Washing and seedy cake........

Stephanotis was very eager to impress Isabel with the ardor of his intentions. He had woken up early and seeing Hortensia surrounded by her baskets of clean but wet washing - asked if she needed any help with hanging it out to dry  - it was an especially frisky and delightfully windy morning and Hortensia was washing all manner of heavy covers and blankets as she knew that they could easily dry in a day.

The moment she say Stephanotis's face she knew that he desperately needed to unburden his heart. 'My Dear Stephanotis, how very kind of you to offer, of course you can help - you have come along at just the right moment', and with that she set about instructing him in the gentle art of drying washing by draping all the surrounding bushes with the wet blankets and cushion covers and covering the washing lines with unwieldy eiderdowns.

After all the running and spreading and pining down, Stephanotis felt much calmer. 'You see Hortensia, I love Isabel and I so want her to understand that I want to be her sweetheart and begin proper courting and I don't know how to approach her or even if she likes me!' Poor Stephanotis was all of a bother and in real distress, Hortensia reassured him as she poured out a generous cup of her dandelion coffee and a large slice of the seedy cake left over from the Revels, 'What you need is a token of your affections - something that is unmistakably a symbol of your love, something that lets her know just how much you adore her.' Stephanotis was thinking, he munched his way through his cake, gulped down his coffee, gave baby Harriet a big kiss on her head and rushed out of the door - all without saying a word.......

Holding hands and leaning in.......

Everybody was around the kitchen table at Persimmon Heights - partially because Hortensia's elderflower fritters were a moment of seasonal culinary ecstasy and secondly because Stephanotis had invited Isabel as his guest. Gnomes are of course, very curious by nature and the chance for the family to see the young couple together was too much to resist.

Aunt Mildred presided over the table in front of the enormous platter with it's layers of crisp yellow fritters. Uncle Humperdinck was silent and eating slowly as his teeth were not what they had been and elderflower fritters, luscious as they are, can easily become stuck between one's teeth. Everyone else was in a delightfully playful mood and talking animatedly about the Revels and the mostly about the Rodeo. The rabbits had become so accustomed to extra supplies of lettuce, carrots and parsley that they had taken to coming to Aunt Mildred's gate and asking for more. Several of the older bunnies had even asked for more camomile as they had found nibbling a bit before bedtime rather helpful for a a sound night's sleep. Aunt Mildred of course cultivated the best camomile in the area, she was particularly pleased to be supplying the bunnies as they had been so agreeable to her Grand Idea for the Rodeo.

'Really Darlings, do you think that you come around to my old lady's garden early tomorrow - she has been a bit under the weather lately and if we spruced up her garden outside the patio doors  - well I am sure that it would be a real lift to her spirits.' Archibold thought it a splendid mission and he hastily arranged for his sons (Horatio and Lupin) and Stephanotis to be up and ready for an early morning Cheer Up Mission. 'You could come too Isabel, what a difference your singing would make to the garden and all the birds and animals'. Isabel blushed at Stephanotis's suggestion and at the resultant wink and nudge that she saw Aunt Mildred give Uncle Humperdinck. "What an excellent idea, Isabel you will be our secret envoy of encouragement ' and with that Hortensia settled the matter.

She had taken pity on poor Uncle Humperdinck and was busy frying up some apple rings so that he could have a treat without worrying about his teeth. 'Tomorrow is the day then, my old lady will be so pleased, after all I first entertained the idea of the Bunny Rodeo after watching her television through the patio doors, so we really owe her a treat or two!'

Isabel and Stephanotis were holding hands under the table and blissfully leaning into each other, they thought they were being discreet but everyone present was feeling all rosy and emotional at just how lovely they looked together.

Elderflowers blossoms............

The house felt very full, what with Horatio and Lupin home for their holidays and Stephanotis and Archibold deeply involved in planning a new adventure - so much so that Hortensia had taken baby Harriet out for her afternoon nap. Wrapping her carefully in her basket and setting off for the woods Hortensia felt freer than she had in days. 'See Harriet all the greens of the different leaves, see how the trees are full of birds singing - oh Harriet I am so glad that we came out.' Harriet gurgled happily, she had no intention of going to sleep now that they were out and about, so she smiled up at her Mother, Hortensia knew she might be being a little biased but she really did think that Harriet had the most beautiful blue eyes in the world.

Hortensia was heading for the edge of the wood where she knew that there was a glorious patch of elderflower blossom. Once there, she settled Harriet down in her basket in a shady spot and set to work collecting the elderflower blossoms. Some were for the making of her precious cordial and some were for Horatio's favourite treat - elderflower fritters. Because the stems were so high, nimble as she was, she had quite a struggle to reach some of the flowers. Not in the least daunted Hortensia carefully and successfully gathered her chosen blossom,  next she wrapped them all up in the table cloth she had brought and then tied the bundle on her back, 'Off we go Darling, try to snooze a little, all is well Little Poppet', and with that she picked up the basket and set off home again - singing and happy as happy can be.

Tea and a little honey.......

Twitch, twitch, kick, jump - Archibold was reliving all of his dance moves in his sleep. 'Bother his dreams' sighed Hortensia 'I'll just have to go downstairs and to sleep'. She had tried pushing him, blowing in his ears and her best emergency-last-resort action - pinching his nose -  but all in vain, Arcihbold happily continued with his dreaming and snoring.

Hortensia padded downstairs bringing baby Harriet wrapped in her fluffy shawl, 'now that I am up, perhaps a pot of rose petal tea might be just the perfect thing help me get to sleep'. Hortensia smiled as she saw the jug with her little posy of wild flowers that she had brought back home and that were looking especially pretty on the kitchen table. Archibold had pinned their two rosettes (for the best wild strawberries and preserve) in the middle of the mantle piece, 'what a day we had, so many delights and so much fun'.

The truth was that the whole of Persimmon Heights echoed and vibrated to Archibold's snoring. Hortensia know of old, that once awake, rose petal tea and a teaspoon of honey were the only things that would ease her back to sleep. So she settled down in her rocking chair and covering her knees with a little blanket, sang a little song to baby Harriet, and sipped her tea until she fell into a soft and welcoming slumber.

Twilight and butterflies of joy........

Isabel lifted her arms, looked up to the golden light and sang in the twilight.......she sang of the beauty of Spring, of hope blooming anew in the heart, of a baby's smile, of the radiance of blossom against a blue sky and of flowers.......all the abundance and colour and joy of flowers. As she sang the gnomes lifted their eyes to see the golden light filtering through the green leaves of the pavilion and knew themselves blessed indeed. Just when it seemed impossible to imagine anything more beautiful, Archibold and Stephanotis, who had climbed up and hidden in the canopy, released a cloud of butterflies from their baskets. As the iridescent butterflies fluttered free, Isabel began to sing an old favourite and soon everyone was joining in.

'Time for The Revels - time for dancing!' Uncle Humperdinck was beating time with his stick and a little band of concertinas, fiddles and the odd flute and zither were assembling on the podium. Stephanotis bowed low before Isabel and taking off his new courting hat, asked her to take to the floor for the first dance. Well that was that, when everyone saw Isabel agree, hats were thrown in the air and soon gnomes were leaping and pirouetting and promenading with gusto and glee - a grand dance was taking shape!

'I'll just have a little sit down for a minute, what a song, what a song - and Stephanotis's hat giving him such confidence'. Aunt Mildred was feeling overwhelmed again, but very pleased. She settled down and began to watch the dancing, keeping time with one of her feet and gently sucking on her pipe.

So all was well and the little pavilion was alive with joy as the stars began to shine through the blue of the twilight - very well indeed..........

Prizes and delight....................

'Well, well, well - just so exciting!' this was an understatement as Hortensia would never forget the sight of Lupin flying through the air off a bunny's back. He had volunteered as one of the first to try out the rodeo. No one (not even Humperdinck) had thought about how excitable bunnies can be, so for the first several tries all the gnomes had been sent flying. Eventually the bunnies succumbed to boredom - and perhaps Aunt Mildred's camomile was having an effect, at any rate the end of the rodeo was quite a sedate affair compared to the wildness of the start. Lupin's pride had been a bit hurt, but he had received so much sympathy that he had quickly cheered up again. The whole family were elated when Archibold won first prize for his wild strawberries and Hortensia for her wild strawberry preserve - a double triumph that made them glow with graciousness.

Hortensia was feeling a bit puffed - quite literally as she had had to play the trumpet to announce the prize giving and the start and finish of all the events (and sometimes to drown out Uncle Humperdinck's snoring). All in all it had been a triumphant day and Aunt Mildred was radiant with happiness at the success of her grand idea and having been able to wear so many of her hats in succesion. Archibold's pavilion of living hazel was the wonder of the day, so much so that he had been carried around on the gnomes' shoulders and hailed as a Hero and The Gnome of the Day. 

Just now they were all lying on a mossy bank resting (and burping a little) after a sumptuous picnic. Hortensia had excelled herself and her nasturium flowers stuffed with soft cheese and herbs had been utterly delicious as had her meringues with preserved sweet chestnuts and cream. They were all sucking mint leaves and preparing for a little day dream and snooze - soon they would be dressing up for the Revels and all were looking forward to a wild evening of dancing and frolic!

Posies and Foot Balm.....................

'Oh my, what a to do' it was late evening and Hortensia had finally settled baby Harriet to sleep and was beginning to prepare the picnic hamper for the next day, 'plates, cups, forks, spoons, bread knife, ooh butter dish, table cloth......' she bustled about muttering and humming a little tune, 'my trumpet, blankets and cushions'. The list seemed endless, and then there were all of her preserves and chutneys, her seedy cake and her extra light angel-wing meringues -  all ready to face the judges' steely gaze -  and her piece de resistance - her spring posy soaking it's stems in a small jug waiting to have it's ribbon attached in the morning.

She had prepared little posies of flowers for Isabel and Harriet (and of course herself) to attach to their dresses and little flower twists for Archibold, Stephanotis, Horatio and Lupins' buttonholes. 'I wonder - should I take the rocking chair for Aunt Mildred in case she faints again when Isabel sings?' Fortunately for him, Archibold came in at that moment and firmly squashed the idea on the head. 'Plenty of mossy banks My Dear and lots of cushions - no need to worry about bringing the chair '. He had enough to worry about with the carrying of the picnic and helping the boys pull the little cart with all his prize vegetables and fruits and Hortensia's preserves and baking  - without thinking about carry a rocking chair to the Pavilion.

Hortensia made them all hot camomile and honey tea before bed so that they would sleep well. She was just dozing off herself when when she suddenly remembered Archibold's foot balm and lept up to pop the jar into her emergency supplies basket - Archibold could be very grumpy if his feet hurt and as they had been looking forward to the dance since last year, she thought it best to be prepared.

All of a flutter.................

Every where that Aunt Mildred went was a bustle with serious activity; jars of jam were being dusted, flower buds were being coaxed into bloom, vegetables cosseted into a final growth spurt and at the main Pavilion an air of serious - almost fever pitch bustle - prevailed. 'Must remember to bring my basket of tinctures and balms on the big day' thought Aunt Mildred ' you never know what can happen with all this excitement'.

Poor Uncle Humperdinck had been given the challanging job of training the Bunnies. As Aunt Mildred's husband, and because it had been her idea, the responsibility for persuading the bunnies to take the rodeo seriously and to hop on request, had fallen on his shoulders. Uncle Humperdinck was a tall, thin gnome of Nordic descent, his hair was particularly wispy and even with all of Aunt Mildred's skill as a milliner, his hats were always at a rakish angle, so much so that he had great difficulty keeping a hat on his white and wild curls at all. The bunnies had been playing him up at first (anything to eat more free carrots and parsley) but his inherent kindness was winning them around and he in turn was forming a firm friendship with several of the older bunnies - of an evening he and some of his new friends had been found to enjoy a wee snooze together - Uncle Humperdinck was very old and a bunnies fur so particularly soft that a snooze leaning against a bunny's warm soft tummy was proving irresistible.

The arena for the rodeo had been enclosed with posts and ivy-rope trellis and surrounded with mossy banks for the spectators and judges to sit on. Uncle Humperdinck had been encouraging the bunnies every day for the past few weeks - he had of course had to resort to bribery, and several times poor Archibold and Stephanotis had to rush off on a carrot hunting mission.

Hortensia had taken to playing the trumpet whenever possible and her whole household was having to adjust to early morning trumpet calls summoning them to breakfast. She was all of a flutter too for another reason, her sons Horatio and Lupin were coming home on Sunday from the garden centre where they had been working learning vital young gnome skills. Busy as she was, she had found time to polish the buttons on their best waistcoats and to embroider a silk sash for each of them.

'Steady does it, grass grows all on it's own - trust and dance with the flow' Aunt Mildred was singing a little song to calm and inspire as she went out and about. The Midsummer Revels were a chance to frolic and play (she was looking forward to a dance or two herself) but savouring each moment made the day even more special when it finally arrived and some of the younger gnomes were in danger of exhausting themselves with over excitement well before the day had dawned. 'Tea Darlings? A wee tisane to steady the nerves and bring a bloom to your checks?' Aunt Mildred was dispensing kindness and calming teas as she went, she wanted all the gnomes to be on their best form for their special day.

A little snooze under green leaves.........

'Ooooh Archie, it is just so beautiful, it's like our own special forest, oh Archie I do love it so....' Hortensia was standing inside the pavilion that Archibold and Stephanotis had made. Archibold puffed out his chest and he and Stephanotis glowed with pride. The pavilion really was something special.

Several months previously, as he had been pondering how to build this year's pavilion, Archibold had remembered something from many years before, something that he had seen when he had been in training at a garden centre as a young, dashing gnome out and about on missions. He had remembered how to plant young hazel branches and then as they grew, how to weave them into a living trellis. This year's pavilion for the Midsummer Revels was a living arbor of green leaves and woven hazel branches, all arching up into a leafy dome - Archibold's masterpiece. 'Couldn't have done it without Stephanotis, he is so limber and good at climbing, we would never have finished the top without him.'

Hortensia, Archibold, Stephanotis and baby Harriet all laid down on the mossy bank and stared at the twilight sky through the green leaves of the pavilion - 'just heaven Archie, just heavenly' and with that thought in mind they all fell asleep for a little celebratory snooze.

An evening stroll..........

Archibold and Hortensia were out and about in the forest enjoying an evening stroll. Archibold was carrying baby Harriet, and was enjoying himself greatly, he was showing her all the different kinds of leaves that he could find. Hortensia was singing a happy heart song to encourage all the plants and trees to grow  - and to cheer herself up. It wasn't that she was very grumpy, just that she felt a little distracted and overwhelmed by all the things that she had to do before the Midsummer Revels. Hortensia knew that sometimes singing a song from her heart could ease a sense of perplexity and renew her sense of fun. Soon she was making a buttercup posy for Harriet and relishing hearing her giggle as Archibold lifted her high in the air to give her a piggy back - she found herself laughing even more when Harriet reached for his special-extra-durable-daily-wear red hat - and pulled it off!

Archibold was feeling rather proud of himself, it was a beautiful summer evening - full of golden light and he felt so grateful to be alive - but most of all he was proud of having hidden a surprise from Hortensia for a whole week. The evening walk was a ruse to lead her to where the surprise was waiting in all it's splendour - Stephanotis of course had been left in charge and was nervously awaiting their arrival.

Magenta trim........

'Well, well, tickle me toodle pigs - that boy will go far'. Stephanotis had just left and Aunt Mildred was having an unaccustomed cup of camomile tea (instead of her usual mint) to steady her nerves. 'Quite a little heart throb' she thought 'I'll have to be very careful about choosing his hat'.

Stephanotis went on his way chirruping a little hum to himself. Now that he had taken the plunge and committed himself to a courting hat for the Midsummer Revels - he felt relieved - still nervous, but overall relieved and it must be said - a little excited. Aunt Mildred was making a list of what she called attributes; soft curly brown hair with a wild curl on his forehead that would stick out rogueishly from any hat, brown eyes - both humorous and kind, a full smile, dimples and a very direct stare. She knew he loved playing the accordion, had been chosen as Archibold's apprentice by the Elders and had received glowing reports from all and sundry (Hortensia had also reported that he was a dutiful and respectful lodger who adored pancakes). 'All in all', she thought 'I think summer sky blue with perhaps a magenta trim seems the most likely'.

She then had a suck on her pipe as she contemplated whether the hat should be of a soft knit or weave or even to made of felt - a very tricky consideration indeed. 'I'll just have a little snooze to let the ideas flow' and with that she fell happily asleep.

Mint leaves and a new hat.......

Stephanotis was walking carefully, Aunt Mildred had planted her front garden with so much mint, and with so many varieties, that he felt that he was walking through a fragrant mint jungle. Much as he loved mint tea and especially crystalised mint leaves - he knew that he would smell of mint all day long. Sometimes after he had visited her he felt that even his boots smelt of mint.

He had come to ask her to make him a new hat for the Midsummer Revels. Stephanotis had reached the age, young as he was, when a little courting seemed like a very an entrancing idea. Now everyone knows that having a handsome hat is just the thing to perk up a young gnomes confidence - especially when they are about to ask another gnome if they would like to go for a stroll through the violets. Stephanotis had been practicing his opening request for rather a while, but as he still felt a little nervous, had gratefully accepted Hortensia's advice of asking for a new hat.

Aunt Mildred specialised in hats - after her garden and her mint delicacies (and maybe her elderflower cordial), matching the right hat with the right gnome was her greatest passion. She watched Stephanotis wind his way through the mint garden with a sparkle in her eye - 'feeling frisky is he, well, well, well, the time indeed has come for a courting hat.'

Trumpets in time?

Hortensia was hoping that Archibold and Stephanotis were enjoying a successful mission, she had been very busy with her own projects for the Midsummer Revels - which seemed to be creeping ever nearer at an alarmingly fast pace. She was especially glad this morning that they were out of the house so that she could begin practicing her trumpet. Hortensia always announced the start and finish and all the main events with a variety of improvised trumpet calls. This year, what with baby Harriet still being so small and her life so very full, she had rather neglected her trumpet. Indeed when she had first taken out of it's basket to play she had found it tarnished and more than a bit snorty.

Hortensia polished and buffed and soon began to coax some notes out of her beloved instrument, 'Goodness I'll have to try every day if I am to be any good at the Revels - oh dear, oh dear how could I have let it go so badly?' Hortensia loved her trumpet and was feeling a bit glum, 'I'll just have to try every day and hope that I improve in time.' Since a young girl, Hotensia had been known for her joyous trumpet playing, indeed Archibold had been captivated by her playing of both the zither and the trumpet. Much as he loved music and dancing, he himself didn't play any instruments - this is probably down to the fact that from an early age he had always been an especially adventurous gnome and was forever out and about exploring.

Butterflies and baskets.......

'Gently does it Lad, don't want to alarm them'  Archibold was supervising Stephanotis as he carefully nudged the furry caterpillars into his basket. 'The trick is to collect lots of branches of their favourite leaves to take back with them, that way we can keep them happy until they rest up to grow their wings'.

Because Stephanotis was his young apprentice, Arichbold had let him into the secret about his show stopping finale for the Midsummer Revels. Every year, after Isabel had sung The Song of Spring, Archibold would secretly release a cloud of butterflies from under the podium. This year he was going to have the assistance of Stephanotis, so he was even more excited than usual about his project. 'We can make a good show this year, but we have to keep an eye on them, very temperamental butterflies - if not happy with their conditions'.

They carefully carried the basket between them back to camp, Archibold had apologised to Stephanotis about being over excited in the boat and had firmly resolved to teach his young apprentice with the utmost care and thoughtfulness for his age and experience. Even so he couldn't resist saying ' See, if we hadn't come this far down the river, we would never have found so many and such unusual caterpillars - alls well that ends well!' Stephanotis grinned, he had heard Hortensia make a comment or two about Archibold's enthusiasms! Still their main mission for the trip had been accomplished and they settled down by their fire for a warming supper and a good night's sleep.