March Newsletter

Here's a little oil sketch of the old kitchen door that welcomes me home. We've finished the editing for Book 3 and now I only have to paint one more picture, and we'll be ready to go! We have a printer lined up, and as soon as they are ready for shipping I will let everyone with a preorder know.

I've also been working on a line of miniature figures to go with the stories; here is a test of Elsie. I'm still working on her, but I couldn't resist sharing my progress. I'll be hand painting each one, and they will be available in our shop in York and on our website this summer.

I'll hand you over to Quentin; he's been out in the garden with Robin this morning and is now back in the kitchen, making himself comfortable with a spot of tea.

Welcome back friends,
The weather is finally warming; I spent the morning out in the boarders planting seeds until a bit of a cold wind picked up, so we scurried back in for a by the fire.

Last week, we took a picnic up to the top of the hill so I could inspect my rosebush. Jayne helped with a bit of pruning where the door is supposed to be, and we planted a packet of sweet pea seeds. We were having a lovely time until I caught the scent of foxes on the lane and reateated back to the safety of the kitchen for some fortifying teacakes to calm the nerves.

Jayne created a statue of Vernon from a funny old garden ornament, some clay, and paint. She has placed it out in the garden hoping that when Vernon passes by, he will consider it a good enough likeness that he will permit her to include it in the summer window. I think it captures him pretty well; Robin snapped a picture so you can judge for yourself.

And speaking of Robin, he's full of the joys of spring and anxious to share his gardening exploits with you all.

Until next time, keep your beak up and don't spare the treats.

Quentin

Hello everyone,

Did you know it's March already? In like a lion out like a lamb that's what they say. I haven't seen a lion yet, but I've got my eye out.

March is a very important month on the calendar because it's when you plant seeds in the garden and also because it's the month when my favourite flower ever comes out of the ground! I don't know if I told you before, but blue flowers are my favourite, and a little blue flower came up in the garden, and Jayne put it into a pot for me and I like to talk to it because I think it enjoys my stories, especially when the breeze blows because I see it nodding.

This morning, we went out to the garden to plant the spring seeds, and Jayne brought out the gramophone player, and we listened to music while we scratched up the ground so that the seeds would have a nice soft bed. I'm very good at this because I have sharp toenails that can cut through the loam and I can go fast when the music speeds up.

Under the ground were lots of worms; they are the silent gardeners, and even though they look a bit like snakes, they can't hurt you.

The seeds were very small, and there were lots of different kinds because we are making a wildflower garden for the bees and the butterflies which Quentin has promised not to eat this year. I helped to mix them with my feet, and some of them got stuck between my toes, so I tasted them, and I can report that they had very interesting flavours, and I did taste quite a few. The sunflower seeds were my favourite, they were nutty and sweet, and now there might not be any sunflowers in the garden this summer. Here is a picture I took of my friend, the blue flower, she is very beautiful, and you can also see some of the seeds in my pail.

Are you planting seeds, too? If you plant sunflowers, then you can leave a few of the seeds for the birds because now I know how good they taste, I think they are a nice treat to share.

Robin