It's here! It's here! The time has arrived!  I just can't wait!! I have been training so very hard! I have been having a lot of fun doing the training. I am becoming a very fit Kiosk-Ted Strath! Oh, I forgot to tell you what I am training for! I have entered the Australian Bears Teddy Tennis Open!! It is being held on the outside tennis courts at Melbourne Park where the "normal" Australian Open is being held.  I almost gained entry to the human Australian Open but I had to let my rankings slip a few places because I wanted to make sure that I was in the Kiosk greeting all my special friends that come to buy items and chat each day at the Kiosk and of course I would never ever want to miss seeing the cheery Kiosk Helpers that arrive to serve each day! I just couldn't fit in all the tournaments needed to maintain my ranking! But… anyway the Bears tennis tournament is so very, very much more prestigious! Yes, entry is not decided by a number ranking, rather it is that EVERY teddy that wants to enter is able to be a part of the fun of playing!! That is why it is more special, prestigious and considered very, very great if you are able to compete in it, because from the first serve in the match  until the umpire calls "game, set, match"  there are so many laughs, smiles, giggles, wild shots and  all-in-all happy scurrying from one area of the court to another. That is why it is prestigious… because it is so much fun!!

The only thing is, that  us teddies always end up with sore throats at the end of each match and often become a bit "hoarsey" in the throat.( I have always wondered why throats become "hoarsey".  I know that the name comes from a horse that has been given an a=apple to insert into the word, but why would you want to have a horse in your throat?  I don't understand how a horse would really fit into a person's mouth! I know that I couldn't open up my mouth wide enough to swallow a horse!! I know when Derrek the Dentist teddy asks me to open wide my mouth when he wants to check my teeth, I try to open it as wide as can be. It is a bit of a problem though, because my inside is full of fluffy stuffing and Derrek wants to put cotton balls in my cheek to hold my mouth wide open, but I already have stuffing there!! Well, anyway, I do open up wide my mouth, but not big enough to swallow an "a=apple eating horse!" Perhaps we could say that we feel "teddyish" in the throat when it is sore. On another thought, I don't think that is a very good idea at all, because then I would be swallowing my own dear teddy friends! I know that teddies would taste delicious because all teddies are friendly but I would not want to eat any! (Unless they were biscuits in the shape of teddies! These types of biscuits are just "pretend" teddies, so that is okay! In fact, I am quite proud that Mr. Arnotts  gave us the honour of creating a biscuit in our shape! It reminds me of the  marble/stone/rock ( I don't know the texture!) statues that have been sculpted in the shape of past Tennis players and  placed outside the Tennis park. They are there to commemorate past famous "Tennis player Legends" but in my teddy mind, I think it is more happier and more special to have a biscuit created in your shape! And… there is also a version of the biscuit dipped in chocolate!! Wow!! How very special!! Every bite a person takes of it, they would be remembered of me and all the millions and billions and trillions and one teddies around the world!! Anyway, why teddies are hoarse in the throat is because after every point in the tennis match is played we call out "good shot!". It may have completely missed the court, or ended up in the stand or may have even hit the right spot on the inside of the court, but wherever it lands or doesn't land on the court, we always say that we think it was a great shot! That is why our mouths get so tired from talking!! 

We have some great rules in our tennis matches! When the umpire calls out: "15-Love" all the teddy spectators in the stands throw into the air lots of colourful heart-shaped confetti!  (Of course then Charlotte the Cleaner teddy has to then rush onto the court and clean all the confetti away! We would not want the tennis players to slip on the confetti and break their leg or their ankle or their nose or  the worst thing that could happen… they might break a teddy paw-finger nail !! Charlotte  enjoys cleaning away confetti when it is prettily coloured!! She whistles whilst she works!! )  If the score is "deuce", then  as soon as the umpire calls that score out,  a drinks van is driven onto the court and all the tedddies line up and get bottles of apple juice, orange juice, blackcurrant juice and mango juice to drink! It is great when it is a warm day and the score reaches deuce!  Unlike other tennis matches,  teddies are never told to be quiet. No!! Teddies are encouraged to chatter, giggle, sing and   call out encouraging remarks all through the match!  I always do a little "teddy happy dance" when someone wins a set… because I know what is going to happen next! As soon as the umpire called out" Set!",  all the teddies get out their bowls of liquid jelly mixture and rush down to centre court as quick as their little teddy paws can take them and open up one of the fridges that have been placed there and pop their jelly bowl in it! At the end of the match, those jellies will be completely "set "and very yummy to eat! It is sooooo much fun attending and playing at a Teddy tennis match, don't you think??!!

Oh, I forgot to tell you that Petunia the Physiotherapist teddy attends every teddy match that is played. Many teddies get quite sore necks as they turn their teddy heads to the left, then to the right, then to the left again whilst watching the tennis. Petunia is always at hand just in case any teddy needs to have their necks adjusted.

Anyway, I am getting ready for the Australian Bears Tennis Open and I am sooo looking forward to it! Please don't worry… I don't hit any tennis balls inside the Kiosk! I would cause quite a lot of problems if I hit the shelves and      caused all the biscuits to fall off! "Hello " I would have to say to broken biscuits!!

My after training snack is some country cheese or SAO biscuits with some cheese slices on top! Very good calcium choice for a tennis-training teddy don't you think ?!!

Until next time,

                  When you watch the Australian Open tennis this year, please look out for me and all my fellow tennis playing teddy friends!

                 Your friend, Kiosk-Ted Strath. 

                  Also simply known as "Ted"!!