Blog Archives

The Great Gnome Race Day Event...

5/26/2020

With the Outies finally sprucing up the yard and finishing some badly needed infrastructure, the garden was looking pretty good indeed. And what better way to celebrate than with a Gnome Race. The King and Queen had decided it could be done with the right timing to keep themselves hidden from the Outies and still have their fun too.

But before the race could happen everyone would have to be notified. The Queen thought how best to do that... why of course, use the Humming Bird Express (HBE). All the HBE messengers had to do was to hum the words "And they're off" and every gnome would know it was race time!!!

Of course everyone would need to be invited and the event would have to be carefully planned. The Gnomes certainly didn't want to catch the Outies watching them. So spreading out the activities and events would certainly be the answer.

Knowing someone who was an expert in organization and construction would be needed for setting up the race and the Queen decided that no gnome was better than Hugo, of the Miners Guild, to be in charge.

Soon preparations were all made and the day of the Race was here.

All of the gnomes were there of course. Those with a birds-eye view watched from their perches...

...while others took advantage of how busy the humming birds were in the delivery of the race results. This resulted in the HBE's high-energy nectar (used to keep their humming voices in top shape) just being too tempting while unguarded not to enjoy with an occasional sip while watching the race.

Five participants had registered and were lined up for the start. The King would start the race and the Queen would be at the finish line to honor the winner. Even the station judges were positioned to make sure that all of the racers stayed on the course and followed what few "rules" there were.

Soon it was time for the race to begin...

The King had made his introductions and then raised his hand. "And they are off !!!"

And off they went!

The rabbit racer held tightly to his hat as he shot out of the starting line, hopping down the trail to take an early lead when he noticed a shadow sailing over him...

It was the frog! What a leap of faith he had taken by jumping that greenery - hoping it would put him out in front of the race! Seeing that the rest of the racers were well behind him, the frog racer thought for sure he would now win this race.

Bearing down upon the frog rider the rabbit and the squirrel racers were soon neck to neck and coming up fast right behind him. They were just making it around the first judge's turn --making it too soon to tell yet who could win.

There it was - the red arrow marking the second turn. As the racers flew past the second judge, the goose racer let out a large "honk" as if signaling to pass. This, of course, the made the squirrel go a little nuts. Which gave the rabbit the lead just by a hare (oops... meant hair) as they were racing down the last leg of the race course.

As they turned the final corner, they were surprised to see the frog racer not hopping to it anymore. He had wore himself out from his last great leap! He was toad-a-ly exhausted. Quickly the rabbit raced past him, followed closely by the squirrel and then the goose (being goosed by his rider), leaving him in the rear. But wait! Where is the racing turtle?

Knowing that he could not outrun the others, he had found a shortcut and was almost at the finish line when the rabbit crossed first. The turtle wasn't there to win... he was there to have a good time and be a part of the shell-ebration!

So off to the shell-ebration they went. And like all great events, hare (here) today and gone tomorrow, or at least for another year.

Isn't it fun to imagine what might be happening in your back yard when you are not there?

0 Comments

Meanwhile, back at the mushroom...

5/19/2020

1 Comment

As Hewy and Sprite started their journey to Parsley's mushroom home at the end of the Mushroom Line, Parsley was getting an update on the Dragon sightings that were being reported.

Everyone knows that the Mushroom Line is the most reliable information chain in the Shadows' Realm especially since Parsley was appointed the Telegraph Master. At the moment though the telegraph master was drinking tea and laughing with tears rolling from her eyes. While Parsley was laughing, Efem was getting a little steamed. She was not happy with the apparent lack of progress in finding the Wish Dragon and she wanted answers now!

"Parsley! How can you sit there laughing when we have an emergency building? What could be so funny that you would forget why we are even here?" Efem growled as she scowled at Parsley. As Efem vented, Cornelia continued to sit quietly in the corner of the room, sipping her tea, knowing that something better happen soon or her sister was going to boil over.

Gasping for breath Parsley answered, "The mushrooms are telling me that we are going to have a stranger soon arriving. (Taking another deep breath.) Plus my son will be with him," Parsley slowly replied.

"What's so funny about that?" demanded Efem.

"Oh, nothing. I had just forgotten how frustrated you can get and was enjoying watching you. It was like old times," snickered Parsley. "The mushrooms also just told me that Sprout is talking his ear off about being hungry and I thought that was funny when you think about it..." mused Parsley.

Efem turned to Cornelia to see if she understood and then turned back to Parsley - continuing to looked confused. "What is Parsley talking about?" thought Efem. Then there was a snicker and then finally Cornelia started to laugh out loud too. Which only made Efem a little madder. "What is it that I am missing?" she demanded from them.

"Don't you get it? Hungry?"

At first Efem just looked at the two as if they were losing it... then the light came on. The young Wish Dragon's name was Hungry... Finally a small smile did appear as she just shook her head, wondering how she got stuck with a sister like Cornelia and a friend like Parsley. Then as she joined in the joke knowing that she was indeed lucky, and feeling happy, she glowed even brighter.

1 Comment

Come meet Awena Buttorfleoge

5/12/2020

0 Comments

I was asked last week what was my favorite part of dollmaking. Was it the painting, the sculpting, the costuming? I had to say no... it wasn't any of those. My favorite part is the inspiration.

It was when I was standing in front of my fireplace (warming myself) that "she" first showed up. She asked "Do you see me?" Well of course I had to reply "Yes" and then the fun began.

She had a sleeping face like in a meditation pose with a flower arrangement on her head. Once I saw her I couldn't unsee her... until I got started sculpting her. Now she no longer shows up in my carpet (*lol).

She shared clues about her name with me pretty early on in our "connection". Though I love some of the more colorful suggestions, I felt there was the option of only two but I just couldn't decide as to which one. It was then when she told me that I did not have to choose as she was both. Her name is Awena Buttorfleoge.

I was to later discover that 'Awena' means 'muse' in Welsh and my Awena is a Seer.

'Buttorfleoge' is an old English word for butterfly. Somehow that seemed to fit as I could see her personality flitting from topic to topic, much like the butterfly flying from spot to spot.

So, what has Awena told me so far? I have learned that she is one of the first Sleeping Sisters. She wasn't always a member of the Sleeping Sister's guild (you will learn more about them in brambles yet to come).

It was a difficult choice for her to make in joining the guild as at the time she thought she had just met the person (more like the troll) she was to be with. But the Fates had another path she was to walk. It is these little twists of inspiration that make the characters come to life for me!

This is where I enjoy the dollmaking - at the beginning of the path. When they first awaken a spark of magic within me. I want to then capture them and bring them to life, helping them to tell their story. So as I keep working through all of their stages of transformation (much like the metamorphosis of a butterfly), they reveal to me a little more about themselves - feeding my inspiration each step of the way.

Look at me... I have wings!!!

0 Comments

Hewy, Sprout and the Petal Post

5/5/2020

0 Comments

Hewy pondered about all that he had heard from Nemmer as they had shared a meal at one of the local pubs. "A Dragon on the loose," he mumbled to himself. "It has been a very long time since one of them have been seen." Nemmer had left to continue the search telling Hewy as he departed that if Hewy was still hungry, and if THE CAT showed up, he could eat him if he wished. "UGH! How revolting..." Hewy thought, but since Nemmer was smiling as he said it, decided that he must have just been kidding.

Again, realizing that he still did not have any music for the festival written, Hewy continued wandering around the village for an inspiration. Occasionally he just stopped and listened to youngsters singing or the sounds being made by those still preparing for the celebration. Normally the sounds of each day would inspire his melodies, but for some reason, today it was not.

As he was about to leave the village and see if that elusive inspiration was hiding somewhere else, a large magpie swooped from the sky and landed near his feet. As Hewy looked at the bird, it appeared to be staring back at him! "How strange," Hewy thought. "It is carrying something in it's beak. It looks like a big flower."

The magpie appeared to Hewy to have decided something as it hopped closer to Hewy's feet and dropped the flower before flying away. Picking up the flower, Hewy noticed that it had strange markings on it's petals. "I have never seen that before," he thought. "I wonder what they are for?" Not knowing what to do with it, he decided to take it with him. "Maybe," he decided, "it will help me to find my musical inspiration today since it certainly is hiding."

Again, Hewy started on his way out of the village on one of the many well used pathways, when he saw Sprout carrying one of the biggest muffins he had ever seen. "Good afternoon Sprout. What's with the giant muffin?"

Sprout smiled at Hewy, telling him that for the May Fair the bakers at the Sugar Plum Bakery had made a special muffin just for him. "I just need to eat it before going home to mom," he laughed, "or she won't think I will be hungry for dinner."

Hewy just shook his head, wondering how this young stripling kept so slim with all of the food he ate.

"Oh, I see that you got a Petal Post. My mom gets those too," Sprout said as he broke off a piece of the muffin and stuffed it into his mouth.

"You know what this is?"

Having to swallow before he could answer Hewy's question, Sprout continued, "It's a Petal Post from the Sleeping Sisters. Mom, Efem, and Cornelia talk about them all of the time. Must be about something important cause that seems to be the only time a petal post shows up."

Now Hewy was really intrigued. Could it be a note from Awena? She did leave to become a Sleeping Sister after all. "Do you think your mother can read the strange markings?" Sprout only nodded because he had another large chunk of muffin already in his mouth.

And with a nod, Hewy decided that today's music writing would have wait. He had to know what the Petal Post said and if the message was truly for him. "Will you take me to your mother?" he asked Sprout.

"Sure. I should be able to have the muffin gone long before we get there and if we start now, we could be in time for dinner!" Sprout replied as he started to eat another piece of the rapidly shrinking muffin.

0 Comments

My Brambles

The Great Gnome Race Day Event...

Meanwhile, back at the mushroom...

Come meet Awena Buttorfleoge

Hewy, Sprout and the Petal Post

Greetings

Archives

Categories