New Year

Happy Wishes.....

Well, Dear Readers, Another year has almost gone.... Where Did it Go??? And What did I get done this year? These are questions I have been pondering recently, and I have No answer for Where it went! As for What got done.... the answer is Not Much in the way of building or making minis! But in retrospect, I think I will have to declare it the "Year of The Cloud Palace!" Between the arrival of three new Fairy Bear residents last Winter, necessitating the construction of an additional Tower for the Palace, and then the arrival in the Summer of the Visiting Fairy Bears who were on their way to my sister's Hope Cottage, it seems as though the Fairy Bears and the Cloud Palace Adventures filled nearly all the blog and Mini-making Time! And what Adventures they were! (Let me assure you that this is not a bad thing!) And along the way there were a few delightful creations....

Like the Cloud bed for Sweet Pea which is tucked into the gable of the Cloud Palace....

And the one for Blue in the Lookout Tower.....

(Alas, Lady Lavender's is still not finished...)

And the Kitchen got an additional oven 

so that Hamish Harry could bake delicacies for the Bearys.

As well as being stocked with some essentials!

The Guard Tower itself is still far from finished!

 

As for Other Projects.....

The Willowcrest saw a burst of effort on the windows 

early in the Summer.....

but still is waiting for a great many details to be done 

before I can even attach the walls!

This picture is from before the windows were glued in....

but the house is "assembled" but not glued together!

And The Castle Great Hall Ceiling 

got a tiny bit of painting added in the Summer...

Starting the border with the everyday people below the Saints....

But that seems to have been the last work done on the Castle Hall!

Still a Long way from finished....

Oh, those Patient, patient Saints!

And Waaayyy back in the Spring there was a flurry of tiny flowers...

Really Really Tiny flowers.... and not many of them either!

Like this Squill that popped up in the cracks beside the Conservatory...

And the snowdrops too!

But I did not get any more work done on the Conservatory foundation.

And Nothing at all got done on Rose Thorne Cottage or The Folly.... 

or the Tree House!

Could it Really be a whole year and more since I worked on the Tree House?

(I am really wanting to continue with the Tree House!)

So, Dear Readers, I Wish to get more Construction done this year!

I don't know how I will accomplish that...

but I am Hoping that I will be a little more organized.... 

and a little less distracted by RL challenges!

Maybe I will even make better progress with the Stories 

that you are so Patiently waiting for...

Daphne and Renee have So much to say!

 

But Before I leave you, Dear Readers, 

I Wish to show you my Christmas Card for this year.... 

(Mom, don't look if your card has not arrived yet!)

It took a great many hours of painting!

It is watercolor and pen and ink.

The size is 8 and 1/2 inches by 11 inches.

It is a memory of a Christmas from my childhood, 

surrounded by vignettes from the current year 

inside the letter "U" which makes the frame.

Remember to poke the picture to see it larger!

I Wish it was not so Late in being finished....!

So Dear Readers, With that I close another year 

and Wish you All

a Wonderful and Happy and Productive New Year!

Christmas Comes.....!

What Did Christmas Bring....?


As is so often the case, Dear Readers, whether you are Ready or Not... Christmas comes! And it is sometimes in that un-readiness that we find the greatest gifts! So this Christmas morning, in My un-readiness, I almost didn't have a look around to see what Christmas had brought! But I noticed that the Sun had come for breakfast in the Cloud Palace and Hamish Harry and Lady Lavender were just waiting for the others to join them. Where were the others? Well, it seems that Sweet Pea and Brother Beorn were admiring the newest Plants in the Cloud Palace Garden.....

They have found a Pair of Perfectly Snow-Powdered Pines for their garden!

And they even have Christmas Lights amongst the boughs!

Now they can't wait for the night to come so they can see the glowing lights!

As for Blue and Sir Orion, well, they are so Happy 

all by themselves on top of the Lookout Tower 

that they sometimes Forget to come down at all!

(Love will do that ....)

Since I saw that the Bearys in the Cloud Palace 

were all having a Wonderful Morning, 

I thought I would check in on all the other Little People too...!

It seems that Presents were delivered at the Shabby Sister House....

Even though Chip's parents seem rather worn out with the waiting!

And Sally May is still busily cooking in the kitchen!

(Christmas does bring a Lot of That!)

Annabelle says "Mama, can I have another cookie...?"

(She is still young enough that she doesn't know What to expect!)

And in the Lovely Old Dollhouse.....

There are presents under the Tree.....

Although they are not all there yet to open the gifts...

Helen had forgotten to wrap something, Charles explains.

She'll be down in a minute...

But Helen can't find any wrapping paper left.... 

maybe That was what she forgot to get when shopping! 

She will just have to use the beautiful bag for wrapping.... 

But she had hoped to keep the bag for herself...!

Well, a Gift is a Gift.... she would have to share....

(Christmas Does bring some of that!)

Meanwhile, in the kitchen....

Victor and Joanna were eyeing the pie.....

Wondering if they could have Pie for Breakfast...

even Before the Christmas Dinner!!!

But I think they know that they can only do that 

when they are at their own home!

They will have to wait patiently for the Feast!

(Christmas does bring lots of that!)

There is even a Large present at The Folly.... 

but Will is not sure how it got there!

He has been Pet-sitting for some friends.

"Lassie" reminds him a little too much of a certain other

 curly Red-haired Lassie that he would like to forget...!

(Yes, sometimes Christmas brings that too...)

There are even gifts under the Grand Tree in the Castle Great Hall.....

Even though I have No idea who they are for... 

nor Which era is Holding the Party...

 

And even in the Chapel....

Ages and Ages ago....

Father Alban has spent the Night in a Prayer Vigil.

And with the Dawn of Christmas he has Found a Great Gift....

He has found his Faith....

In the unknown outcomes....

In the process of just Beginning...

He will overcome his fear and vanity!

He will paint again!

He has found his Faith!

(Yes, Christmas brings some of that too!)

And when the Night comes at Last....

And all the Presents have been opened and all the Feasts have been eaten...

Surely, the Lights shining in the Darkness will still bring you Joy!

Yes, Dear Readers, as we All know,

Ready or Not, Christmas comes!

I hope your Christmas has brought you and your Loved ones

Love, Beauty, Peace, Plenty, Charity, Faith and Joy!

Solstice.....

Ready.......  Or Not....!

Like it or Not, Dear Readers, the Christmas Celebration is nearly here, and the hectic pace of attempting to be "Ready" in Time has some of us in a "Tizzy"! And what do you do when you have too much to accomplish in too little Time? Do you go Full Steam Ahead and pull it off in the nick of Time? Or do you declare it an impossible task and give yourself "Permission" to relax and just enjoy whatever happens? Or do you vacillate and Procrastinate until the last possible moment before managing almost everything anyway? I have not yet decided which strategy is mine for this year... which I think only points to the last option! So here I am Procrastinating for a Tiny bit.... because painting the Christmas Card is the chief task I am attempting to complete, and I am Late this year! Again! I cannot show you a preview, so I am going to take you around the dollhouses to see if Anybody else is as late as I am! The Cloud Palace has put up the lovely silver Tinsel Tree again! and this year it has the Added decorations sent by Birgit!

"What decorations...?" I hear you ask. It looks like there are none on the tree! Until you look very closely and then you will see there are Tiny gold "Wishing Stars" all over it! And this year there are several New and Very Glittery Wishing Stars that came with the package from Birgit! I was sure at once that they were meant for the Tinsel Tree in the Cloud Palace! If you look carefully you can see one of them glowing! And this was not the only Tree that was put up this week!

In the Shabby Sister House, Chip has put up

 the other Silver Glitter Tree that Sally May loves!

Her In-laws are not so excited.

I think Sally May is going to want to fix the ornaments...

So many went missing while in storage!

And in the Lovely Old Dollhouse, 

Arthur and Charles have put up the Tree....

The Same old Tree in the Same old place!

They are so pleased when the lights all work as soon as it is plugged in!

 

They wanted to please Helen and Pollyanna 

who have gone shopping for the afternoon.

They found a charming old shop in the newly re-developed "Old Town".

It looked like a Trendy Artist Studio open for seasonal business...

It was rather disorganized and messy inside....

They almost weren't sure it was a shop!

They decided to look at some other shops too...

They could always come beck here on their way home...

Helen didn't want to carry too much as they walked.

There was even more on display as they returned later...

But by then they had their arms full and didn't want to stop again. 

They had found some "Fabulous" deals at another shop nearby...!

Now they were tired and just wanted to get home and put their feet up.

The sun had already set and it was dark by the time they were home.

"Surprise!" declares Charles 

as they return home to find the Tree up and decorated!

Pollyanna tries not to be disappointed, as she loves to put up the tree... 

but it is the season to share these joys too!

"We left the creche for you" says Charles, 

"because we know how much you love to set that up yourself!"

So Pollyanna pulled out all the familiar figures 

and set them up in their accustomed places...

He was right. She did love to put up the creche every year!

It was somehow comforting to see the figures 

in their rightful places year after year!

So while Time is Flying by, Dear Readers, 

I hope you have enjoyed this little Tour of the Tannenbaums 

on this Shortest Day of the Year!

Ready or Not, the Yule Season is here!

Happy Solstice!

The Gift of Happiness.....

Fairy Bearys Go South....

The Time had come, Dear Readers, when the two sister Bearys, Marmalade and Buttercup, were ready to leave the Cloud Palace and travel to their own home way far away in the South. While this might be a moment when Some would feel some Sorrow, the Fairy Bearys did not seem to feel this way at all! They had spent the entire Summer and Autumn with their friends in the Cloud Palace and had enjoyed many Adventures together. They were Happily looking forward to seeing their new Home and meeting new friends when they arrived. There was an air of excitement at the Cloud Palace as the morning dawned and the sun peeked into the Cloud Palace parlor. All the Fairy Bearys were gathered there for a "send-off" breakfast of blueberry pancakes drenched in syrup, and even an assortment of delicate cookies and a blueberry pie! Hamish Harry "Hotcakes" McCloud had outdone himself (with the very Helpful creativity of Elizabeth of Studio E blog!) in preparing this breakfast banquet!

(These treats were all made by the Awesomely talented Elizabeth! Thank you Elizabeth!)

He wanted to be sure that Nobeary would leave the Cloud Palace hungry.... 

especially with such a long journey ahead of them!

And so they enjoyed a Feast to Remember!

But before long the Time had come for leaving.

The Bearys had decided that the best way to Travel 

was the Cherub Cloud Chariot Express....

And they had booked the Early Morning Departure 

on this Perfectly sunny Day!

Buttercup was eager to get started so she hopped on board!

And Marmalade was right behind her!

They waved "good-bye" and blew their kisses....

And the Cherub Cloud Chariot Express floated away from the Cloud Palace....

And while there were Some who Might feel a little pang of sadness.....

the Bearys were not among them! 

They knew that they were heading off on more Great adventures!

 

 

They couldn't wait to get started! 

What a Glorious Day for an Adventure!

Wouldn't you be excited to be Traveling to your New Home?

And all the Fairy Bearys at the Cloud Palace 

are just as excited for their friends!

They know that they will be bringing Happiness wherever they go!

 

Because that is what these Bearys are... 

they are Little Gifts of Happiness!

And speaking of Gifts of Happiness....

I received a surprise package in the mail today!

But seeing who it is from, it is not altogether a Surprise! 

Because Birgit is one of those friends who 

Spreads Happiness with everything she does!

She sent me her Christmas Gift package......

with a Calendar and Advent wreath and tiny wooden decoration!

Thank you, Birgit!!!

But it is the Fairy Bearys that spring from her Needle (and her heart!)

that are Truly Little Gifts of Happiness!

 

And in case you had wondered 

about Marmalade and Buttercup,

 they have arrived safely at my Sister's home 

where she reports that they have filled Hope Cottage 

with sunshine and Happiness and their smiles alone warmed the tea!

So you see, Dear Readers,

The Fairy Bearys have gone South,

But they took with them The Gift of Happiness!