Time is of the essence....

'Good morning' thought Hortensia, 'such a good morning indeed!' The birds had been singing really rather loudly for quite a while and she no longer felt like sleeping. She felt a strong pull to wander under the oak trees and marvel at  the new green leaves as the early sunlight started to shimmer through. 'Such a treat' she thought and with that she slid out of bed (carefully making sure Archibold was still warmly tucked under the covers) and ran to put her shoes on.

Sitting under her favorite tree, she felt all the peace and friendliness of the earth beneath her. Looking out she wondered how humans could miss the gift of a Spring morning, 'they seem in such a hurry in the mornings, always living by their clocks instead of nature time'. Archibold had brought a big clock home many years before, it lived in the hallway hanging on the wall, very impressive too with it's long chain and shiny face. They never wound it up as the ticking had been so loud that they couldn't hear their music at all. Hortensia found the glass rather useful as a reflective mirror - just to check she was clean and tidy before letting in important visitors (only important visitors used the front door, everyone else just went straight in the kitchen door).

'Stillness' she thought, 'what a way to start the day', she had been dozing or daydreaming a bit, feeling the great music of peace, when she had opened her eyes and been overjoyed to see that Isabel - one of her favourite friends and a most beautiful young gnome - had joined her under the tree.