Olympic Rings at my Tower Bridge

There was an astonishing sight on the river near my bridge yesterday, a tug boat was towing a platform with thingy's George called 'Olympic rings' on it, it kept on going around in circles. I think they were waiting for the bridge to raise, it was taking it's time, so maybe there was something wrong in the engine room of the bridge...I'll have to find out, I expect to be informed of these things though.

But what was the boat with the rings about? It's all part of the publicity for these international Olympic games coming to London in the summer, watching humans run on TV I really think Britain would get all the medals for the races if they let us dogs do the job....I can run way faster than any human!

Some of the Beefeaters where there too, they were being told by a bossy man what to do and he made then wave to this boat...'more briskly....faster'! he said, I think those ex-Sergeant Majors the Beefeaters were secretly very pissed off at this, they don't usually have to take orders of anybody, he even managed to make George stand back...now I'm really disappointed. Maybe that's why George made a video of them doing the 'Windsor wave'...I thought he was talking about a boat at first. Confusing, but I've put the video on here...it's so funny!

Gargoyles on Tower Bridge

The 'Spooks' on my bridge are Gargoyles you'll find on the lower arches at either end, not the tall central towers. Scary they look too, winged monsters that are there to frighten off evil spirits, not that they are needed since I took over though.

I know why they are really there, the whole bridge is Gothic looking so it harmonises with the nearby Tower of London, I wish they would think like that these days...they put a glass ticket office on the bridge, and in 1977 they painted the black/brown metal work red, white and blue for the Queens silver jubilee, and now they have done it again for her Diamond jubilee. At some point I'm going to have it restored to the original black/brown coat of paint!

Anyway, back to these spooky gargoyles. George has tried to spoof me with BS, he says they fly away and along the river at after midnight and come back before dawn.

I know that is a load of BS because one night, a day after the full moon beyond midnight when the tide was at it's highest, I saw them silhouetted against the moon, they stay there all the time!

So what were we doing on my bridge at that hour? Well, George had walked me there to feel safe while he said a few things and threw a piece of paper he's folded up into the river Thames below.

I asked him what he did that for and he said he'd written down all his troubles on it and the tide would carry them away.

Now I WAS getting worried, he sometimes says (usually after I've had a barking match) that I'm 'nothing but trouble'...was I going to be thrown in the Thames as well? Is this why he'd brought me here in the dead of night?

Obviously not, I'm writing this after all, and anyway, he often says 'what would I do without you' to me! aawweee! xoxox

Human Penguins

Have you ever noticed the way Penguins always look as if they are searching the floor for something tiny? The river bank of the Thames, which me and George visit occasionally because we know a small entrance to get to it, does exactly the same thing to most of the humans who go down there, they start behaving like Penguins, he should know better!

Anyway, when we last down there it was a chance for me to check the work of the painters on the underside of my Tower Bridge, it has been getting slowly repainted this past couple of years, I'll post about that soon, the jobs nearly finished.

I'm not to keen on the river bank except when the tide has gone out it's furthest so there's a sandy beach it's all rough rock, not kind on my paws.

I prefer to set myself down and just watch George and the few other people you see behave like Penguin's, they are looking for things they might want, maybe people drop coins of passing River boats at high tide..by the way, the Thames is tidal around London, there is no bank when it's high tide.

George calls it Beachcombing, but I've never seen him comb anything he's usually looking for River glass, and Hag stones, stones with a hole going through them, it does look nice when he finds some of the glass though, that gold fever look on his face! you sometimes see people George calls Mud larks , they wear funny clothes and dig deep holes , you would think they were after bones, but surely not, there's loads of bones around here, but all green with age. They don't like George or other people because they 'haven't got a license to be here'...they soon pipe down when I tell them they won't be allowed to cross MY bridge if they keep whining. That reminds me, a lot of people collect bits of clay pipes they find, George used to as well but tired of them, there's so much of these dog ends of the day. Dog ends? I'm suspicious of that, but see the video thing George made about that....

I've met Moira again!

Yippee! I met Moira, the only Lady Yeoman Warder of the Tower there's ever been in centuries, they are known to the world as Beefeaters, but who wouldn't eat beef? Yummie!

I havn't seen her in a while and began to wonder, shes nice to me and George and I was getting worried. I've noticed recently there hasn't been any Beefeaters in the sentry box at the Tower of London's west entrance, by the draw bridge they used to keep Lions under, only civilian security guards in the opposite box. But last night I heard her familiar voice calling me again. After a while it emerged they are too cold and hide in the cosy guard room nearby, I guess it takes another woman to change that, men are so soft!

One of these days I'm going to persuade her to take me past the gate and into the Tower, I want to see these Ravens for a start....and the 'chopping block' George mentioned. Sounds like where the Beef comes from? OK, this is further proof the fairer gender is the stronger one!

Woof! Woof!..it's snowing again, poor men.

Snow in London!

Snow! I love it, after a fine dusting on my evening walk to my Bridge last night, I woke up to a winter wonderland this morning, alas it's already melting. The photos above were taken a couple of years ago, but don't worry, nobody has changed that you would notice..that's George nearly hanging me to get me into the picture with my Bridge, and of course the other one is Dad.

My Bridge by the way has changed a bit, it's been repainted, except for the top gantry..they had better get a move on, the Jubilee is coming up fast!

It's not the colour I wanted it really, I prefer the pre 1977 (silver Jubilee) black colour that gave it the Gothic look the late Victorian parliament demanded so it would match the Tower of London nearby, but it's too late now

Hey....back to the subject, snow. Not all big people like it, the little ones love it though. I like the edible balls they make out of it for throwing, in moderation mind. They made a Snowman thingy in the yard here, but that mongrel called Ripper we had here pissed on it and it died..the Snowman I mean.

George made a video of me and Dad in the Snow today though....have fun!