If you go down to the woods today.....

Well, Mandrake didn't stay long at Medlar House. We always thought he was a bit of a charlatan and that he would be off as soon as we rumbled him.

HOWEVER..... no sooner had he gone than a REAL wizard turned up.

He has the much more scary name of Wormwood. It seems to me that Mandrake was the sort of chap who is more Magician than Wizard, more at home on a well lit stage than deep in the wild forest. Well Wormwood is definitely an outdoor kind of Wizard. He wears a dull coloured robe so he can blend into the background in the deep dark wood. His tunic is embroidered with runes - no silly moons and stars on his clothes.

He was awarded ( apparently ) the Grand Prize of the Order of the Golden Oakleaf which he wears on his lapels, for services to Mousedom. He carries a golden globe which he tells me, revolves when there is danger nearby. This is why he has a dagger in his belt. You never quite know what you are going to meet in the Wild wood.

His large Magician's hat shields his beady black eyes from public gaze. His trusty staff is a magic wand which glows if Wormwood is in danger. Heavens knows what happens when he waves it about in the air!

One thing....I want to know what he keeps in those HUGE pockets? Tongue of Cat and tail of Ferret?

Shall I ask him?

No....you can...

According to the Ancient philosophers, the Wormwood plant counteracted the effects of poisoning by eating hemlock, toadstools and the biting of the Seadragon.
Scary stuff then!

Wormwood is a commission. If you would like a Medlar House Mouse like him, just ask.

It's a Kinda Magic....

As you all know, we have had a visit from a Pirate at Medlar House.

He didn't stay long and went off to his Forever Home pretty quickly.

Shortly after we found another strange character under the roots of the Medlar Tree.

He is apparently a distant cousin of Pirate Pink and thought he'd just drop in and say hello.

Fudge our little juggling hare - yes we know, it sounds rather like' jugged hare' but we DON'T mention things like that here in this garden....we are all of us vegetarian < ahem>, says that he has met Mandrake the Magician before on one of the lessons he's been on.

Fudge says that when he saw him on the How to be a Fire-eater" course, Mandrake was simply called Willow the Wizard.
Hmmm...doesn't sound quite as impressive or scary as Mandrake the Magician does it?
But Mandrake it is...

Mandrake tells us that he can make magic potions to turn cats into stones. ( Of course mice don't like cats very much.)
He says that, with a wave of his magic staff,  he can make mousetraps turn to jelly - oh how we needed him the other day when Wensleydale decided to visit next door's shed.

And he says that with a few magic words, he can make the tyres on the Rentokill van have multiple punctures! And he can, with a word and a pass over his magic obsidian ball, turn  Sparrowhawks into pigs.

He hasn't convinced us so far. All he's managed to do to date is eat all the food we have put out for the birds in this cold weather! Maybe he needs to be full up to work any magic.

However, come to think of it, since Mandrake arrived and Wensleydale trapped next door's cat's tail in the mousetrap, I haven't seen him. The cat that is....Hmmm.

Nor have I seen the Sparrowhawk for a while...

However, I have seen a flying pig! :)

Well...Shiver Me Timbers.

Here in the Medlar House garden, we have all sorts of mice.
"And hares"...they are squeaking at me! Yes, hares.

But what we don't have is any sea.

We are about as far as it gets from the seaside and that is alright by me as I'm not fond of the seaside.

So imagine my surprise when, under the roots of the Medlar tree I discovered, Pink...the pirate!

He is a friend of Mocha the Mouseketeer apparently and is not at all fierce or warlike. Well, would you be called Pink, if you were? ( He tells me he is very partial to those lovely summer flowers as they have such a delightful smell....not very piratey is it...?)

Pink the Pirate is dressed in purple breeches with the long waistcoat favoured by pirates. He has a huge ruffled jabot at his neck and gold piping to his sleeves. His full coat or Jupon is bright pink with purple trims and red pearl buttons. He also has a pearl in his ear!

No pirate would be complete without a tricorne hat and Pink's sports the very jolly, Jolly Roger, a nice flower and a buckle.

Tucked into his sash at the back he has a wicked looking dagger ( which he only uses to cut up his dinner he tells me ) and an equally wicked looking Falchion sword ( which is the curvy pirate kind ) which he says is as blunt as blunt can be.

Now, no self respecting pirate would be without a parrot.
Johnny Depp doesn't have one we know but that is where he falls down. Pink has.......

Pansy who is doing her best to look like a Parrot.

Ah well...can't have everything can we?

No...well, we don't have any sea that's for sure.

I see no ships!

A Daring tale...or Should that be Dairying.?

Now and again in the Medlar House garden, we get a little visitor from the urban world.

Today we meet Wensleydale.
He is a cheeky little mouse who has lived all his life in a house, in fact in a special cage, made for house mice.

He ESCAPED!
And he ended up here in our garden. You can tell he isn't quite a Medlar House mouse because he is white.

Wensleydale, as his name suggests is very fond of cheese.
The Medlar House mice think cheese is alright but they do prefer peanut butter or the seed which we put out for the birds. Which is just right for proper mice, they think.

So when Wensleydale said that he was going to go into next door's shed and steal the cheese from the mousetrap that the gentleman who lives there had laid down....well...you can imagine.....

" Nooooooo" they all shouted at once. " It's DANGEROUS!
" Never fear "said brave little Wensleydale and off he trotted.

Everyone held their breath. Then ...
*SNAP*
*Me-Argh! *

Little Violet started to cry.

Daffodil joined her.

And there is no doubt there was tear in Mocha's eye...that doubty Cavalier mouse who is as brave as brave can be. But even HE wouldn't go into next door's shed.

Then what is this we hear....scamper scamper.... nibble nibble nibble?

" It's Wensleydale..and he has got his cheese."

All the mice crowded around him. "How did you do it...oh you brave but foolhardy little mouse? "

"Well...I crept into the house"
"INTO THE HOUSE? But we thought the cheese was in a mouse trap in the shed."
" Yes" said Wensleydale,  " It was. But I needed a little help. So I ran about in the kitchen until the cat saw me and chased me."
"THE CAT!.....Oh no ".
" And then I ran into the shed...and up to the mousetrap. I got hold of the end of the cat's tail and I pushed it into the mousetrap.
* SNAP!*

"The cat didn't like it very much...but I have to say...this is a very good bit of Cheddar!"

Wensleydale REALLY DOES like cheese I think!

All For One and One For All!

You know, because I've told you ;) that I love the 17th century. A few weeks back I made a little mouse for myself and dressed her as Colombina from the Italian/French Theatre tradition which eventually emerged as pantomime later on on history.
Here is another little mouse from that time.

Meet Mocha the Mouseketeer.
He just had to be didn't he?

He was great fun to do and frankly, if he isn't a saleable mouse then I'm not worried. I'll keep him and he can be a friend for Colombina.

Mocha wears a doublet in rose pink which is decorated with little silk bows - as they were in about 1640. He has sleeves which are pearl sewn - the tiniest pearls you have ever seen I'm sure and his falling band, which is what his ruff is called, started life as a cotton hanky edging. It had seen better days but the lace was still good. I've added a bit of white gimp to the edge to give a bit of definition. His sash and sword band are pure silk ribbon as are the little florets on his shoes ( yes Mocha has shoes for a change ). He wears a huge Cavalier hat and one little ear is poking out cheekily!
This hat is decorated with Guinea Fowl feathers which are so pretty and  - don't you know - the only bird to have spotted AND striped feathers.

Mocha, like all good Cavaliers carries his trusty sword in a green scabbard, ready to do business in the name of the King.

He's such a handsome mouseketeer, I'm sure all the Medlar House Mice girls are going to fall for him!

I have.

Something Old, Something New

New mice have come to the garden today.

When I sell a mouse or a hare I won't repeat it absolutely. These figures are one of a kind which means that even if I make another one, it won't be the exact same.

So when Vanity, Pistachio and Flora went to their Forever Homes today, Candytuft, Petal and Amelia took their places.

Candytuft

 

 

 

 

 

 

Petal

 

 

 

 

Amelia

Today a new version of Alba arrived at Medlar House. He has a blue jacket instead of a green one.

And whilst I was in the mood for creating hares....

This is my favourite colour of pink felt...such a pale shade, so very delicate. Meet Rosie and her friend the little chick Cheep. I had no idea Cheep was coming. He just turned up. Must be Easter, I thought.

When I make a mouse or hare, I have very little idea how they will turn out. I might think that I'm going to make this or that but sometimes the figure itself takes control and what is in my mind is not what happens.

Take Mrs Persimmon.

She was going to be something else entirely, but when I saw the finished piece in body form then she had to be a cook. Her cake is over 30 years old and was made by my brother when he was young. I've had it hanging around, till now. And it's perfect for her.
The felt here is 100 per cent wool and hard to work with but I think you'll agree, the colour is superb. Just the colour of the Persimmon fruit. And it's SUCH a lovely word!

I try to fit the name to the character, that's why sometimes, the names are a bit odd.
Bit like me really.

Haring About

The Medlar House Mice are rather excited.

A few little Hares have moved into the garden.
There is -
Alba the little white hare who is rather partial to carrots. See how he has pulled up a few baby ones from the garden...roots and all. Stephen will be a bit cross about that!

Then there's  Miss Honeybun who has been helping the Easter Chicken with her pretty painted eggs.

Latte, named for her colour.......she is a sort of coffee shade, has a pretty Easter scarf with chicks on it. She is side by side with her friend Strawberry Smoothie.... you can see why she might be called that!

Two friendly little butterflies have settled on these two.

Then we have three pairs of Mummies and babies..... Hellebore and Snowdrop.

You can see why they are called by those names I think.

Then we have Greengage and Pippin... named for the fruit they resemble.

Lastly, waiting to go to their Forever Home nearer to Easter, in the pretty Forest of Dean, are Rhubarb and Custard. Lucky pair to be going to live there.

Do you fancy a hare pair?

Sweet Treat

At Medlar House HQ, the mice come and go. They arrive, are posted here or on Facebook, come with me to the odd show and then off they go to, what I like to call their Forever Homes.

People ask me if I mind.
" Do you get sad when a mouse is bought and off it goes?" they ask.
And I have to say no, as I know I will be able to make another one, not exactly the same, but another one nevertheless and this is what gives me the pleasure...that and seeing people so captivated by them, that they can't resist taking one home with them. It's a treat to me to make people happy.

So today was a Good Day. I went to a show with 38 mice and returned with just 28. And....
then when I got back to Medlar House HQ, there was a message waiting for me. Could Flora and Vanity please go to live with someone, as a Grandma present? That person was very lucky that the two mice she wanted were still available. However, I could always have made another couple.

The same happened to my white mice. It seems I only have to post them on Facebook for a short while before they are sold. Very popular are Alice mice! And I"m very happy that you, their adoring public, have taken them to your hearts.

The great thing about Medlar House Mice is that they come in so many colours, I can make the same design in many different colour ways and no two are alike.

Take Cachou and her little sister Pastille.

Both of them are named after little sweets which were used to sweeten the breath in times of yore when teeth weren't as savoury as they are nowadays and dentistry was in its infancy. They came in an array of flavours and colours, Violet, Rose, Lemon, Jasmine.

When I was a little girl my Father used to buy these lovely little sweeties in pretty tins, from the tobacconist's shops, as they were popular with smokers.

The tins themselves were often little works of art.

As are dear little Cachou and Pastille themselves.

They have pure silk collars decorated with beads, flowers and hand dyed silk ribbons and they carry either a basket of flowers or chocolate eggs. As with all Medlar House Mice ( and Hares ) their names are on little labels on the bottom of their pretty matching stands.

Perfect for Easter.

Love is in the Air

I am not only fond of the seventeenth century but also the latter part of the 18th and early 19th too. After about 1820 my interest wanes.
SO, when dear Persuasion, named for my favourite Jane Austen novel, went to her Forever Home, last week, I thought it would be nice to replace her with another Jane Austen mouse.

Persuasion in pink and yellow.

So here is Miss Bennetmouse.

Miss Bennetmouse in pink and blue

Now, you see what I mean when I say that I will never make two the same. Yes, Miss Bennetmouse is similar to Persuasion.....how could she not be? She is however, different. One of a kind. OOAK.

This set me thinking.

What is Miss Bennetmouse without Mr Darcymouse?

           

    Mr Fitzwilliam Darcymouse in his cutaway green Riding coat.

Love is in the air I think? Well, it IS nearly Spring.

All the male mice under the Medlar tree are a nice honey brown. This doesn't mean they are dull though. Mr Darcy is smart in a pale green waistcoat and a darker green riding coat. The ladies are all shades of pastel colours and some slightly stronger colours like a nice purple or a soft rose pink. Just like Vanity.... below in her new poke bonnet. She is named for another novel...Vanity Fair by Thackeray.

You can see an illustration of the cutaway riding coat in the background of this picture of Vanity. Of course, the gentleman here, wears boots...Medlar House Mice are bare-pawed. Anyway,whoever saw a mouse in boots? That's Just  Silly, Pah!