A Picnic Gone Wrong

I am afraid that since my last post, our house has been in a rather tense state. You see, we are awaiting the arrival of a new member, who happens to be a pixie. Of course, we already have a fairy in the household, but Nim is a quiet sort who drifts and daydreams for the most part. We have heard rumors that pixies may not always be the quiet sort. Unfortunately, our new member is coming in a state of undress. Now, many dolls do come that way so that in itself is not an alarming thing. However, Ms. Merriweather has read accounts on-line of pixies doing things like throwing off their shoes, socks, clothes...and sometimes even hair...and flitting out the door in complete, wild, abandoned freedom.

Being of a Victorian Mindset, wild, unclothed, pixies running "amuck" are not an appealing idea to Ms. Merriweather. She has been rather distressed over the whole situation and imagining the worst. She is determined our pixie WILL be a model of decorum under her tutelage. Master Elrond has tried to explain that pixies are simply fun-loving, joyful beings and don't always follow the same rules as other beings. That did not sit well with Ms. Merriweather.


She has found a dress of Nim's that should fit our impending new arrival and plans to have it over her head and the pixie dressed before it even knows what has happened. I do hope the pixie is not strong minded or I fear we are headed for a Battle of Wills in our house. Given Ms. Merriweather's strong mindedness on proper decorum, it could be a rather spectacular battle.

Anyway, Master Elrond suggested that perhaps Ms. Merriweather and us girls might benefit from a bit of fresh air and sunshine. I think perhaps Master Elrond was also thinking he could benefit from some quiet time in his office without being worried about wild pixies.

So, on a picnic we went. Unfortunately, it did not have the calming effect Master Elrond intended.

We chose a lovely bush to picnic under. Sabriel, a "Marley" doll who has recently joined our family, accompanied us. She has been babysitting for Betsy, Nim, and I some and we really do enjoy her company. Sabriel is rather like our very big sister Eilonwy....quiet and kind. Ms. Merriweather adores Sabriel already, and so do the rest of us.

Unfortunately, we failed to notice that we had company behind the tree. The Big Cat (formerly known as the Very Big Cat before it went on a diet) must have decided it liked our tree too.

That would have been quite fine had the Big Cat minded its own business and continued lurking behind the blossoms. However, I fear it became more interested in our picnic than the blossoms.


Then, as if things couldn't get worse, the Big Cat took a fancy to Ms. Merriweather.

A very strong fancy.

Fortunately, mama saw the Big Cat kissing Ms. Merriweather and made it leave us alone. However, Ms. Merriweather was quite distraught. First wild pixies and now overly forward Big Cats. I fear Ms. Merriweather might be indisposed the rest of the afternoon.

Kitchen Adventures

Today began as a cold, gloomy, rainy Saturday. I was prepared for a rather boring day since there was no chance of Outside adventures. Betsy and I tried to entertain ourselves on the internet. That is when things began looking up.

We found a "Kitchen Challenge" on our favorite webgroup. We decided it would be a lot of fun to make something in the kitchen. Ms. Merriweather suggested perhaps we help fix lunch for mama. So we all went into a room we seldom see in our house (mama doesn't see much of it either)...the kitchen. We began our adventure by reading the directions to fix a "frozen pizza." It really was frozen solid!

As Hitty Rowan read the directions (Birdie tried to help, but she doesn't read much yet), Betsy, Nim, and I explored the kitchen. We found some interesting creatures called the "egg people." They were very friendly and eager to talk to us. I don't think they have much company since nobody ever goes in the kitchen.

Nim found a fun lookout point. It may have another use, but the egg people have never seen it used for anything at all.

After reading the pizza directions, Hitty Rowan said the first thing we had to do was to "preheat the oven." The rest of us weren't quite sure how to do that, but Hitty Rowan was able to manage it.

After the pre-heating came the fun part....unpacking the pizza! It was a group effort, since it was a big pizza. First, we managed to open the box.


We found that the pizza was actually wrapped in plastic inside the box. We did team work again to get it unwrapped.

Finally, we managed to drag it onto a pizza pan. Mama had to put the pizza in the oven, since it is not really safe for little wood, vinyl, and resin people to be that close to hot objects.

While the pizza was cooking, we talked more with the egg people.

When it was finished cooking, we all got to share lunch together. But, mama wouldn't include a picture of that since she kind of overestimated the cooking time and was rather embarrased to include photos of a slightly burnt around the edges pizza, especially after all the effort we had put into helping in the kitchen. Apparently, mama is used to slightly burnt things coming from the kitchen since she didn't seem to mind eating the pizza one bit. The egg people were happy to see us eating something actually cooked in the kitchen and are hoping it happens again soon, although they said they are really not optimistic about it. Maybe we can visit them again just for fun, even if no cooking happens.

Easter!

Today is the day I have been waiting for...Easter! Betsy, Nim, and I were so excited when we woke up!

We put on our Easter dresses, and went downstairs. We knew the Easter Bunny wouldn't come until after church, but mama said we could have our gifts from our friend Aubrey before church! She sent us enough gifts to share, and they were all wonderful surprises.


There was a hat with pretty pink trim that was perfect for my dress, a necklace that looked beautiful on Betsy, a little chick and a bunny for Nim, and....

A bowling set for all of us to enjoy! We had time for one game before church.

When we got back, we immediately saw the Easter Bunny had come! There were more wonderful surprises for the whole family.

For me and Betsy, there were stuffed rabbits in our favorite colors and baby dolls!

For Nim, there was a purple bunny and a new dress!

Ms. Merriweather got a beautiful box to store special things in.

The Easter Bunny gave Elrond a little tree called a Bonsai. Elrond was very happy since he loves growing things.

Hitty Rowan got some chicks and eggs. She likes chickens a whole lot and was happy to have more of them.

Eilonwy was very happy to have a velveteen rabbit of her own.

And, another Easter gift arrived earlier this week. Our new big, little sister Birdie. Dolls can actually have big, little sisters. Birdie is younger than us...a littler girl than us...but in size she is bigger than us. That can be confusing to people, but dolls don't mind it one bit. Birdie got her own basket with a pretty little lamb in it!

Ms. Merriweather told us the Easter Bunny had left pretty eggs for us too...but we would have to find them. We searched high and low. Nim found the most, but there were plenty of them at the bottom of our Easter Basket too...enough for everyone to enjoy.

Our only regret was that it had turned too cold to go outside. But, I think we had a very happy Easter despite that and we hope everyone else did too! Happy Easter from my whole family!

Spring Cleaning

In my last post, I had written about a lovely vacation. Just this morning, Betsy, Nim and I were all enjoying sitting on the porch upon our return home. That was this morning. BEFORE Ms. Merriweather got the idea today would be a perfect day for what she calls Spring Cleaning.

I don't think there is a perfect day to do such a thing! But, according to Ms. Merriweather the Easter Bunny only visits sparkling clean houses. For some reason, mama looked as downcast as I did after that proclamation. She suddenly disappeared and I heard the vacuum cleaner running somewhere. Me, Betsy, and Nim were left alone with Ms. Merriweather. Usually that is not a bad thing. Usually, however, Ms. Merriweather is not armed with brooms and mops.

Before I knew it, Betsy and I...and even Nim...were also armed with brooms and mops. We started in the living room.

Then, we were ordered to get our bedroom in "spic and span" order. MOST of us (Betsy and me) worked very hard. Some of us (Nim) did not.

I suppose I shouldn't complain, since everyone...from me, Betsy, and Nim (kind of)... to Ms. Merriweather, Elrond, and Hitty Rowan were cleaning. I suppose mama was too since I could still hear the vacuum cleaner running.

I sure hope the Easter Bunny makes this worthwhile! Unlike Ms. Merriweather, I don't think Spring Cleaning has what she calls "intrinsic value!"

Vacation in Appalachia

For several weeks, my family and I have been looking forward to going with mama on a vacation. We were going to spend a weekend in the Great Smoky Mountains. On the way back, we would visit the Museum of Appalachia in Norris, Tennessee, to see how people lived in the mountains years and years ago.

We were so excited the day before the trip began! Of course, there was a lot to do to prepare, like packing our suitcases. Betsy and I packed our nightgowns, extra shoes, toys, and books. Nim was content with only taking her little dragon, Puff, so she just watched us.

Early the next morning, we all scrambled into our new travel basket. At least it is a bit bigger than the sewing basket we had been travelling in. Into the car we went for a long drive. Elrond read us stories to make the time pass by a little faster.

Even with the stories, we were very glad to get to the hotel after almost 5 hours in the car!

Sadly, it was raining in the mountains so we only went on one outing there. Mama took a picture of me and Hitty Rowan in the rain. Everybody else stayed in the car where it was nice and dry, but I didn't mind the rain. Neither did Hitty Rowan.

We left the mountains and headed for the Museum of Appalachia. Mama carried a big "tote purse," but even with that, there wasn't enough room for everyone. Elrond offered to stay in the travel basket and look after all our things, including the new rabbit we found to take back to Eilonwy. I think after being in a basket with me, Betsy, and Nim for all those hours, he didn't mind spending some quiet time by himself.

The "museum" wasn't quite what I had expected. It was even better!! This museum was just out in the open. We saw haystacks and cabins spread out in kind of a circle. You could just visit all the cabins as you wanted to.

There were chickens and peacocks running around everywhere! Hitty Rowan liked them a lot and wanted to sit and watch them for a few minutes.

After watching the chickens and peacocks, we visited our first cabin. It was Mark Twain's family cabin. Ms. Merriweather said Mark Twain was a great writer who wrote very entertaining books. She thinks I would like reading the adventures of Tom Sawyer. From what she told me, I want to start reading that book as soon as I get home.

In the cabin, me, Betsy, Nim, and Hitty Rowan looked at the rope bed.

Ms. Merriweather studied the table and fireplace.

Next, we visited an old one-room school. It was called, "Big Tater Valley School House." Ms. Merriweather sat at the teacher's desk and we pretended to be students. The student benches were hard and uncomfortable. I can't imagine having to sit in them and stay very still for hours. I don't think I would have liked the strict way schools back then were run, from what Ms. Merriweather described. It made me very happy that Ms. Merriweather is my teacher and I get to sit in comfortable chairs for my lessons.

Then, we visited the church cabin. It was very solemn and still inside. We stayed very quiet as we sat up front.

Next, we visited a fancier cabin. It was a little bigger than the others.

There was even a room with a loom in it for weaving.

After we saw the last cabin, we got to look at the sheep. There was a little baby sheep! Finally, we returned to our basket for the long trip home. We asked Elrond how things had went while we were gone. He said, "Peacefully and quietly." I am not sure what he meant by that.

Back home, we got to use our souvenirs! Mama found rocking chairs for me, Betsy, and Hitty Rowan in an Amish store. They are just right for sitting on the porch on pretty days! Nim found a fairy dog in a gift shop, which made her very happy. And, we got our own black bear cub from the Smoky Mountains. We named him Smoky in honor of his home. Now, we can sit and rock as we wait for the Easter Bunny to visit us in a few days!