A 17th century Mouse.

The mice carry on their little lives under the roots of my Medlar Tree and I occasionally help them out with this or that!

I went to a wonderful fair on Saturday in Thame, a sweet little market town in close by Oxfordshire. It's a dollshouse and miniature fair and so perfect for looking at ( and buying ) little trimmings, tiny lace, beautiful silk 4mm ribbon and teeny weeny pearls, to name a few.
Here too, you can find the finest materials, silks and cottons which drape so beautifully, for doll making.
Or mouse making.

I came home with lots of lace, miniature ric-rac, beautiful fine hand dyed silk ribbon and some lovely stripey red and white silk material.

I knew immediately what I would do with this.

Meet Columbina, a character from the 17th century Commedia dell'arte which is one of my favourite types of entertainment. In fact I'm very fond of the 17th century in general. So Columbina is all for me. She isn't for sale. She took me five hours to make from scratch, so I doubt she will be one of the figures I'll make regularly. :)

I will make her an Arlecchino soon, so she won't be lonely.

Columbina, the character in the Commedia, is a complete coquette and so has all the Medlar male mice fawning over her. She is cheeky, fearless, often a bit sharp with a malicious wit and is full of gaiety and charm.

A perfect character for a quick little mouse, Columbina is nimble and fast in her actions, running hither and thither, butting in on the conversations of her betters and being flirtatious.

Her costume is the epitome of fashion, at a time when it was sometimes impossible to tell the servants from their mistresses. She wears a fashionable wide skirt with a basque, a deep décolletage edged with fine lace, pearls at her throat and she holds the obligatory rose in her hand. All women, regardless of their class, at this time ( about 1630 ) wore aprons and so Columbina mouse wears a thin pinny of fine antique tambour lace.

The real difference here between all the other mice of Medlar House is that Columbina wears pointy little pink shoes finished with hand dyed real silk bows.

Phew...I won't be making another of these in a hurry!
Besides...one little characterful mouse like this is quite a handful!
Imagine several.

Having a Ball!

Down in the roots of the Medlar tree there is a very old fashioned kitchen. And in this kitchen lives Cindermousa.
She is a bit of a tatty mouse. Her fur is a bit knotted, her dress is rather tattered and she hasn't painted her nails in AGES!

There she was thinking that she would never get to go to the Mouse Ball, in the Town Hall with some of the other mice. Besides, she has no posh dress to wear.

Now we all know what happens when in Fairy Stories, ( and Tails from Medlar House are fairy stories in case you haven't realised ;) a little mouse is sitting snivelling in a cold kitchen wishing that she could go to the ball.

*Sparkle * * fizzle* * dazzle*
Along comes her Fairy Godmouse!

"AH! Cindermousa don't be glum,
Pay attention, off your bum!
You'll have a frock of lace and beads
Go fetch a sack and some little seeds.
I'll need a couple of plastic bags
Just you get out of those nasty rags......."

Cindermousa was so staggered, she never argued, never asked where this strange green mouse with a starry wand had come from. Off she went to do as she was bid.

The Fairy Godmouse waved her wand over the dull, scratchy sack, the Waitrose bags Cindermousa found in the recycling bin and the tiny little seeds which she had taken from the bird feeders out in the garden.

* Pitter Patter* Up flew the seeds onto the sack.
*  Snip Snap * Up flew the sack over Cindermousa's head.
*Crinkle Crankle * Up jumped the plastic bags and scrunched themselves into balls.

There was a lot of wriggling.
And wiggling
And jiggling.

Cindermousa caught a glimpse of herself in the glazed doors of the old dresser!

The sack has turned into lovely lacy frock. The seeds had turned into jewels and beads. The plastic bags had turned into lovely silk flowers and leaves. Her hair was combed and her nails were POLISHED!

Cindermousa you SHALL go to the Ball.

But Cindermousa's feet were bare. Not even a Fairy Godmouse can make Glass slippers small enough for a mouse's feet!
:)

Cold Collecting.

Celandine has been a busy girl.
She's been collecting eggs laid by the Easter chicken.

Just one will fit in her basket at a time, so she has to travel all over the garden ( and the mice only have tiny legs ), to collect as many as she can find, ready for our Easter Egg Hunt. It's taken her all day. And what a day! It was really cold in Medlar House garden today with a biting East wind. Celandine had to put on her woolly scarf and her hat to keep her warm.

Her basket is made from plaited felt. Looks quite heavy with just one large egg in it.

Celandine did have some help from her friend Arctic, the little white mouse from The Land of the Midnight Sun - Finland. She too had to wear her beret to keep warm but she is more used to the cold weather.

The Medlar House mice are very cosmopolitan! And very industrious.

Be Prepared!

It's thirty nine days, to Easter as I type.
Not long at all.

The mice have been chattering at me!

They want to do an egg hunt. So all over the garden I shall have to hide pretty Easter eggs ( not chocolate ones ) for them to find and collect. They like to collect Medlars and Hazlenuts from the two trees, so I should think they're pretty good at finding things like miniature eggs.

Peacock and Papillon have been busy today making and painting eggs for the hunt. They were both Girl Guides so their motto is " Be Prepared".

I thought that I'd like to have a go at something myself. Eggs didn't do the trick for me, so I made a large toadstool instead, in felt.
The mice were very happy....somewhere for them to shelter when it rains!

The toadstool is decorated with Edwardian lace and dozens of tiny beads and sequins..oh and a caterpillar has taken up residence too!
Meet Maggot...

You have to be prepared for anything in the Medlar House Garden. She doesn't eat fungus....but she might be quite fond of Medlars or Hazelnuts. The mice had better watch out!

Easter Violet

Violet is a very handy mouse.
She spends her time under the roots of the Medlar Tree in a very creative way, painting, embroidering and making things for her friends.

She has made a special Easter card for her Granny. When Violet is in a creative mood, things can get a bit wayward. She often gets paint on her hair. So when she realised that it had dried on and she couldn't remove it, she got out her needle and embroidery thread and she sewed tiny little flowers all over with middles of green seed beads.
She had a few mispricks where she sewed herself to herself, but that didn't bother her. What's a little discomfort to a true artist, she said to herself?

I think she might set a fashion!

Cowslip's a Card!

Cowslip is the prettiest mouse at Medlar House. But she is also very shy.

She knows that Mother's day is approaching ( 10th March ) and she is already thinking of things she might get for her Mother. She is too shy to go out to the shops though, and look for something, so she will probably just go out into the garden and pick some flowers, some Primroses some Violets and some little Iris.. Oh how we hope that the flowers will be out by then as more snow is forecast and that will set them all back a bit.

Then she had a clever idea.
What if she was to decorate herself  with pretty flowers. SHE could be the present.

So onto her lovely yellow hair she sewed lots of tiny sequin flowers and beads. And onto her collar she has sewn dozens of little tiny pearls.

Her Mother is going to get the biggest card you ever did see...full of Forget me nots, Primroses and Violets.

Wouldn't she make the most beautiful present on Mother's Day?

More Haste, Less Speedwell.

Sunday March 31st is Easter day.

Then, here in the Medlar House garden things will be moving - nature wise. And the little mice who live under the Medlar Tree will be out gathering what ever they can to decorate their homes.
Catkins and Pussy Willow are prized, as are Primroses and Violets, they are all growing in the garden.

Little Blue Speedwell ( which is also a little blue plant ) has decided she can't wait until the real flowers are out to decorate her Easter Bonnet. She has gone for felt flowers and beads instead. Here you can see her trying on the latest one. A pink confection with blue, purple and pink flowers and beads and a real hand dyed silk ribbon trailing at the back.

Speedwell is not just named after the flower....she has no patience at all and cannot wait for Easter...so she must have a hat now!

Every time she tries a hat, she must brush her hair...goodness me...she has tried several already....that is a lot of brushing.

By the time Easter arrives...she'll be bald!

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Bonnets and Birds

The Medlar House Mice are very well educated.

The small mice all go to school to learn all about predators...those nasty neighbourhood pussy cats and the fast and dangerous Sparrowhawks which are sometimes to be seen swooping over the garden. It's rare that a cat comes into Medlar House garden, for there is a small but efficient cat chasing dog to be found patrolling it, who keeps watch over the many different birds that come to feed there.

Her name is Delphi and she is a Wire Haired Fox Terrier who is very good at sitting very, very still in the sunshine, so that you sometimes forget she is there. Delphi likes the birds but the Medlar House mice have to be certain that Delphi has had her dinner before they venture near her, or she has a tendency to pounce on them. Luckily the mice are too fast...but still, she gives them a fright.

So the mice go to school to learn to read and to write, to learn all about Owls - Oh My! that gives the younger mice nightmares, and to learn to recognise  the things that a little pastel coloured mouse might find good to eat.

This is Lettuce. She is a good scholar and today she has donned her new bonnet and her new dress to go to school. In her new fashionable yellow satchel, which is a match for her outfit, she had books about how to gather and store hazelnuts and what to make out of Medlar fruits...oh and how to recognise the silhouette of a bird of prey flying overhead. That is very important.

Better not dally - it can be dangerous being a green mouse in a dull Winter garden.

AMermouzing

Medlar House Mice can do anything that the humans can do.
They are quite poseable and so we can make them throw up their hands and legs and dance!

Pirouette, the first Medlar House Mouse, is very happy in her new home in Brackley.

 She has a little friend who is called Arabesque. She is a pink mouse who is very much into pearls. The more the merrier. The bigger the better. Her costume is festooned with them, big, round, shiny pink ones.

I asked her where she got them, thinking that she might tell me the name of the shop so I could go and buy some for myself, as I too have a penchant for pearls.

"I got them all from a MerMouse " said Arabesque "down in Cornwall, where there are quite a lot of them..."
"Pearls?" I said
" No Mermice".

Now THAT I should like to see.

Wouldn't you?

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Multiplying!

Mice have a lot of babies.
Harvest Mice like The Medlar House Mice, have between five and ten babies a litter and the does are only pregnant for 18 days. THAT is a lot of mice. I don't think I can keep up with that amount of reproduction!

They are very good mothers I'm told, but now and again it might be wise to engage a nurse to look after them all.

Here is Nurse Button, so called because of the pink button on top of her bonnet, which is also decorated with silk flowers and ribbon and old beads.

One of her shy little charges, sticks to her Nurse like glue.
So, she is called Velcro.

Naturally.

Awwwww.  :)

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Meet the Mice...

Some of you will know I was a crafter - (a professional one ie: it paid the mortgage, ) for many years.
From 1982 to 1997 I made these.....

 I sold them all over the world and in shops like Harrods and Liberty.

When I say I made them...I must give credit to my 12 outworkers without whom I couldn't have done it. The mice have been hibernating for 16 years and so I thought it was now time to re- awaken them.

I've updated them for the present age and have been working on a new pattern which will allow as much freedom of expression as the old Rice Mice- yes they were filled with rice and so rather poseable. Rice Mice were Wood mice, made in white felt with large ears and were very realistically painted in fabric paint. This time my mice will be Harvest Mice and will come in pastel colours. They have poseable arms and sometimes legs, too.

I have no idea where they came from  ;) but twelve little mice came to live under the tree all at once. The mice are made completely by hand, from a mixture of wool and acrylic felt and are decorated with antique and Vintage lace where possible, and are finished with hand dyed silk ribbons and tiny old beads.

There’s Pirouette...she was only here for a while as she was bought by a lady further up the hill. She wants to be a prima ballerina but I think she's a little stout for that don't you?

Then there is Diet. She is definitely portly and loves to eat cake. She has a small fancy cake in her hand now, just about to take a bite..... But here she is saying " diet...what diet? " She has very pretty beads and ribbons on her hair fur and frilly feet.

Lavender likes to go out shopping and when I took this photo it was a very windy day. She had to hang onto her hat. Her tail went streaming out behind her and her shopping bag was being pulled by the gusts. It was thankfully, empty at the time. :)

On that same windy day, Miss Lemon was hanging out her washing. She wears a sweet embroidered pinny and a mob cap when she does her washing, to keep her pretty yellow fur from the soap suds.

It was a cold and wet day when I photographed Pistachio. She likes to work in the garden but on that day it was far too horrible. So, she busied herself with her pot plants instead. The pot in her paws is made from real terracotta  and I think she'd make a nice Mother's Day present for someone who likes  gardening.

Pretty pale blue Blueberry has only one wish, to be a Princess. The nearest she gets is to wear pretty lace frocks and a tiara and she pretends that the bunch of roses she is sniffing was sent by a Prince who is madly in love with her. What fun she would be as a Valentine's present. ( Her dress is a piece of Edwardian lace.)

Persuasion is a Jane Austen fan, ( like her creator ). Under her arm she carries a copy of her favourite book....Persuasion of course. She wears a short Spencer jacket and on her head she sports a fine lace trimmed bonnet. She would be great for someone who likes books wouldn't she?

Sorbet has just had some babies. Ten to be precise. This one is little Sprinkle. The others are all named after cake toppings too. Angelica, Glacé, Icing, Malteser, Chocdrop, Nutnib, Cocoa, Gumdrop, Spunsugar. I suppose that's how you get sugar mice?

Now she really would be perfect as a Mother's Day present....except that she has gone to live in Kenilworth. Perhaps you'd like me to make some more like her?

We have two little French mice visiting Medlar House.

Chartreuse is a pretty little turquoise green mouse who wears a hand wound felt 'straw hat' decorated with silk ribbons and beads. She is a rather dreamy mouse with a very Romantic disposition who reads poetry and who loves to star gaze. Under her arm is a little book of ...yes, you've guessed it...mouse poems which are perfectly readable.

Mme. Chambord is a striking pink mouse who wears a beret and a fine net scarf. She loves roses of every hue but she is named for the one she likes best - Comte de Chambord a very pretty pink Bourbon rose. She has carried her basket of roses all the way from Paris!

Lastly at this time..we have the lovers... Caramel and Mint. ( sold separately )

I think that Caramel has just asked Mint to marry him as she looks a little flushed.....she's blushing. Look - he has a red rose in his hand and he carries a box of chocolates in the form a sparkly heart, under his right arm. Do you think she'll accept and if she does...will the babies be Mint Caramels?

Now I'm off to see who has recently turned up under the Medlar Tree.
It's snowing here...so I hope they are well wrapped up!

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Under the Medlar Tree.........

Once upon a time, there was a little house on a hill, called Medlar House. You might wonder why it would be called Medlar House? In the very pretty garden there was a tree. Not a big tree, just a nice spreading, friendly, middle sized tree, with large soft furry leaves. It was of course, a Medlar Tree. A good old fashioned tree with beautiful white blossoms in the Spring and little round fruits in the Autumn. In due course, these little round fruits would fall to the ground and they were just the right size for mice to nibble on.

Now also in this garden there was a hazel tree, a contorted hazel with curly branches and twigs and the little round hazel nuts would fall to the ground, quite close to the Medlar tree.
We all know what happens when you mix things up.

Curly round trees and unusual fruits? The mice who nibbled on these free foods at the base of the Medlar and Hazel trees had to be unusual too.They were Harvest mice, with tiny ears and long curly tails. Then.......

Medlar House mice became round like the Medlar and Hazelnuts which they liked to eat and a different colour to all the other mice in the world.

Medlar House mice were not brown and furry, or grey and sleek like their town and country cousins . They became pastel coloured; pretty pinks and blues, lavenders and lemons.

So here we have ......The Medlar House Mice.
You can just see them scurrying away into the roots of the Medlar tree, where they live, for they are quite shy mice - well...wouldn’t you be if you were blue or pink and you didn’t blend very well into the background like all the other mice?



Here on Tails from Medlar House you will be able to follow the stories of these mice as I create them.
And hopefully, eventually, take them into your own little garden.


Hope you enjoy Tails from Medlar House.

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