise trip for me. We cycled alongside the canals again, stopping to look at all the different boats on the way.

We reached a beautiful big boat and Anna said we were going to go for a ride on it! I was so excited as we climbed down the steps and into the boat. The Captain started up the engine and we floated along the canal, passing ducks and swans and lots of little boats. I was a bit scared of pirates but Anna assured me there weren’t any. I climbed onto the bows so that I could have the best view in all directions. We chugged all around the city and it looked even more special from the water.

Today is my last day in Amsterdam. Anna said she had found a shop where I could get the perfect souvenir to take home with me. It was full of funny wooden shoes called clogs! There were great big ones which looked like they’d been made for giants, and others which were nearer to my size. Anna explained that people in the Netherlands used to wear clogs hundreds of years ago, but that now they were more for fun – and for clog dancing! They all had different patterns painted on them and I spent ages choosing a big pair to take home with me. I settled on this one because it had a windmill painted on it, which will remind me of my most exciting day here!

Anna helped me pack it into my suitcase, and soon she’s going to take me to the airport. I’m sad my holiday’s about to end but I can’t wait to tell Sarah and Percy all about my adventures!

With clogs and spots

Dottie 

Hello from Amsterdam

Today we went to see an enormous windmill, with its sails slow………ly turning in the wind. I went right up to it to see how it worked………..

I think I got a bit too close though!!!

With love and spots

Dottie

Woo Hoo........ I'm here

I’m writing to you from my holiday abroad – in Amsterdam in the Netherlands! I’m staying with my friend Anna and having a wonderful time. I flew here a few days ago in an enormous plane. I was a bit nervous at first and the plane felt really fast as it was taking off, but once we were up in the air I loved it. I spent most of the journey looking out of the window and feeling like a bird! We soon arrived in Amsterdam and Anna was waiting in the airport to meet me.

 Anna took me for a cycle ride through Amsterdam in the basket of her bike. Amsterdam is very different from home – the buildings are all old and funny looking and very tall. Some of them were even leaning over!

There are also lots and lots of canals, which are a bit like roads made of water. Anna explained that in the olden days lots of ships from all over the world came to Amsterdam, and the canals were built to transport all the things the ships brought.

After a while we arrived at Anna’s apartment. Anna lives right at the top of one of the tall buildings and we had to climb a really long staircase to get to there – can you see me peeping out? There’s a lovely view from the top which made it well worth climbing all those stairs!

The next day we went for another cycle ride around the city. Lots of other people were cycling too – you wouldn’t believe how many bikes there are in Amsterdam, more than a whole bike shop! Hundreds and hundreds of them, parked everywhere and more being ridden through the streets.

 I was glad Anna hadn’t left her bike here – I wasn’t sure we’d have been able to find it again!

We cycled past more canals and looked at all the old buildings and churches. We whizzed along the streets, waving to all the other people on their bikes. I loved the wind flying through my fur, and Anna laughed because my ears were flapping about!

Then Anna took me on a trip just outside Amsterdam, where we saw fields and fields of tulips. They were red and yellow and white, and so beautiful. Anna said that the Netherlands was very famous for growing tulips and that they were sold all over the world. She even sang me a song about them!

That night I dreamt that I was as small as a fairy and could fly amongst the flowers...

I’m still in Amsterdam and will write to you soon to tell you what else I get up to here!

With tulips and spots

Dottie

My first passport

Guess what – I am going to go on holiday! I have been invited to stay with a friend in another country. I can’t wait!

To go abroad I needed to get a passport, so I went to the passport booth to get my photo taken to go in it. I had to sit on a little seat and be very very still and not smile or move at all. Just trying to do that made me giggle! I tried waggling my ears to see whether anyone would notice, but just then the machine took my photo so they came out all blurry. I pressed the button to take another one and stayed really still this time. The machine printed out four copies of my photo all looking just the same. I started to wonder if they were all me or whether I was back with some of my litter-mates!

Then I had to fill in a big big form and send it off to apply for my passport. I kept running to the post to see if it had come and eventually it did!

So now I have my very own shiny passport with ‘Dottie the Dalmatian’ written in it in big letters, and my photo as well to prove it’s really mine. I am spending every day dreaming about my holiday – I am going very soon now!

I will be going on a plane to get there – I wonder whether I will be able to see forever...

With daydreams and spots

Dottie 

Love is in the air..............

 

Happy Valentine’s Day to all my friends, human and furry!

Colouring Competition

I’ve been doing some colouring today. I got out my pens and coloured and coloured and coloured. I had great fun, particularly because lots of the pictures were of my favourite dog!

Then I had a big idea. I thought I’d have my very own colouring competition – with prizes! I’ve sent all my friends several colouring sheets of Dalmatians from the Disney film.  My friend Kate Dee is helping me collect all the entries together and if you want to take part you should send her your sheets before the 5^th March. If you need some help then that’s fine.

There’s a small prize for everyone who enters and I will pick a winner at random who will win Disney’s 101 Dalmatians II – Patch’s London Adventure on DVD! So go colour crazy – I can’t wait to see your pictures!

With crayons and spots

 

Dottie

Snow Day

When I woke up this morning I thought the whole world had been magically covered in icing sugar overnight! It looked so pretty all over the ground and the trees and the houses. I was just thinking I should try a spoonful when I realised it had snowed, just like on lots of my Christmas cards! I couldn’t wait to get out and play in it. I bolted down my breakfast and got dressed up in my warm scarf, cardigan and wellingtons, and then ran outside!

 All my friends had come out to play too, and one of them had a sledge, so we all set off to a nearby hill. We dragged the sledge to the top and then we climbed on and slid all the way to the bottom! The sledge went faster and faster and faster and we all went ‘WHEEEEEE’ as it went down, until it hit a pile of snow at the bottom of the hill and we were all thrown out into a big giggling pile!

Since we were covered in snow anyway we decided to make snow angels. I lay on my back and moved my arms and legs up and down and got even more snow on me! I licked a bit just to see if it tasted like icing sugar but it didn’t really. Then I stood up and saw a perfect angel imprinted in the snow. It was so much fun that I lay down to make another one! By the time we’d all finished there were dozens of angels across the snow!

 We pulled the sledge back home and then set about building a snowdog on my front lawn. We got our spades out and shovelled snow into a pile, then made the head to go on top, with ears sticking up just like mine! It had to have a carrot for its nose too so that it was a proper snowdog.

 We were quite tired by then so we all went inside for some hot chocolate. I was going to offer the snowdog some but decided it would be better off staying cold!

With snowflakes and spots,

Dottie