Monster in the garden

Mary was helping dad in the garden.

They were planting mums favorite flowers so they would be ready to bloom just in time for summer.

Mary had her wee trowel and dad had his spade out for digging the bigger holes.

It was dirty work but Mary loved it, who needs an excuse to get dirty?

They came across many worms and ants and lots of other creepy crawly but Mary didn’t mind as long as they didn’t sting or bite.

They made some holes and dad wiggled the plants free from their pots so Mary could pop them in the ground and make sure they had plenty new soil and a good watering too.

Dad put up a bird house on the top of the garden shed so they had some shelter from the rain or the sun on those really hot days.

Mary wanted to make a bird feeder too.  

There was no point making a home with no food she advised dad.

Dad couldn’t disagree so they got to work making an elevated tray for nuts and seeds.

"Oh and a wee tray to collect water, birds get thirsty too," advised Mary keeping dad right.

They re-arranged the garden by bring out some chairs and a table and putting them into the new shed dad had just built.

It was perfect, Mary could play outside even when it was raining.  

Dad could plant new things and fix lots of things with his tools too, even when it was raining.

The fancy new shed had fold out doors to make it feel even bigger if it ever needed to be!

Mary liked this new play house very much.

They were almost done when they heard an angry growl.

“What was that?” asked a startled Mary.

“I don't know.” replied dad.

Mary wasn't sure she liked this game anymore, she felt very uneasy.

Maybe it was the shed doors creaking? 

Or the chain from the swing, moving in the breeze?

“It’s alright Mary let’s find out what it is.” suggested dad.

"GGGrrrlll"

“Where did that come from!” asked a shaken Mary.

“The bushes I think, let’s check it out, I'll go first”assured dad.

They both tiptoed round the garden slowly checking by the flower pots.

Under the hedge.

Glancing over the flower beds.  

Checking the swing and the slide too but they couldn’t see anything. 

"GGGGGrrrl" even louder this time!

“I'm scared,”

“Its alright” said dad as he moved the tree branches out of the way.

"GGGRRRR! Woof!  Woof, gggrrrr woof."

“Oh Barney.” next doors dog had his collar tangled in the branches.

Dad freed his collar and picked him up to make sure he was alright.

“Right that’s that mystery solved, better take this one back to his own garden, and I'll fix that hole in the fence when I get back too,” said dad with a smile.

The neighbors were very grateful to dad for finding their dog and even helped dad fix the fence too. 

With their help it got done in no time.

Just as they were all finishing up Mum came out with drinks and snacks for everyone to enjoy.

Today was a very good day thought Mary, new friends and lots of new places to play.

Mary's best friend

Mary first met her best friend.

Well Mary’s mum met Maxine’s mum in the maternity ward and they took it from there. 

It was the first day home and Mary’s mum realized Maxine’s mum lived in the other street, their friendship got better and better as did Mary and Maxine’s. 

Mary couldn’t say Maxine to well so called her Xine instead. 

Mary and Xine were growing up so fast together  soon they were old enough to go to the village play group, where they could play with lots more children and learn lots of new fun things. 

On the first day Mary was so scared and refused to let go of mum’s hand and play with anyone! 

But Xine took her hand and dragged her over to the toys seeing as they couldn’t go and climb trees.

And there is was.  

The tractor.  

This tractor was the best, its pedals were not too stiff, and the seat not too high also the handles were not to large so wee hands could get a good grip on the steering.

Xine saw how much fun Mary was having with this she wanted a shot on it too.  

There were 5 other tractor toys but they were not the same, and not the best for Mary, neither were they for Xine.  

This became  a weekly  quarrel.  

Luckily they both  always forgot by the end of the day and all was forgotten until the next week when it would all begin again. 

By day Xine and Mary would try to out climb each other to the top of the tallest tree, or combine skills to create the most secure tree house balanced precariously between various branches. 

Mary always thought Xine was so lucky. 

She had an older sister and three older brothers. 

Mary  would’ve loved to of had an older sibling to protect her from those nasty bullies. 

Mum said she would have a word with the evil bullies parents and all the teachers but Mary didn’t think it would make any difference, but no Mary had Xine now so they could save one-another.

 Xine loved venison which was lucky as her dad was a game keeper; they always had the yummiest pies, sausages and burgers.  

But they didn’t have Mary’s nana’s pancakes.

 

They were the best with her homemade raspberry jam.  

Mary and Xine would help by picking all the juiciest, ripest raspberries for nana to turn into this ruby nectar of deliciousness. 

Mary and Xine became such good friends they would trade in sleepovers if our parents decided they both had behaved well enough.

 They both loved to put on shows with some acting, some presenting and some singing dotted in for fun. 

 Mary was sure both pairs of parents only smiled trying their best not to laugh at a supposedly serious point we were trying to present, they knew it was better than them both being bored and making a mess or worse. 

Mary hoped she could always be friends with Xine.  

Thank fully Xine thought the same; they both knew too many secrets.

©joannehepburn 158/04/2016

Fluff fairies

Mary spotted all the fluff on her bedroom floor, but how did it get there and where did it come from, and why did it keep moving every time she got close enough to pick it up?

Mary thought maybe Joe had ripped and possibly eaten another of his toys so she went through to check. Nope, all of Joe's toys were accounted for and none of them were ripped, or moving.

Mary sat down to think where could the fluff come from and why did it keep escaping her grasp?

Could it be from her bed?

The blanket? The pillows?

Or could it be from her jumpers?

Or even Dad’s jumpers they were the same colour as the fluff, Mary would have to investigate.

“Mum.”

“Yes Mary,” replied mum.

“Do dad’s jumpers make dark fluff piles?”

“Erm, yes probably, but everything makes fluff.”

“What?” blurted Mary confused.

“Well as you wear fabric it gets well, worn. So the fabric gets a little bit weaker each time and creates the fluff, some fabrics are worse than others. Guess which is the worst.”

“Gosh I don’t know dad’s big fluffy jumper?”

“Well yes those are quite bad, but think what could it be Mary any ideas?

Its  everyone’s socks!

We all wear them every day. Just think about how much they go through no wonder I need to repair them so often.”

“I can wear sandals in the summer to help.” Mary suggested.

“Thats a great idea Mary, but far too cold to do right now,” advised mum.

Fluff gets everywhere because we wear clothing and fabric everywhere.

All of the clothes, towels, bed sheets are all fabric that is slowly getting used up and wearing out so then we go to the shops and get a replacement if there is nothing more we can do with them.”

“Oh like the curtains you made in the bathroom from my old bed sheet? Or the Halloween costume you made for me out of dad’s old suit jacket?”

“Yes exactly, not everything needs to be thrown away instantly it could have another use to ensure we’re getting the most use out of it.”

“Cool so is it like granny going from being a manager to being a florist?”

“Yes kind of, just another way to use.” Smiled mum.

“But why do the fluff fairies keep moving when I try to catch them?” asked an annoyed Mary.

“Well they are fluff fairies and they want to play,” joked mum with a smile.

“How do I catch them?”

“Well you’ll need to be very gentle as they are so small.  You could try and get a few by brushing the floor so at least lots of them are together to play.”

“I could try that, I don’t want to hurt the fairies, and I don’t want them to be alone or get squished on my carpet.”

Mary went and took the wee dust pan and brush and swept her bedroom floor. 

She had quite a few fairies.

“What should I do with the fairies now mum?

“Well you could pop them out into the garden, or even into the recycling bin or the compost bin they will find more of their friends there.”

“Oh I wonder if I’ll see them dancing and playing?”

“You might but you’ll have to be very quiet and very still, their ears are very sensitive because they are so small,” instructed mum.

Mary went out to the garden protecting the dustpan so the fairies would all be together.  She chose to put them in the compost bin as a butterfly might visit too.  Mary waited for a really long time but she got a bit bored and hungry so she decided to leave and let the fairies play in peace in their new home, for now.

 

©joannehepburn 11.04.2016

Mary the Pirate

Today Mary was a pirate.

Teddy bear was first mate, dolly was the lookout.

They were sailing the sea on a beautiful sunny day making sure everyone was enjoying the sunny weather.

Mary had an idea.

Mary decided she wanted the ship to be painted bright yellow, so even when it wasn’t sunny any longer the ship would be bright and happy.

“Listen up shipmates”, announced Mary.  “We’re going to pain this ship sunny yellow to keep us all happy even when its not sunny.”

“First we need to clean the decks and get all of the dishes from breakfast done, all the surfaces and walls are cleared too.”

And with that they all got to work.  

The cleaning took next to no time with everyone helping and soon enough they were ready to paint the ship.

First mate teddy took to the sides of the ship.  Dolly was helping too, by painting from the top of the masts. 

The paint took hardly any time to dry on this lovely sunny day. 

Everyone worked all day, they were soon done.  

The ship was ready.  It was lovely and sunny and bright thought captain Mary.

“Oh No, the sails!  We need some new sail’s .”  Said Captain Mary and with that they all started to search for some material to make some new sails for the ship.

Teddy found an old pair of curtains while dolly found some old bed sheets.

They took all the material to the captain. 

“Excellent work,” announced Captain Mary with glee.

Mary asked mum if she could help sew some new sail’s for the ship. 

Mum got to work sewing the fabric to make some new sail’s for the ship.

Once Mum was finished she helped Dolly to replace the tattered old ones with the brilliant bright new ones.  

“Wow, that’s brilliant crew, I hope you like our new ship too,” said Captain Mary.

“I think all you hungry sailors could use some lunch, “advised mum.

“Oh yes please,” said Captain Mary with a smile as she took teddy and dolly down to the kitchen to enjoy some well earned pirate lunch.

“Maybe after lunch you could make a picture of your new pirate ship to hang in the captain’s quarters,” suggested mum.

“That’s a great idea” agreed Captain Mary, as she finished her lunch.

Captain Mary drew all afternoon.  The picture was finished, Captain Mary took it to teddy and dolly so they could have the first look.  

Mary thought they both liked it too.  Next the captain took it to show mum.

“Oh my goodness that’s a fantastic picture, how about I hang it on the bedroom wall so even when it’s not sunny outside your pirate ship will always remind you of sunnier days," suggested mum.

“Oh yes please” said Mary with a giant smile.

That night captain Mary went to sleep thinking of all the new adventures she could get up to in her bright pirate ship.

©joannehepburn 29/03/2016