Quick Photo Challenge: Cosy

This month's prompt for the Quick Photo Challenge on the Sylvanian Families forum is "Cosy".

Now, I do understand that in many parts of the world it is pretty cold right now, and the idea of curling up by the fire with a blanket and a cup of hot chocolate probably sounds pretty good.

But.

Today where I live, the temperature hit 44 degrees Celsius.  So, yeah... I'm afraid that in the last couple of weeks, "cosy" wasn't a word that was inspiring me too much.

But then I remembered that a relative of mine had recently shown me something she bought at a market.  It was a teapot cosy, and I realised it was perfect for a silly, left-of-centre take on this theme.  All I needed was a mouse...

So here is my photo for the "Cosy" theme:

I hope it gives you a bit of a giggle.  :)

And I never quite got around to posting a Christmas post this year (bad blogger!), so I will also take the opportunity here to say that I hope you and your families had a very Merry Christmas!

Quick Photo Challenge: Candy!

Over on the Sylvanian Families Collectors Forum, a new monthly challenge has popped up:  the Sylvanian Families Photo Challenge.  This is intended to be a quick, no-big-setup-or-story-necessary photo, with a set theme.  This month the theme is "Candy".

Well, I had the perfect Sylvanian for this one...

Joy Woolly is wearing the lovely candy-print dress that Caitlyn Hazelnut made and gave me for Christmas a couple of years ago.

Hope you are having as good a day as Joy is!  :)

Sylvanian Pride and Prejudice - Part One

This is something I have been wanting to do for a long time.  Caitlyn and I both love Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice, and the notion of casting Sylvanians in all the roles, and photographing them to illustrate the story, was just too tempting!  It is destined to be a very time-consuming endeavour, what with all the costumes that will need to be made (ball gowns!  regimentals!), so I do not promise to finish it quickly.  I do plan to post instalments from time to time when I can, and have great hopes of eventually getting through the whole story!

Obviously, the words are not my own, although this is very much an abridged version of Austen's masterpiece.  I have also made some slight additions where necessary to tie the photos in (these will be kept to a minimum though.  I am hoping it mightn't be necessary again at all after this first instalment).

Without further ado, I would like to present Part One of my Sylvanian Pride and Prejudice - I do hope you enjoy it, and that it inspires you to seek out the original book and read it if you have not done so already!

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It is a truth universally acknowledged, that a single man in possession of a good fortune, must be in want of a wife.

“My dear Mr Bennet,” said his lady to him one day, as the family walked home from church, “have you heard that Netherfield Park is let at last?”

Mr Bennet replied that he had not.

“But it is,” returned she.  “Netherfield is taken by a young man named Bingley – a single man of large fortune, four or five thousand a year.  What a fine thing for our girls!”

“How so?  How can it affect them?”

“My dear Mr Bennet,” replied his wife, “how can you be so tiresome?  You must know that I am thinking of his marrying one of them.”

“Is that his design in settling here?”

“Design!  Nonsense, but it is very likely that he may fall in love with one of them, and therefore you must visit him as soon as he comes.”

“I see no occasion for that...” Mr Bennet began.

Their eldest daughters, Jane and Elizabeth, shared a rueful smile.

Mary followed next, her mind on what she considered loftier matters, and behind her came the two youngest Bennets, Kitty and Lydia, giggling and chattering excitedly.

By this time they had arrived home, and despite Jane’s ministrations, Mrs Bennet was in quite a state.

“But consider your daughters," said she.  "Indeed you must go, for it will be impossible for us to visit him, if you do not.  Oh, you delight in vexing me.  You have no compassion on my poor nerves.”

“You mistake me, my dear.  I have a high respect for your nerves," replied Mr Bennet.  "I have heard you mention them with consideration these twenty years at least.  But I hope you will get over it, and live to see many young men of four thousand a year come into the neighbourhood.”

“It will be no use to us, if twenty such should come since you will not visit them.”

“Depend upon it my dear, that when there are twenty, I will visit them all.”

~~~ o ~~~

It was a few days later, and Mr Bennet made some casual mention of Mr Bingley, wondering whether or not the intriguing new visitor would like some trifling thing or other.

“We are not in a way to know what Mr Bingley likes,” said his wife resentfully, “since we are not to visit.”  Unable to contain herself, she began scolding one of her daughters.

“Don’t keep coughing so, Kitty, for heaven’s sake!  Have a little compassion on my nerves."

“I do not cough for my own amusement,” replied Kitty fretfully.

“Let us return to Mr Bingley,” Mr Bennet said.

“I am sick of Mr Bingley,” cried his wife.

“I am sorry to hear that, but why did not you tell me so before?  

If I had known as much this morning, I certainly would not have called on him.  It is very unlucky, but as I have actually paid the visit, we cannot escape the acquaintance now.”

The astonishment of the ladies was just what he wished, that of Mrs Bennet perhaps surpassing the rest.

“How good it was in you, my dear Mr Bennet!  I was sure you loved your girls too well to neglect such an acquaintance.  Well, how pleased I am!  And it is such a good joke, too, that you should have gone this morning, and never said a word about it till now.”

“Now, Kitty, you may cough as much as you chuse,” said Mr Bennet, and left the room, fatigued with the raptures of his wife.

“What an excellent father you have, girls,” said she.  “Lydia, my love, though you are the youngest, I dare say Mr Bingley will dance with you at the next ball.”

“Oh!” said Lydia stoutly, “I am not afraid, for though I am the youngest, I’m the tallest.”

~~~ o ~~~

Ready for more Pride and Prejudice?  Click here for Part Two...

Giant Pumpkin!

This is a bit of a flashback to Autumn in Macadamia Grove - the village put on a small harvest festival, showcasing fresh produce and other locally-grown items.  It was mostly arranged by the Grunt family, as most of the fruit and vegetables produced in Macadamia Grove are from their farm, but there were also a few stalls featuring handicrafts, baked goods, etc by other residents of the village.

Mr Grunt was extremely proud to unveil his prize butternut pumpkin!  

This giant was grown especially for the festival, and Mr Grunt lavished a great deal of attention on it as it grew.  The local children could not believe their eyes at the size of it, and were eager to write down their guesses in the hopes of winning a prize!  

The pumpkin was even featured in a newspaper article, advertising the festival.  Mr Applewood, the Macadamia Times photographer, had stopped by the day before.  He took a photo when Mr Grunt had just set things up.

A good time was had by all at the little festival, and the Grunt children felt very important having their dad pictured on the front page of the local newspaper!

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I couldn't resist taking this picture back in Autumn.  My aunty grows pumpkins in her back yard, and had asked me if I wanted one.  I said yes, so as a joke she presented me with this tiny butternut she had grown - yes, it is a real pumpkin!  It was so cute, I just knew I had to incorporate it in a Sylvanian picture.  So the photo was taken around the end of May, but I decided to hold onto it for a while, as I figured there would be a pumpkin-related craft challenge on the Sylvanian Families forum at around this time of year.  Well, it isn't a pumpkin-related theme exactly, but it is an "Autumn Colours" theme.  I know people will probably expect a lot more orange and red, but honestly where I live, the colours in Autumn aren't much different from the colours at any other time of year (most of our trees are not deciduous).  So I have decided my pumpkin photo qualifies!

A Rose By Any Other Name...

Jane Appleblossom sat down at the table with a relieved sigh.  It had been a long train journey to Macadamia Grove, and she was pleased to have had no trouble finding the house.  Of course, it helped that the Walnuts’ home was above the Supermarket, and Mrs Katerica Walnut had been very kind and welcoming.  Katerica had been a friend of Jane’s aunt at school, and when she heard that Jane had taken it into her head to do a bit of travelling in the countryside, she had insisted that the younger woman stay with her at her family’s home.

When Jane arrived, it was a busy time.  Mr Walnut was getting ready to go and open the shop downstairs, and there seemed to be children everywhere!

“Would you like some walnut slice before you go?”  Katerica asked her husband.  He looked interested, and approached the table.

“Mrs Babblebrook brought it over,” warned Saffron, with a pointed look at her father.  He hesitated.

“Isabella?  Or… er… the elder Mrs Babblebrook?”  he asked.

“The elder Mrs Babblebrook,” Saffron grinned.

“Ah… well… perhaps I won’t,” Cedric mumbled.  “Probably should be getting downstairs anyway…”  Suddenly he seemed to be in a hurry;  his voice trailed off as his bushy tail disappeared down the stairs.

“I’m off too, Mum,” said Saffon.  “I’m meeting Honey at the donut shop, remember?”  And with a last distrustful look at the walnut slice, she also departed.

Jane was surprised at this reaction from Cedric and Saffron, until she suddenly made the connection – Mrs Babblebrook – “the elder Mrs Babblebrook”…  Why, surely they must mean Pearl Babblebrook!  Of course Jane had heard the stories.  She had even seen a photograph of Pearl Babblebrook, proudly holding aloft a cake she had baked for the christening of Jane’s second cousin.  The story went that half the party had had food poisoning for a week, although Jane suspected that that story had gained strength and embellishments over the years.  At any rate, the general consensus was that anything baked by Pearl was guaranteed to be dreadful, and that Pearl herself remained completely oblivious to the fact.  No wonder Cedric and Saffron had left in a hurry!  But Jane had never actually met Pearl herself – and she certainly had had no idea that Pearl lived in Macadamia Grove!  What a small world it was, she mused.

She was startled from her thoughts by the Walnuts’ son Twig, who announced, “I’ll have some.”

Sure enough, he took a large piece of slice and began to eat it, quite unconcerned.

“Jane?” Katerica offered, her knife hovering over the slice.

“Oh… no thank you,” Jane faltered.  “I – I ate something on the train!”

“And I expect you’d like to freshen up after your journey, of course – silly me!” exclaimed Katerica.  “Your room is just through there.”

As Jane gratefully left the room, she couldn’t help noticing Twig still munching absently on the walnut slice, his attention mostly taken up by his comic book.  Oh well, she thought.  I suppose it’s true what my mother used to say – teenage boys really will eat anything!

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Later that day, Katerica took Jane to an afternoon tea party to meet some of the local ladies.

“It’s just a small gathering of friends,” she said.  “We like to get together when we can to have a cup of tea and a gossip.  You’ll be very welcome – we love meeting new people!”

As luck would have it, on this occasion tea was to be held at the Babblebrooks’ cottage.  Jane found herself feeling very interested to meet this infamous Sylvanian!

They were greeted warmly, and as Katerica had assured her, Jane was made to feel very welcome.  The ladies chatted happily, and cups of tea were served. 

Jane was just in the middle of a interesting conversation with Mrs Ariane Woolly, when suddenly a plate of cupcakes appeared in front of her.  It was being offered by a beaming Mrs Babblebrook.

“Would you like one, dear?  They’re orange!” she said sweetly. 

“I’m fine, thank you,” Jane replied politely.

“Oh, please help yourself!”  Mrs Babblebrook urged.  “As our newest guest, I thought you should do the honours!” she added.

Jane didn’t know what to say.

“Oh… er… in that case… thank you,” she murmured, and gingerly took a cupcake.  To her horror, Mrs Babblebrook didn’t go away, but instead remained eagerly waiting for her to take a bite.

“Do try it!” she urged.  “I’d be interested to know what you think – I’ve tried something different this time!”

“Have you?” Jane managed.  “Well.  How… er... clever of you.”  Still she hesitated, staring down at the cupcake.  It looked like a cupcake.  It was certainly orange.

By this time, Jane realised she had gathered a bit of an audience.  Several of the ladies were looking curiously at her.  Finally her good manners couldn’t take it any longer.  She closed her eyes, and took a tiny nibble at the cake…

… and opened her eyes, startled.

“But – but Pearl, this is delicious!” she exclaimed.  She took a bigger bite.  It was in fact one of the nicest cakes she had ever eaten!  What on earth was all the fuss about, she wondered.

Then she realised several of the ladies were staring at her – Katerica and the two Mrs Babblebrooks in particular.  Oh dear, she thought, blushing – did I say “but” out loud?

“Er… Jane dear, did you call her… Pearl?” Katerica asked quietly.  Oh dear, thought Jane – and now I’ve called an older lady by her first name when it’s not how she was introduced to me.  Perhaps now they will think I am terribly rude… 

The younger Mrs Babblebrook’s mouth twitched.

And suddenly the elder Mrs Babblebrook went into peals of laughter. 

“Pearl?” she cried.  “Oh goodness child, no wonder you didn’t want to eat one!”  Wiping tears from her eye, she patted Jane’s paw reassuringly.

“My name is Rose, dear,” she said kindly.  “Pearl Babblebrook is a relative of mine.  Quite a distant relative actually, although we do look an awful lot alike.”

Jane was very embarrassed, but the rest of the ladies seemed to think it a great joke – Rose most of all.  When quizzed about her family’s reaction to the walnut slice, Katerica explained that Rose was known for putting a lot of cinnamon into her walnut slice.  Whilst this was delicious for many critters, cinnamon was a flavour that Cedric and Saffron simply could not abide. 

“Oh dear,” said Jane.  “I have been awfully silly.”

“Nonsense child,” said Rose stoutly, handing her another cup of tea.  “It was very understandable you would mistake me for Pearl.  And for what it’s worth dear, I wouldn’t eat anything she’d cooked, either!”

Elementary, my deer...

One of the recent Creative Challenge prompts on the Sylvanian Families Forum was "Sylvanian Eras - Victorian".  Well, we couldn't pass that up, could we?

We thought it would be fun to recreate a Victorian-era literary character in Sylvanian form - but which one??  It was Caitlyn Hazelnut who thought of Sherlock Holmes, and with that, the game was afoot...

After much examination of all our Sylvanians, Mr Buckley was chosen as the best fit for this character, which Husband found intensely amusing, given the name of the famous detective's iconic hat...

I made Sherlock's pants, waistcoat, Inverness travelling cloak, and deerstalker hat (the white shirt is Mr Buckley's own), as well as the magnifying glass.  The rest of the accessories were already owned by various Sylvanians, and just had to be borrowed for use here.

Also thank you to my Dad and his wife, who gave me the beautiful edition of The Complete Sherlock Holmes that our Sylvanian Sherlock is standing on!  I couldn't have wished for a better setting for this photo (and incidentally it's rather a good read, too...)  :)

The Grunt Family's Fruit Stand

The Grunt family owns and operates a large farm on the edge of Macadamia Grove.  Their main crops are apples, corn and macadamia nuts, however Mrs Grunt and her daughter Olivia are interested in growing other fruits as well.  The farm's produce can be found for sale in the local Supermarket, and other local restaurants and food businesses also use their produce.  

Inevitably though, there is always some beautiful fresh produce left over, and it was Olivia's idea that it would be a good idea to run a fruit stand outside their house on the weekends.  Her father agreed to build it, but decided a wagon would be a better design, so that it could be moved around easily if they ever wanted to sell at a local fair or similar.

Last weekend, the Fruit Wagon opened for business.  Olivia was very excited.  She hoped to be in charge of this little weekend business eventually, but her father felt he should be in charge this first time.  

"When you have learned enough to be in charge, you and Hugh can run the stand yourselves, and keep the profits from it," he said.  "But first you will need to learn the ropes.  You will have to learn to weigh the fruit, work out the prices, and deal carefully with the money.  But most importantly, you will need to learn to look after your customers."

Hugh was also quite interested in the fruit stand idea (mostly as he liked the idea of having more pocket money), and he cheerfully did his part to help set up.  He had always been less enthusiastic about farm work than his sister though, and Olivia noticed he had brought a book outside with him.  She wondered how much help he would be in the long term.  She had to admit that he had done a lovely job of the sign, although she did wonder why he had drawn bananas.  

"We don't grow bananas," she pointed out.

"Yes, but I am good at drawing bananas," Hugh answered.  "Anyway, does it matter?"

"I suppose not."  Olivia rolled her eyes and gave up.  The sign did look nice.

They had just finished getting everything in place, when Olivia spotted some potential customers.  Elinor Fletcher was out for a walk with her daughter Merida and the little twins.  Olivia waved.   Mrs Fletcher looked interested and trotted over.

Soon Corrie Dale arrived too, and had questions about about some pears.

"Are they very sweet?"  she wondered.

"Oh yes Mrs Dale, and they are perfectly ripe.  Just picked this morning," Olivia replied. 

"Well, I shall have some then," smiled Corrie, hoping the pears might satisfy her daughter's sweet tooth.

Meanwhile, Mr Grunt was explaining about corn to Mrs Fletcher.

"You must eat it while it is very fresh," he said.  "Then it is the tastiest vegetable you could wish for."

Merida Fletcher wasn't particularly interested in corn, and had instead concentrated on choosing herself a snack.

"Mum, can I have an orange please?"

All in all, it was a successful day.  The Grunts had many customers on their very first day, and Olivia just knew it was going to be a success.  Suddenly, she wondered where her brother had got to...

It appears the lure of his favourite book had proved too much for Hugh, and during a quiet spell he had snuck off to have a bit of a read...

Olivia hoped he would be more help in future.  Otherwise, she thought, they might have to rethink how the profits were shared out...

Happy Hoppy Easter!

The Periwinkle children had a lovely time this morning hunting for eggs!  (Faraday was hunting too, but was just around the other side of the house when this was taken.)

I know I have been a bit slack lately with posting on the blog, but now that the school holidays have begun, I am hoping to share some new stories and family updates with you very soon!

For now, Caitlyn Hazelnut and I would like to wish you and your families a very Happy Easter.  

Family Updates

Hello there!  I have a few ideas for posts that I would like to share soon (some of them inspired by creative challenges on the forum), but for now, I would like to draw your attention to a number of updates I have made to our Meet The Families page in the last month or so.

I am pleased to introduce the Dale family of sheep, the Fletcher family of border collies, the Pennypress family of red pandas, and Mrs Roxy Renard.

If you have not yet read their bios, and would like to, they can all be found on our Meet The Families - Macadamia Grove page, as they are all residents of the village (you will need to scoll down to find them - the families are listed alphabetically by surname).

I have also added a picture of my Slydale fox family, with their names, but I have not yet included their bios - they will come soon!

I am also looking forward to adding some other new additions to the Town page, but it is always the same old problem, isn't it? - so many projects, and so little time...  In the meantime, I hope you enjoy reading about these families., and that you are having some time to work on your own pet projects, whatever they may be!

The Talented Dr Murdoch

Not only is Dr Tobias Murdoch a highly skilled surgeon, and friendly neighbourhood doctor, he plays the guitar, too!

Harry Spotter brought his son James in for a check-up late this afternoon.  As it happened, James was Dr Murdoch's last appointment of the day.  As they are great friends, Tobias offered Harry a cup of tea after the appointment, and he and James hung around for a chat.  

Alice Marshmallow (who was on reception today) was just getting ready to leave for the evening, when she noticed that Dr Murdoch had got his guitar out.  She wasn't in a hurry to leave, so she pulled up a chair to listen as well.

Young James Spotter was very interested in this impromptu concert, too.  He hadn't heard Dr Murdoch play before, and enjoyed hearing these old favourites.  He was also amused by the way his father joined in the singing during the chorus - Harry's voice wasn't nearly as good as Dr Murdoch's!

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Each month on the Sylvanian Families Collector's Forum, there is a creative challenge.  This month, the theme is "Talent Show" - we were challenged to show off the talent of one or more of our Sylvanians.  This is my entry for the challenge.

I made Dr Murdoch's guitar by loosely following this youtube video.  If you would like to see (more or less) how it was done, or have a go at making one yourself, I recommend checking it out (although please note I do not know the person who made this video, nor do I guarantee what sort of content may or may not appear in the comments attached to it etc - proceed at your own risk!).  I did simplify my guitar quite a bit (hers is amazing - really an insane level of detail that I did not think was necessary for my version!), but I am still happy with the results.