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.