I've had the idea for this post for awhile but only just got around to writing it and taking pictures. Hope you enjoy!
For the past year, the Honeyfur family has been living in a gypsy caravan and travelling the woods. Up until awhile ago, they were just normal village folk who were happily settled in their little cottage in Bluebell Oaks.
What changed, you may ask? They decided that they wanted to be different, to live an adventure, and just have a challenge. So they sold their cottage and bought an old gypsy caravan. They now live in it with their pony Bramble, travelling the woods, only heading back home to Bluebell Oaks for more food or to visit friends and family. Velvette tells me they are quite happy, even more so than when they were living in the village.
"Come in, come in! Welcome to our humble home!" The bluebells are in full swing, and the woods are a beautiful place at the moment.
Velvette is just getting a freshly baked loaf of bread out of the oven. She has to work quite hard to feed her ravenous family, which she doesn't mind because baking is her number one favourite pastime.
Hopefully that should feed her husband and children sufficiently for lunch.
While we wait for it to cool, why doesn't she show you her little garden out on the back deck? She is quite proud of it.
Although it does not outweigh her love for baking, Velvette has always loved gardening. When they lived in the village, she used to have a very sucessful garden at home, and would often win prizes in the village show for her flowers. When they first moved into the caravan, she was upset to realise that she would no longer be able to continue her passion. However, she soon realised that she could make use of the small space she had to grow her own flowers.
Velvette is an expert on small spaces.
She loves waking up every morning to the sweet fragrance of her own flowers growing right outside.
Another project that she and her daughter Juniper did was making this floral Spring wreath. It adds a nice touch to the plain back door, don't you think?
When they left Bluebell Oaks, Glen quit his job as an electrician and now studies the woods. During their time travelling he has actually discovered two new species of fungi and one different type of wildflower.
Glen probably knows more about the woods than anyone else in Bluebell Oaks. He studies the seasons, weather, plants, trees and soil. He is more learned than some may think by looking at him.
Recently, Glen has discovered another passion of his: writing. Not long ago he published his second book about wildflowers and plants and now, with his wife's encouragement, has begun writing his first novel.
He can spend hours just wandering about in the woodland, collecting wild pumpkins, mushrooms, and berries, or leaning on tree trunks dreaming up ideas for his books, without a care in the world.
Where do the children go to school, you may be wondering? They used to attend Country Tree School, and baby Pumpkin went to the Forest Nursery, but now, Velvette home-schools them. They do their schoolwork at the little kitchen table, often outside the caravan in the clearing they are camping in at that point in time.
Juniper loves the adventurous lifestyle. She loves being immersed in the natural world, and learning about all the different wildflowers and plants from her mother. The only thing she does miss is her friends, although she has her brothers for company. It's not quite the same though, and she looks forward to visiting the village so she can see her friends.
Where is Barley anyway? He should be doing his schoolwork like Juniper too, only he is nowhere to be seen...
I'm afraid Velvette and Glen's oldest son is abit of a handful. It's not that he is purposefully naughty, he just is a little bit too adventurous for his own good. He claims he wants to be an intrepid explorer and leave school the moment he turns fifteen, which doesn't really sit well with Velvette. She wants her son to have a good, complete education and get a well-paying job like a doctor. She knows he is smart enough to do it. He just finds it hard to sit still, and has no more interest in medical science than he does in plants.
Ahh, there he is, crawling around under a bush!
"Barley, what on earth are you doing! Come out of there right now!"
"Aww, come on Mum, I was just exploring! It's much better than doing boring old maths! When am I ever gonna need to know how to do long division when I'm an explorer anyway?"
"No more of this nonsense please," Velvette said firmly, taking him by the arm, "You're falling behind in your schoolwork already; you can explore around here as much as you like as soon as you've done your work."
Poor Barley can't understand why the rest of his family take such an interest in boring old plants. Wouldn't they rather be climbing a tree or exploring the riverbank?
Saturday morning in the caravan is always chore time. The children complain, but Velvette is firm: the caravan won't keep itself spick and span!
In fact, Glen is just the tiniest bit afraid of her when she is in a 'cleaning mood'. It's no wonder though that she has to be firm with three children!
As she was assigning jobs, Barley piped up, "Mum, can I go up on the roof with Dad to check that the chimney isn't blocked?"
"You most certainly cannot!" Velvette was horrified. She doesn't even like Glen doing that job. "Take Pumpkin and mop the back deck, would you darling? But be careful of my plants!"
Barley sighed, vowing to himself that when he grows up he will never own a house that needs constant cleaning. He will sleep in a tent under the stars!
Juniper had the job of waxing the front deck. She doesn't mind it really, as long as the wax doesn't make her fur sticky.
Glen headed up the ladder to check the chimney.
It's just as well he has abit of experience of climbing things from his days as an electrician. All the same, it still makes Velvette nervous to watch him up there.
"Nope, it's not blocked at all!"
Velvette got to work cleaning the stove as soon as her family left the kitchen.
There, much better!
Next, she needs to clean the sink. Pumpkin spilt blackberry juice down there last night, and it stains oh so terribly!
Of course, Bramble the pony is a major part of cleaning. It is Juniper's job to brush him and comb his mane and tail.
Usually she sings to him as she does it. She thinks he enjoys the sound of her voice because he always puts an ear back to listen to her.
Juniper has always loved ponies and was over the moon when she was finally able to have her very own when they adopted Bramble. He is an adored part of the family now.
She will just put on a touch of hoof oil to blacken his hooves and then she will be finished!
Glen and Velvette are sure that taking their children travelling and living in the caravan was the best decision they have ever made, even if it was rather sudden and challenging. Velvette says that she is so accustomed to life on the road that she finds it hard to remember what it was like to live a settled life in a house, and that she would find it terribly boring to have to live in a house again!
As usual, I got some inspiration for this story from my own life. Velvette kind of reminds me of my grandma, and the Saturday morning chore idea came from her. When my dad was a kid he and his brothers had to work and do chores on Saturday morning too. Years later, now, my grandma claims that 'the boys' enjoyed working on Saturday morning and that 'they loved it!', although my dad tells us this is a different story! I wonder if this is the case for the Honeyfur children? ( ;
Have a great week!