Home Sweet Home

What a stroke of luck! Just as we were starting to despair of ever finding a suitable home for Dippy, we came across an enormous empty tent. It's just the right size for Dippy, and he can curl himself up with his nose under his tail (that's how dinosaurs sleep apparently).

The tent is right in middle of the Village Green and somebody said something about the Village Fete taking place in a "marquee" - but this is just a big tent, so I'm sure it'll be fine.

At last, I can stop worrying about getting into trouble with people about where my large chums are living. First Kevin the Chicken and then Dippy - it's been a very exhausting few days. I'm off for a nap now.

A subtle ruse

I don't know if you have ever seen a donkey frown, but it's a rather worrying sight, I can tell you! It's the nearest a donkey really gets to losing his temper, but we got the message - we have to move Dippy out of the Donkey's stable as soon as we can. Remembering that Dippy said he's a Veggiesaurus, we decided that the first stage in our master plan should be to lure him out. So with the somewhat grudging agreement of the Donkeys, we laid a trail of carrots and other vegetables away from the stable. Sure enough, after a little uncertainty, Dippy started to follow us. Soon we and our large prehistoric chum were well away from the Sanctuary, and the Donkeys were able to resume their proper place. Unfortunately, this is where the flaw in our master plan became apparent - there is no part two. Now we have got to have another brainwave for somewhere to lure him to!

Safe and Sound

Finally we managed to find out of the jungle! Of all the unlikely things to happen, it was a brainwave from Kevin (who says I'm a bird brain) the Chicken that saved the day! We couldn't see anything from our height because of the undergrowth, and though Dippy had a perfect view, he didn't actually know what we were looking for. Kevin came up with idea of trotting up Dippy's long neck so that he could see the way. Rather him than me, as it's a long way down, but Dippy was very careful and gentle with him. Pretty soon, Kevin was able to guide us back to the Sylvanian village.

When we got there, we soon had another problem. Dippy announced that he was rather tired and that he would like to have a sleep in "that nice little house". We all looked at each other in consternation - who's house could he mean? I don't think any of the grown ups would be too keen to find a Dinosaur sleeping in their bed! We soon found out, though - it was the Donkey's stable that he meant - he's obviously had his eye on it for a while. Well, he sort of backed into the stable but it's really nowhere near big enough and his head and neck stick right out. What's more, we have no got a large number of grumpy donkeys to contend with. Blimey, a pup's life is never simple!

Out in the big wide world

Today we decided that we had better solve the mystery of the strange face we saw in the background of my photograph of Kevin in the Donkey Sanctuary. We searched around the stables, but couldn't see anything, so we decided it would have to be a full Expedition. I was to be expedition leader with Bucky as Assistant Leader and Expeditionary Beaver. Kevin insisted on coming along as Expeditionary Chicken even though me and Bucky are almost sure there's no such thing. We set off into the countryside, and after a while the undergrowth started getting longer and longer. Unfortunately, at this point, Kevin decided he was tired, and demanded a ride in the barrow. We trundled him along for what seemed like hours, with no sign of our mysterious visitor, but always with the strangest feeling that we were being watched.

After a particularly bumpy bit, Kevin complained about ending up with scrambled eggs (I don't know what that means - surely only girl chickens have eggs?) so we stopped to have a rest. And that is when we saw him! Right behind us was the most enormous green creature that any of us has ever seen! At first we were all a bit frightened , but he introduced himself, saying his name is Dippy, and when he assured us that he is definitely a Veggiesaurus, and is not fond of eating small animals, we all calmed down and became friends. He's a very interesting chap, but I'm still not entirely clear on where he's come from. He just talks about something called an "anomaly", which I suppose is Dino-speak for something or other.

Anyway, now we have got just one problem. We've walked for miles and the undergrowth is now so high and thick that I can't see how to get home. I hope someone has a bright idea soon!

A problem solved and a mystery started

We have managed to find a place where Kevin the chick doesn't intimidate everyone by towering over them. I suddenly remembered the donkey sanctuary. All the donkeys are much larger than Kevin, and they are so patient and even tempered that they don't even mind when he climbs up onto their backs "for a better view". there's plenty of straw inside the stable for Kevin to make little nests in, and I'm hopeful that he will settle in really well with them. Burnham (he's the donkey inside the stable looking out) seems to have become quite fond of him already. he offered Kevin a share of his carrot. That was very generous , but I have to say that Burnham looked very relieved when Kevin told him that chicks eat seed and don't really like carrots.

So everything seemed to have been sorted out really well, and I took a picture of them all together. the strange thing was, when I got home and printed out the picture, I noticed something very odd behind the stable that I hadn't noticed when we were there. What on earth could it be? Whoever, or whatever it is, it must be very large!

A Sizeable Problem

You remember that I mentioned that of the baby chicks seemed to be growing faster than his brothers and sisters? Well just look at the size of Kevin now!

He's absolutely flippin' enormous! He is nearly as tall as me already and he's developed an alarming tendency to puff his chest out, tip his head back and go "cock-a-doodle-do". Well, at least that's what I think he's trying to do. It comes out more like "Cheep-a-squeakle-do", but I'm pretty sure he's trying to establish himself as the cockerel in chief. Anyway, he is creating a bit of a problem - he's already far too big to fit in through the door of the hen-house, and when he tries to stand on the roof, it looks very wobbly. We're going to have to think of somewhere else for him to live. Somewhere that doesn't mind noisy neighbours!