Tinker.........Belle..........Snowy....a tail to tell.....

Hiya Everyone!
I am back again and dying to show you my latest idea for St. Hils.  I am NOT quite sure that any real tea room would allow this but, as you know, with all things St. Hils..........reality NEVER impinges upon my imagination. 

I am fast finding my "Gracie Cakes" becoming a kind of signature cake for St. Hils so it was only natural to include them in my blog again...........sorry about that but Gracie insisted. 

I guess I have to confess that I just love my two half days at work on Thursday and Friday.  I work three long days from Monday to Wednesday so, on Thursday and Friday, I only work til midday and then, as I work near the town shopping centre, often enjoy a little shopping mooch before heading home on the bus.  I enjoy that little bit of solitude after working in a busy office most of the week so it was easy to imagine how our Miss Enid must feel after a hectic Sunday in St. Hils with services to play for, children to keep an eye on etc.  The best thing that can be enjoyed after hectic times is.................a nice cup of tea.  So I wondered if Miss Enid would fancy visiting "Aunt Sal's Teas" this afternoon for a nice quiet cup of tea whilst enjoying the lovely classical background music that is often played for the customers.  However all didn't go to plan because Grace wanted Miss Enid to take her tin with some freshly baked "Gracie Cakes" for Archie, the proprietor, to sell to help raise funds for St. Hils.  These funds are needed badly to help fund the ongoing repairs required in St. Hils as it is, after all, a VERY ancient English village parish church!

See below the shock poor Miss Enid had..................................

As if seeing Snowy hiding IN the tin was not bad enough both Tinker and Belle had secretly followed her to the tearooms too........... again as I said earlier we are pretty sure that the pest control people would have been called in double quick if this was a REAL teashop so we think that Snowy is pretty lucky here as he is quite safe.  NO danger of any nasty men in white coats arriving to exterminate him and his friends!  Miss Enid may be a bit cross with him and give him a telling off as will Archie but that will be all.

Unfortunately Tinker leapt on to the table and knocked the one teacup over too in the process and sent the beautiful silver teaspoon flying!  Naughty Tinker! (in reality I knocked it over and never noticed until all the photos were taken but still decided to keep the cup, saucer and spoon "as is" - amazing how many accidents actually make the story!)

Sorry about that - another fantasy land expedition wandered into by yours truly!  However I just love to stray into fantasy land after a week at work where reality is just too real if you understand me....deadlines have to be met, jobs done etc etc.  I very often envy my St. Hils "little people" as they can relax in St. Hils and not worry about any cares in the world at all.  In fact I have to confess I NEVER tire of looking at our little church and, when we are home, the lights are ALWAYS on.  I even find it more interesting than watching the television on most days.  My imagination often wanders................and not only at home looking at my church either because when I was at my church home group last night whilst we were supposed to be listening attentively to the CD my mind started wandering off and thinking about yet ANOTHER addition to St. Hils.  Bet you can't guess what it is?  I will let you out of your misery because it is a votive candle stand with candles that can be removed.  I know where it should go......ie where my prayer corner is with the prayer desk.  I am even considering a small notice board for people to pin their prayers up on as well.  Oh dear...................my only worry is...............is there ENOUGH space?   I am not quite sure where or who to go for my votive candle stand but whatever happens it may need to be custom built to fit.

Oh dear I realise I have wandered off piste again as is my wont and nearly forgot there was something else that I wanted to share with you today.  I wanted to tell you something more about both Tinker and Belle and how I acquired them.  They really ARE a pair of waifs and strays because I had an email from Frances of Buttercup Miniatures asking me if I would be prepared to take this cat and dog in as new pets for St. Hils.  There was, however, a rather big snag..........BOTH had their tales broken off.  Naturally I had to agree to take them - who wouldn't?  However I realised that their tails needed to be stuck back so that is what I did.  Belle's tail was no problem as you can't see it was ever broken off but poor Tinker...........HER tail still looks a bit rough where you can all see the join.  However she doesn't seem too bothered about it as you will have noticed in all of our storylines featuring her so I have given up trying to hide it during photoshoots.  You can see where the break was very clearly on the sprited out portion of the main picture as above.

I have to confess to being quite excited because my sister is coming tomorrow because it is my birthday.  Now please do NOT ask how many years it is as I would rather forget!  Catherine has promised me some sandwiches and cakes for Aunt Sal's Teas.................I SO want to divulge what the fillings are but you will just have to wait til my next storyline when Miss Enid takes some of the children to Aunt Sal's Teas as a special treat......................

Well - I best go............other things to do etc.....
Till the next time.......
PS We were thrilled to hear from Jackie Wightman, Coventry Diocese representative for the Children's Society, that a total of £2,692.20 was raised for the society in memory of the late Jan Craven who was a wonderful supporter and contributor to St. Hils and is sadly missed............