celebrations and prisons

january 1st 2022

I had a little Christmas festivity for the Stork and the cuckoos.

I cooked a proper Christmas dinner, with both the trimmings.

The stork came to watch me prepare the Brussels sprouts.

He seemed to think I wasn’t doing it correctly, and he drew a picture to show what he meant.

I thought at first that he wanted me to cook hot cross buns instead of sprouts.

I tried to explain that they belong to a different seasonal festivity.

But it turned out that he wanted me to cut a cross in the stalks.

I’ve always thought that that was rather superstitious. But if he was worried about it, I was happy to comply.

The cuckoos are shy about coming down from their clock, so I took the Brussels sprouts and the mince pies up to them.

The Stork and I joined them up there.

The bigger cuckoo reminded me that I must remove the smaller cuckoo’s paper hat promptly after the meal.

There have been problems in the past when such things have been used for nest-building, which has caused problems for the clockwork.

It’s not as though cuckoos really need nests.

I found some midwinter songs on the wireless, and we joined in.

It was a nice occasion, but after it was all over I felt a little down.

There were the leftovers to put away, and the hat-making materials to tidy up.

I think I’d eaten too much as well.

Then I remembered the paper chains.

Such a pity that I’d forgotten to put them up. It would have been much jollier.

But I didn’t allow myself to mope.

I tidied up, and took off my paper hat, and went out for a ride on my bicycle.

Jenny’s stabilisers are just what I needed.

I must get my cycling legs back, because I may have to make a long journey soon.

Once I know where Ruffy and Points are being held, I’ll be setting off to get them out.

I’ve nearly finished telephoning all the prisons in England, but so far none of them is the one where they’re being held.

I put in a music request for them, on the Prison Radio.

I asked for “O Christmas Tree”. They can think of it as the Red Flag. They’ll like that.

I wonder if they could be in Wales, or Scotland, or Northern Ireland.

If they’ve been sent to Australia, the telephone calls will be expensive.

But of course I don’t mind that. I’d give anything to get them home.

It’s not possible to bicycle all the way to Botany Bay.

If they are in Australia, I may have to call on the Invisible Friend.

It was the Invisible Friend who kindly came to pick me up from the seaside last year.

I didn’t know that the Second Lockdown was about to start, but with her school bus she got us home (I had Um and the Baby with me) in the nick of time.

The Invisible Friend has a great many useful vehicles. I’m sure she’d be able to get to Australia to rescue Points and Ruffy.

But let’s hope they’re in an English prison, one of the ones starting with W, X, Y, or Z.

I’ll do some more telephoning now.

I fear I’ve become hardened. I hardly blush at all now when I tell the Prison Officer at the other end that I’m calling from Scotland Yard, or from the Royal Courts of Justice.

Here’s the telephone directory. Now, where have I put my telephone?

I can hear it ringing.

Ah, here it is. Under a cushion.

It’s Bimbo, asking if I’d like to watch a film with him.

 

So we all found the film on our devices, and when we were ready to press PLAY, Elly counted us down to zero.

I can’t remember the name of the film, but it was very good.

There were some distressing parts, but on the whole I found it very encouraging.

The hero is sent to prison by mistake, just like Ruffy and Points.

The prison food seems to be excellent. I do hope theirs is too.

Altogether prison life is portrayed as quite pleasant.

Though of course no one would really want to be locked up, however nice the prison was.

I hope Ruffy and Points are in a prison like that.

When the film finished, everyone wished me a Happy New Year.

Oh my goodness. I’m not ready for another celebration.

I can hear the cuckoos getting excited.

But I think I’ll just watch the fireworks quietly on my own.

Very nice.

I wonder what the rest of the year will be like.      

sorting everything out

13th january 2022

It’s a new year and it’s time I got my life organised.

As a matter of fact, the year started a week or two ago, but I’m only just ready to face it.

First priority: ursus sanus in corpore sano, as they say. Roughly speaking, “a healthy bear in woolly clothes”.

So, aiming at healthiness, I’ve got back to my yoga exercises.

I’m out of practice. I’m sure I used to be able to do that one.

I’d better start again with the easier positions.

I’m now going for a daily bicycle ride, come rain or shine.

I’m learning at least one new Welsh word every day.

Gair heddiw yw “buwch goch gota”.

I decided that if I never tidy my triangle away, I’m more likely to practise it.

I haven’t made any other decisions about tidying. I might start doing that in February.

You can’t do everything at once, can you?

Of course I’m determined to find Ruffy and Points. That’s my main project at the moment.

First to find which prison they’re in, then to go there, and finally to get them out.

I’ve been telephoning and telephoning.

I’ve telephoned all the prisons and young offenders’ institutions in England and Wales, from A to Z. A to Y, actually. There weren’t any beginning with Z.

None of them have Ruffy and Points in their cells.

Madame Cholet thinks I’m wrong to lie to the Prison Officers on the telephone.

I suppose she’s right. But sometimes you have to weigh one wrong thing against another.

It’s definitely always wrong to lie to yourself. And it’s generally better not to lie to other people.

But it’s very wrong that Ruffy and Points have been incarcerated without a trial.

They must be rescued, and when I started searching for them, telling the truth didn’t get me anywhere.

The Police Officers and Prison Officers wouldn’t take me seriously. They just laughed at me when I asked questions.

I’m afraid furry people often have this experience when dealing with the Authorities.

So I’ve been forced to tell Well-Intentioned Untruths.

(Points told me not to say “white lie”. She says it suggests that white is better than black.)

When I speak in my most un-furry voice, and say that I’m from Scotland Yard, the Law Enforcement Officers are happy to tell me what I need to know.

I hope Madame Cholet doesn’t disapprove of me too much.

I’d better try the Scottish and northern Irish prisons next.

And after that, Australia.

But not today.

RING RING   RING RING

I wonder whether fairy prisons are in the telephone directory?

And who else may the Government have licensed to run our correctional institutions?

I just hope they’re well regulated.

sewing and cooking and looking into the future

30th January 2022

The cloth masks that I’ve been making aren’t needed any more.

Bimbo tells me that they’re even less effective against Omicron than against the previous variants.

Though I think part of his problem is that he hasn’t found the right mask to accommodate his trunk.

The tusks don’t help either.

Before putting my sewing machine away, I decided to make an apron for Teddy to wear when he’s cooking.

I’m sure he’s not as messy as I am, but I thought he’d like the pockets for his utensils.

On my way back from dropping it off at his house, I met little Strawberry, with an onion in her shopping trolley.

She was bringing it to me, as a present. What a very kind little bear.

I’ve been eating rather dull food lately.

Of course I do have a treat or two in the cupboard.

But after the first two spoonfuls, the charm of condensed milk wears off a little.

Ruffy used to get my shopping for me whenever he was doing an online order, and of course he can’t do that from prison.

I go into shops as little as possible, since I am vulnerable, and rather worried about the Omicron variant.

So I’ve mainly been living out of the store-cupboard.

Lentil soup is quite dull if it’s not enhanced with anything else.

An onion will be just the thing to liven it up.

I’ve been doing some baking lately as well.

I’ve made a cake to take to the Fairy Prison that Kimbleton Tardigrade found.

I hope that the fairies can be persuaded to release Points, if that is where she’s locked up.

Unfortunately, Kimbleton thinks that although Ruffy is small by normal prison standards, he wouldn’t fit into the Fairy Prison. So he must be somewhere else.

Kimbleton had intended to go back to the prison on visiting day, to check whether Points definitely was there.

But they couldn’t do that after all, because they’d discovered another clue in the hunt for Walrus and Bruno, and had to hurry on in pursuit.

They were in a rush when they telephoned.

So I never heard what the clue was that had turned up.

In the course of my research, I’ve found that there are not many prisons in this country specifically catering for very small people.

So I think there’s a good chance that the Fairy Prison is indeed where Points will have been sent.

I suppose I’ll have to bicycle all the way to the seaside again, and speak to the Fairy Prison Officers myself.

Somehow I don’t feel as enthusiastic about a long journey as I did last time. It’s cold outside, and my legs are creaky.

Though at least I fall off my bicycle much less since Jenny fixed stabilisers on it.

Ted and Lopsy telephoned just as I was about to start chopping and frying little Strawberry’s onion.

I didn’t know that ordinary people could make fortune cookies.

I hope mine will say that I’ll succeed in bringing Points and Ruffy home, and that Kimbleton will find Walrus and Bruno safe and sound, and that I’ll get good enough on my triangle to satisfy Bimbo, and that the spring will come.

I suppose it’s too much to hope that The Virus will go away.

RING RING RING RING

There’s the telephone again.

     

I’d forgotten that a triangle can’t be played just anywhere, at least not by someone with short arms.

I need to have it suspended from somewhere above me.

I had to climb up to tie the string to a tree.

It was very cold, but we all had warm clothes.

And Lopsy had kindly brought hot water bottles for us all to sit on, safely spaced out.

It certainly was very nice to be playing music together.

We’ve promised to do it more often.

And we think that Pirate Jenny is very nearly ready to play to Bimbo.

Brrrr. There’s no colder instrument than a triangle.

It’s good to be back indoors again.

I’m not looking forward to camping, on my journey to the Fairy Prison.

I’m getting old and lazy. But I do want to find Points.

And it will be an adventure, even if it is cold.