Little Pieces of Time

Treasures....

I am Hoping you will understand, Dear Readers, if I take a minute to explain that I have neglected to show you a Wonderful Surprise gift I received earlier this Summer! My excuse is that I was waiting to find the right moment to sneak it into the Story that has been taking over this blog! That moment came last Sunday when the morning sun was shining and Lady Lavender took a moment to do some washing for the Cloud Palace! Do you see the Marvelous folding wire clothes rack that she has used to hang the cloths to dry? It was sent to me as a gift by Remco, who paints wonderful little models and has made these tiny functional folding racks as gifts for several blog friends! He sent me one for being a follower of his blog! It is so delicate and beautifully made! Thank you Remco for sending it to me! It really is a Treasure! As you can see, it will be well used at the Cloud Palace!

And while Lady Lavender has taken a moment to do some washing, 

the Lads have been enjoying the Guard Room of the Cloud Palace Tower....

Although they only seem to be guarding the cakes...!

I also wanted to tell you that I have finally decided 

to "lighten up" the rocks in the Tower.....

I added a few washes of pale gray paint 

to make the rocks more uniform in type and color.

And then I scored lines in the ceiling to resemble boards....

And I glued them in place!!!

This means I can begin the structural work for the next level....

Where the "Bear-racks" and the Loft will be!

You can see that Brother Beorn has come to have a look at the Loft...

This is where his bed and his Herb storage will be.

And once I had made a little more progress

 on the bed frames and the window frames....

Hamish Harry came to see how it was shaping up...

Of course, the picture is a bit dark because the sun is setting so early now...

It is hard to find the Time to take pictures in Daylight!

 

And Meanwhile, I am Sure you are wondering, Dear Readers, 

What has become of all the Little Travelers that we left scattered on the Winds?

Well, you might recall that Buttercup did not realize right away 

that Tiny Bear had fallen from her shoulders when the Dragon dumped them off!

As soon as she realized he had fallen, she went looking for him....

She spotted the building below where they had been flying and thought she should begin looking
there!

She thought she better have a look inside, just to be sure he wasn't in the house......

"Halloo... Is anybody home?" she called.

"Tiny Bear.... are you here?"

But there was no reply.

 

She looked in the kitchen, but it was empty.

She even went upstairs to see if he was up in the bedroom.

But it, too, was empty.

She went back outside to have a look on the other side of the house...

She thought surely he must be somewhere nearby!

At the side of the house she noticed a huge old Tree stump....

And she thought she could see lights twinkling at her from inside the Tree!

"Helloooo..." she called.

"Anybody hooome?"

Suddenly a little creature appeared at one of the holes in the Tree Roots....

"Oh, Good evening, Sir" said Buttercup.

"I am looking for a friend of mine, 'Tiny Bear'" she added.

"Have you seen him anywhere around?"

"I am afraid I can't help you..." said Samuel Whiskers nervously.

"I don't know any Bears..." he said.... 

"Yourself excluded" he added, not wanting to offend.

"Er, yes", said Buttercup. "I am 'Buttercup'."

"I am Vegetarian." she added politely.

"Ah!" said Samuel Whiskers, relaxing just a little.

 "I am Samuel Whiskers."

"We don't generally get any Bears in this area..." he added.

"You might try over at the Castle...." he suggested.

"We were just over at the Castle...." said Buttercup.

"But the Dragon dumped us off as were were 

flying over the house and Tiny Bear got lost...." she added with a sigh.

.

Meanwhile, Dear Readers, 

you must be wondering where Marmalade has gone?

Well, she has been looking all over the castle for Buttercup!

The Owls in the Guard Room couldn't tell her anything... 

so she decided to look upstairs.

And you might recall that Lady Athena had gone 

to talk to the Wizard about the Holes in Time...

"We cannot continue with these Trespassers...." she said.

"You must find the Key and close the Gaps!"

"You know as well as I..." replied the Wizard, 

"That I cannot control the Actions of Any..."

 

"I can only Influence the Energy 

that Flows from one Moment to the next...!"

 "Well, then you must 'Influence' more Precisely...!" 

she declared and then turned and swept from the room.

Marmalade did not see her pass through the door even as she entered it...

They were not standing in exactly the Same Time!

And when she poked her head in through the doorway, 

she was almost surprised that the room was Not empty!

"Oh," she cried "You must be the Wizard!" she added excitedly.

"We have been looking for you..." she added... 

"Or rather, we are looking for the Cloud Palace... 

But someone said we would need your help to find it...." she said all in a rush.

"We....?" asked the Wizard.

"Er.... I seem to have become separated 

from my Friends..." said Marmalade apologetically.

"I was looking for them when I found you here..." she added.

"But we all arrived together at the Castle 

so I am sure they are here somewhere!" she declared bravely.

"Ah...!" replied the Wizard thoughtfully.

"I can see that you are very Brave..." he said 

as he looked directly into Marmalade's eyes.

"You have strayed Deep into the Past..." he said.

"Your Friends are no longer in the Castle.... nor are they in this Time."

"I will give you this Timepiece....." he added, 

holding out an ancient watch.

"With it's Guidance you should be able to Find your way Back!"

"But remember this...!" he said sternly, 

"You must Master Time or it Will master you!"

And he handed the Old Timepiece to Marmalade.

"Er... Okay..." said Marmalade, taking the Watch.

"Thank you for you help, Mr. Wizard." she added.

And she turned to leave, 

not entirely sure she understood what he meant!

"I will just go find my Sister...." she thinks to herself.

"I don't know about the 'Past'... 

now is Now" she decides.

"I will just take this Little old 'Piece of Time' and see where it leads me!

And she set off once more.

Soon, she too, was soaring above the chimneys and roof tops....

It seems it was not too difficult to find her Sister......

She arrived to find Buttercup talking to a small creature in a Tree.

"Oh there you are Marmalade!" says Buttercup happily.

"I seem to have lost Tiny Bear..." she added sadly.

"I was just asking Samuel Whiskers if he had seen him about."

"Well, the Wizard gave me this 'Piece of Time'" 

said Marmalade, holding up the watch.

"And with its help I easily found you."

"So maybe it will help us find Tiny Bear" she added.

 

"The Wizard...??" said Buttercup, astonished.

"You saw the Wizard???" she added, forgetting all about Tiny Bear.

"Well, I was looking all over for you..." said Marmalade...

"But the Great Hall was empty... and..."

"The Great Hall was Empty...?" questioned Buttercup.

"I flew all around it... it was full of furniture... and dogs!" she declared.

"Not the Great Hall I was in....!" declared Marmalade....

And so it went Dear Readers, all the way inside and up the stairs....

And before they knew it the two Sister Bearys 

were tucked into the bed in the Folly Bed nook!

And just between you and me, Dear Readers, 

They were so tired, it only took 

A Tiny little piece of Time to fall asleep!

Treasure those Little Pieces of Time!

(But somehow, I don't think they will ever 

agree on what the Castle looked like!)

 

(Ah, yes... to be continued!)