A New Face in Little Chestnut: Mrs Hazelwood Part 1

Mrs Hazelwood walked into the village, heaving her heavy suitcase. The bus had dropped her off just outside the village, but the walk felt very long and tiring.

When she reached the village, the villagers recognised her immediately as a new face, and all rushed to be the first to greet her!

The person nearest to poor Mrs Hazelwood was kind old Mrs Bramble, the hedgehog.

'Welcome to Little Chestnut, I'm Eleanor Bramble!' Mrs Bramble kindly welcomed her.

'My name is Karen Hazelwood.' Replied Mrs Hazelwood, as shy as a mouse.

'What a lovely name, Mrs Hazelwood! Are you here in the village on a trip or have you moved here?' Mrs Bramble asked inquisitively.

'I've just moved here, it seemed such a lovely place and I really wanted a change.' Explained Mrs Hazelwood.

'Excellent! I'm sure we'll be good friends.' Mrs Bramble beamed, and Mrs Hazelwood smiled back.

'What a lovely welcome, thank you, Mrs Bramble. I'm a wash lady so I'm looking for work?' Inquired Mrs Hazelwood.

'There is a vacancy at the hospital, what a coincidence! It's just up this main path, second on the left - they'll be happy to have some work and the pay is reasonable.' Smiled Mrs Bramble, only happy to help.

'Thank you so much, Mrs Bramble! I'll head there right now,' Mrs Hazelwood said, happily, before setting off down the road as people kindly greeted her and introduced themselves.

Mrs Hazelwood soon reached a pretty little cottage; although slightly rundown it looked very quaint. Politely, she knocked on the door.

Seconds later, a kind looking nurse arrived at the door.

'Hello! How can I help you?' The nurse said, inviting her in.

'I was directed to come here by Mrs Bramble - I'm new to the village and I'd like to apply for the job vacancy.' She requested.

'Which one?' Laughed the nurse. 'We are rather short staffed in all areas!'

'Well I am a wash lady, but I can cook and clean just as well, if that helps?' Wondered Mrs Hazelwood, aloud.

'Brilliant! You sound like the perfect candidate!' Said the Doctor, who appeared to be writing out some prescriptions for patients.

'R-really?!' Mrs Hazelwood said, sounding very surprised indeed.

'Yes, you're exactly what we're looking for. You're hired!' The doctor said, smiling.

'How wonderful! When do I start?' Mrs Hazelwood beamed.

'Whenever you can, preferably as soon as possible,' The nurse said.

'I can start right now, actually,' The little mouse said, happily.

'Great! I'll talk you through everything!' The nurse said.

Mrs Hazelwood was given a very short tour of the hospital (which was tiny), and Nurse Nightingale explained what she had to do.

Mrs Hazelwood quickly discovered all the villagers were very kind and awfully excited about meeting her - newcomers in such a remote village were rare.
'I'd better get on with my work,' Mrs Hazelwood said, scurrying to the washing tub.
The washing tub was in the upstairs of the hospital. There was a lovely view from the balcony, which Mrs Hazelwood enjoyed as she talked to old Mrs Cottontail who'd been bound to her bed since she'd taken a frightful tumble. Mrs Cottontail had been given the room upstairs so she could enjoy the beautiful view as staying in bed gets very boring! Luckily Mrs Cottontail didn't mind having the washing tub in her room as she was rather deaf anyway.

Mrs Hazelwood hung some of the washing inside.

Then she went outside and pegged lots of washing to the line.

Her next job was the sweep the floors - dust can make chest infections much worse!

Finally, she began work on a soup for the patient's dinner. To Mrs Hazelwood's slight inconvenience, the 'kitchen' was located in the ward, and the only facility was a stove - not even running water!

Nurse Nightingale offered to serve the soup, so Mrs Hazelwood could go and get the washing in from the line.

'My gosh, what a busy day - I do hope every day isn't quite as busy!' She thought to herself, as she un-pegged a towel and put it in the basket.
Finally, her first day was over!

To be continued (probably)...

You may have noticed something that Mrs Hazelwood seems to have forgotten..Where is Mrs Hazelwood going to be living?! Post your ideas in the comment box below!

Do you like having new purchases introduced like this? I think it's really fun :-) 

Just a reminder...

If you'd like to use any images or content from my blog, could you please email for my permission first! I do have a copyright notice at the bottom of my blog - please could you respect and give credit for my work. Taking photos without my permission and using them on your own website/blog can be classed as copyright (stealing).
You can find my email address on the 'about me' page.
Thanks!
(P.S. Sorry for the boring post but I needed to do this)

Membership Renewal Gift

Just a short post today guys, because I am ill (yet again), which totally sucks.

Luckily, my renewal gift for my Sylvanian Families Club Membership came through in the post today to cheer me up :-)

It's Peppermint Chocolate (older sister) with her dresser box!

Peppermint is a little shy of the camera, but really she loves being dressed up!

I really wanted to buy this anyway, but then they offered it as a renewal gift!

Her dresser box is cute but it's a shame it doesn't come with any accessories or dresses. Instead I filled it with some of the things from my dress shop for display purposes :-)

Peppermint's dress really needs ironing!

Her dress is just so cute - I love love love it!

As with all JP figures, they are so much softer than UK figures, and much higher quality (although they collect dust like crazy!). The wallpaper is so cute!

I'm really pleased with it and I think it's the best renewal gift available at the moment. It is also very good value at just £9.99. My parents paid for it as a treat because I did really well in my maths test ;-)

Peppermint may have some new relatives soon, and there will be a few new arrivals in Little Chestnut very, very soon which I will introduce as soon as they arrive :-) I have decided to introduce any new products or figures I get as a story on here from now on.

Other news:

I finished decorating the Dress Shop! I just need to set it all up and take photos and they'll be a post up on that.

The last Sylvanian Village story is almost finished, just a few more photos to be taken :-)

Also I have begun work on another big, multi-chapter story (like the Winter story), but it still needs a lot of planning/writing/editing before I can start taking the photos.

Sylvanian Village: The Shopping Trip

One day, Mrs Moss went shopping in the village of Little Chestnut.
The centre of the village, where the various shops and stalls were located was just a short walk from Mrs Moss's front door, so she tucked little baby Bonnie in the pram and set off.

First she went to the bakery and picked up some freshly baked goods from Mrs Brighteyes.
'Good morning Mrs Moss, how may I help you?' Mrs Brighteyes said, attentively.
'I'll have two iced buns, a loaf of your best bread and one of those little cakes for my dearest Bonnie, please' Mrs Moss said.

'Of course!' Mrs Brighteyes packed everything neatly into a brown paper bag, beaming at little Bonnie as she gurgled back. 'That will be five pounds and twenty pence please, Mrs Moss.'
Mrs Moss counted out her money, although she was careful not to flash the large amount of cash in her pretty little purse. After all, everyone knew that the Moss family were the richest in the village - they owned the Mansion! But despite all their riches, they were delightfully lovely and often make sizeable donations to local causes.
'Thank you very much,' Mrs Brighteyes smiled. 'Have a nice day shopping!'
'And you! Thank you,' And with that, Mr Brighteyes opened the door for Mrs Moss, as she pushed her pram out.

Mrs Moss had hoped to purchase a new frock at the dress shop, however she was disappointed to see that it was currently under renovations.
Instead, she headed to the shoe stall outside Orchard Cottage.
'Mrs Moss! And her beautiful daughter Bonnie,' Mr Bramble the hedgehog greeted her. 'How can I assist you on this fine sunny day?'
'I would like to purchase a new pair of shoes please,' Requested Mrs Moss.
'What sort of occasion would you be wearing them too, Mrs Moss?' Mr Bramble enquired.
'I want a comfortable summer shoe I can wear everyday that's cool and airy, please,' Mrs Moss described, carefully. Mr Bramble briefly browsed his large array of shoes before picking out a pair of lovely white sandals.

'How about these, Mrs Moss?' Mr Bramble switched into 'sales' mode. 'These sandals soles are literally like heaven, my wife tells me. Made of high quality materials from organic sources, they protect your feet from the often harmful sun, whilst being the most ventilated shoe currently on the market!'
Mrs Moss inspected the shoes interestedly.
'Mrs Moss, not only do these shoes ventilate your feet to prevent unsightly sweating, they also have some ground-breaking technology in the soles! Feel that, Mrs Moss? Fully cushioned sole! And if I'm correct, I recall these are your exact size!' Poor Mr Bramble was desperate for a sale.
'They are indeed my size Mr Bramble, can I try them on please?' Mr Bramble immediately obliged, helping her put on the shoes.

'My, my, Mrs Moss don't you have such lovely feet! If I may say so, the sandals really do make the - complexion? - of your feet really stand out, and the colour is a - um - perfect contrast to your skin colour,' Mr Bramble stumbled as he tried to compliment poor Mrs Moss' feet.
'They'll do perfectly thank you, Mr Bramble,' Mrs Moss smiled, taking them off and handing them to Mr Bramble. 'How much are they?' Little did Mrs Moss know, Mr Bramble seemed to be hastily peeling off the price label (which read £20).

'Um - well they were sixty pounds, but as a special offer to my favourite loyal customer, they are just forty pounds,' Mr Bramble said, in a rather rushed voice. Mrs Moss frowned. She liked to have nice things but she thought unnecessary luxuries were silly. 'Honestly Mrs Moss, my motto is 'a premium price for a premium product'. I promise that these shoes are a steal at forty pounds - the cheapest price you'll find in the village!'
Mrs Moss knew it was the only price she'd find in the village because there was only one shoe shop.
'Alright, alright, I'll buy them,' She handed him the money and left.

As she was leaving, she heard Mr Bramble saying to another customer: 'I promise you, this stall has the cheapest shoes around! We don't bother with organic materials or special technology - we just sell basic shoes!'
Mrs Moss sighed, now knowing full well she'd been cheated of her money.
'Hello Mr Thistlethorn, can I have two bottles of milk please,' Mrs Moss sighed.

'Here you are, Mrs Moss,' He handed her the bottles. 'One pound and fifty pence please,'
As Mrs Moss was counting out her coins, Mr Thistlethorn (a family friend), made conversation.
'You look a little glum today, Mrs Moss?' Mr Thistlethorn asked, thoughtfully.
'I've just been sold a pair of shoes by Mr Bramble, and I am now beginning to question the price I paid for them,' Mr Thistlethorn nodded knowingly.
'His prices do seem to vary on the customer, I will admit. Don't worry, I find his shoes are usually of good quality, if rather on the expensive side,' Explained Mr Thistlethorn. 'I suppose he's just trying to make a living - he's got four children you know,'
'Yes, well, good day, Mr Thistlethorn,' Mrs Moss nodded and left.
'Thank you!' Mr Thistlethorn called out behind her. Finally, she headed to Highfields Farm, where the Hunter-Smyth Chocolate Labradors always have their stall set up.
'I'd like to buy some rose seeds please, Camilla,' Mrs Moss said to her good friend.
'Excellent choice Mrs Moss, that's fifty pence please,' Mrs Hunter-Smyth smiled. 'Your baby looks as beautiful as ever Mrs Moss!'

'Thank you ever so much, she's ever such a good girl sharing her pram with all my shopping!' The two women laughed.
'Goodbye!' They chorused. It took minutes for Mrs Moss to arrive back home.
Gosh, what a busy morning - it's good to be home, she thought, as she unpacked her shopping.

I hope you liked the story, even though I'm afraid it's a little heavy on the words ;)
I think Mr Bramble might have been a little bit of a crook, but I love him really, I do!
I've got several posts planned for the next couple of weeks, the final 'Sylvanian Village' story, and some other posts that I hope you'll find interesting. :)

Off to the Seaside!

Yesterday I went to see my grandparents at the seaside. I took some Sylvanians with me to get some photos.
After the long car journey, we all had lunch in my Grandparents' beautiful garden.
Some pretty petals had fallen off a bush, and the girls had lots of fun picking them up to make perfume.

 Helen Fielding was wearing her straw hat to keep her head cool.

Maria Buckley was collecting the petals in her little bag.

'This smells delicious!' Said Milly Dappledawn, holding up a big petal.

Next, we all went to the beach.
On the walk down, they played 'King of the Castle!'.

Then they played in the bushes and looked at the miniature flowers.

They even found a cave! Only Maria was brave enough to go inside though.

When they reached the beach, they collected lots of shells.
It was very windy and Helen Fielding had a lot of trouble standing up. Her hat protected her fur from the wind.

In this one my dad is in the background throwing a stick for our dogs, haha :)

Milly Dappledawn and Maria Buckley looked out to the sea

We had a lovely day at the sea! It was really fun to take photos of Sylvanians out and about - what do you think? Do you prefer posts like these or stories? Tell me in the comments below!
I know that it is actually Tilly Dappledawn, but I have named this figure Milly because I have two Tilly figures :)

One Year Anniversary!

Wow, I can't believe it! It's been a year (and a couple of weeks, sorry I'm a bit late with this post) since I started this blog. Looking back at my collection, I have brought rather a lot of Sylvanian Families in the last year - more so than ever before. I have plans to collect a lot less, but I'll talk about that in another blog post soon.

Logged onto Blogger and I was amazed!

I hit 10,000 pageviews a couple of days ago, which I am absolutely thrilled about! When I started this blog, I was mainly writing things for my own enjoyment and only expected a few members from the Sylvanian Collector's forum to have a quick look, and now, I get over a hundred views a day! I honestly never imagined I'd get a thousand views!

I'm so grateful to everyone who reads my blog, looks at my pictures, follows me, and leaves comments - you guys really do make my day, everyday :)

Also, thanks to my family who put up with my constant chatter about Sylvanians, and allow me to practically turn my room into a toy store!

Last month I also celebrated my 9th year of collecting Sylvanian Families! Everyone I knew always thought I'd grow out of them - but I never did ;)

I didn't really know what to do (I may do a giveaway or competition next year), so here's a few cute photos:

Skimble Macavity, Ray Furbanks & George Golightly - these little guys are literally as cute as Sylvanian Families get! They sleep on my bedside shelf every night ;) (My precious little babies always cheer me up at the end of a hard day)

Little Ray is always a good boy and falls straight to sleep when I tuck him in - if Skimble isn't making a fuss, that is.

'But Mummy, I'm not tired, I could play all day,' Skimble yawned.

And George is as filthy as ever, although it's not his fault. When I had my exams three weeks ago, I was very, very nervous and bringing little George (No.1 Sylvanian along with Tilly Dappledawn) helped me relax and focus during my exams. 

Unfortunately, I have got into habit of taking him everywhere and he is completely plastered in dust and fluff from my pocket :( 

The problem with JP figures is that their fur is much softer and denser than UK Sylvanians, making him near impossible to clean without accidentally pulling out his fur.

You may remember a while ago in the post 'Shelf Diorama', I mentioned I'd ordered some new JP Sylvanians from Japan. Sadly, they never arrived :'( 

I think you have to remember that it would be very easy for such a little parcel to get lost when it's travelling so far away. I will order them again soon, but I want to make sure they don't turn up after months because I don't want duplicates. Here they are anyway:

They would of looked so adorable on my shelf, and I'm sure they would've got on brilliantly with Skimble, Ray and George. However, I will get them at some stage, when I have a bit more money to spare.

Anyway, I hope you enjoyed the photos! I really like doing posts like these with just a few fun/silly photos because they are a lot more enjoyable to take :)

Thanks again for reading!

Sylvanian Village: The Bus Journey

One lovely, sunny day, the Buckley Red Deer family were going on a picnic.
Agatha Buckley had got up early and had prepared a delicious (if not huge) picnic lunch for them to enjoy.
Soon everybody was ready to leave.
'Don't forget your cardigan, Maria, it'll be chilly on the bus!' Reminded Mother as she put the babies in the pram. As their was only one motorcar in the whole village (and that belonged to the richest family in town up at the Mansion), the Buckleys would be catching the bus to their favourite picnic spot by the lake just over Chesnut Hill.
'Come along now children, hurry up and get your shoes on, the bus will be at the stop soon!' Mrs Buckley panicked.

All carrying armfuls of picnic blankets and food, they ran to their nearest bus stop, where the bus had just arrived.
'Why hello Mrs Buckley, going on a picnic, I see?' Mr Renard the fox smiled. 'Here, Mr Buckley, let me help you get the pram onto the bus,'.

There wasn't much room on the bus, because it was 'rush hour' in Little Chestnut, but the Buckley children soon found their favourite seats at the top of the bus and sat down with their mother.

'That engine doesn't sound too healthy, Mr Renard,' Mr Buckley said, frowning.
'I know, it's been like this the last couple of days,' Mr Renard sighed. 'The bus isn't used to this much work - it's so busy because it's the school holidays!'
The bus was indeed very busy, all the seats were taken, Mr Buckley had to sit next to the driver!

'Everyone aboard the bus?' Mr Renard called out. 'This bus will be stopping at Chestnut Hill, Lake Chestnut, Chestnut Woods, and finally back to Little Chestnut, at this bus stop,' Announced Mr Renard. He revved the poor bus into action and began driving out of the beautiful village.
After around twenty minutes, they reached the bus stop at Chestnut Hill. Unfortunately, no-one got off the bus at Chestnut Hill, meaning the bus had to drive up the steep hill completely full!

Somehow, and Mr Renard did not know how, they reached the top and began the drive down the long road down the other side of the hill. Because they were going downhill, the bus continued to go forward for a while, before stopping at halt with a BANG!
Everybody on the bus stopped busily chatting and looked down to Mr Renard for an explanation.
'I'm sorry everyone, the bus has broken down!' Exclaimed Mr Renard, in desperation. 'I'll have to walk back to the village to get some help!'

'Don't be silly, that would take you almost a day-' Mr Buckley exclaimed.
'We haven't really got much of a choice-' Everyone on the bus began bickering.
'Everyone, your attention please!' Shouted Dr Murdoch. 'It's alright, I've brought my bicycle!' He continued on, explaining. 'I can cycle down to the village, and get Mr Moss to come in his motor car to help us,'

'That's an excellent idea, Dr Murdoch!' Mr Renard nodded.
'I'll be back in around an hour and a half then,' Dr Murdoch said.
'What are we all supposed to do in the meantime?' Exclaimed an elderly passenger (Laurette Macavity) at the front of the bus behind the driver's seat.

'That is a very good point,' Said her friend, Mabel Periwinkle the rabbit, looking at Mr Renard over her glasses.
'Oh I know!' Mr Buckley turned to Mr Renard. 'Do you have the picnic bench with you?'
'Of course - it's just at the back of the bus,' Mr Renard said, inquisitively.
'My wife has a huge picnic with her, they'll be enough food for all of us,' Mr Buckley smiled.
'What a grand idea!' Said Mabel Periwinkle.
'I do fancy a picnic, don't you Mabel?' Laurette Macavity wondered.
'Everyone! Dr Murdoch is going to cycle back to the village and get Mr Moss to come and help in his motor car,' Explained Mr Renard. 'In the meantime, the Buckley family have offered to share their huge picnic with us all!' The bus was full of excited chatter.

Dr Murdoch pedalled off whilst Mr Renard and Mr Buckley got the picnic benches. Mrs Buckley had also bought a large amount of picnic blankets, so there was lots of room for everyone.

Mrs Buckley began to unpack the picnic.

'You've got enough to feed a small army, Mrs Buckley!' Mr Renard and the Buckleys laughed.
All the passengers had a delicious lunch of sandwiches, fresh fruit, biscuits, cake and various other delicious treats.

Baby Lily Buckley was fast asleep in the pram.

Soon they saw the green motor car in the distance. It was Mr Moss and Dr Murdoch, here to save the
day :)

Mr Moss neatly pulled over, and they got out of the car.

'You shouldn't of let the bus run today, Mr Renard,' Mr Moss said, disapprovingly. 'I've managed to patch it up for now, but that bus needs some serious repairs. Expensive repairs,'
'Yes, well, I'll go and see the Mayor when we get back,' Mr Renard said, uncomfortably.

'Well, it's certainly going to cause some chaos for all of you without a bus,' Mr Moss silkily said. 'Luckily for me, I have the latest Austin motor car,' And with that, he started his motor and drove off, very speedily.
'I've never liked that man,' Said Mr Renard, stiffly.
'I know he's not particularly modest, but he got us all out of some big trouble today,' Mr Buckley explained, and Mr Renard nodded in agreement. 'Besides, did you know he is my second cousin?'
'Can everyone please take your seats on the bus, which will be departing shortly,' Announced Mr Renard. 'We will be stopping at The Old Mill, Willow Hall, The High Street, and St. Francis School,'

I hope you enjoyed the story, if you did, a comment would be lovely :) Sorry to make Mr Moss seem so unpleasant, the Moss Reindeers are actually one of my favourite families ;)
I will be uploading a lot of stories over the next few weeks whilst the village is assembled: they don't have to be read in any particular order (there are no chapters, just Sylvanian Village: Name of Story), so keep watching for an update!