Another Day In The Park

The Nursery Can Wait.....

It is Still Summer, Dear Readers, and what better way to spend the Day than in a Lovely Park Indulging in Daydreams? There is work to be done on the Tree House Nursery, and I have even made considerable progress.... but unless we continue with Daphne's Story... I fear we shall Never reach the end! So I bring you back to that Lovely Little Park not far from the Town House where the de Montaigne Family lives.

This morning when Gabrielle and Renee arrive, Will was once again there before them, only this time he had sat on Gabrielle's favorite bench. Whether or not this was deliberate, even Will was not sure, as he really had no need at all to be there in the Park for yet another morning.  He told himself that it was just a very nice place to sit and make phone calls in the summer morning before he had to go meet his next appointments. And if he did happen to see Daphne's daughter again he was sure he would learn a little more about her, although the Nanny was not revealing any details of the child's life. She seemed to be much more interested in learning about his furniture and Antique business than anything else. It seemed she was quite interested in antiques!

The Nanny hesitated as they approached, and Will realized he was where she expected to sit. 

He quickly got to his feet and offered her the bench. 

 But she simply smiled and said it was okay... 

she would take the other one....

 Will had thought he needed to make sure,

 really sure it was Daphne's child.....

But he really didn't see how there was any doubt.

But he could still try to get details....

So he sat down on the bench opposite the Nanny.

Renee turned to Gabrielle and whispered 

"It's that Man...!"

"Yes, it is" whispered Gabrielle.

This seemed to satisfy Renee and she turned to Will...

"I brought 'Hibou' to the Park" she said.

"He is just a baby but he is learning to fly..." she explained.

And before Will could think of what to say, 

she ran off to play with the birds as she had done the day before.

She was certain that Hibou would learn to fly if he saw the other birds flying!

But whenever she approached too close.... 

the birds moved away!

She did not notice that she was being watched.

Daphne was walking past the Park on her way to the de Montaigne House 

when she glanced in and saw the child playing.

Thinking of all the times she had stood in parks and watched other people's children play....

perhaps even mistaking them for just a moment... 

thinking she saw her own child...

But this time she Knew without a doubt!

This was her daughter!

She stood by the fence, mesmerized......

But Renee was determined to teach Hibou to fly.....

She tossed him into the air...

"Fly, Hibou!" she cried.

But he just landed on his nose and scattered the birds.

"Not like that, Hibou...." she said, picking him up again.

 "Fly Hibou!" she called and tossed him up in the air...

But he landed on his nose again.

Suzette tried to get close enough to give him some tips..... 

But Renee got there first and picked him up again....

"Hibou.... Fly!" she shouted and gave him a good toss.....

He "Flew" straight into the Fountain!

Renee ran to the Fountain and looked in..... 

"Hibou....!" she called.

He didn't answer!

But Gabrielle had noticed and got up in a hurry....

"Oh Dear..." she murmured... "I wasn't watching....."

"What happened..?" said Will, a bit confused ....

But he followed her to where the child stood at the fountain.

"What is it...." he asked?

"Hibou flew into the water..." said Renee.

"How are we going to get him out...?" said Gabrielle.

"Oh," said Will.....

"Let me see what I can do...." 

he added as he removed his coat....

And took off his shoes.....

And stepped boldly into the fountain!

The water was quite cold... 

but he didn't even flinch.....

And dodging the falling water.... 

he reached into the depths...

And grabbed Hibou.....

A soaking wet Hibou.....

And turned, Victorious, to give the soaking owl to the child!

He suddenly felt like a Hero!

"What do you say..." prompted Gabrielle softly.

"Merci, M'sieur" said Renee as she waved goodbye.

Gabrielle could not help smiling to herself as they left the Park.

He was such a nice man!

Will watched until they had left the Park.

Then he turned to get his shoes and coat.

When he glanced up, 

he saw a beautiful woman on the other side of the fence. 

She was staring at him.

With a start he realized it was Daphne!

(To be continued......)

Ah, Dear Readers, I hope you can bear with me 

for leaving you hanging there!

We've been having such a lovely time in the Park....

The Nursery will have to wait!

Dreams, Doubts and Decisions

The Beads and Other Gifts.....

It was a little over a year ago, Dear Readers, that Andy of Dollshouses and Miniatures blog, sent me a gift of some lovely blue and white Chinese porcelain beads, with the hopes that I would be able to use them somehow in the Tree House! He was afraid they were too large to be useful because the Tree House is 1:48 or "Quarter scale" and the beads are about an inch tall. As you can see in the above picture, they instantly found a "Home" on the mantle in The Folly! And at the time I posted about this gift, you could see that Samuel Whiskers and Anna Maria were caught "borrowing" one of the beads!

They told me they had the "perfect" use for such a beautiful item!

But at the time I was working on the Bath Room of the Tree House,

and even I had no idea it would be a whole Year 

before we were ready to test their idea!

But Finally I have started working on the nursery of the Tree House....

And I had to agree with them, the Beads make a Lovely....

Scandinavian Style Porcelain stove!

(Well, I think so at any rate!)

But first I had to build the base with the firebox...

And test the LED "fire".....

Of course the stove is not complete 

without the beads both stacked on the base...

and the base needed painting too.....

Oh, Goodness, Pardon us, Madam Arabella,

We don't mean to intrude!

(She is inspecting the Nursery construction!)

Which Is continuing in Small sections.....

(in between the seemingly endless Photo Shoots 

with my current Cast of Characters and their constant costume changes...

not to mention waiting for the sunlight to cooperate!)

But we are slowly making progress!

But I'll bet you never Dreamed that

the beads would make such a great stove!

And while we are mentioning Dreams....

I must take you back for another installment of Daphne's Story....

(That story that is still so Far from finished...!)

It was already some time ago that Daphne had discovered 

(to her eternal surprise!)

That her Mother was a Witch, and her Father was a Gypsy....

And that he had "stolen" her twin sister shortly after they were born!

This had shaken Daphne's confidence more than she had realized!

Was Everything in her Life a Lie?

Did she have a Father and a Sister alive somewhere...?

Living the Gypsy Life...?

Her Mother had wanted to Put down roots and raise her family in one place...

But she had ended up running in fear almost constantly....

And moving at least as often as the Gypsies would!

Daphne had never known she had a twin sister!

She had always felt so alone...

And she really had been alone!

She now realized she had always wanted to be a part of a larger family!

Somewhere out there she had a Father and a Sister.... and a child....!

But she had no idea what to do about any of it!

Then One Night she had that Dream again......

That Dream where she is standing at a Fountain..... 

and there is a beautiful little girl there too...

And she watches as the child throws her doll into the fountain....

Only This time the child is not standing there....

but is lying deep in the water of the Fountain itself!

The image is so terrifying that Daphne awakes in a sweat...

 Her Heart pounding.....

But suddenly she knew with a certainty what she needed to do!

She had to return to France!

She might not know where to find her Father or her Sister...

But she knew Exactly where she could find her Child!

She was done with running away from her problems!

She knew that she had to go see her daughter....

And Somehow, she would find a way to be a part of her life.

She had been given a gift....

Now she needed to follow her Dreams!

No doubt, Dear Readers, you are weary of being 

left "hanging on the cliff edge..."

and are hoping I will Decide not to leave you here again...

Yet, what can I say but "Dream on...." 

And "Thank you"!

For the gifts... and for Friendship.....

(And comments... I do love comments!)

Visions And Visits....

What Did Renee See....?

I hope you have the Patience, Dear Readers, to put up with the slow and Suspenseful unfolding of Daphne's Story! I have promised you a Happy Ending.... and even I did not have any idea how long and tortuous a path it would be to reach that conclusion! Some of you were justly surprised to be left at such a "cliff edge" last week, and have had to wait all week for the continuation. Will you believe me when I tell you that even I did Not know the answer to that question until after it had been asked....? It was only when I stopped and looked... really looked... with the eyes of a four year old child... that I saw.....

I saw that sometimes when Renee looked into the water.... 

it would turn all smooth and silver....

And brilliant stars would Dance across the surface....

And Sometimes if she was very still......

A Lady appeared....

 as if she were floating in the depths....

But if Renee tried to touch the water.....

The vision melted away....!

And even then.... it was Not every day...

Most days the water remained clear and unchanging!

But one thing that was unchanging was 

the way Renee raced ahead of Gabrielle every morning 

as they returned home from the Park.

When Renee reached the House she ran inside 

and went straight to her Grandfather's room!

She knew she was not supposed to "bother" him too much...

It would tire him to have a child running around all day.

But Gabrielle knew how much they both enjoyed these "stolen" visits...

She always let Renee run ahead....

"Grandpere" Grandpere" said Renee,

"We went to the Park....!" she said all in a rush.

"We saw a Man.... He's there Every day..." she said.

"And I said Bonjour!" she exclaimed.

"And then He said Bonjour...!" she confided.

Guillaume still didn't speak to anyone. 

He was afraid he would sound foolish.

Sometimes he replied with a quiet "Ah"...

And sometimes he would whisper a word or two .... 

just to see if the words came out right....

And only to Renee... 

because she would never think his words were wrong!

"And I played with the Birds..." she continued....

"There is one that Likes me and wants to play...."

"She is brown and pretty....." she added...

"But I couldn't catch her..." she explained.

Guillaume was Enchanted by her stories....

He loved the very sound of her voice.

But Gabrielle knew they must keep the visits short.....

"Time to go, Renee" she said.....

"Pretty".... he whispered as they left.

But they were not the only ones to go visiting that morning, Dear Readers.

When Will left the Park, he had an appointment with one of his many local acquaintances.

A man he had known for many years, one who knew everybody and would give Will tips on where to find furniture and Art for his business, and often helped him with the business end of the sales.

Monsieur Louis Davenant was a charming and witty man.

Will had no reason not to trust him with a question of a confidential nature.

"I wonder if you would be able to help me with a legal question..." Will said.

"It has to do with the laws of adoption."

"Adoption?" questioned Louis, with a surprised grin. 

"You are thinking of adoption?".... 

"Not just of the usual Art works...?" he added with a chuckle.

"No, it is not me.." said Will. "A friend of a friend... you understand."

"The child was left with it's grandparents because the father died...." he explained.

"but the Mother never signed the adoption papers." 

"It is just a question of what the Mother's rights are," he added.

"I wondered if you could point me to the best law firm to deal with this sort of question?"

"Ah!" replied Louis. "That would probably be best handled by the Pelletier Brothers," he replied.

"They have offices down town and deal in social issues. They could advise you, I am sure,"

And lest you think we are straying too far from the Park on this Summer Day....

I must show you the other visitors who stopped at the Park....

Look! It is three Blackbirds!

"What are they doing here?"

Well, I confess, Dear Readers, 

if I had Time tonight, I could tell you much more....

(But with Blogger being so difficult... I have run out of Time)

So that will have to be all I say...

About Visions and Visits.....

For Now at least!