What was special about this year's celebration was that the Baron and his mother, the dowager Griselda, were hosting the Harvest Event at the Baron's Mansion. As the Baron was discussing the seating arrangements with Snoop since both were nobility in their own ways, the dowager was directing their servants Fiddlefaddle and Sneefle in their duties. "Now don't forget, today you will be serving our guests more than you will be catering to my son's or my needs," she reminded them over and over again.
Meanwhile, Granny Flare was busy in the kitchens in the back of the mansion making sure that everything would be ready for the feast. As she checked each item as it was prepared, Gardner was bringing in the fresh vegetables and fruit that he had grown specially for just this occasion. "Here is the last of it," he told Granny as he set the heavy crate down on the kitchen floor. "Is there anything else you need brought in?" he asked as he stood besides a large boiling pot and enjoying the wonderous aroma that it was making. Granny just smiled as she gave him a couple of the hot pumpkin spice cookies that had just come out of an oven and shooed him outside as she told him to come back in a couple of hours. "By then I will know if I need anything else," she told him.
In the grand ballroom Efem, Cornelia, Parsley, and Nemmer were busy cleaning and setting up the decorations. The dusty mytes were being extra careful (and under the watchful eye of Nemmer) to only suck in the dust as they cleaned instead of blowing any out. "All we need is for them to make everyone forget today," Nemmer thought as he kept one eye on them while he was helping with the decorations. And finally, there were many more helping outside in preparing for the arrival of those who were invited. Since everyone in the Realm was on the guest list except for the Wysps (who would show up invited or not if whoever held the leadership stick felt like it), that meant that a lot of chairs, tables, and tenting was needing to be setup. Dewin, the wizard, was using his magic to have the folding chairs unfold and stand up where he directed while Scarlet was watching over the Nytemares as they dragged in the tables and large tents. So, as all of those who live in the Realm of Wymsy prepare for this thanksgiving feast, we at MisPlace Dolls would like to thank all of you on this Thanksgiving Holiday as we come together to celebrate.  Happy Thanksgiving!
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For another, it’s all in the preparation. A House Brownie will start planning and preparing for Spring cleaning usually about a month before Spring starts (and sometimes sooner)!
Now this year, Granny Flare had been planning all winter and had finally decided that she needed to branch out and help others who were not so fortunate to have a House Brownie available for the Spring cleaning. The problem was figuring out where her perspective helpers were located now that they did not need to hide from Nemmer. “It’s a good thing that Nemmer quit bopping the Dusty Mytes,” thought Granny as she decided to go out and look for them. “It’s also good that the Dusty Mytes have gained some control over their forgetful dust. It just won’t do having them blow their dust around and everyone forgetting everything. It could set back cleaning for generations!” Granny shuddered just to think of it!
Soon Granny was in the caves and found where the Dusty Mytes had made their homes. It was neat and tidy. “Those noses do a good job of vak-u-ming up all of the dirt,” she thought as she nodded her head in approval. It did not take Granny long, but soon she and the Dusty Mytes came to an agreement and a business plan quickly worked out. Granny would find the cottages that needed cleaning, make all of the arrangements, and have the inhabitants go for a Spring outing, the Dusty Mytes then would come in and vak-u-m the homes. It did not take long for the word to get out which meant Granny needed a plan sooner than later to keep everyone busy while her "crews" were cleaning. With that the Spring Fair idea was born. Now, on the first day of Spring, everyone not in the cleaning crews were at the Spring Fair hosted by Efem, while Granny Flare and other House Brownies (with the Dusty Mytes help of course) are busy swishing, sweeping, and cleaning the old dusty winter gloom away. HAPPY SPRING!
"But what can we whip up that will be different? We have to show everyone that we still have that special touch and are the best bakers in the realms!" Goodie2shues and Goodie4U just looked at each other and tried to think up something unique. "I remember a few years ago when Granny came up with a gluten free pumpkin pie recipe that everyone tried just to see what it tasted like," said Goodie2shues. "Hardly anyone ate what we brought that year," added Goodie4U remembering all of the leftovers they had from that Harvest Festival. "We don't want that again," added Goodiegood. As the three sisters stewed over what special recipe they would pull together, they sat and sipped their pumpkin spice tea. Suddenly Goodiegood smiled. The others could just picture her mind churning up something. "I know what we can create and we won't even have to use the oven!" she snickered. "No one else would ever think of it..." she continued almost to herself.
"This will be fun and we didn't even have to ask the Magical Cooking Spoon for an idea," Goodie2shues thought as she started her part of the recipe. The recipe:
First she melted the butter and mixed it with the sugar and graham cracker crumbs in a large bowl. Next she pressed the mix across the bottom of a cake pan and then put the pan into a cooler to chill it until it was cold. As Goodie2shues was making the crust, Goodie4U was starting the filling. In a large bowl she mixed:
After mixing the ingredients, she folded in 1 quart of softened vanilla ice cream. Next she spooned everything into the chilled crust made by Goodie2shues and they put the treat into a freezer for about 30 minutes. When this was done, it was Goodiegood who figured out that a double batch of the mixture would fill a 9 inch by 13 inch cake pan. "If we are going to have enough for everyone, we will need to get some more supplies before the Festival," she told her sisters as they were looking over the finished treat after it had chilled sufficiently. "I wonder how much ice cream we can get this time of year?" "No one will think of this," said Goodie2shues as the others nodded their heads in agreement. "But what do you call it?" she asked Goodiegood who had thought up the recipe.
The others nodded their head in agreement as Goodiegood made a note on the shopping list to not forget the two in the cave.
Not everyone else was smiling though. Especially not the town council members who had glanced at each other when Aralt had disappeared behind his doors and now started back to the council chambers. They definitely needed to talk. Shortly all of them were sitting around the conference table thinking about what to say at the meeting. Each of the councilors had their chief minion there in case an errand or message needed to be delivered awaiting in the chairs spaced against the wall of the chamber. Even if they were longingly gazing at the buffet table that Granny Flare and Cornelia had setup for everyone to snack on, they understood the importance of the events of day. Finally it was the Dowager who started the conversation. "Well, that went well." Those four words were all it took to get everyone talking at the same time. "Who would have thought he would be so short and I don't just mean in stature," snapped one member. "How can he think I will let him stay on the grounds of my castle," growled Queen Ffion. "What are we going to do now?" both Awena and Dulbbe silently thought to themselves as they listened to the others talk.
Each of the council members sat quietly, thinking about the Baron's question. Indeed, what do we do now? It was a quandary. "There is one thing we probably should do," grumbled Nemmer as he watched the others staring at each other around the table. "Maybe we need to hide Dree until we know more about this Herald business." It took a minute, as the others were heavy in thought about the situation, before they realized what Nemmer had just muttered. "Nemmer is right," smiled the Dowager. "Dree should be hidden until we know enough about Aralt before they meet. We don't want the two of them to get off on the wrong foot. But I also don't think they should meet until we find out what the Herald's plans are first." After a short discussion, the rest of the council agreed with the Dowager, but who to send? For they needed to distract Dree and to keep him away until the council had their chance to find out Aralt's plan and that wouldn't be easy. "I could send Meen," volunteered Queen Ffion as Meen jumped from her chair when she heard her name. "No disrespect to you or your minion, Queen Ffion," answered Awena, " But we need someone who might be able to distract Dree as to the arrival of the Herald but not spill the beans about him. Meen would get so caught up playing and probably tell Dree everything since she is a twiddletop when it comes to keeping secrets." The conversation continued for some time, going back and forth on who would be best to inform the Dragon, but it wasn't until Dulbbe, the Troll King, made his offer before they selected the messenger.
Realizing that his boss was both correct and actually giving him a compliment, Drat blushed slightly and bowed his head. "As you command Sire," he replied as he departed on his errand. "Well, it got me out of what looked like a long and boring meeting," thought Drat as he darted down the street to the caves under the Baron's mansion all the time working up a plan to keep the Dragon busy without letting him know he was being hidden away again for now. "I wonder if I can get him into a game of Tic Tac Toe? That could take a while if he doesn't know that secret. But I will definitely need to let him know that it doesn't require body parts or eating."
"What are we to do now?" replied one member followed by "What do you think he will look like?" from another council member. In the middle of all this chaotic noise, Fiddlefaddle leaned over towards the Baron. Being the Baron's all around handy man and procurator of travel arrangements he quietly asked, "Do you know where he will be staying since we don't have what the Outies call a hotel here in our small village?" With that small question, the noise stopped instantly in the council chamber that one could have heard a pin drop if one was listening for that pin. Finally, Nemmer was the one who broke the silence. "There is a room over at the Rusty Nail Pub. I was just there this past week with my fellow archers and I am sure I heard the owner mention he had a spare room available." Which of course set up another flow of highly opinionated views on that suggestion.
"No, I don't think that is a good idea," replied Awena. "I walked by there on my way to the council meeting and heard that the little old lady that owns the place just picked up a set of Peerrots (in the Outie world would be known as parrots) that squeal 'Rise & Shine and Git Out' every morning now. I don't think we want our guest to think we don't want him here," continued Awena. At that moment a golden coach pulled up in front of the Village Council's building. All the members stood in anticipation for the Herald to exit the coach. As he did he simple stepped down, gave everyone a cold look, paid the coach driver, and then turned towards the center of the Village as if looking for something. He then proceeded to walk off and left without a word of acknowledgement or greeting as the coach departed in the opposite direction. So, just like the Pied Piper in tales of old, the Herald continued walking down the center of the small village neither looking left nor right with the Council members (now with a few curious villagers who were wondering where the parade was going and what was it for) all following behind him. Little did they know that Aralt was focusing on the ley lines of the area. He could feel them and though it had been many many years since being here, especially without the Dragons to feed them, the lines were still here, though very faint.
"If he thinks he is staying at my castle without an invitation or greeting, I don't think so!" Ffion growled to herself as the crowd all turned towards the Shadows' Queen castle. They all continued walking down the road like a gaggle of geese following the Herald's lead as he walked into the courtyard of the Shadows' Queen's castle and proceeded to the back upper garden where several of those following soon realized it was the same garden where the young Wish Dragon had transformed into a Moon Dragon. Aralt then went past the waterfalls (that covered the entrance to the secret cave that held the Dragon tablet recently taken by a Borrower) towards a wall covered with bramble vines that grow only in a darker corner of the garden. With his arms raised and the stone in the locket glowing that he always carried with him, Aralt spoke. " Rise to the left. Shift to the right. Reveal these doors to my Sight." Magically the brambles began to pull to the left with some shifting to the right, soon a massive stone door appeared that slowly opened for him. Apparently, by everyone's stunned reaction, Aralt realized that most of these simple people didn't know about the Dragons' Cave below. He finally decided to address the crowd of followers and turned to face them. "Excuse me. This is where I'll be staying. It has been a long day. I will meet with you tomorrow," and with that walked through the now open doorway with them shutting behind him. All the villagers stood there stunned with their mouths hanging open, wondering just what had happen.
"We have also heard from King Dulbbe and Queen Ffion about the potential dangers of a ruling Wish Dragon according to the past stories of the She-Dragon," finished Griselda. Everyone looked at each other, waiting to see if someone would start the conversation they all knew had to happen. It was Awena who began. "We need to create a plan to minimize the chaos of the arrival of the Herald and the Dragon's return. I have searched the records of the Sleeping Sisters and have found nothing that will aid us in this problem. The only ancient text or prophesy that was discovered is extremely vague. The most we can confirm is that all realms are in danger if the Dragon's are no more and the game is lost. We have not found out what is meant by 'this game of power' nor what would make all of the Dragons disappear," she said and sat down on one of the many chairs in the audience chamber. "You have all heard what we have found out about the returning Dragons. Do you have any further questions of the Dragon orb?" Griselda asked the others. "If not - then now is the time we must decide what we can do. The one major question we cannot answer is does Aralt know we now have a Moon Dragon here in the Realms?" What do you think of this Dree?" finished Griselda as all turned to look at the young Moon Dragon. Dree was totally caught off guard. He had been listening to everyone's discoveries and was picturing in his mind what the other Dragons would look like and how they would act, but he had not been following the Dowager's final comments. So with a startled look he realized everyone was staring at him and waiting for his comments. After a few gulps, he finally started to speak. "Excuse me for not paying attention at everything that has been said here, but I have been listening and thinking. I understand both from your discoveries of the Orb and from the reading I have been doing from some books that Granny Flare gave to me what it meant to be a Wish Dragon. I am just now getting my wings under me in trying to find out what a Moon Dragon may be. I am hoping this Herald can help me discover what it is that I am supposed to do," he said. Taking a slow breath Dree continued, "But, I also know that he is a stranger to me while all of you are my family. I may be a Dragon, and formerly of the Wish Dragon Clan, but you have all raised me and have helped me become what I am now so you are my clan too. I do not know if there is anything I can do to prepare for the coming of my kin, but I do feel that I should learn all that I can to be prepared for their arrival," Dree told the others.
Everyone in the room stood and bowed to the young Moon Dragon to show him their support. It was almost too much for the Dragon, but he finally did look back at them all and said a simple "Thank you." It was then that the Goodie Sisters and Parsley entered the chamber and announced that the meal they had been preparing was ready... was anyone hungry? Dree started laughing and said "No, I'm Dree now - but I am still Hungry!"
I am not called Snoop for nothing as I realized this could be another story for the newspaper. Granny then started to tell me about a frog family that has lost it's lily pad. She was trying to help them move into a tree stump by the river by raising funds to make sure their new home would be safe and secure. "Especially by flooding," she told me as I was leaving. But I couldn't leave until I knew her secret in staying cool in this heat as she certainly looked tidy. She too winked at me and said "My secret? I spray it on first thing in the morning and it keeps me cool and comfortable." Not wanting to get more details in her grooming technique, I left it at that for if I stayed another five minutes by her ovens I might be the next heat victim Thinking of what Granny had told me about this poor frog family, I decided to check out the river. Would anyone be down at the local swimming hole trying to keep cool? When I got there, it was empty. Not a person in site, but when I put my foot into the water I understood why. Even that was hot! Out of the corner of my eye I did see Meen, the Pyksee, bouncing from toadstool to toadstool in a nearby meadow but she disappeared before I could talk to her about how she was staying cool.
"We should all have something like that!" I realized. "Instead of sitting in a tub of water, we could have cold water poured into a bucket with a bunch of holes in the bottom and have it drip down. I'll call it a 'shower'. This is brilliant!" Snoop then rushed off to Ironmonger's Hammer and Spike shop to pick up his bucket list of supplies to build his own 'shower' to keep cool.
It was that new style of cleaning she had shown to some of the other house Brownies at her last convention that he had written about. She called it 'vak-u-ming' (whatever that was). "It will never replace the broom," Snoop thought as he continued watching her clean. "There must be a meeting going to happen today," he realized when he also saw the brewing tea pot and cookies. "There sure are a lot of cookies and cups, so it must be for a full council meeting. Maybe even some VMPs (Very Magical Persons) " Snoop muttered to himself.
"At least the tea is better than what I brew at the Bellwether," Snoop thought while he slowly sipped a little. "I might have to make this cup last a long time since it doesn't appear that anyone has arrived yet but Granny Flare."
"You were right," Dulbbe said to Drat. "It was uncomfortable besides being dirty too. I don't want to have to use that route again unless we absolutely have too. I mean, I can usually see well in the dark, but not in that pitch black hole you took me through. I don't know how you did it because I could not see my hand in front of my face! And don't tell me what was making that sound when were were walking around down there... I don't even what to know who or what it was," Dulbbe finished with a shudder as he brushed his clothes with his hands. "Sorry Sire, but you did say you wanted to get here fast," Drat answered (but not before Snoop noticed that the rat had answered with a small smile on his lips). Still smiling, Drat stepped aside and motioned for his King to enter the council chamber first as he followed. "Interesting," thought Snoop. "I wonder who else will appear." Just as he said that, the coach with Queen Ffion pulled up being pulled by no less than four Nytemares. "She must have been in a hurry," he decided. "This must be important!" As Snoop continued to sip on his tea, he was able to observe several more arrivals for the meeting. There was Hewy, Hir'aeth the Gooblin King, the Goodie sisters, Awena from the Sleeping Sisters, the Baron and his mother the Dowager, and even Dewin the Wizard. All VMPs indeed! It was the last guest that appeared the made Snoop realize that he had to get into the meeting somehow. It was that young Wish Dragon who had transformed into a Moon Dragon, Drai'ochtluan. "I am glad that he likes to go by 'Dree' for short," Snoop sighed to himself. "I would have to look up the spelling every time I want to write it down."
Not realizing that Snoop meant it as a bad thing because she liked to jump everywhere, she shrugged his comment off and pulled on his sleeve again. When she thought she had his full attention, she delivered the message she was sent out with. "The Council asks if you would join them in the council chamber. They said they did not want to start without you." Snoop was flabbergasted... how did they know that is exactly where he wanted to be?
There is even a local newspaper called the Bellwether that is ran by some crazy newspaper editor called 'Snoop'. But the Dowager Griselda has something truly unique as they are created from wishes. They are the Flutterbys. Which is why she is using them to call out the council for an emergency session as she wishes everyone there.
Between finding out she was a Nyte Shade and now the Queen of the Shadows' Realm, she still is trying to get her priorities established. "There is so much that I have to learn and so little time in a day," she thought to herself as she sat at her desk reading some of the material left to her by Awena. As Ffion started to turn a page, she noticed the Flutterby on the rose and smiled. She gazed on it warmly as she knew that it must be from her counselor, Griselda. Before she could even acknowledge it, the Flutterby proceeded to tell her about the emergency meeting to be held at the Village on the Wall council room. "The Dowager would never tell me 'Now' if it wasn't an emergency," Ffion thought to herself. She immediately sent for Scarlet to ready her coach with the Nytemares. They would get her there in a flash.
"Sire. I suggest that you take a break from the tediousness of your new duties and possibly retire to your chambers," Drat told King Dulbbe. At first Dulbbe only stared at Drat, but quickly he realized that Drat had something to tell him. "An outstanding idea," Dulbbe replied as he stood and preceded his counselor to his private chambers. Once inside and the door was closed, the appearance of decorum quickly disappeared. Dulbbe turned to Drat and asked, "What did I do wrong now? This being King business is a lot harder than being an accountant." "Sire, you are doing fine. Except, maybe you might want to consider growling at your subjects a little more often. It is good to keep them concerned that you might do something to them. It seemed to work wonders for your predecessor," answered Drat. "But that is not why I suggested you adjourn. As you were speaking a Flutterby arrived from the Dowager." It was then Dulbbe realized that the Flutterby had flown into his chambers when they entered and was now sitting on his shoulder. Quickly it whispered Griselda's message. "The Dowager is calling an emergency meeting of the council," the King told Drat. "Any suggestions on how to get there fast?" Drat only smiled and said, "You aren't going to like this as it is not too comfortable... but we have secret ways..."
As the Flutterby tells Granny the message, she slowly closes her cookbook. "If this meeting is what I think it is, then everyone there will need something to eat. I have never known Griselda to hold a short meeting," she ponders. "I should also probably bring that old Dragon book I got from Atian's library before he left on his trip. It will be needed I am thinking."
As Granny continued to listen she found that when her PEE-C arrived, she was going to need to connect to something called a Zoom. There she would find a portal where she could cook and talk with Parsley just like she was in her kitchen.
So, as Granny and Parsley dive into their cook books and herbs, let me share a recipe or two from them for this holiday season.   And if you haven't tried the gluten and dairy free pumpkin pies... click on this link to go there -
GLUTEN & DAIRY FREE PUMPKIN PIE RECIPIE (oops - Recipe) |
GreetingsWelcome to my blog. This is where I will reveal the magic of my Fae and their stories and share with you some of the success and pitfalls through the journey of doll making, sculpting, and other crafts that all come back to my dolls in many ways. Archives
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