Penny and Rally's Afternoon

This is a couple of days late, but last Sunday was a beautiful day in Bluebell Oaks. The sky was a spotless blue, and the villagers were out and about, making the most of the gorgeous weather before winter sets in. Penny and Rally Farthing decided to enjoy it by their favourite activity: cycling.

Penny has always loved cycling. When she was a child, she used to bike to and from school every single day. She even did a 'cycling marathon' to raise money for a sick friend at the time.

When she married Sandi, the couple moved to the seaside, where Sandi grew up, and Penny had to kiss her woodland bike rides goodbye. Sunny was born, and for nearly ten years the family lived by the sea, sometimes on the sea. Then, when they were expecting Rally, they decided to move back to Bluebell Oaks, only spending summer at the sea.

Penny really got back into biking when Sandi bought her a new bike with a basket for baby Rally to ride in. Up till then, Penny hadn't wanted to go biking without her baby.

Ever since, Penny and Rally have made full use of the bike, and adore their cycling trips together. On Sunday afternoon, they set out into the woods.

The weather was suprisingly warm, and the woods were idyllic. Penny is an experienced bike rider and knows how to negotiate her way around tight turns and tricky tree roots.

"Go faster Mummy!" is Rally's constant plea.

"No, honeysuckle, this is a very steep hill. We can go fast once I get to the bottom," Penny said, pushing on the brakes. The truth is, she loves 'going fast' just as much as her son does. 

Unfortuantely, pine needles are rather difficult to go fast on, let alone bike on, especially if it is a thick covering. Rally loves the strong smell of pine needles, even more than the smell of the sea! (although he would never tell his Daddy that!)

Often, they like to get off the bike and go for a wander. It seems that Rally has spied some tasty berries...

"Rally don't touch them!" Penny cried, "It's Deadly Nightshade. If you eat them, they will make you very, very sick."

Rally must learn that even the yummiest and best looking berries can be unsafe to eat. It is a harsh but essential thing that Penny must teach him if he is ever to be safe in the woods.

Today is proving to be a good learning day. Rally wants to climb this 'vine'.

Careful Rally, that looks like blackberry...

"Yooow!! It bit me, Mummy!"

He is fascinated by the funny 'mushrooms'. Rally ate mushrooms for dinner one night, and he didn't like them one bit. He is imagining how terrible these strange ones must taste.

"They're called fungus." Penny seized the 'teaching oppurtunity'. "And no, we don't eat them,"

Rally has never been more relieved! After the mushroom eating experience, he doesn't know what his parents might try to feed him! These fungus may not be good for eating, but they certainly are fun to climb on!

Thanks for reading! I apologise for not posting much recently. It is too dark after school for me to take photos, so I have to do it on weekends. I've been very busy lately but I'm going try find more time for my Sylvanians! 

Hope you are having a great June and a lovely start to Summer/Winter! 

Winter Jacket Pattern

Hi everyone!
I know it is probably the wrong time of year for most of you, but here in Bluebell Oaks we are heading into Winter. I noticed that Myriam Chantilly was looking a little chilly in her cotton dress, which wasn't standing up to the Autumn winds very well. She asked if I knew how to make a jacket, and that got me thinking.
I spent many hours of the past few nights trying to get the perfect pattern(perhaps when I should have been studying for a Social Studies test!) Anyway, with the help of my mum we finally created a pattern based on an official sylvanian jacket.

(These measurements are only approximate. This pattern fits a regular adult figure, although it may depend  how thick the clothes are they are already wearing)

This is only the front part of the pattern. What you do, is fold the paper or fabric in half, and trace from the top of the shoulders, like this:

Unfolded, the pattern should look something like this:

Then, Myriam got to choose her favourite colour of felt.

After tracing the pattern onto the purple felt, you sew down the edges, of course, leaving a hole for the sleeves.

Turn it round the other way so the stiches are hidden, and the jacket is pretty much finished. I just sewed on some miniature buttons for a nice touch, and snipped a small cut up the back for her tail. Felt sticks quite well to itself, so I didn't bother sewing any velcroe on the front. Myriam is delighted with her new coat.

I have passed on the pattern to Mrs Bramble, who is keen to start making some of her own right away. No doubt hers will be much neater and better than mine!
The jacket does look perhaps abit bulky, but then, winter clothes aren't really made for glamour, are they?
By the way, I am happy for this pattern to be used for personal use, but not for commercial gain. Please respect my hard work.
:)

Happy Easter!

The Cottontail family ran out of paints for egg decorating, so they asked if they could use my paints instead.

Primrose got straight down to business painting her egg.

Meanwhile, Sorrel spent a long while surveying the selection of paints. She was quite good at art back in school, and it’s all coming back to her.

Being the owner of the Village Flower Stall, along with her husband, she has plenty of inspiration from nature.

She’s quite pleased with the finished result. “I’ve forgotten how peaceful art really is,” she said to me, “I shall have to do some drawing at home.”

It seems baby Chive has gone with a more ‘abstract’ approach.

Parsley, being the typical big brother, started chasing Chive with a paintbrush. “I’m going to paint you up!” This went on for a short time until Sorrel put a stop to it when tears began to be shed.

Then Basil arrived wheeling the biggest egg the children has ever seen.
“Wow, Dad! It’s huge! Where did you find it?”

“Careful Parsley! You’ll roll it off the table!” Basil warned. With much exertion they rolled it over to beside the paints to begin decorating.

“This is going to be our biggest, best, prettiest egg yet!”

Happy Easter everyone! Hope you all had a wonderful weekend!

Life with Bob Blackberry

The latest crafting challenge on the Sylvanian Families Forum was about farm life so it inspired me to write a story about the main farm in Bluebell Oaks. Down in this part of the world, autumn has just arrived so it's harvest time. In Bluebell Oaks, the villagers are at their busiest time of the year, and there's nobody busier than the Blackberrys, owners of Blackberry Farm.

Bob Blackberry is a busy man. His family farm is the supplier of all the fruits and vegetables for the village so he's got his work cut out.

Autumn is a busy time; he's got his hands full with harvesting pumpkins, potatoes, carrots, zuchinnis, onions, tomatoes and all the other veggies they grow up at Blackberry Farm.

The Blackberry rabbits also the run the orchard, although they are thinking of selling the orchard so they can focus more on their veggies and not be quite as busy. Of course, they would still keep some fruit trees for themselves, and so Betty can make her jams  and juices to sell.

He spends his days tending to his crops and harvesting ripe veggies. Bob Blackberry may be a farmer, but there's no one in the whole village that knows more about agriculture and horticulture than him.

But life on the farm isn't just about staying at home with his plants. The village needs their supplies and Bob has deliveries to make. That's where Blacksocks comes in.

Blacksocks is the family's cart horse. Along with Blacksocks is Bob's other pride and joy: his cart.  Bob doesn't believe in cars. He thinks they're unreliable and too modern. After all, isn't a horse just as good? It doesn't need fuel, and won't break down in the middle of the road.

Every morning, Bob and Blacksocks set out on their early deliveries to the village. He has already sorted the fruit and vegetables and put them in baskets ready to deliver to the shops.
His first stop is usually the Watermill Bakery, where Christopher Appleblossom is waiting for his delivery. Christopher always asks for the same thing: apples for apple strudel, lettuce and tomatoes to put in the sandwiches, and berries to make his specialty berry bread.

The next stop is the Village Store, in the middle of the village. Cedric Walnut, the owner of the store is always delighted to see Bob.

"Bob! And my good horse Blacksocks! How are we on this fine autumn morning?"
Blacksocks, too, likes Cedric, because Cedric always slips him a sugar cube to munch on whenever they deliver to the Store.

Then they head to the Sweet's Store, just down the road. It is run by the young but very talented Melinda Cakebread. Not only does Melinda make sweets, but she also has a cake counter in her little shop. The Blackberrys supply her with berries to put into her delicious pies and cakes.

"Fancy a piece of my new blueberry pie, Mr Blackberry?"

Once all the deliveries are done, they head back home. But that's not all of the outings they make.
Every Saturday morning, Bob hitches Blacksocks to the cart and loads it with his finest vegetables, to head to town for the weekly Farmer's Market.

Betty also runs a stall in the village to sell her jams and juices.

The Farmer's Market is always very popular, and Bob arrives early to set up his stall.

"I'll take one kilogram of potatoes, please." Mrs Bramble said. Bob is very glad that his wife convinced him to buy a pair of scales for his stall. It makes measuring quantities so much easier.

Next Mrs Brightfield and her daughter Jenny arrive to buy some onions.

"Here Jenny, take an apple." Bob knows that little Jenny is quite food-centred, and she had her eye on the baskets of fruit.

The Cottontails have arrived to buy carrots and radishes. The Cottontail family are some of Bob's most regular customers.

Blacksocks loves all the attention he gets from the children during the Saturday market.

Throughout the morning, the stall is bustling with customers.

Across the street, Betty is also busy making juices for her customers.

Customers enjoy the bench where they can relax with a drink.

The Waters family have come for some drinks, and Betty has made a special smoothie just for Bucky.
"Here you are, love."

Bob loves his life on the farm, and although he's a very busy man, he wouldn't want it any other way.