Time for this week's bear of the week - except this week it's not one bear, but a whole family of bears - the Berenstain Bears.

Papa Bear, Mama Bear, Sister Bear and Brother Bear live in a cool tree house and have lots of funny adventures - usually involving Papa Bear learning something which he is, in fact, trying to teach (Papa Bear is not too bright, methinks).

The Berenstain bears began as book characters but, like so many famous bears, have made their way on to television screens (hmm, makes me wonder why nobody has made a tv show about moi, Pemberthy Bear). You can learn more about the Berenstain Bears,a nd play games, on their website.

This week's cute site is just the cutest of the cute.

Orsinal is filled with cute characters in cute games. It is so lovely for me to find a site filled with games which don't involve shooting or hunting or violence. Primula loves it too.

My favourite game is bungee bear (click on the bear graphic about half way down) but Sunny Day Sky (first graphic on the page) is lots of fun, involving using an umbrella as a parachute and feeding acorns to duck in the pond (click on the duck in the third row) is lots of fun.

Orsinal is going to be one of my favourites for a long time.

Are you ready for this week's cute site? More animal photos - there just seem to be so many cute shots posted all over the net.

This week's site is called Cute Overload. Lots and lots of cute stuff here, including a cute background. And if you look at the category menu on the right, you might even find some cute bear shots - though not even a little picture of moi! When I said this to Primula she growled. 'It's not all about you, Pemberthy,' she admonished. And was right, as always.

Sigh. Well, enjoy the cute site anyway.

This week's bear of the week is a TV star. WOW! I'm in awe. AND he can play the piano - and I know, from experience, just how hard it is to control a keyboard when you are blessed with paws instead of human fingers.

So,w ho is this bear? Fozzie Bear, of course, of Muppet fame.Fozzie not only plays the piano, he also dances (not so well, but hey, who am I to criticize another bear's dancing skills) and he tells jokes. All the time, which sometimes lands him in trouble.

You can learn more about Fozzie Bear here.

Today’s word of the day is TETCHY.

Tetchy (adjective) – irritable, touchy or sensitive.

It has been so cold of late that I have become a bit tetchy. It is spring here in the southern hemisphere and, by rights, the weather should be warming up. But it still seems cold as cold here in the toyroom, and I am heartily sick of it.

Primula told me that I was a bit tetchy.
‘Am not!’ I told her.
Primula smiled patiently. ‘Yes you are, Pemberthy darling. You’ve growled at everyone this morning. You grunted at me when I said good morning, you told the monkeys to be quiet when they sang you a song, and just now I saw you turn your back on the toy soldiers when they tried to involve you in their game of hopscotch.’
I sighed. Primula was right – as always. I was being tetchy. And more than a tad rude.
Primula took me to the toyroom window and pointed at the view outside. The sun was breaking through the clouds, just a little, and I could see two yellow daffodils blooming in Sally’s garden. Other bulbs are flowering, and there are birds nesting in the tree outside the window.
I smiled. Spring IS here, just not as warmly as I’d like. Soon it will be summer, my favourite time of year. What have I got to be tetchy about?
‘Oh Primula, I’m sorry. I don’t mean to be such a grump. How about a sing along?’
Of course Primula agreed and soon the toyroom was ringing with the sounds of singing. From now on I shall try not to be such a tetchy bear.

Time for another cute site. More cute animals this time - at the Cute Cat Blog. My favourite is the Invisible Guitar Hero photo - my friend Sally's kids (the Murphlets) love Guitar Hero, but I've never seen a cat playing it!

Anyway, enjoy the site.

Bears bears bars! I do so love bears, being one myself.

This week's bear of the week has been filling the hearts of kids (and other bears) since 1926, when A. A. Milne's book, called Winnie the Pooh was published. Other books followed and much further down the track he became a Disney character. I personally prefer the 'old style' pooh to the Disney version, but the Disney one is cute too.

You can learn more about Winnie the Pooh here. this website also has games, wallpapers, links and more.

Enjoy!

Another famous bear for you to learn about - and this one, just like me, is the star of a book. Actually, this week's bear, Paddington has been the star of many books - for fifty years! That's even older than Sally.

Still Paddington might be cute, but I'm not sure he can sing like I can. He hasn't got a friend like Primula to teach him!

Check out Paddington's site.

Time for Pemberthy's cute site of the week. this week it's a site called Snuzzy - subtitled Where Cute and Fuzzy Collide. It's a collection of cute and funny animal pics and videos from around the net.

My favourite is of two cats with their tails crossed as they walks side by side. Awww. Primula likes the ice skating monkeys.

Anyway, plenty of cuteness on display so check it out.

Today’s word is tenebrous. According to dictionary.com, this word means dark and gloomy, as in ‘a tenebrous cave’


I wonder if it could be used to describe me before I met Primula. You see, I used to be a tenebrous bear, until I met Primula. When I fell off the shelf and accidentally found myself joining her for a sing along, my whole life changed – instead of being tenebrous, I was suddenly light and bright, like Primula. I realised life was GOOD.

And it is, still. So don’t be tenebrous.
Be happy!

A new word for you (and me): objurgate.

According to dictionary.com, this refers to the act of scolding or rebuking sharply.

I didn’t know that I was objurgating, but recently two of the toy soldiers were having a disagreement near my shelf. Their arguing woke me up and, I must confess, I got very snarly.

“Go away!” I snapped. “I don’t want to see you here.”

Later, when I’d woken properly, I felt quite bad. Those soldiers were obviously in need of a sympathetic ear. It may have been that I could help with their problem by being a rational third party. So I sought them out and apologised for my brusque words. They accepted my apology and also agreed to settle their differences.

Next time I’m woken, though, I’ll try not to objurgate. Instead, I’ll attempt to figure out what is needed from me, and to act more calmly.

It might surprise you to hear that I'm not the only famous bear on the planet.

So, to liven my blog up a little, and to share the love, I thought I might introduce my readers to other famous bears.

First up (drumroll please, Primula), this week's bear of the week is -

HUMPHREY. (Sorry for shouting but I'm excited, because Humphrey is a bit of a legend. He's been entertaining kids all over Australia for years and years. My friend Sally says he was even around when she was a kid - and that's a long time ago.

If you visit Humphrey's site you can see what he looks like and play games of all kinds.

Yay Humphrey.

Today’s word of the day at Dictionary.com is beneficence – the practice of doing good, or an act of charity. So, I figured having learnt a new word, I’d try putting that word into action. So, to show some beneficence. Hmm. I looked around the toyroom. Toys were playing, toys were snoozing, toys were chatting. Who could benefit from my beneficence?

Then I saw Primula, the most giving and caring of all the toys. Giving and caring and sharing are what she’s all about – so perhaps it was her turn to be on the receiving end. I raced over to a group of stuffies (stuffed animals for those of you not in the know) and whispered my suggestion. Then we crept across the toyroom to where Primula was busy tidying a shelf.

‘Ahem, Primula,’ I said. ‘We have something for you.’
“For me?” Primula was surprised.
‘Yes. You are always so busy helping us that we want to do something for you.’ I turned to the other toys. ‘Now one, two three.’

And what do you think we did? We launched into a song. One of Primula’s favourites – Don’t Worry, Be Happy.

Soon, Primula was joining in, which was lovely, but still, I think she most enjoyed hearing all of us sing for her, and she certainly ahs had an extra spring in her step ever since.

Beneficence. When was the last time you tried it?

It's no secret that I love words. I like to write and create, and I also love learning new words.
So, I was very excited when I found an online word game called Word Sandwich. This is an apparently simple game, but harder than it looks. You need to guess a randomly chosen five letter word, by entering words of your own. The game will tell you if your word is higher or lower alphabetically than the answer. You need to then refine your guess until you get the answer.

My best score so far is 6539, but I'm hoping to better that - if Primula lets me. She says word games are a good learning tool, but that I mustn't play them for too long or I'll have sore paws and sore eyes and no friends. She's a wise doll, Primula. I try to listen to her - but I do so like Word Sandwich. Maybe just one more game wouldn't hurt?

See ya.