Bramble pie and the statue.......

'Well that's just ridiculous - fancy thinking gnomes look like that!' Hortensia stood in amazement, Aunt Mildred had brought her to her favourite old lady's garden to see the new statue that had arrived over the weekend 'they must think we are very ugly and silly looking.' Hortensia was quite affronted, gnomes are like all of us, all different and with varying degrees of gifts and talents - unlike humans they also knew from an early age - perhaps because they lived so very long - that all gifts have equal challenges. 'Really daft looking too, like he hasn't a brain in his head, humph!' Aunt Mildred was just as outraged 'it's no good fretting, what they don't know about, they don't respect and put down, always have been that way, like to think they are masters of the universe.'

'Well' said Hortensia 'I think that it's about time we made a statue of our own, something much more realistic, we could ask Archibold to carve it for us and then leave it in her garden as a gift!' Aunt Mildred gasped, gathered her cape around her (for it was turning a little damp in the evening air) 'My girl you are a true treasure -  what a splendid idea - I can see a place over there by the laburnum just waiting for a statue and right where my old lady can sit and gaze at it.' All the way back they discussed possible attributes for the statue - the height, girth (Hortensia had been most aghast at the childlike posture), attitude and of course, the crucial factor, what activity to portray.

Archibold was much smitten with the idea of a heroic pose, 'something to show them at last that gnomes are not to be messed with and are more than a gardeners joke or even embarrassment.' For Archibold in his youth, when out and about in the walled garden of the big house, had heard many a comment poking fun of gnomes and being demeaning about their appearance. 'Well if that's the case, let's have a family meeting to decide the matter, many heads are better than a few and it's time we had a bramble pie!' With that Archibold and Aunt Mildred danced a little jig of joy at the thought of the first bramble pie of the year!