A Bright & Happy Easter

This morning, Mandy Brightfield woke up bright and early.  It's Easter! she thought excitedly to herself.  She was looking forward to her family's traditional Easter picnic with their friends.  She jumped out of bed, washed quickly, and got dressed in her favourite dress.  She went out into the living area, and what did she find?  A large basket of Easter goodies!  There were chocolate eggs, fresh flowers, and a large chocolate bunny head.  How exciting!

By this time, she could hear her little sister Jenny waking up.  Mandy knew that if Jenny saw the basket, unpacking it would be all she wanted to do, so Mandy rushed back into the bedroom to help her little sister get ready for the picnic.

"What dress do you want to wear, Jenny?  What about this pretty blue one?" she suggested hopefully, but the response was just what she had expected.

"No," said Jenny.  "I want to wear like Daddy."  Jenny adored her father, and admired his postman's uniform so much that her mother had asked Mrs Prickles to make her a miniature dress to match.  Now it was all Jenny ever wanted to wear.

"Fine," Mandy sighed, exasperated.  "But you'll at least wear your pretty flowery hat that Mummy bought for you, won't you?  Quickly, put it on - I've a surprise to show you!  The Easter Bunny has been here!"

Jenny agreed to the hat, and the girls spent several minutes investigating the delightful Easter basket, and wondering what flavours the chocolate eggs might be.

"I could eat that whole big blue one!" Jenny announced.

"You would be sick," said her sister.

Finally, their parents were ready for the picnic too, and they were duly dragged over to admire the basket.

"My, the Easter Bunny has outdone himself this year!" said Mrs Nancy Brightfield.

"Yes indeed," her husband Billy agreed.  "Look at that chocolate rabbit - I could fancy biting his ear right off!" he added with a grin.  His daughters giggled.

"Mother, do you think we should take the basket to the picnic?" suggested Mandy.  "Then we could share all these lovely treats with our friends."

"What a lovely idea, sweetheart," said her mother, pleased.  "Let me put these beautiful flowers in a vase though - they will wilt if we take them with us."

She carried them off into the kitchen, smiling.  She was touched by Mandy's generosity, and looked forward to seeing it rewarded.  She knew that Mandy would be just as pleased as Jenny, when they discovered later that evening what was hiding in the kitchen cupboard!

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Happy Easter to all those who celebrate it, from the Brightfield family (and ours!) to yours.

Happy New Year 2024!

Hello all, and Happy New Year!

As you can probably tell, last year was a busy year for our family, and therefore not one in which I had much time for my Sylvanians, I'm afraid.  They have definitely not been forgotten though!  I have lots of new critters to introduce to you, and so many ideas and projects I want to do with them!

To start with, I'd like to show you some of my Christmas presents (just the Sylvanian ones!)  I was lucky enough to be given several new families:

(The penguins simply could not wait to get out of their box!)

I am so pleased to be welcoming all these new critters, but must give a special mention (VERY excitedly) to the delightful mole family, which was sent to me by my lovely forum friend Terra!

More details will come about these new additions, but I also want to share with you my very first Sylvanian project of the year - just a little one, but definitely a step in the right direction:

Meet Lolly Chocolate!  She is the youngest child of a family of Chocolate rabbits who live in our seaside area, Starlight Cape.  Soon I will update our Meet The Families page with their names and pictures, but first I had to make Lolly a dress (couldn't have her being mistaken for Freya Chocolat, now could we?)  lol

Here is the back:

I wanted a nice bright Summery feel for Lolly's dress, as not only does she live at the beach, but she is a bright, bouncy sort of bunny, who definitely needed colourful clothes.  I am quite pleased with the result.

So from everyone in Macadamia Grove, Starlight Cape, Town and beyond, as well as from Caitlyn Hazelnut and myself, welcome to 2024 - a much more Sylvanian year!

Chocolat Fine Chocolates

This is Mr Frasier Chocolat.

Mr Chocolat owns a chocolate shop in Macadamia Grove.  He makes the chocolates himself, and his loyal customers think it is the best chocolate in all Sylvania.

"Welcome to Chocolat Fine Chocolates," he says.  "What can I help you with today?"

Every weekday afternoon, at three o'clock sharp, the hometime bell rang at Macadamia Grove Primary School, and inevitably several students would walk to Chocolat on their way home - even if they had to walk quite a bit out of their way!

One day, Wash Wildwood and Angel Woolly were the first to arrive, and knew exactly what they wanted to spend their pocket money on.  

"I would like two of those big truffles, please!" said Wash.

"And I'd like a bag of chocolate coated lemon peel," added Angel.  Wash looked quite impressed at this - the lemon peel bags were quite large, and cost more than the boys usually spent.

"I'm sharing with my sister," Angel explained.  "We pooled our money before school - it's her turn to help Mum with the twins this afternoon."

Meanwhile, Faraday Periwinkle and Merida Fletcher were having more trouble making up their minds.

"We could get some fudge..." said Merida thoughtfully.  "Or...."

"Or shall we go halves in a block of Caramel?" suggested Faraday.  

Eventually, all the schoolchildren had emptied their pockets of coins, and were busy filling their mouths with delicious treats!  Mr Chocolat had just a few minutes to recover from the onslaught before Mrs Corrie Dale and her daughter Peren arrived.

Corrie was shopping for a gift for her husband's birthday.  Mr Dale had quite the sweet tooth, and chocolate from Chocolat's Fine Chocolates was his favourite treat.

"I think I would like to select several individual chocolates from the cabinet," she said.  "May I have them in a nice box, please?"

"Of course" Mr Chocolat answered.  "I know Ewan likes fudge, too - shall I include a piece of that, as well?"

While they were talking, Corrie's daughter Peren wandered about the shop, looking at all the different items for sale.  There were large blocks of chocolate in several different flavours.  There were boxes filled with truffles, and others filled with a selection of chocolates.  She gazed at them, trying to guess what tasty centres were hiding in each one.  There was even a large chocolate sculpture of a mouse.

Everything looked so delicious, and the whole shop smelled so good!

She wondered if her mum might buy her a truffle to eat on the way home...

Finally, Corrie was happy with her selections, and went to the counter to pay.

As it turned out, Peren had made a selection of her own.

"Mum, can I have a chocolate ladybug?  Please?"

"Oh alright then," Corrie smiled.  "But I don't want your dad to know we were here - it might spoil the surprise - so be sure to eat it all before we get home."

Peren felt that this would not be a problem at all.