Merry Christmas!

 Hello friends! 

I hope you are all well and enjoying the last little bit of 2022 and the lead up to Christmas. I’m afraid I have neglected my Sylvanians a bit lately, and I haven’t had time to do a proper story, but I just wanted to share a festive scene of the Buttercups enjoying their Christmas Eve together, eating candy canes. 

I wish you all a very happy Christmas and New Year, and remember take care of yourselves! As always I appreciate each of you so much!

Best wishes! 

The Buttercups

 Hi everyone! I hope you are all doing well and enjoying the beginning of Spring or Autumn! The weather has cooled down a little here but is still very pleasant!

I took some photos this evening because I wanted to show some figures that I haven't yet introduced, starting with the Buttercups!

I was actually given the Buttercup family for a Christmas present, so I have had them for a little while but I just had to do a post to show them! I have wanted them for many years, ever since I got baby Cheddar years ago (another Christmas present) but I had resigned myself to the fact that they were discontinued and I wouldn't be able to get them anywhere. So it's so lovely they're being made again, and for Cheddar to have a family at long last! 

Hornbull and Daisy are so sweet. I can imagine them as teenage sweethearts that are still walking through life together, hand in hand. They seem to match and balance one another out very well. 

Despite the reputation of bulls being hot-headed and aggressive, I think Hornbull seems quite gentle at heart. Perhaps he is just misunderstood by many.

"Mmm, the grass in good in this pasture, Hornbull!"

                                 

Cheddar is delighted to have his brother and sister, Paddock and Annabel, as playmates. He has lots of friends at nursery, but it's not quite the same as your own siblings. 

Speaking of friends, Cheddar brought some of them with him out into the garden, and it gives me the chance to show one of my other recent-ish buys (well, from the end of last year). I was doing some online shopping and couldn't resist little Alfie Maple! 

Isn't he adorable with his darling little hat and bag? I currently don't have any other Maple cats apart from one of the blind bag babies, his sister, but one day they may get their own family too! 

Alfie and Poppy Fenton had to stop and investigate an anthill in the cobbles. 

'Smile for the camera!' My cat Poppy snuck into the background of this one because she decided she wanted to investigate whatever interesting thing I was doing on the lawn with small furry creatures! Luckily she then became more interested in a piece of grass than the Sylvanians.

I'm really happy to have the Buttercups at last! They've already become one of my favourite families. Do you have any new arrivals or items on your wish list? I'd love to hear in the comments! 

Thanks for reading! 

The River Ripple

The River Ripple has long since been a part of life in Bluebell Oaks. From the very first travellers who settled by the waters and built their settlement around it, to the wheel on the Water Mill Bakery that the river powers, it has always been appreciated and made use of. It's summer here at the moment, and in the afternoons the banks of the River Ripple are dotted with villagers, swimming, paddling, or dipping tails and paws in the cool water, all trying to seek refuge from the heat.

The Robinson family decided to spend their afternoon enjoying a picnic by the river's edge. 

Florence packed a variety of food and summer fruit.

After the picnic, Wilbur and Florence can relax a little while they watch the children playing. Wilbur loves the summertime, but Florence can't stand the heat. Her favourite season is winter, when she can snuggle up beside the fire with a good book. 

The heat has brought alot more villagers out of their houses or workplaces and down to the river. Ripple and Pebble Clearwater, who live in a little house tucked away amongst the willow trees down in Reed's Bend, seldom venture into the village, but even they have been seen more often recently. 

Ripple is a needlewoman, doing embroidery. Both she and her daughter Pebble are very skilled with their hands, and Pebble too is learning the art of needlework. They both love taking a break, however, and spend time by the river; whether swimming or just sitting on the banks, they have both always adored being by the water.

Wade Waters is another who has spent his life on the banks of a river. He prefers to keep away from the main areas near the village that are filled with hustle and bustle, but down where the river widens and the waters float by amiably in a deep blue, Wade has his fishing spot.

Although Wade doesn't really keep alot of fish for himself, he still enjoys the thrill of waiting for a bite on the line and then seeing what he's caught. Most of his catches, he throws back and only keeps the odd one.

Lately, Wade has been trying to share his hobby with his son, and teach him his first fishing skills, just as Wade's father taught him when he was that age. 

I think Bucky's interest in fishing will need a little more cultivating yet, though. He is more interested in floating his toy boat. 

Wade's fishing rod proved to be useful though when Bucky's boat floated too far out in the stream out of reach.

As soon as Wade put his fishing rod down to get ready to pack up, he spotted some fish out in the river, swimming just below the surface. Sighing, he wondered how the fish always manage to just evade him. 

Bucky and Wade were just about to make their way through the forest to home when a little rowboat appeared around the bend. 

It's a common sight on the River Ripple to see Yvette Blackberry and her little boat floating by. Yvette learnt to row when she was a young child, and has always been intrigued by its flowing waters and different species of plants and creatures. The lapping of the river against the sides of her boat is very calming. 

Yvette saw Wade and Bucky standing on the bank and gave them a friendly wave. They waved back and watched her float past.

A little way up the river Yvette paused her rowing and manouvered her boat beside an overhanging branch. Something had caught her eye-a stunning blue butterfly perched on its leaves!

Yvette's mind raced and she scrambled for her camera, thankfully still strung around her neck from earlier when she photographed a patch of irises growing on the riverbank. Quickly, she snapped some pictures before the butterfly could flit away and made a mental note to mark it in her butterfly and moth spotting journal later. 

Someone is also a regular visitor to the River. Deep in the woods, Briar Wildwood has her caravan home tucked away. Her creativity has an outlet here, and it allows her to always take inspiration for her art from the nature around her. Just a short distance from her caravan, through a patch of birch trees and down a grassy slope is the river. 

In the heat of the day she prefers to stay beneath the shady canopy of trees in the woods, but in the evenings she has started venturing out to paint by the river. She loves setting up her easel just on the water's edge.

 Evening is the perfect time to capture the golden dappled light that falls on the water in her painting. Her work is still relatively unknown in Sylvania, although it is gaining popularity. There is an art competition coming up, and this new work is what she is hoping to enter. 

Sometimes when her work is done for the day she dabbles her feet in the cool water and watches it as it floats by peacefully. The River Ripple never stops, it never slows; the waters gently pass by in a continuous flow.

Thanks for reading! 

Hope you are all managing to stay cool, or warm!