An Unexpected Friend

Our snow is almost melted, but the weather remains cold. Despite the cold, Faye decided to take a walk today. She came across a tiny bird, shivering in the snow.
She knelt and carefully picked up the tiny creature.

The little bird was so cold, it did not even respond when Faye sat with it trying to warm it up.

She hoped the tiny creature was not ill, and decided to take her new little friend to our resident healer.

Master Elrond looked the little bird over and declared it was simply weak from cold and hunger and not ill. He advised Faye how to take care of her tiny new friend.

After carefully feeding the tiny creature and warming it by the academy fire, Faye found her new little friend willing to curl up in a corner with her and read a book. Since this is Faye's favorite activity, she was happy to have someone to keep her company.

I don't think our new little friend will be leaving us anytime soon!

Hitty Rowan

Christmas Greetings

Greetings Dear Readers!

Well, the girls kept tabs on Santa's location throughout the day and into the night. In the meanwhile, Faye and Mehitabel and I completed our Nativity scene on Christmas Eve.

We arranged the Nativity quite nicely, even if we didn't have straw to put in it this year (our person borrowed all of it for a project, but we managed nicely without it).

Mehitabel and I wrapped up warmly to accompany our person to the Christmas Eve service...we were expecting snow and were quite excited! It has been several years since we actually had a white Christmas!

When we returned, Eira was anxious to set out cookies for Santa. She sat up far into the night to try to catch St. Nicholas, but fell asleep before he came.

Early the next morning, we woke to find lovely things under our tree!

There were cards from St. Nicholas with blessings and special messages for each companion, candy, and lots of treats! There were special gifts for our new companions to help them feel welcome.

For Eira, there was a doll of her own. Being an orphan, she had never had a doll of her very own and she was thrilled with her gift.

Faye found a different type of companion waiting by the tree....

She couldn't be happier with her new friend!

And, the promised snow came just in time for a White Christmas!

What a Merry Christmas we are having and we Wish You a Merry Christmas too!

Hitty Rowan

Santa Tracking

Today is Christmas Eve! We are expecting snow tonight for a White Christmas! We Hitties were busily tracking the snow when some of the girls asked to borrow the computer. It seems they had other tracking ideas.
The girls were anxious to track St. Nicholas as he makes his journey of love and goodwill across the earth.

Eira and Faye wondered, "Do you think he will come with a blessing and greeting for our house tonight?"

Emilee Anne replied, "I don't see why not, we have all tried so hard to be good! Surely he will visit our house."

Winifred and Tirion said they were always visited in England and thought surely St. Nicholas could find them here as well.

We Hitties assured the girls that as good as they have been, St. Nicholas is sure to visit. And fortunately we have plenty of Gingerbread cookies to leave out for him to have a midnight snack (of course, we will NOT be serving St. Nicholas some of the more....creative....troll made cookies).

We can't wait for evening to set out our cookies and tea for St. Nicholas!

Hitty Rowan

Of Gingerbread Men and Trolls

Today, being in the Christmas spirit, Mehitabel and I decided to bake some gingerbread cookies for our household. We had no sooner began the task when....
the Troll family showed up, all eager to.....err.....help......

They were so enthusiastic about helping we simply couldn't refuse. So, hoping for the best, Mehitabel and I read the directions to the family. We told them to put the mix in a bowl and add the butter and eggs.

We went to gather the rest of the ingrediants when we heard, "Okay children, throw in the eggs!" We rushed back to the bowl to try to stop the eggs from being thrown in!

The Troll family thought with all our frantic calls that we were simply cheering them on, and proceeded to throw the eggs and butter...wrapped...in the bowl.

They put the candy eyes for the gingerbread in next. We tried to explain the eggs have to be broken and eyes are added later. Gertie, the Troll mother, asked, "But when are you going to add the Newt eyes if you don't put them in now? It's the best time really."

We explained the eyes were candy. Gertie was even more excited. "Candied Newt eyes! Wonderful! You really must put them in now!" We finally explained that the eyes were not Newt eyes, but simply candy eyes to put on the gingerbread men once they were baked. Gertie thought it most odd, but relented on the eyes. We tried to explain the butter must be unwrapped and the eggs cracked.

"Oh, why didn't you say so, my dears? Of course we can do that...children...smash the eggs, please!"

The troll girls, Emerald and Amethyst, immediately started to stomp on the eggs.

Mehitabel and I both screeched at the same time...

We politely suggested perhaps we could do the hard work of mixing the ingrediants and our guests could help with the fun part of decorating. The Trolls readily agreed, and Mehitabel and I mixed the batter....without the eyes and butter wrappers.

Gertie commented on how lovely the dough was and how it was....the perfect shade of mud. We politely thanked her for the...compliment.

Next, the troll family cut out the cookies. They were quite good at it, jumping up and down on the cookie cutter to press it into the dough.

We put the first batch of cookies in the oven, and a few minutes later, out they came.

Many more batches followed....and finally, we were ready to decorate.

I demonstrated how to put the icing on the cookies.

The Troll family were thrilled to put the eyes on the cookies. They tried their hand at icing....

With very interesting results....

After all the cookies were finished, we stepped back to admire our handiwork.

It was the most unique batch of cookies we ever made...with the help of our dear Troll friends.

Now for the fun of sharing the fruits of our labor with our other friends...

Hitty Rowan

The Dolly Tree

Last week, we decorated the big Christmas tree in our house. Today, Eira and Faye decided to decorate the Dolly Tree. Faye carefully unwrapped the silver garland. She was quite covered in glitter afterward!
She carefully hung ornaments on the lowest branches....
While Eira hung ornaments on the taller branches. Both girls carefully adjusted every ornament and before long,
They stepped back to admire their handiwork. The dolly tree is decorated and the companions are ready to celebrate!
Hitty Rowan

A Snow Day

My, my...could it really have been in the midst of summer when last I wrote? How time does fly! It is certainly not summer now! We have had our first snow, and today was a Snow Day! No school!

While some of us ventured out a bit, others, like myself and my sister, stayed inside where it is warm.

Bitty Hitty went to check on her pond, where she had spent many a lazy day drifiting on lily pads in the summer. Now, she must pursue other activities such as ice skating...

At least the fish were removed to a bowl indoors before the first frost!

We are expecting some new arrivals for Christmas! Two...and a half...new companions to be precise. One companion, Eira, arrived Friday just as the snow started. The...errrr....half companion arrived today. Her name is Blondinette. She is not so pleased at the moment...for one thing, her body is lagging behind the rest of her. For the other thing, she came from the warmth of South America and is not pleased with the change in environment. Perhaps she will feel a bit better about her situation when the rest of her arrives. It is difficult to have only one's head about one and little else.

At least Eira arrived all at the same time. She is a delightful girl! Helpful and sweet...we adore her already.

We decided to help our person decorate for Christmas today. Eira began helping the Christmas dolls out of their box....

She was soon joined by several more volunteers!

Mirabella, Tirion, and Winifred lent a hand to the Christmas dolls still remaining in the box.
Mirabella told Eira all about her own arrival story...on the eve of the historic Ice Storm two years ago. She arrived 5 minutes before the power went out for two weeks! Our person opened her box by candlelight and spent hours knitting warm clothes for Mirabella by the gas fire and candlelight at relatives' homes. Mirabella spent two weeks bundled up with the other companions under blankets in the cold, dark home since they could not be taken along to the crowded relatives' home. I think of all of us, Mirabella has the most memorable arrival story! Eira was glad she only came with a bit of snow instead of inches of snow and ice!
Poppy and the Troll family helped unpack ornaments for Eira to hang on the tree. The trolls recalled their home in a shop in Florida before they were adopted into our family just two months ago. This is the first time they have ever seen snow and they are quite enchanted with it!

Tirion and Winifred recalled snow days in their home country of England. While they miss their home sometimes, they are very glad to be a part of our family, especially at Christmas.

Primrose said little. It is her way to be happy and quiet. She hummed a little song as she hung ornaments on the higher branches of the tree.
And last but not least, Hollyhock tried to hide with her shiny ornament....somehow I doubt it will end up on the tree!

Now, I will try to update my friends more over Christmas...I do not want it to be summer again before my next update!

Hitty Rowan