Big Horses Make Great Big New Friends!

Here are some beautiful Horses which seem to be of the Friesian or Shire variety, and mom also met them in Texel in Holland. They are some of the largest draft horses, and can weigh up to a ton!

Horses: Hey look! JB's mom is here. Let's go meet her!

Horses: Let's hurry....we don't want to miss her!

JB's mom: It is nice to meet you both. Do you want to be JB's new friends?

Horses: Yes we do! We heard about JB's Big World and we are excited to be JB's friends!

JB's mom: That is great. I can't wait to tell JB!





Horses: We are so happy to be friends with a famous American cat, such as JB!

It was difficult for me to contain my excitement when my mom told me about these new friends!

They were super friendly and I love their floofy toes. They have multi-colored toes just like me!

(For a look at my toes, click here.)

I hear that this type of horse is now mostly used for pulling carts or used in parades. I think I would like one of my new friends to take me for a ride in a little cart just like this one! See the little seat for me in the back?




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Cow #616

Here is another story from the island of Texel in the north of Holland. There are lots of cows that live on this island.



Mom met Cow #616 in Texel, and Cow #616 said she had heard of JB's Big World!






Cow #616 said she wanted to be my friend! I asked mom where Cow #1 was and she said she searched and searched but could not find Cow #1.


I wonder if Cow #1 would be a better friend than Cow #616? No, I don't think so. I think all cows are good friends for me!






I am happy to report that these cows are not used for eating, but they are used for milking. I think Cow #616 is about ready to blow! The farmer better get her milked fast because she looks like she might explode! That udder filled with milk looks very uncomfortable. I am a cat, and I sure am glad that I don't have to be milked!


I like my new friend, Cow #616, but I will ask mom to keep looking for Cow #1. There must be something special about that cow for it to get to be the #1 Cow!


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These Gulls Look Like They Should Wash Their Faces!

Mom and daddy Len spent a day in Texel, which is the largest of the Wadden Islands in the north of Holland. There is a LOT of nature and LOTS of animals on Texel, which you will see from my upcoming posts! This made me SUPER excited!



My first story from Texel is about the ferry ride from the town of Den Helder across the WaddenSee to Texel.


I am excited to report that I have lots of Seagull birdie friends here! Seagulls are mostly thought of as a nuisance, but I think these birdies are beautiful!






The ones with the dark faces are called Black-Headed Gulls. They are common in Europe, but only found in small numbers in Eastern North America.


They flew directly overhead and very close to mom. My mom is a good reporter and she got some great shots!











These birdies look so graceful. It was very windy and it looked like they were just floating in the air. I wish I knew how to float like this!








But what I really want to know is why do their heads are so dark when their bodies are white? They look like their heads are dirty and they need to take a bath! I bet I could teach them how to take a bath! I am very clean, you know......





There were also Dutch Herring Gulls mixed in with the Black-Headed Gulls. (I will tell you a story about this type of gull in a later post.)


I like these birdies and I am glad they are my new friends!


(P.S. I hope this is not my last post.......my mom is so beyond frustrated with Blogger right now!)


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My Cousin, Minou the Cat

First, I would like to say how happy I am to report, that my mom is back from Big World Assignment! Mom is a very good reporter and she got me lots of pictures of my new animal friends, so please stay tuned!


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Today I would like to introduce my cousin, Minou the Cat! Minou lives with my mom's aunt in Haarlem, Holland. Minou is about 12 years old now, and lives in a wonderful 7th floor apartment.

Minou did not always have it so good. She was found homeless wandering the streets near the border of Belgium and Luxembourg.

Mom's aunt's friend found her and mom's aunt immediately went to go get her to adopt her because she was so sweet.

My mom had not seen Minou for about two and a half years. She was suprised to see how much bigger Minou had gotten! Minou is a little (or a lot) on the plump side......but I don't think she realizes it!

In this picture, you can see she likes to talk a lot.....just like me!

Minou is very spoiled, and even has her own balcony for watching birdies and taking sun naps!

Minou says "hello" to everyone in the blog world, but says she does not have a computer or internet so she can't blog. She is very excited that I might make her famous with my story about her!

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A Sad Day in My Big World....

I am running out of new material for my Big World! This is a dilemma that I do not want to face. This means that my mom must go back out on Big World Assignment. This also means that my mom is going to leave me alone again!

She and daddy Len are flying away in a KLM "big birdie in the sky" today to Amsterdam, the Netherlands. They will also visit Belgium. I hope they get me some pictures of some new European animal friends!

Mom said she might have internet part of the time and might be able to call me. I am crossing my whiskers that I may be able to post a story about some animal friends while she is gone.


In the meantime, I will be very sad, lonely, and scared. I am as sad as a small Jelly Bean can get!

Mom......I will wait for you to come home but I will cry A LOT......don't forget about me, mom!

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Troupial Birdie

Mom saw this bird in Aruba when she was there last year. This could be one of the most beautiful birds on Aruba! It is called a Troupial. It is also the National Bird of Venezuela.

They have beautiful orange and black feathers. They build their nests up high on cacti. I sure hope they don't get prickled!


Sorry, short post today......bad news to come tomorrow......Tears, JB


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Fluffy the French Cat

This is a Cat that mom and daddy Len met in french St. Martin about a year and a half ago. It was a very dirty old fat cat. You can see the dirt on her belly in the picture.

The cat lived at the condos where mom and daddy Len stayed in Grand Case, St. Martin.

At first mom and daddy Len liked the cat and they named it "Fluffy". I see no fluff so I don't understand why they named it that!

Fluffy turned out to be quite a nuisance! Every night, Fluffy stood outside mom and daddy Len's room and wailed and howled ALL night long!

I wonder how Fluffy is doing these days? Normally I would ask mom if we could invite my animal friends to visit me, but since we already have one dirty old fat cat (named PooPoo) in my house, maybe not this time!

(Mom apologizes for the photo quality, as this was before she got a digital camera.)
(JB apologizes for calling PooPoo and Fluffy, dirty old fat cats!)


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Bob the Dog

Mom saw this doggie driving down the street near our house. There is a lot of growth and building going on near where we live. Dallas-Ft Worth is the fastest growing area in the U.S.!

This doggie is part of a company that builds cabinets, called Bob's Cabinet Shop. This company must be helping our area grow.

I think this doggie must be named Bob, and could be the President of this company. Now why would the President have to ride in the back of the truck? That is just not safe! What do you think?

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Stuck in Albuquerque With Frogs

My daddy Len can't come home! He called to tell me he is stuck in Albuquerque with Frogs! Red Webbed Tree Frogs, that is!

Daddy Len drives a MD80 "big birdie in the sky" for work and he was told that all these birdies had to stay on the ground, so he can't come home. He works for: "AA, Always Apologizing".

I am glad my daddy Len did not forget about me, even it if was only because he saw these frogs on this Frontier Airlines commuter plane.

Poor daddy Len. He has to be stuck in Albuquerque with frogs instead of being here at home with me! I know my daddy Len misses me a lot......

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A Gaggle of Geese

It must be goose migration season, because mom saw some more Geese! Mom found these birdies in Longview Texas, recently. They seemed to be "renting" a space on the shore of this peaceful lake near a cemetery.

There appears to be two varieties here and they must be flying back north for the summer.




We are not sure, but this grayish one looks like it could be a type of Bean Goose, though bean geese are seen more in Europe. If anyone knows what kind of goose this is, please let us know.

I will ask my friend, Ari the Canine Naturalist, if she knows what kind of goose this is. (Ari says this could be a Greater White Front Goose!)




This white one could be a Ross's Goose. This is the smallest goose found in North America. These used to be rare but are growing in numbers.

I think that these two geese are discussing their next move. Which direction should they go next? This is a very peaceful, tranquil setting, so they told my mom to tell me that they may stay for a while.

Geese are sort of like people who have winter homes in the south, but live in the north the rest of the year.

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Backyard Friends

As I mentioned, mom left me for working in the yard yesterday.


This was troubling for me to be alone inside all day, but guess what? My mom thought of me ALL day! She was secretly on Big World Assignment in our backyard!


Here are some of my Backyard Friends:


This is Mr. Earthworm. Mom says worms are good for the soil because they help cultivate and mix up the soil.






Here is a Mr. Spider. We don't know what kind of spider this is, but mom said there are a lot of this type in our backyard.



Hey.....I wonder if this spider knew my friend, Charlotte?




Mom also caught a picture of a LadyBug on daddy Len's leg. Mom could not get the camera working right in Macro, so this picture is not close up enough.......


Mom said that ladybugs are good for our yard because they eat aphids and other pests.

Last but not least, here is a Butterfly. It was hard to catch this one staying still! Mom said she will try to get a better butterfly picture for me some day.



Did I mention that I just LOVE bugs? I forgave mom for leaving me alone inside all day.......because I just love all these bug pictures! I wish she would have invited them inside to play with me though......


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Wordless Saturday

Today is a bad day for me! My mom said she has to work in the yard again and she can not help me type a new story about another REAL animal!

She told me she would help me again tomorrow. Now how could working in the yard compare to being with me, the Jelly Bean?

It is a Wordless Saturday for me.......just posting a cute Meerkat picture.



I will have to be like a Meerkat all by myself!

For some of my feline perspective on Meerkats, one of my favorite animals, please click here.




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Don't Turn Your Back on a Black Cat!

Mom and daddy Len went to New Orleans last year. When they came home they told me that they had gotten me a picture of a lot of Cats! Of course, as you might guess, I got SUPER excited.

They saw these cat figurines in a Voodoo shop! I quickly got too scared to be mad at mom and daddy Len for playing another joke on me. (They know I only like REAL animals!)

Voodoo can be traced way back to Africa thousands of years ago. One of the most powerful animals used in voodoo was the cat, especially the black cat! Never turn your back on a black cat or you will be cursed....so the story goes.



It is said the New Orleans is haunted! Marie Laveau lived in the 19th Century, and is considered the Queen of Voodoo. She was buried in New Orleans, so they say. Mom and daddy Len went to this cemetary, which is a big tourist attraction in New Orleans. Does not sound fun to me at all!


But I ask you, why would mom and daddy Len want to scare me like this? I may have a hard time napping for a day or so.....ok, maybe not.....



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A Baker's Dozen of Ducklings!

My auntie in California emailed me these pictures from this past weekend. She was on "Big World Assignment" too! She and my cousin, Jacob, went for a bike ride over to a duck pond at Cal State Stanislaus, and they brought bread to feed these Mallard Ducks.

It is baby season, and each mama duck lays about 7 to 16 eggs. From these eggs, each mama gets about 12 duckling babies! They are so tiny, super cute, and fuzzy!

There was one mama duck was very agressive and was acting like she had not had lunch or dinner for days! She was very greedy, and wanted all the bread to herself! She even grabbed bread right from Jacob's hand and bit his finger! When the bread was all gone, she still kept pestering them for more.

There is always one like this in the bunch, isn't there? (My sister, Poopoo, comes to mind in my house!)

Here is another set of ducklings, and you can see they are staying close to the mama duck.

Hey! How many ducklings do you see? There are 13 ducklings in this group! I would say that this is a Baker's Dozen of Ducklings!

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