Baths for Bears!

We have been doing so much gardening and, before that, had such good outdoor adventures, that we knew there would be a bath day for us, as soon as it was warm enough.

Sure enough, one day at the end of last week, Polar told us not to change out of our pyjamas, because it was time for our spring baths.

'You won't be able to bath us all, or there will be no bear in the window to wave to human cubs,' suggested Hanley.  'I'll stay on Bear Hunt duty, if you like.'

But Polar had already asked Old Bunny and Nutley Squirrel to stand in for us, so he couldn't wriggle out of it!

The worst thing about having a bath, if you are a small bear, is knowing that you won't smell of bear for quite a few days afterwards, but Polar has some chocolate-smelling bath foam that she uses for us.  This time, she filled up the bathroom basin with warm, chocolate-smelling bubbly water.

'That's just the right temperature,' I told the other bears, dipping my back paw in.

They weren't persuaded until I had got right in, but then Hanley and Endon jumped in too and we all soaked in the chocolaty bubbles.  Polar helped each of us in turn to wash behind our ears and checked that we had got all the mud off our back paws.

After we had all soaked and washed in the bubbles, it was time to scramble into the bath to be showered, to get all the soapiness out of our fur.  We don't like this, but Polar says it is important, or we would be sticky bears.

She showed us what our bathwater looked like, and all the dirt that was left in the basin when it was empty.  We really had been grubby bears!

After showering us, Polar gave us a first drying off in one of her big towels, then gave us a face flannel each that we could use to dry ourselves more and fluff up our fur.

'You can all dry off in the greenhouse today,' she said.  'It's very warm out there.  And, while you're drying, I can wash your clothes.'

We sat on the patio table, enjoying the morning sunshine, while Polar set us up a little towel hammock in the greenhouse.  It was a brilliant place to get dry, as we could check on how all our peppers and tomatoes were growing, and all the salad leaves we had sown.

When Polar had finished washing our jumpers, dungarees and pyjamas, she pegged them up to dry in the greenhouse.  Polar dries her clothes and Grizzly's in the greenhouse, so there are washing lines set up already. 

We spent all day drying, so we had lots of naps and chats.  Then Polar brushed our fur gently with an old, soft toothbrush, to make it extra fluffy. 

By the time it was evening, our pyjamas were nice and dry and warm, so we put them back on, then had fun choosing what clothes we wanted to wear the next day, when our adventures at home would begin again.