Author: Tom

Did I say that this was the first time I’d been out for months and months?

I was wrong.

Back in May, I did actually go out one night to post a letter.

But I felt so bad about it that I think I deleted it from my memory.

I never told Ruffy I’d been out. He would not have approved.

Since then, I’ve been very sensible.

I stayed indoors all the rest of May.

And all of June.

And all of July up till now.

But now Ruffy says it’s all right to go out on my bicycle.

I didn’t feel sure about it, but finally I took the plunge, and it was wonderful to be out.

Fresh air! A breeze! Sunshine on my fur!

I headed to the edge of town.

I decided to cycle round the Ring Road.

Because it’s a Ring, I knew that I couldn’t get lost.

It would be sure to bring me back to where I started.

It turns out that it’s more of a hoop than a ring, definitely a bigger circle than I’d realised.

It was good to get some exercise.

I have been doing my yoga, and I’m not a person who just sits watching the telly.

(In fact, I don’t have a telly. But I sometimes sit and watch the wireless.)

But I haven’t really been very active.

At last I was able to give my legs a good stretch.

I felt years younger! At least at the start.

It wasn’t all plain sailing, though.

I was so excited to be out, that sometimes I was looking around me more than was safe.

They could put up polite signs saying “Please don’t cycle here”, instead of setting traps.

Even where you are allowed to cycle, the roads and cycle tracks are not always in a good condition.

I quite often had to lift my bicycle out of a pot-hole.

This is exercise for all muscle groups.

I got hot and tired. It would have been wise to take some water with me.

I stopped a couple of times to rest.

First in the shade of a lamp post.

But I thought I’d better make some progress, so on I went.

Eventually I found a very nice park and had a bit of a sit-down, and maybe a snooze.

After that I was ready for more pedalling.

My legs were aching, but I carried on till they got too wobbly to pedal.

Then I got off and pushed all of the rest of the way home.

I don’t think I’ve ever been so tired in the whole of my life.

I had intended to phone my friends as soon as I got in, to tell them about my adventure.

But I just sat down and drank about ten thimbles of water,

and then I fell asleep and didn’t wake up again till just now.

I feel quite well, so I don’t think I’ve caught the Virus.

Though I’ll have to be alert and watch out for symptoms.

No fever, no cough, and the water tasted just as usual.

So far so good.

I remembered how to ride my bicycle.

I stopped worrying about the pedals, and just pushed myself along with my feet.

Once I’d got used to balancing, it was easy to put my feet on the pedals.

Now I can’t wait to get out on the open road.

I was so excited that I could hardly sleep last night.

I’ve got up early.

If I go out now, there won’t be many people around, and it will be quite safe.

I’ll just check my equipment.

I have a hi-vis jacket, and the christmas-pudding bowl will be fine as a helmet.

The last time I used it was for carrying earth, so I’ve given it a bit of a wash.

I have a lock. I’ve heard that there’s a lot of bicycle theft these days.

The lock is a bit of a puzzle.

The key seems to be locked on the lock, and I don’t see how to get it off.

If I hang the lock on the bicycle, perhaps the bicycle thieves will think that the bicycle is locked, and won’t bother stealing it.

The Highway Code doesn’t say that I MUST have a bell. It just recommends fitting one.

I don’t think it would recommend fitting this one, because it’s very heavy.

I’ll leave it behind.

I shan’t bother with panniers. I won’t need any luggage today.

Actually, I shan’t bother with the lock either, because I won’t be leaving the bicycle anywhere.

I shall be as free as air.

It’s not raining right now, but I do hate getting wet when I’m cycling.

I’ll see if I can find my rain cape.

It still fits nicely.

If it does rain, I don’t think I’ll be able to pedal in wellies, so I’ll just have to get wet feet.

But I don’t think it’s going to rain.

It’s months since I’ve been outside.

Not since before I went into the cupboard in November.

Eight whole months!

It will be good to be out in the fresh air, out in the world.

Now, what else could I possibly need?

I’ll have a quick look at the map, but I won’t take it with me.

I shan’t go far from home this time.

This is just a practice run, ready for a real expedition.

I can’t believe Ruffy said it would be all right for me to go out.

He’s been so very cautious and protective.

I suppose it really is safe?

The Virus is still out there.

It’s a horrible disease – Bimbo was very ill.

He was lucky – he got better.

I’m not very strong.

I do want to stay alive a bit longer.

It’s not so very bad being stuck indoors.

I have my triangle, and I’m looking forward to learning a new language.

I have a beanstalk that depends on me.

The Virus can’t get to me in here.

I think it is stupid to go out.

I’m safe here.

On the other hand, you only live once.

Ruffy does say that there aren’t so many viruses out there now.

And I can keep far away from everyone else.

I’d better go quickly before Ruffy changes his mind, or I change mine.

Here goes!

I’ve been feeling a bit purposeless.

My younger friends are all out and about, being useful, while I’m stuck here at home.

But at least being a Key Worker does mean that when I wake up in the morning I know what I have to do.

I have to find out what that key is for.

And there are plenty of other things that need to be done.

I’d better make a list for the day.

1) Water the bean.

I always do that first.

It’s doing very well.

But I’ve had to rethink my hypothesis about the number of leaves.

2) Do my yoga.

I’ll choose an easy pose today.

3) Check up on Monkey.

Better get dressed first, even though he won’t be able to see me.

I need a courageous badge today. I mustn’t let myself fall into despondency.

This one will do. Bronze Survival.

Survival is all I’m aiming for at the moment.

Bronze is stronger than silver or gold, and I need to be strong.

And anyway, I never got a silver or gold Survival Award.

Monkey did phone to say he’d arrived safely in outermost Wessex, but I haven’t heard from him since.

(It’s Bunce and Snowy’s farm where Monkey is working.)

4) Practise my triangle.

Bimbo suggested I try using a thicker beater, to get a richer tone.

The egg whisk isn’t exactly thicker, but it is wider than my usual beater.

As well as hoping the triangle won’t twirl round, I have to try to hit it with the same number of wires each time.

(If you’re reading this in an email, you may not be able to hear the rich tones, so you could try the website instead: https://vulnerableteddy.com/my-blog/. But I’m not sure it’s worth bothering, because I really haven’t mastered the rich tone thing yet.)

Hmm. A fairly silvery sound, but perhaps not quite as pure as I’d like.

It will need a lot of practice.

5) Find out what the key is for.

I wonder if it would fit the man on the bicycle.

No, he isn’t interested at all.

He wound himself up with some other key, and he’s cycled away out of sight.

I used to enjoy cycling.

6) Housework.

Nobody’s going to notice whether I do it or not, so I’ll cross that off the list.

I don’t often get as far as crossing six things off my list. I think I’ve done very well.

I know what I want to do now.

I’m going to get out my bicycle.

I’d like to ride off into the distance, like that mechanical man.

Seems to be in good order.

It doesn’t have tyres, which saves a lot of bother.

I’ll ring Ruffy and check that he thinks it’s all right for me to go out cycling.

Now I’ll practise a little indoors.

It’s a long time since I’ve cycled, but they say it’s something you never forget, just like riding a bicycle.

The thing is, you have to look it in the eyes, and get straight back on.

I’ll soon get the knack.

Well, there’s no need for you to watch me.

But I assure you, I’ll soon be ready to cycle off over the horizon.

Though perhaps Ruffy is right that I should wear a helmet.

My friends and I have been practising our instruments.

We all think it will cheer Bimbo up to take charge of the Zoom Ensemble again.

I said I’d phone and ask him.

Oh gosh. I thought I’d nearly mastered it.

I see I have a long way to go.

Lucky Bimbo!

It must be good to feel you have a purpose in life.

I suppose at the moment my purpose in life is to find out what my key is for.

I tried it in this train, but it didn’t fit.

I offered it to the ducks. They don’t need it.

I’ll have to keep looking.

I suppose it gives me a reason to get up in the morning.

My friend Monkey is driving down to outermost Wessex today in his Ape van.

Our farmer friends down there are delighted that he’s coming to help with their harvest.

Monkey’s very excited.

He’ll be picking raspberries, strawberries, redcurrants and blackcurrrants, and blueberries.

And after that, there’ll be cherries in their orchard.

Monkey promised to phone when he arrives.

I know the roads aren’t busy at the moment, but I seem to be more worried than usual about things I used not to worry about at all.

We all had a chance to say goodbye to him last night, because we had a Zoom meeting of the Red and Green Teddies.

Now that I have some experience of online meetings, I’m more careful about my background.

People did comment last time, at the Book Club meeting.

I hadn’t realised that everyone would be able to see all my mess.

My cousin Peter looked very smart in the meeting, next to his elegant chest of drawers.

So this time I sat next to my chest of drawers.

It’s not as grand as Peter’s, but it is nice.

It didn’t show up well enough at the meeting last night, so I’ll show you now how good it looked. Better than my heap of clothes last time.

The drawers are all full of rubber bands.

I might empty them out and use them for storing something more useful.

Though then I’d have to find somewhere else for the rubber bands.

Points had a long agenda for the meeting.

We planned to discuss what changes we hope to see after the Coronacrisis is over.

Luckily Points is good at chairing meetings. She’s had a lot of practice.

We notice her prickles rise a little, and we all go quiet.

Of course there were a lot of suggestions.

We want the NHS to be properly funded, with all its workers, and other care workers, paid a decent wage. We want financial help to go only to companies that will change to green practices. We want a proper focus on Black Lives Matter, leading to action, not just words. We want clean safe living spaces, with less pollution and fewer cars. We want the pandemic to be recognised as part of the whole ecological crisis, which needs international cooperation. We want well funded education for all people of all ages.

Most of us also think that there should be a universal basic wage, but Gibbs and some of the others weren’t sure how this would work, so we decided to talk more about that at another meeting.

(That whole list will be in the Minutes, which is just as well because I’ve probably forgotten some of the crucial things we thought of.)

Our influence on all this is quite limited, because we aren’t represented in Parliament.

So as usual, we ended up agreeing to intensify our campaign for

Anyway, Monkey was at the meeting, so we all wished him well, and he was allowed to choose which song we’d sing at the end of the meeting.

Usually we sing something like The Red Flag, or Where Do The Children Play.

I’m very fond of the “You can count on trees” song.

I specially like the line “Let all the little plants and animals have their say, Biodiversity hurray hurray”.

But we all agreed that Monkey should choose, and he chose “We went to the animal fair”.

It’s not specially red or green, but it was good to sing it together.

We changed the ending to make it happier than the original version.

I don’t think Monkey really minds whether it’s sad or happy, he just likes singing “Monkey monkey monkey monkey monkey monkey monkey”.

I should say that I’ll miss him.

But everyone seems so far away at the moment, it won’t really make much difference that Monkey’s going to be all the way down in outermost Wessex.

Of course I do see Ruffy when he drops off my shopping. He’s very kind.

We have a bit of a chat, but he has to keep a long way off, and he’s got a mask on, so it’s hard to see what he’s saying.

Otherwise it’s just Zoom, and Skype, and Microsquash Teams, and phone calls.

I might as well be living on the moon.

But it’s no good moping.

Better get dressed and get something done.

It really is time I found out what this key is for.

I thought it might be for the Russian dancer, but she says she already has a key.

It’s a mystery.

RRRRRINGGG! RRRRRINGGG!

There’s the phone. I expect it’ll be one of those recorded people trying to sell me something.

(He sounds pleased. What sort of things come in the post that are very nice, I wonder.)

Well, fancy that.

I suppose I’m a bit old to learn something new like swinging from trees.

I meant to have an easy day yesterday.

But there are always things that have to get done.

How did I manage before I retired? There’s never time to fit everything in.

I have a major task facing me today.

My bean is getting too big for the little pot that I planted it in.

Madame Cholet and Reindeer have kindly brought round an enormous flower pot.

Also a bag of earth, and a stick for the bean to climb up.

I must put the earth in the pot, and the stick in the earth.

I’ll certainly need my superpower t-shirt today.

Luckily I have a gardening badge I can wear.

But I suppose I should say hello to the cuckoos first.

I’m using music to communicate with them.

Today I’m going to play them Beethoven’s sixth symphony on my triangle.

There’s a cuckoo in the second movement.

In my head, it sounds like this.

(Sorry – if you’re reading in an email you may not be able to hear the beautiful music. Try the website instead: https://vulnerableteddy.com/my-blog/)

Of course if the cuckoos don’t know the piece quite well, they may not recognise the triangle line. But I hope they do.

It’s a long symphony.

Beethoven expects a lot from his triangle players.

It’s difficult to make a note carry on for four whole bars.

I’m worn out now.

I’d better have a cup of tea before I think about re-potting the bean.

First I need to move the earth and the flower pot away from the front door.

It’s going to be hard, without anyone to help, but it’s dogged as does it.

Then I’ll have to get the earth into the flower pot.

I’m not sure how to do that.

I’ll mull over the problem, while I do some tidying.

I haven’t made much progress with sorting my box lately.

But now I think I really have taken a step forward.

I’ve found a box for the thimbles, and a box for the necklaces.

This thimble says “EAT BERMALINE BREAD”. That’s something I haven’t done for a long time.

And now I’ve had an idea about moving the earth.

I see that what I need to do is set up a pulley system.

But what can I use as a bucket to hold the earth?

A tea-cup is too fragile. A box wouldn’t hang straight.

It needs something that I can attach the cable to in several places.

I’ll have a look in the kitchen.

The very thing.

Modern Christmas puddings come in little plastic buckets.

First I’ll have to eat the pudding.

I missed the real Christmas, because I was in the cupboard in December.

So I’ll have a summer Christmas instead.

Lopsy’s the expert on Christmas. I’ll give her a ring and ask her advice on how it works.

Well, this isn’t what I was expecting to be doing, when I got up this morning.

Let’s see if I have the ingredients for a good Christmas.

Yes, I found the tree.

I’ve put it under the cuckoo clock, because the cuckoos may have missed Christmas too, if they were busy migrating.

I’ve hung paper chains on the cuckoo clock’s chains.

There’s a present under the tree.

I don’t know what it is.

I shut my eyes, and pulled something out of my box, and wrapped it up as a surprise.

Now for the pudding.

Lopsy’s right. The mouthwash does have alcohol in it.

It will add a cool fresh peppermint flavour to the pudding.

No, the mouthwash seems to be too wet. It won’t burn at all.

What about hand gel? That’s definitely got alcohol in it.

I hope it will make a beautiful blue flame, like brandy does.

Oh. It did burn very well, but with an invisible flame.

When I held my paw over it to check whether it was burning, it burned my paw.

But the pudding is delicious.

Now we’d better open the present. I wonder what it will be?

I hope it’s something that’s easy to share.

The cuckoos don’t seem very interested, but the stork has been waiting to find out what’s inside.

Well, that’s lucky.

It felt quite a boring shape, but the contents are perfect.

A bar of chocolate.

Twelve little rectangles, three for each of us.

The stork flew up with six pieces for the cuckoos, and now he’s taken his share up to his hook.

It was good chocolate.

I think I can now face the difficult task.

The Christmas pudding bucket is just right.

This is working very well indeed.

The bean will soon be in its new home.

And I hope that I’ll soon be in bed.

It’s been a long hard day.

Though of course quite merry.

My adventurous ride down the stairs took a lot out of me.

I’m not planning anything special today.

I’ll leave worrying about communication for another time.

Everything can wait. I’m going to relax.

But I’d better just check the bean.

I’ve been remembering to water it every day.

Oh my goodness. It keeps on growing.

I’ve formed a hypothesis about the leaves.

There are two big leaves at the bottom, and three middle-sized leaves half way up. (That’s not a good picture, but I assure you there are exactly three leaves.)

So I’m predicting that when the little leaves at the top open out, there’ll be four of them.

But I’m exercising rigorous scepticism, and shan’t be at all disconcerted if instead of four leaves I find it’s grown a dozen bananas.

That would be quite convenient actually.

I’ll ask Madame Cholet and Reindeer how tall it’s going to get.

I’m glad I have friends who know all about growing things.

I’m not sure how I’ll manage a big pot.

Or a big beanstalk, for that matter.

But sufficient unto the day is the difficultness thereof.

It’s Lopsy’s turn for phoning Bimbo today.

I’ll give her a ring and ask how Bimbo’s getting on.

It’s taking him a very long time to get over the Virus.

(Sorry, if you’re reading this in an email, you may not be able to hear the uplifting music. Try the website instead: https://vulnerableteddy.com/)

Lopsy is so energetic. Running AND laundry!

I probably should wash some of my clothes.

I haven’t washed anything since I came out of the cupboard.

It didn’t seem to matter much, seeing as I’m not meeting anyone.

But perhaps that’s a bit disgusting.

It does look like a good drying day, even indoors.

But I’ve just remembered that Shamus plays the fiddle.

I’d better phone him before I do anything else.

I’ll ask if he’d like to join the Zoom Ensemble.

Oh, and that reminds me that Didcot called to say that he’s found another section of his Flootatoota.

But he still hasn’t got the crucial piece that will let him actually play it.

Then I realised I never did phone Monkey, to see if he wanted to go and help Bunce and Snowy with their Soft Fruit harvest.

He’s not had any work since his fruit kebab van business went bust.

Now for the laundry.

I think I’ve got everything I need.

This sun’s so bright I can hardly see what I’m doing.

Nice cool water.

I wonder when these clothes were last washed. Lots of dirt is certainly coming out of them.

But that’s enough of that.

I’ll hang them up to dry.

Lopsy was quite right. They’ll be dry in a trice.

Now I think I really can sit back and take it easy.

I’ll get some clothes on.

It’s lucky that jeans don’t ever need washing, so they’re still dry.

I’ll find a nice relaxing badge.

I’m going to read some of my lighthouse books, ready for the next Book Club.

I’m half way through several of them.

I like books that are exciting without the characters being horrible to each other.

There are terrible natural disasters in “The Red Rocks of Eddystone”.

It’s interesting to read how the ingenious and heroic builders pitted their wits and strength against the forces of nature.

The excitement in “We Didn’t Mean to Go to Sea” comes from natural hazards and human error.

The book certainly shows the usefulness of lighthouses.

I haven’t got very far yet with the next book.

It’s quite slow.

I’m told the characters take ten years to get to the lighthouse.

That should be a nice peaceful read.

communication, adventure

It’s been raining.

I’m tired of being indoors all the time.

But I’ll get on with my indoor things.

The bean doesn’t seem to mind being indoors.

It’s growing faster than me.

I’ll phone Ruffy. Today is his day for checking on poor Bimbo.

Ruffy’s very kind.

But I want to wander around and see what’s on the shelves.

I don’t have any ideas when I sit at home trying to make a shopping list.

And I want to pick the best carrrot, and the best bread roll.

Oh well, all things come to those who wait. Most things. Many things.

I’d better finish off yesterday’s task.

I intend to learn a new language, and I have to choose which one.

I did want to be able to talk to the cuckoos.

I didn’t get very far with that.

But I shall try to be more friendly with them than before.

Today I’m going to play a piece of cuckoo music on my triangle.

It’s by Nina Batschinskaja.

Of course I can only play the triangle line.

(If you’re reading this in an email, you may not be able to hear the lovely music – try the website instead: https://vulnerableteddy.com/)

We’re all practising our instruments in secret.

It’s going to be a surprise for Bimbo.

Before he got ill, he was starting to plan a Zoom Ensemble.

By the time he’s better, we’ll all be perfect at our parts.

Ellie is organising the children at the nursery where she works.

She hopes to get them more coordinated before the Ensemble is all put together.

And on the big day, her colleague will take the babies into a different room so that they don’t squeak in the quiet parts.

Ellies says they’re all enjoying it very much.

But I wonder if it’s right to keep it all a secret.

Perhaps we should tell Bimbo about it, because this is the exciting part of the Ensemble, when everyone is getting ready.

Ruffy says Bimbo’s bored, and I think it’s a shame he’s missing the fun of telling us what to do.

I’ll consult the others.

But to get back to the question of a new language.

Rufffy says that cuckoos are migratory birds.

I’d forgotten about the stork.

That’s rather rude of me.

Yes, there he is.

I think he’s more mobile than the cuckoos.

I’ll get the globe.

He can show me which part of the world he comes from.

We’re communicating!

The stork told me very clearly that he comes from Mali.

I’ll get my tablet.

I’ll show him all the languages I could learn on the App.

There isn’t one called Malian, but perhaps Mali is a country like Switzerland, with lots of different languages.

He can show me which one I should learn to talk to him.

No luck.

I wish I’d kept the rest of the scones.

I was so depressed at failing to communicate with the cuckoos, that I ate up all the leftovers myself.

Never mind, I’ll prepare him an attractive platter of tasty and nourishing foods.

He definitely liked that. He ate heartily.

And now he’s gone back up to his hook.

Communication is hard work.

I have an idea for some indoor excitement.

I’ve been sensible ever since I came out of the cupboard in April.

Life has been dull. Humdrum.

I know it’s not just me. It’s quite as bad for many people.

And some are even more restricted than me.

My friend in the Forest of Dean is in total lockdown in a sterile cubicle, because of being at specially serious risk.

He’s keeping his spirits up. He says he’s in Clockdown.

My young friends and neighbours have been doing their very best to keep me busy and amused.

But today I feel a need for excitement.

I can’t go out to a theme park, so I shall set up an exciting ride right here.

I’ve got out the slinky.

It is a long way down. There’s a lot of steps.

But nothing ventured, nothing gained.

This certainly is exciting.

Perhaps not very sensible for a vulnerable elderly bear with underlying conditions.

But a not-to-be-forgotten experience.

I’ll take some arnica now, and have a little lie down.

The Book Club wasn’t so bad.

We used a clever App.

I could see all the other people in little windows on the screen.

At first Ellie was in the main window, and then when someone else spoke, they took centre stage.

Including me, when I introduced my book.

The only awkward thing was that Ellie had reminded me that I’d be on camera, so I’d put on a shirt and tie.

But I hadn’t realised that my surroundings would also be visible.

Everyone else had bookshelves or smart furniture or lovely gardens behind them.

I’m sorry to say that I had got comfortable on a pile of sheets and clothes and things.

I hope everyone was so interested in what I was saying about “The Bike Lesson” that they won’t have noticed the background.

All the books sounded interesting.

I decided to do a lot more reading from now on.

The topic for the next meeting is lighthouses.

It was Gibbs’s idea.

Ellie said that “Tim to the Lighthouse” shows a narrow, stereotyped, image of the girl character.

Gibbs pointed out that it shows quite a poor image of humans altogether, trying to wreck each other’s boats, and sorting out problems by fighting, and he said can’t we just enjoy the good points of the book, while bearing its imperfections in mind.

I have a book about lighthouses, which I’ve never read because it’s so big.

I don’t think there’s any fighting in it, but there may be some disasters.

I’ll get it out and make a start on it.

But not today.

Today I’ve decided that I won’t try to get a whole long list of things done.

I’ll just choose one task, and by the end of the day I shall have done it.

Of course there are some little things that have to be done every day.

I must check on the bean.

That looks like progress! It seems to have recovered from its loop.

I’ll do my yoga, to get limbered up for the task ahead, and I’m not going to give up eating.

Apart from that, it’s just the one thing.

Teddy made me realise that I need to have more Activities.

He’s practising his spoonophone, and making bread, and doing matchstick modelling, and learning French on an App.

(You can hear his spoonophone on the Zoom Ensemble page.

But I’m afraid you can’t try the bread, and he says he hasn’t got very far with the matchsticks yet. It’s difficult because no one uses matches much these days.)

He said I have to give my brain some exercise.

So today is my day for deciding.

I’ll put on my superpower t-shirt. And a foreign-language badge.

First I’ll get the App that Teddy told me about.

I’ve decided to learn Swiss, so that I can talk to the cuckoos in the cuckoo clock.

My great grandfather brought them and the clock over from Switzerland in the fifties.

We’ve often had a chat when I wind the clock in the spring, but not with actual words.

They still don’t speak any English. And I don’t speak any Swiss.

Perhaps I haven’t been making enough of an effort to get to know them.

But I can’t find Swiss in the list of languages on the App.

I’ll ring Teddy.

Oh. Lopsy’s answered the phone.

I’d forgotten that it was Lopsy’s turn to phone Bimbo.

We agreed to take turns, so that he wouldn’t have to keep answering the phone.

I called out to the cuckoos, in French, and German, and Italian, and Romansh.

But they didn’t answer.

So perhaps they don’t speak any of those languages.

What can I do to show them I’m glad that they’re here?

I’ll make them something nice to eat.

It needs to be either from their culture, or typically British.

I don’t have any Swiss cheese.

I’ll make scones.

But scones need Cornish Clotted Cream. I haven’t got any of that.

And the cuckoos may be vegan anyway.

I’ll use mashed potatoes instead. That’s very British.

It will be just as good as cream.

Luckily I do have potatoes.

Better be careful with this sharp scraper.

Lots of marge, plenty of salt.

This is going to be good.

Now for the scones themselves.

A good squidgey dough. It looks like more mashed potatoes, but it’s not.

While the scones are cooking, I’ll look for the jam.

Bunce and Snowy made some strawberry jam last summer.

That will be perfect.

I never know which goes on first, the cream or the jam.

I’ll try both ways.

And should they be open, or sandwiched together?

The small cuckoo has quite a tiny beak, so I’ll leave them in halves.

Now to get cleaned up, and take the scones up to the cuckoos.

I’ve found a handy way to carry the plate,

but I don’t think I can climb up the chains with it.

Better build a tower.

I’ve never tried to carry anything up here before.

I hope they like the scones.

Well, they liked them slightly.

I think they understood that I was trying to be friendly.

But I’ve thought of another way to communicate with them.

I have a cuckoo whistle.

Today I’ll practise on that, instead of on the triangle.

I’m aiming for a gentle woody tone.

Now we can have a conversation.

But that doesn’t settle the question of what language I’m going to learn.

So unfortunately I haven’t quite achieved even one thing today.

Today I’m going to get everything done.

All those things that I keep meaning to do.

Such as…

I’ve been forgetting about my bean!

I’d better go and check on it.

I hope it hasn’t died of neglect.

No, something is happening.

A sort of loop is growing.

I hope it hasn’t gone wrong.

I’ll get dressed, and then I’ll get it some water.

Reindeer said I must keep watering it.

Now I must ring Bimbo and see how he’s getting on.

I hope they didn’t send him home from hospital too soon.

I’ll ring the others to let them know he’s doing all right.

I had lots of mail.

I’ve decided to put all my postcards on the fridge.

I attach them with little cubic magnets.

That leafy picture was from Bunce and Snowy a week or so ago.

Oh, that reminds me of another phone call I have to make.

I heard that Monkey’s new Fruit Kebab Van business packed up when the lockdown started.

I thought he might like to go down to Outermost Wessex to help Bunce and Snowy with picking their soft fruit. I’ll ring him in a minute.

My cousin Peter sent the postcard with the penguins on it. It’s nice, isn’t it?

Walrus sent me a postcard from Guernsey.

I’m puzzled. I didn’t know he’d gone to Guernsey.

He sent a picture of him and Bruno having a tea party.

But are they at home, or are they in Guernsey?

I thought no one was allowed to travel at the moment?

Walrus seems a very nice chap. I hope I’ll get to know him and Bruno better when the virus is over.

Catherine sent me an exciting picture of a shark diving into a house.

She wrote a lot on the back, in quite small writing, so I’ll tell you what it says.

The best thing is that Bimbo is sure to be fine, because he’s a bugler.

She says that brass players always have strong lungs.

That makes sense.

I expect triangle players have strong arms. But that won’t help with the virus.

Here’s a picture of Bimbo before he was ill.

He can play every kind of bugle call.

I hope he’ll be better soon.

Catherine has sent me some orange jelly for my jelly pocket. That’s very kind!

And she sent some suggestions for Ellie’s Book Club.

I think the next Book Club meeting is quite soon.

And the Red and Green Teddies are having their meeting any day now.

Oh oh oh, the Book Club is tonight.

I’d better put on my book badge.

I told Ellie I’d nearly made a page for all the books about bears.

So I’d better do that.

Just as well I’ve already chosen my book.

I don’t know what happens at a Book Club.

I suppose I tell them why I like the book that I’ve chosen.

And then I expect we have to listen to everyone else.

I’d better find the App that we need for the Book Club meeting.

My tablet will be chockablock with Apps.

I must get some tidying done.

Of course it was right not to throw out all these perfectly good things.

But now there’s more to tidy up than ever.

Oh dear, I’m not sure that that really was tidying. I’m getting tired.

But I’d better find what that key is for, once and for all.

Well, it’s not for this, anyway.

I’ve signed up some more people for the Zoom Ensemble.

My cousins from the deep South are playing very exotic instruments.

Lopsy has got in touch with some of the other choristers from the choir she used to sing in long ago.

I’ve put all the recordings on the Zoom Ensemble page. So I have done some tidying up.

Didcot can’t start practising till he’s found all the parts of his flootatoota.

He’s got most of them, but not the one that’s crucial for making a noise.

I’d better practise my triangle now.

I must improve my pure silvery tone.

I’m quite pleased with the silveriness . But I’m too tired to work on the purity right now.

Surely that’s enough for one day?