First Snow and Winter in the Mountains

It has been a rather exciting long weekend. This morning, we had our first snowfall. Master Allanon took Amberle and Merilwen outside for a lesson in how to make a gazing ball out of snow.

It was too cold to stay out for long and the girls were happy to come in and warm their hands at the fireplace.Penny and I accompanied our people to the mountains this weekend to visit relations.

We had fun exploring the little storage building near the house.

Not to mention swinging on the tire swing as the sun came up.

I wanted to go for a ride of a different sort and convinced Penny to help me slide across the old clothesline. Look, I'm flying!
We climbed a tree...

and just enjoying watching the sun rise over the mountains.

Hitty Rowan

Naming and Changing

When last I wrote, my family was adjusting to life with a wild pixie. Things settled down a bit after the pixie grew used to her new home. Ms. Merriweather, however, still was rather in need of a break so me, Betsy, Nim, Hitty Rowan, and our new pixie friend went with mama on a trip. It was a short trip and it rained a lot. Because of the rain, it was muddy and a bit damp. Betsy, Nim, and I decided to stay in our basket for most of the trip. Hitty Rowan, being wooden and older than us, didn't mind venturing out a bit. Our pixie friend was too curious to be confined, muddy or not. We began the trip rather well, stopping at one point to take a break.

When we returned to the car, our pixie refused to return to the basket. Since Ms. Merriweather was not their to ensure a certain level of decorum, our pixie quickly reverted to her "wild ways" as Ms. Merriweather called them.

After bouncing about unclothed all over the car most of the trip, she finally exhausted herself and slept. That left only Hitty Rowan to brave the dampness and mud to tour our grandfather's yard. Hitty Rowan was feeling a bit adventurous. She decided to climb a tree.
And gained a companion in her fun.

Hitty Rowan hunted for four leaf clovers. She did not find any, but she enjoyed the quest.
Feeling rather adventurous again, she climbed up to the top of a fence post to enjoy the mountain scenery.
When we returned home, an adventure of a different sort awaited us. Our pixie seemed unusually tired. In fact, she went straight to bed and mumbled something about "naming and changing." When we all awoke from a long nap, we were shocked! Our pixie had quite transformed herself! She appears to be something of a changeling. We rather liked her new look. She also finally announced her name....Nissa.

Ms. Merriweather thought perhaps her outward transformation might have settled Nissa a bit. She did seem a bit more tame, sedately going outside to picnic with a new friend.

Betsy, Nim, and I later discovered that perhaps our wild pixie was not quite as tamed as we thought.
Oh well...what Ms. Merriweather doesn't know, can't upset her.

The Arrival of a Wild Pixie

When I last wrote, our family was expecting the arrival of a new member...a pixie. Ms. Merriweather had heard stories of pixies being a bit wild sometimes and was rather worried about the situation. Well, today our pixie arrived and it was time to see the whether the tales of wild pixies were indeed true.

Ms. Merriweather placed the pixie's travel box on the floor. There seemed to be muffled little noises coming from inside that sounded much like...giggling.

Ms. Merriweather carefully opened the box. The giggling became louder and a little face peeped out from the travel blankets within the box.

Suddenly, a little blond pixie sprang out of the blanket with a loud "Ta-da!" She seemed quite eager to present herself to us. She was indeed unclothed...just as we suspected...and I was sure Ms. Merriweather would be remedying that situation as soon as possible.

Our new arrival wasted no time in leaving her box. She began to dance about, still giggling.

I suppose the sight of a giggling, dancing, unclothed pixie was simply too much for Ms. Merriweather to bear for long. After quickly introducing all of us, Ms. Merriweather introduced our pixie to her new dress.

The pixie did not appear too eager to make that particular acquaintance. Before we could even bat an eye, she was in motion...fleeing from the dress and giggling all the way. I could tell Ms. Merriweather was definitely Not Amused.

Ms. Merriweather became even less amused when the pixie spotted the cake on the table. We were planning to have a welcoming party for our new friend. I suppose our pixie liked that idea since she lost no time helping herself to the cake. And even worse...especially in Ms. Merriweather's eyes...she didn't even bother with proper eating utensils at all.

Ms. Merriweather had apparently had enough of such uncivilized behavior and sprang into action, intent on apprehending the renegade. The pixie was faster than anyone could imagine. Off she flew and the chase was on.

The startled yell coming from downstairs told us she had reached Master Elrond's office. From there, out the door of our home she flew.

We soon heard shrieks and gasps of shock from Hitty Rowan and Hitty Patience and knew the pixie had just "introduced" herself to our neighbors.

Sudden squeals of delight told us the pixie was visiting Birdie and Vivie.

Now, don't think Ms. Merriweather had been sitting idle through all this havoc. She and Elrond had quickly followed in pursuit of the wayward pixie....but pixies really are quite fast. Our pixie seemed to be teasing Ms. Merriweather and Master Elrond a bit, sometimes crawling a few paces and letting them almost catch up with her before darting off again. The giggles never stopped.

Ms. Merriweather and Master Elrond went to great lengths.....

and lows, to catch the pixie.

After several long minutes of chase, with the pixie flittering all over the house giggling, they retreated from the battle field for a strategic planning session. They talked at length, the pixie flitting past the house every few minutes, before coming up with a plan.

They called us all together and explained their new strategy. Pixies are very fond of three things...music, sweets, and attention. Ms. Merriweather and Master Elrond reasoned that they could use music and sweets to lure the pixie close. Master Elrond asked Nim to sing, since fairies have a lot in common with pixies and that might attract our flittering friend. And, the most important thing, we were not to pay attention to the pixie until she sought us out and settled down.

We put the plan in motion....and waited.

The pixie flittered past a few more times, giggling at us. With each pass, she slowed a bit more and lingered, as if waiting for us to acknowledge her or to give chase again. Before long, we were aware of her entering the house and slowly creeping up on us.

Still, we paid no attention to her. Spying Nim singing and eyeing the sweets in Ms. Merriweather's hands, our pixie crept even closer.

She tugged at Ms. Merriweather's skirts. Ms. Merriweather turned to her. "Oh...there you are," she said quietly. "I was wondering if you were going to join us for some music and treats. " The pixie nodded with a giggle, pointed to the treats, and in a soft little voice piped, "Sweets for me?" She climbed into Ms. Merriweather's lap. Ms. Merriweather explained that we were so glad to welcome our little friend into our home and would be very happy to share our sweets...if only the pixie would agree to wear clothes. Ms. Merriweather also explained that the pixie might be cold running about unclothed, especially with the air conditioner running in the summer. The pixie nodded and reluctantly admitted, "I be cold already." Ms. Merriweather quickly took that moment of compromise to cloth our wild, naked pixie.

Our new little friend looked at her dress, smiled and exclaimed, "Very Pretty Pixie!!!" She lost no time in dancing about in joy with the music, twirling her new dress around her. Ms. Merriweather asked our pixie her name. She simply shrugged and giggled. Ms. Merriweather told our new arrival that we would all help think of a very special name for our very special pixie. The pixie fluttered with excitement. After further celebration of our new friend's arrival (and the end of the great chase), we were all quite exhausted.

Even the pixie was glad to snuggle into bed with no fuss. I have the feeling our lives will indeed be a bit more exciting with our wild pixie sharing them.

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.