Have I ever told you about my friend Barry, "the best bathtub bringing bear in the business"? No? I haven't? Well, you should take note of his name because you just never know when you just might need to buy a new bath tub! And it always makes sense to rely on a recommendation from a friend! And I am your friend, so I can personally recommend Barry. Actually, he got into the "bathtub bringing business" very much by accident. One day, he was at home enjoying a very peaceful afternoon snooze, when his afternoon siesta was abruptly disturbed when he was awoken by some very heavy raindrops of water that had hit him on the nose! The roof must have had a hole in it, and it was leaking rain! After he gave himself a bit of a shake to make sure he wasn't just still dreaming, poor Barry, who was getting to be a bit of a soggy teddy by this time, leapt to his feet and grabbed the first thing that he saw, which was a big laundry basket, and put this basket in direct line with the hole in the roof.  Barry's eyes were still a bit sleepy from his sleep and he wasn't completely thinking properly, because the sides of the washing /laundry basket had holes in it too, so the water didn't really stay inside the basket! He then found a bright red bucket, which was a much better solution, and that caught the flow of water until the rain stopped falling and the sun started to appear.  No… you might have thought I was going to tell you that there was a hole in the bottom of the bucket, but I would like to assure you that it was a completely "un- holed" bucket which Breanna the bucket bear kindly gave to me one morning when she stopped by the Kiosk for a little chat and a little hug. Of course, she could only stay in the Kiosk a very short time, because we had to make sure that she was gone and I was back in my right position in the Kiosk before the Kiosk Helpers arrived to serve on the Kiosk that day! Breanna is a very good chooser of red buckets. It all comes down to the fact, that her teddy Dad is a painter.  Not an artist type of painter, more like a teddy house painter. He takes his paint brush, his paint and his bucket from house to house and gives them a bit of a fresh coating of paint.  He knows just the right colour shade of paint to apply to the exterior of houses to make them look sparkly new.  Of course I wouldn't like to mention about the time when Breanna's Dad was up on top of a roof a house painting the roof, when a bird came flying up in the sky behind  him and startled  him, and his feet said to him " I feel a bit wobbly" and he started to waver and wobble and the next thing he knew, he was dangling in the branches of a tree! No, I wouldn't want to mention that happening…so I won't tell you about it. Hmmm…perhaps I did give a few details? Oh well, anyway, because Breanna has a painter Dad she has inherited his good sense of colour choice and his astuteness and talent in choosing the right bucket to use. So…if Breanna gives you a red bucket, you just know that it will last forever, without any holes. Well anyway, us teddies are very much water-wise teddies. We don't like to waste water, and try to conserve water as much as we can. In fact, Barry bear was awarded the "top water saving warrior watcher for Wednesday" last week! That was an honour because there are only 52 Wednesdays in a year, and so that means only 52 teddies a year get to have that honor. And there are millions of teddies in the world you know!! Barry, being such a water saver, decided that he would make use of the water in the bucket, and have a bath in it himself. He jumped into the bucket but…he then got stuck! He wriggled his ears and he wriggled his paws, but he had got jammed in, tight as could be! He thought that he may have needed to call the teddy bear fire brigade to get him out! But then he thought, if they came they may give him a replica of his cousin George, the fire-fighting teddy, just like they give to all little human children who are rescued by the fire brigade. And he would prefer other little children to have the privilege of receiving a replica of George, because he knew the REAL George very well. So with one big extreme effort, he gave a huge wriggle, and all of a sudden he exploded like a cannonball up out of the bucket and landed on the floor! Yay!! He was free of the confines of the bucket!! But that also got him onto the idea of bringing bathtubs to teddies that were much bigger and better looking for teddies to enjoy bathing in. Barry has such a wide extensive range of bathtubs! Big ones, little ones, ornate ones, patterned ones, colourful ones …any and every type you can imagine! And they are all very water efficient, that after you finish using the water, there is an electronically "state -of-the -art "system my which you press a button, and another little bucket explodes from the side and somehow all the water in the bathtub all of a sudden leaps into this bucket and then you can use this water outside in your garden. Barry is a very scientific bear. He earned his science degree at Oxford you know! (That is where he became friends of my special teddy friend, Mr. Oliver from Oxford. They have been friends for many a moon cycle!)

Well, I decided that I wanted to have a bathtub to use at the Kiosk.  I would keep it around the back of the Kiosk, out of the way and out of the sight of the Kiosk Helpers and Customer friends. I wouldn't want them to trip over the tub, and land head first into the bathtub!! Ouch!! That would cause a few bumps and bruises!! I rang up Barry, and he said that he had the mosr perfect bathtub that would suit me so very much. So…shortly after I had finished talking to him on my bear mobile phone, he arrived with my bathtub. And it was just what I wanted it to look like and just the right size for me! And, do you know what? I'll tell you ….Barry's wife Barrietta had sent with him a little present for me!! Oh, I was so excited when I saw it. It was…a little bright yellow rubby ducky for my new bathtub!! I gave a big gleeful happy shout in the air when I saw it!! Bathtime will be so much fun!! I even have a bottle of bubble bath that I was saving to use for a rainy day. Well now I don't need to wait for a rainy day, I will just use it on a water-filled bathing day!! What fun I will have, little me, Kiosk-Ted Strath, laying back in my bathtub surrounded by bubbles and my little rubber ducky nearby! Very nice indeed! And I definitely will need to wear a showercap, even though it isn't a shower but I do need to "look the part" don't I!! The kiosk has some shower caps, and they also have some nice soap too. Hmm…Palmolive gold, Imperial leather, Palmolive naturals, Pears soap, so many to pick from!! I think I might just fall asleep whilst having my bath…zzzzz!!

Until next time,

                   Your water saving and conserving and bathtub splashing friend, Mr. Kiosk-Ted Strath

                       Also simply known as "Ted"!!