Images belonging to another children’s story yet to be completed.

I thought instead of writing a story I would post a few of the great colourful images Sara has done for another children’s story. You might recognise one of the drawings which features on decidinglybob.wordpress.com

Sally lives next door to an elderly man who is grumpy. Her aim is to make him smile. The question is how does she do it?

 

Book Launched

Happy New Year to everyone.

I am sorry for not being around much in the past few months. A sticky internet problem left me without a means to post on my blog site. That and the happy fact of launching my first Children’s book has kept me off this site for a while.

Here is an image of the book, which is available on amazon.co.uk and on www.emuink.ie website.

 

What is the story about?

Clearie, a one hundred year old schoolhouse, is fed up.

For so long he has helped children get educated but been rewarded only by their complaints about how much they hate school.

He longs to get away

His dream is to go to France, a country he has heard so much about in geography lessons over the years – but how could a schoolhouse possibly travel?

He comes up with a plan and enlists the help of the the Buggy twins: but not everything works out as he hoped.

With an attic full of crazy crabs, led by the fearless Lancelot, his journey is less than enjoyable and in his absence the school system falls apart.

Will Clearie’s dreams come true and the children get their wish for schooldays to end forever? Or has everyone bitten off more than they can chew?

 

 

Breeze’s Secret Job.

“I will never tell you another truthful story about me.” Breeze said.

Tulip frowned. She didn’t understand why and asked him to explain.

“Because since I told you about the tree all you do is ask me questions.” He folded his arms infront of his chest. “Stop doing it.”

Tulip smiled. “Okay but perhaps you will answer me this one last question. Why did you stop gardening?”

Breeze scowled at her.

Mrs Groundsel was walking past them. She was delivering a batch of blackberry jam to her friend Robyn and heard Tulips question. She stopped and said, “why would you think he has?”

“Because he is always asleep or sitting in a tree?” Tulip said.

“Not always only when you are around.” Mrs Groundsel walked away.

Breeze climbed his tree and Tulip was tired of asking questions so she went home.

Tulip didn’t forget Mrs. Groundsel’s answer. She decided to become a Fairy detective.  She began to get up earlier in the morning and go to bed late at night. But it didn’t matter, whenever she went looking for him Breeze was always asleep. Izzy asked Tulip, “do you need a sleeping potion? You look very tired and your wings are droopy looking.”

Tulip told her the reason why she was feeling so tired.

Izzy was quiet for a while as she  sipped her tea. Suddenly she said, “I know why you can’t find him working or moving about during the day because he is working at night.”

Tulip shook her head. “No Breeze is not a bat he is that jolly green ogre we keep tripping over on the porch when we have finished baking. He can smell vanilla icing a mile away.”

Izzy said, “tonight you and I will keep watch. I will go to his cave and watch from high above it. You can stay at the edge of the forest. You can follow him.”

***************

 

The moon was bright, the sky a dark curtain behind it.

Izzy was sitting a short distance from the entrance to Breeze’s cave. She was knitting a jumper for a baby rabbit. Tulip was writing out new recipes at the edge of the wood as she waited for Izzy’s signal.

Suddenly Izzy heard Breeze stomping out of his cave.  Spike was sitting on his shoulder. They walked straight past Izzy without seeing her. She waited until they were a little distance away then she send a ribbon of light shooting into the sky.

Tulip spotted the signal. She sent her recipe book back to her kitchen and hid.

It didn’t take long for Breeze to appear on the path from the mountains. Tulip was surprised when he didn’t enter the wood but turned sharp left and walked towards the flat fields behind the trees.

She stayed well behind him. Tulip didn’t want him to see her.  He walked for a long time, through three giant fields.

Then suddenly he came to a small field. Breeze bent low. Spike jumped from his shoulder.

Tulip forgot to watch Breeze she was too busy trying to recognize all of the vegetables she saw growing in the field.

“He is a secret gardener. ” She sat in the hedge for a while and watched him work. He was very good. There were no weeds in his garden just healthy, carrots, potatoes, sweetcorn, peas and beans. Suddenly she had answers to a lot of her questions. It was Breeze who supplied everyone with the vegetables they loved when they couldn’t find them close to Mudpile Wood.

Tulip wanted to rush out and give him a hug. But, she knew she couldn’t. It was his secret to keep or reveal and not hers.

She decided to go home.

Next day at lunch time Tulip was asleep when there was a loud knock at her front door. It was Izzy, ” So you didn’t find out where he went or what he did?”

Tulip said “Yes, I mean no I didn’t.”

Izzy smiled “And I suppose you didn’t bake the giant gingerbread man Breeze is sharing with everyone in the middle of the clearing?”

Tulip looked very innocent and tired. “No, I can only bake small gingerbread men in my small oven.”

Izzy decided not to ask any more questions. “You look tired. I will bring you back some of the amazing gingerbread. Pity we don’t have the recipe, isn’t it?”

Tulip was too tired to worry about her friends twinkling eyes. She went back to bed.

 

We won an Award!!!

We are all really happy, a big thank you to davidmbeecroft. He has awarded us the Liebster Award.

 

Before I explain the rules of the Award and answer David’s tricky questions I would like to say this about him: he has a way with words that stops you in your tracks and makes you think about why you do stuff. This, for me is a much needed few minutes of reading. I love his thoughts for today. Check out his blog on the link above and judge for yourself.

 

THE LIEBSTER AWARD

Which in our minds is a giant twelve foot shiny button that cannot stay still as it flashes like a rainbow coloured traffic lights.

 

 

 

The Questions were answered by Breeze with notes /remarks by Tulip in brackets.

Q1: Do you like tea?

Yes if it is flavored with vanilla muffins.

(What he means is he drinks muffin soup )

Q2: What are you having for dinner tonight?

Pumpkin Stew with wild rice and mushrooms and I can’t wait for it.

(Cooked by Mrs Groundsel because all Breeze can cook is eggs, boiled, fried, scrambled or poached)

Q3: If you could have any super-power, what would it be?

To be able to shrink as small as a fairy.

(He wants to be able to fit into my kitchen and eat all the muffins and cakes!)

Q4: Do you have a super power/ ability?

My current super power is climbing Trees. I am the only Ogre who can do this.

(He learnt to do this to avoid going to school or working)

Q5: Why?

I climb trees because I love watching clouds and the world below me. It is also a pretty powerful place to sleep.

(He is hidden from view and can sleep his days away instead of working)

Q6: How strong are you?

I can lift a 200 year old tree full of birds.

(It comes in handy if a tree falls to the ground)

Q7: What colour eyes do you have?

Dark brown.

Q8: How are you today?

 I am a little tired because I helped Hamish paint his house a beautiful shade of purple.

 (This means they painted the house, themselves and their pets, and the surrounding trees purple. Some of the birds were pretty angry to find their nests were now a yucky shade of purple.)

Q9: Snog, marry, ignore? I prefer to ignore.

Q10: What pet would you like to own?

 I am happy with my pet frog. Spike has a remarkable love for dancing.He does not sing much but he loves to dance especially hip hop dancing.

(Luckily frogs hate cup cakes.)

Q11: What is the happiest you have ever been?

 When I was a toddler I fell into a batch of marshmallow Icing. It was better than any present. (This is true I was told he ate his way out of the bowl)

And the last part of the award is to pass this award on to other bloggers so here we go:

1 Gluestickmum

2  The entrepreneurialwife

2  Momgoeson

4 Confessions of a crummy mummy

5  ecschmit87

6  swimintheadultpool.com

Now for the tricky part your list of questions are as follows:

1 If you were stuck on an island what is the one thing you would bring with you?

2  Which do you prefer exercising or reading or blogging?]

3  Why did you start blogging?

4 World War three has broken out what do you do?

5 What is your favorite film?

6 Do you still hang out or keep in contact with your school friends?

7 List your top five favorite foods

8 Are you a city person or a country person?

9  What makes you happy?

10 what makes you sad?

11 What would you like to be when you grow up?

Breeze shows us a picture of the nicest witch in the world.

Many people believe witches are nasty and love to be nasty.  Well….here in Mudpile Wood we have one of the nicest witches on any planet.

Why do I think this?

Because… nope I think I will simply show you a picture of Elegant and let you see for yourself. I will leave a story about Elegant Witch for another day.

Can you keep a secret?

There was a lot of noise in the wood yesterday morning while I was snoozing in the tree tops.

There was two dogs searching for someone,

They were looking for me and there I was staring down at them.

How the Ogre Breeze and Mudpile were discovered.

Maria’s  side of the story:

Chance and opportunity seldom knock at my door.

However, this one arrived through WordPress and I have grasped it with both hands.

While reading a post on “The Terrain of Symmetry” site, I was mesmerized by a picture of a tree. 

(Click on the photo to go to the post)

This was an unusual occurrence in itself because the daughter of an Irish botanist, I have stared at many trees. But this one caught my eye because the angle of a branch reminded me of the best piece of equipment in the playground, a slide. That was it, a story was born.

My imagination was off at a running pace. An Ogre was created and his best friend sort of slid into place.  When I asked permission from Doris to use the picture to illustrate the story, she went one better and sent me an illustration of the characters, Breeze and Tulip.

From that moment on we were both hooked, stories and ideas fly out of my mind some land on paper and others are merely whisked away by being too mad or crazy. The result is I am jumping in at the deep end and we will publish our result in the form of a book.

I hope everyone enjoys and takes these stories for what they are a  childish venture into a world of make believe.

If there is anything you find beyond the realms of belief please let us know.

Easter Mystery at Mudpile Wood.

A reminder:   Breeze is a very friendly Ogre.   Hamish is a grumpy Elf.    Lovisma is a tiny mischievous witch and Tulip is a Fairy who adores to bake.

Women’s voices drifted up to Breeze as he lay dreaming on a branch in a tree.

 “Humans” he whispered. Breeze let out an ear piercing warning whistle. He spotted rabbits and elves running further into the wood. 

 

“Did you hear that funny bird? ” One woman asked. “Don’t go into the wood. We don’t want the children to get lost in there.”

Breeze noticed the women’s baskets were full of shiny objects which they were hiding in the long grass and under bushes.   Finally their baskets were empty and they left.

 

Breeze slid down the tree. Hamish walked up to him. “Why did you sound the alarm?”

“It was a crowd of humans. They hid somethings,” Breeze was stretching his hand out underneath a bush.  “Aha, look what I got!” He pulled out a shiny blue  ball.

“What is it?” Hamish asked.

Breeze scratched his head. “I don’t know.”

Hamish smelt it. “Chocolate. Why hide them?”

 

They asked Tulip.  “I don’t know.” She said, “but the tooth fairy might know.”

Mavis, the tooth fairy was tired, “Show me quickly, I need to sleep. “

Hamish handed her the blue ball.

“Ugh it’s an easter egg. They love them, hide them in odd places and call it ‘fun’ to find them.” Mavis  scowled then said, “I’m going to sleep, leave.”

The three friends left in a hurry.

 

“Now we know what they are what are we going to do?” Breeze asked.

“Nothing,” Tulip said, “They will come and collect them.”

Lovisma, heard this conversation and went to look at the eggs.

 

On Easter Sunday Tulip, Breeze and Hamish were hiding at the top of a tree.  They were there to make sure no child entered the wood. “It wouldn’t do for an elderly Ogre or Fairy to meet a child.They might never recover from the shock,” Breeze said.

 

The children raced into the field watched by their parents. They began to search for eggs.  A small girl gave a shout,  “I see one.” This was followed by a wailing cry. “Why won’t it stop moving?”

 

Breeze , Hamish and Tulip watched the field turn into a playground for leaping Easter eggs that could not be caught.

 Tulip looked at Breeze and Hamish.

“We didn’t do it.” Breeze said. “Did you?”

“I did not.” Tulip said and waved her wand towards the leaping bouncing eggs. But no amount of Fairy sparkle or magic could stop the eggs from moving.

 

Suddenly an egg was caught. 

It popped open, a bright yellow rabbit jumped out and began hip hop dancing.  His ears were spinning around and hit a boy in the legs. He began to cry.

 

“Lovisma did this. Listen, I can hear her giggling.” Hamish said.

They began to search. Suddenly a bush sneezed. Breeze pounced on it. He emerged with a wiggling fighting Lovisma.

“Leave me be you big ogre.”

“I will if you stop them bouncing eggs and dancing bunnies.” Breeze shook her.

Lovisma was dressed in green, she had bells in her hair. She jingled as he shook her.

 

 “Lovisma you had better place a forgetful spell on them. We don’t want the wood full of nosy humans.” Tulip said.

“What will you give me if I do that?”Lovisma smiled.

Breeze said, “I’ll stop shaking you for a start, and I’ll tell you where to find lovely fresh mud.”

Lovisma loved bathing in mud. “Deal.” 

 

With a flick of her wrist she stopped the eggs from moving and with a wiggle of her nose the children stopped crying. 

Hamish’s ears twitched. “No one is talking about the jumping eggs, they are leaving.”

“Pity,” Lovisma said. “I always wanted to create a big stir. Now I will have to think of something else.”

Before they could scold her, Lovisma vanished.

*******************************

Have a great Easter everyone.

 

An Ogre’s Guide to Holidaying in Mudpile Wood

According to a certain Dog     you need to take precautions before taking a holiday in Mudpile Wood. I disagree.   But to make the most of your trip you should be prepared.

1.         For plenty of mud fun. As the name of the wood suggests we like wallowing in it. You can be certain you won’t get sun burnt but you will leave with amazing skin.

2.         There will be many parties. The late nights are followed by long sleepy mornings broken with a long lazy breakfast on left overs and finally a snoozy afternoon.

3.         Visitors are not allowed to work. Most occupants of the wood don’t like working so why should we ask you to do it?

4.        I do agree with Mr. Bob about:

a)     Warm hats and gloves, (finger-less gloves are best in case you are trapped in a warlock’s tavern, you may have to pick a slippy, disgusting lock to escape.)

b)     Wellington Boots (but not red, as witches despise red boots, they tend to set them on fire.

c)       Chocolate smelling deodorant. Everyone in Mudpile hates eating chocolate but they adore the smell.

d)      A clever friend who can solve puzzles in case Murphy the Leprechaun catches you, he will only release you when you solve his puzzle.Bring loads of books. Ogres have an insatiable appetite. First they  read the book then they eat it.

5.    I love books. They give me ideas, as I eat them. ( I learnt this lesson from a friend of mine called Hungry Henry. I will tell you about him another time.)