Sherbet makes scrumptious pea soup for his lunch

I woke up this morning and I really felt like making pea soup for my lunch.Isn't it funny how things pop into our heads like that, I wonder where that idea came from I must have been dreaming about it last night in one of my dreams. I do not know if you are like me but I have lots of different dreams every night and sometimes I remember them and sometimes I don't. Anyway because I woke up thinking about pea soup I asked Mango to help me to pick some fresh green peas from my garden. Mango and I collected enough peas to make a lovely, tasty, healthy soup and then as it was a nice sunny day we both sat down on my doorstep with a big bowl and we shelled the peas. It was such fun and the smell of the freshly picked peas was so delicious I could not wait until lunch time, I must admit that Mango and I both ate some lovely raw peas as we were shelling them but there were plenty left in the bowl to make soup for us both. Yummy! I must tell you now that the soup was really so wonderful and scrumptious that I am so glad my dream inspired me to make it.

Sherbet gets a big letter from Doodle

Today, the postman brought me a big letter from Doodle and in it he had put a lovely painting of some trees. He told me that when he went for a nature walk with Kathy Cat, she taught him all of the names of all of the trees in Wiggleway Lane. He was so inspired by the lovely trees she showed him that he decided to paint them. I see that he has not put the names of the trees underneath so I think he has already forgotten their names. I think I should invite Kathy Cat to come and stay again so she can take him on another nature walk and remind him of all of the names. Sometimes Doodle does not listen properly as his head is always full of lots of creative thoughts but we all forgive him as he does paint such lovely pictures.

Sherbet has a good idea to help the planet

Today I want all of my friends to think of really good ways to help all the animals in the world that may not be living happy lives. I heard that our planet is in trouble and we must all try to save it but our planet earth  is so very big and we are all so very small like little ants on a huge globe that it is difficult to help a huge planet just on our own. Maybe if we all think really good, kind thoughts together we can help all the animals and trees and plants and everything in nature to feel happy.  What a good idea. Let us all do it together.

Sherbet counts sheep to fall asleep

Last night I could not get to sleep, maybe I was thinking too much about who could have left me the red rose. It was very beautiful and it did not come from my garden as I only have one pink rose. I have not seen Pearl yet to ask her what she thinks. Anyway as I could not sleep I thought to myself what can I do to make myself sleep. I remembered my grandfather telling me that whenever I could not sleep I should lay quietly with my eyes closed and count sheep in my head so that is what I did and guess what? It worked! In no time at all I was asleep the last thing I knew I had counted up to 15 sheep and then I must have fallen sound asleep. What good advice my grandfather had given me.

Sherbet thinks he must have a secret admirer !

Well, this morning I am feeling very flattered indeed. I seem to have a secret admirer, at least it seems that way. Guess what happened when I opened my kitchen door this morning? There on my doorstep was a single red rose. I have never been given a red rose before and I think it means that someone is thinking lovely thoughts about me.  I wonder who it could be. I will ask Pearl what she thinks about it as she is very wise and may know the answer. I am going to tell you a secret, when I found the rose it made me blush! I looked in my mirror and  my white woolly cheeks had turned a delicate shade of pink!!

Sherbet writes letters to his friends who live far away then picks spinach for his tea

Today I did not do too much as I had worked a lot in my garden yesterday so today I spent some time reading my books and writing some letters to my friends that live far away, Sheila Sheep and Kathy Cat and Reginald Rabbit. I miss them all very much but writing long letters to them helps me feel close to them and I know they love to hear my news. I tell them about all the adventures that happen in my amazing garden.  I have so much news lately, news about Kizzie the horse and the cows' party and my cup cake party and so many other interesting things. When I had finished my letters and had put them in envelopes with stamps on ready to post in the post box at the other end of Wiggleway Lane, I went out to pick some spinach from my vegetable garden. There was so much spinach it was a real joy to pick it and I know it is so good for me. I piled it high into my basket as I know that when I cook it, it becomes so much smaller so I have to cook lots and lots.  I love spinach and I will eat it this evening and maybe save some for tomorrow too.

Doodle paints some lovely art for Sherbet

What a lovely surprise I had this morning.  I had just finished my breakfast when Doodle knocked on my door and when I opened it he was standing there with a very colourful painting that he had painted for me.  He knows I like to have art on my walls in Clover Cottage. The painting was of a scene from a country farm with so many little bits and pieces in it for me to look at and enjoy. Doodle loves to paint, and paints almost every day except when he is painting pots or stones or making bird huts. He is always in his art studio creating something new.  It gives him joy and it especially makes him happy to give his lovely creations to his friends.  Pearl, Mango and I all have some lovely paintings from Doodle in our homes.

Sherbet finds two spectacular red peppers growing in his garden and he picks them for his rainbow coloured salad

I woke up very early this morning, eager to go into my garden to do some weeding and to make sure all the little creatures in my garden were happy and healthy. I checked on the frogs in the pond, they were all leaping about with morning happiness. I checked on the dragonflies, they were whizzing around in the sunshine.  I checked on the hedgehogs, they were very content drinking their morning milk.  I checked on the birds in the  trees, they were singing cheerfully from the treetops.  I checked on the caterpillars in my lettuce, they were enjoying their breakfast of lettuce leaf.  Everything was calm and well in my garden so I went to see which vegetables were ripe for me to pick and I found 2 spectacular, big, ripe, red peppers. How beautiful they were. I picked them and took them back to my kitchen where they will wait until I slice them up and add them to my delicious rainbow coloured salad that I am planning to make for my dinner. How wonderful to have fresh vegetables growing in my garden.

Sherbet's friend Zippy Cat makes some cupcakes for him

During the night I couldn't sleep, I was thinking about the lovely party the cows had. This morning I thought I wanted to feel some party time happiness too so I asked one of my friends who loves making cupcakes to come over to Clover Cottage and make me some cupcakes that I can share with Doodle, Mango and Pearl. My friend is called Zippy, it is a funny name for a cat I know, it is her nickname but it is because she zips about everywhere at full speed so everyone calls her that. Anyway, Zippy took over my whole kitchen with her flour and sugar and milk and butter and eggs and spoons and bowls.  She put all the ingredients in her bowl aand mixed and mixed until it was all smooth. She let me taste some of the mixture from the bowl. It was yummy.  I can't wait until they are cooked and I can't wait to share them with Doodle, Mango and Pearl. I do hope Zippy will stay and  enjoy our little party with us.

The cows had a surprise party for Daisy and danced around the field in a long line

Kizzie, the horse from the farm at the end of Wiggleway Lane told me that there had been a very jolly birthday party for the cows that lived in her field. One of the cows called Daisy had a birthday and all the other cows had planned a surprise party. Kizzie said that they played lots of happy music and danced all together in long lines around the field. All the other animals stood around the edge of the field and watched and clapped as the cows danced past them. What a glorious sight to see so many happy cows all together dancing like that, I wish I had been there to see it. I hope Kizzie tells me when the next party at the farm is so I can go and watch the fun too.

Kizzie the horse comes to visit Sherbet

I have to tell you a funny thing that happened to me today. I was in my kitchen eating my lovely breakfast of toast, butter and some of Pearl's delicious home made strawberry jam when I heard someone outside trying to turn the doorknob on my kitchen door. I thought who could that be as usually all of my friends do a little knock knock before they enter. Even though everyone is welcome to Clover Cottage I know that all of my friends like to be very polite and good mannered so they do not just walk staright in without knocking even if my door is always open. It was a bit strange but I was not afraid as I live in a friendly place in the countryside. I peeped out of my kitchen window to see if I could see who it was and I saw a big white tail swishing around.  I opened my door and there biting on my doorknob with her big horse's teeth was Kizzie the sweet old horse from the farm at the end of Wiggleway Lane. She had been trying to get into my cottage to say hello but could not quite manage to turn the knob, of course she has not learned proper manners like my other friends but I understood that she was not being bad mannered she just wanted to be friendly. Kizzie is a special friend of Kathy Cat, while Kathy Cat was here visiting me she spent a lot of time also with Kizzie. Kizzie lets Kathy ride her, they are very best friends. Anyway I took Kizzie to my vegetable garden, pulled up some lovely, big, fresh, crunchy, orange carrots and fed them to her. She loved them, she munched and munched and munched until every little bit was gone. It was a lovely start to my day to have a visit from Kizzie.

Sherbet sits in his garden and thinks and thinks and thinks

Well this morning I woke up feeling a bit tired so I am also feeling very lazy. I do not want to work in my garden today, I do not want to even tidy my cottage, in fact I don't want to do anything but sit and think. I will think and think and think and maybe a great thought will come to me. Who knows, while I am thinking, I may think of something that has never been thought of before, I may think of something that hasn't been invented yet, I may think of great ways to save the planet or I may just fall asleep!!  Anyway I am going to just sit quietly in my garden and feel the peace all around me. I will listen to the  birds singing and the wind blowing through the leaves on the trees and I will just relax and rest and tomorrow I will be as fresh as a daisy and get back to working in my
garden. Do not disturb. Love Sherbet x

Milly mouse falls off her scooter

Today, Mango my dear little friend brought one of his friends to play in my garden. The little mouse was called Milly and she was scooting all around my garden on her new scooter. I think she must have had it for Christmas as it was all shiny and looked brand new. But oh dear, as I was making my morning fruit juice, I heard a big clunk! I looked outside and saw that Milly had fallen off the scooter, she had tumbled off  the grass, and grazed her knee on some stones on my garden path. Mango rushed to help her. He took her hand and led her into my kitchen where we sat her on a little shoe box (she was too small for the chair) and cleaned her poor little knee. I fetched a plaster from my first aid box and even though it was the smallest plaster I could find, it was still too big for little Milly mouse. We managed to wrap it around several times to protect her skin from the dirt in my garden and then after drinking a little of my breakfast juice, she was feeling much better and went back out to scoot all around again. What a happy little mouse she is. I hope she can stay all day.

 

Here's a link back to the first posting.

Doodle paints a beautiful picture of Sherbet's sunflowers

What a lovely sunny morning today in my amazing garden. As I walked out of my cottage door with my watering can, ready to water my flowers. I was amazed to see how wonderful my sunflowers were looking. Their heads were all turned towards the sun and their petals were glowing in the sunshine. They had grown so tall and were swaying in the gentle breeze.  As I was standing there admiring their beauty, Doodle arrived at my garden gate and as usual he had his paint brushes with him and his paints and sketch pad. He walked over to join me and  he said he had never seen such wonderful flowers before. He could not wait to sit down on the grass to paint them. Luckily the grass was very dry as the sun was quite warm. I brought him a jar of water from my kitchen to wash his brushes in and left him in peace while I watered my other flowers. I almost forgot he was there, he was so quiet. I finished my tasks in the garden and looked over to see that he had painted  a truly beautiful picture of my sunflowers.  He was delighted with it and so was I. We took it into the cotttage and found a nice frame for it and now it has pride of place on the wall. How lovely to have such a talented friend like Doodle.  He has brightened my day and made it even sunnier than it was already.

Billy, the farmer's dog, frightens the cats away

Well, very early this morning I was woken up by a great big bark coming from my garden. I thought I was dreaming but then I remembered that Billy was out there keeping watch. Billy was barking very loudly  WOOF!  WOOF!  WOOF! So I peeped out of my kitchen window and there I saw the gang of cats running away as fast as they could. What a surprise they had seeing Billy sitting on guard by the saucers of milk.  I do not think they will be back again. Then I heard a shuffling noise and I looked around towards the vegetable garden and there I saw a happy sight, my family of hedgehogs were coming bravely towards Billy to find their breakfast. They were not afraid of Billy and just walked straight under his legs and found their milk waiting for them in the saucers.  I gave Billy a lovely big bowl of special dog biscuits to thank him for his good work and then I took him back along Wiggleway Lane back to his home with the farmer. I am so grateful that everything is back to normal, no more hungry hedgehogs.

Sherbet gets help from the farmer's dog

I have asked  Pearl what I should do to stop the cats  from stealing the milk from my poor hungry hedgehogs. Pearl said I should borrow a dog from the farmer at the end of Wiggleway Lane as cats do not like dogs and when the dog sees the cats he will bark very loudly and frighten the cats away. What a good idea that is. I went to the farmer and asked him if I could borrow his biggest, friendliest dog with the biggest bark. Of course I need a very friendly dog for the hedgehogs to feel comfortable but I also need a big bark to scare the cats away.  The farmer said  I could choose from all of his dogs. He said he had too many and he was looking for good homes for them. I told him I just wanted to borrow one for a little while to scare the naughty cats away. I looked carefully at all the dogs and the biggest friendliest one I could see was called Billy. The farmer told me that yes indeed Billy had a great big bark so I put Billy on his lead and took him back to Clover Cottage. I promised the farmer that I would  take good care of him and bring him back when the cats had stopped stealing the milk. When I got back to my garden, I introduced Billy to all the little creatures that lived there so they would not be afraid of this big hairy dog. I left Billy sitting by the saucers of milk, on guard, keeping watch. Luckily he was very well trained and I told him to SIT and STAY and not to drink the milk. He was very obedient so I went back into my cottage to have my lunch. I am very happy that  Billy is helping me to keep the naughty cats away.

Who is stealing the hedgehogs' milk?

Someone or something has been stealing the milk from the hedgehogs' saucers!! As I was going into my garden today I noticed that the saucers were empty but  my hedgehogs were hungry and waiting for their milk but I had already  given them some milk earlier this morning. Who could it be? I could see no evidence of any strangers in my garden, no strange footprints or tracks  in the mud, nothing out of the ordinary at all. So what was I to do. I had a good idea, I would ask Pearl as she is very wise and always helps me out when I do not know what to do. Pearl advised me to put out some more milk and hide behind a bush to see who comes to drink it. So, I did just that. I put out 2 saucers of milk just as I usually would for my hedgehogs and I hid behind a bushy blackberry bush and I tried to keep very still and quiet. I waited and I waited and I waited, I was just beginning to get tired of waiting when I heard some rustling leaves over by my garden fence. I looked over and guess what I saw. There, with a whole parade of cats following behind him, was the naughty cat from the farm at the end of Wiggleway lane. He had come back again to my garden and this time he had brought all of his friends with him. Oh my goodness, so many cats.  So many cats drinking the hedgehogs' milk. I saw that the hedgehogs were also watching and were afraid, they had curled up into little balls to protect themselves.
Now I have a problem, how do I stop the cats coming to drink the hedgehogs' milk ? There are so many of them, a whole gang ! I will ask  Pearl again, she will know what to do .

Kathy cat teaches Sherbet and his friends the names of all the flowers and plants

What a lovely evening Kathy cat and I had together yesterday. We shared a tasty meal, drank freshly squeezed orange juice and chatted until quite late. Kathy was up bright and early this morning, she could not wait to get into the garden and start working with the plants. Her boots got very muddy yesterday so she has changed them today. She is going to teach  Doodle, Pearl and Mango the names of all the plants and flowers in my garden as I know there are many that they see every day but they have no idea what they are called. Kathy loves flowers and plants and bushes and will be a very good teacher. I have asked Doodle, Pearl and Mango to come to my garden this afternoon and to bring notepads and pencils to write down the notes about the plants. Doodle said he would bring his sketch book too and draw the plants and put names underneath to help him remember. That is a very good idea. It reminds me of when we sometimes go on nature walks in Wiggleway Lane and do sketches of the plants with their details and we name them if we can.  We will all go for a walk in Wiggleway Lane later as Kathy loves to walk.  Kathy will also know all the names of all the bushes and trees and wild flowers we find there. How wonderful to have a friend who knows so many things that she can teach us. We love to learn lots of new things.

Kathy cat comes to visit Sherbet Sheep

What a lovely surprise I had this morning. As I walked into my garden, there waiting for me was my very good friend Kathy cat. She had come all the way from another part of the country to help me in my garden. She looked beautiful, she had painted green leaves on her fur and was all smiley, ready and eager to help me with my garden tasks.  She had brought her own watering can and it was purple, one of my favourite colours. Kathy cat loves gardening, she can grow things really well and knows all the names of all the plants. She also works very hard and is very kind .  I am so lucky to have her as my friend and I am so grateful to have the help in my garden as it is a very big garden with lots of plants and vegetables that need caring for. Kathy is going to stay with me for a few  days to help me in my garden and also to spend time with me as we have  not seen each other for a long time and we have lots to talk about I am sure. I will cook her delicious healthy meals and make sure I ask Pearl for some of her special homemade bread with sunflower seeds in it as I know Kathy will enjoy that. I still have lots of oranges from my mystery gift giver so we can enjoy those together too.

Sherbet finds a basket of oranges on his doorstep

This morning when I opened my door, I saw that  someone had left a huge basket of oranges on my doorstep. How absolutely lovely and kind of someone to do that. There was no note so I do not know who it was from. It is very mysterious. I took them inside and cut some of them in half and squeezed them to make lovely fresh orange juice with lovely orangey bits floating around in it. I set my table for breakfast and sat down to eat my toast and homemade strawberry jam (made by Pearl).  I drank my perfect orange juice slowly enjoying every sip, it was just so delicious. I have enough oranges to last me for several days and also I will share them with Doodle, Mango and Pearl too so that they can enjoy this lovely, juicy orangey taste. I will sit down today under my apple tree and  think carefully who it could be that could leave me such a wonderful gift. I count my blessings every day and I am so grateful that there are so many people who care about me in this world.

Sherbet's herb garden

A cheery hello to everyone out there. It is a lovely morning here in my amazing garden.  Doodle, Mango and Pearl all stayed at my cottage last night after eating our lovely, healthy vegetable dinner. We are all feeling very tired after all of our hard work yesterday so we are having a quiet, restful day. Today, Mango and I picked some herbs from my herb garden.  We all like to put  fresh herbs in our cooking and our salads and we also make lovely refreshing hot tea with them too. We picked a nice basketful of herbs so there is enough to share. I will divide them up into separate paper bags for Mango, Pearl and Doodle to take home with them. The herbs are growing very well in my garden, they are really growing too well as in some places they are taking over! The Mint is the naughtiest as it has escaped its' herb garden borders and has started to spread itself all around the cabbage. The Rosemary has grown into a huge fragrant bush and everytime I pass it, I breathe in it's unique perfume and it fills me with joy. We picked a lovely selection of herbs to use in our recipes,  Rosemary, Basil, Thyme, Mint, Sage and Parsley. Can you recognise any of them in my picture?

Sherbet's friends spend a day with him working in the garden

Today I woke up with lots of energy. I just leapt out of bed really early ready to work in my garden. The sun was shining down on Clover Cottage which put a big smile on my face. There was no snow, no rain, no wind, no fog, no mist, no hail, no grey sky, and it was not too cold, so what more could I ask for? I saw a little bit of dew sparkling on my grass and that was all. The birds were chirping happily in my oak tree, the worms were hiding in the soil trying to avoid being eaten for breakfast by the birds, the dragonflies were playing with the frogs in my pond and the hedgehogs were drinking their morning saucer of milk.  All was peaceful and perfect in my garden this morning. Doodle, Pearl and Mango arrived mid morning to help me with my tasks. I  put them all in my wheelbarrow, with my new garden tools and pushed them to my vegetable garden. They love riding in my wheelbarrow. They all felt happy and smiley too and were all ready to put in a hard days work. There were so many tasks to do. Doodle made some wigwam shapes out of bamboo sticks to help support the peas and beans.  Pearl dug the earth and raked it.  Mango picked out all the stones and put them in a pile and picked some vegetables for our evening meal and I cut the grass and did some weeding.

Sherbet gets a message in his head like in a dream

Oh I feel wonderful today. Let me tell you what happened. I was laying in bed this morning just resting sleepily when all of a sudden a whole string of words came into my head. It was like a dream but it wasn't quite a dream, it was a message in my head almost as though it had come from another world, a wonderful, perfect world. They were lovely, wise, compassionate words. I had to lay very still as I tried to remember the message. I wrote it down in the notebook by my bed. Here is the message.

MAY ALL BEINGS BE HAPPY.  MAY ALL MY THOUGHTS, WORDS AND ACTIONS CONTRIBUTE IN SOME WAY TO THE HAPPINESS OF ALL BEINGS.

Now isn't that wonderful? I invited Pearl, Doodle and Mango to sit in my garden with me today and we all learnt it carefully and slowly like a poem so that we can keep the words in our hearts and try to be as good

as we can be. I explained to them that as well as human beings, all the creatures around us are also beings, so we have to always be aware to make all the big and little creatures happy too as well as humans. I am so glad I received that message this morning it reminded me to be an even kinder Sherbet than I already try to be.

The leaping foal

This morning I looked out at my garden and saw a baby horse, a foal, leaping about on the grass underneath the tree. It was a lovely thing to see. The foal was so happy and very playful. I think he must have escaped from the farm yesterday and followed us home to my cottage. When I had finished my breakfast and had given the foal some carrots I took him back to the farm. The farmer was so relieved to see him as he had been missing for the whole night. The foal was very naughty leaving the farm without telling his mother where he was going.  Everyone was so worried about him but it all ended well as he is safe back at home again now.

Sherbet and his friends visit a farm

Today, Mango, Pearl, Doodle and I went for a walk to the nearby farm at the end of Wiggleway Lane. It was lovely to be out in the fresh air especially for me as I have been resting in my cottage and I have missed being outside. I do try to go to work in my garden everyday, even when it is very cold. For our walk we made sure we had our waterproof boots on as we knew it would be muddy at the farm. As we turned into the farm gates we saw all the farm animals coming to greet us from the field that they lived in. There was a pig a bit like Pearl, a sheep a bit like me, a horse, a cow, a hen and my favourite type of dog, a friendly black and white sheep dog. We gave them some apples from my tree, they were so happy to see us. The farmer didn't let them come out of the field as they may get lost but we said hello to them and told them we would come again soon.  

Sherbet is well again and loves Doodle Dog's snowflake painting

Here I am, all well again. I am so grateful to Pearl and Mango for looking after me while I was not feeling well. I am so lucky to have such good, kind friends in my life.
Doodle painted a lovely picture of snowflakes yesterday and he gave it to me as a get well present. Mango made me a little card and inside he wrote  PLEASE GET WELL SOON. Mango, Doodle and Pearl are all very thoughtful and caring and I know I am very blessed to have them in my life.

Doodle paints some snowflakes

Hello everyone. This is Pearl again. I am afraid Sherbet is still not quite himself so I told him to rest all day. I am staying with him in his cottage until he is well enough to look after himself. This morning it has started to snow again. Very pretty snowfakes are floating down onto Sherbet's garden and Doodle has come here to try to paint the snow flakes. He has brought his paint and paintbrushes with him. I am thinking it is very difficult to paint snowflakes as they are constantly moving but Doodle says he can do it. Doodle told me that if you look very, very closely at snowflakes, you will see that every one is different and they are absolutely beautiful. The best way, he said, is to look at them under a microscope but I think you would have to be very quick before they melt away !

Sherbet is not very well, so Pearl looks after him

Hello everyone, this is Pearl. Sherbet is not very well today so I have told him to stay in bed all day and I will look after him. I will make him a big healthy soup full of vegetables from his garden. Mango is also here with me helping to do little tasks around the home. We have picked some flowers and put them in a vase in Sherbet's bedroom to cheer him up. I hope he is feeling better tomorrow.

Sherbet's new year message xx

It is funny how fast the years go by. Now it is 2012. I want all of you children out there to eat as healthily as you can and if you have a garden or a little patch of earth or some plant pots with earth in them then I would like to see you all trying to grow something that you can eat. It is really very easy but you do have to be responsible and look after the baby plants that grow from seeds. If you want to see something growing quickly you can plant some easy mixed lettuce seeds and if you have more patience you can grow tomatoes. There are so many easy to grow seeds, try growing your favourite salad plant or vegetable. You will be surprised at how exciting it is to see it grow day by day but you must make sure that you water it and it has enough light and then it will be very happy.

HAPPY NEW YEAR to everybody in the whole wide world

 HAPPY NEW YEAR to everybody in the whole wide world. I would love to see everyone from all the different countries of the world hold hands and dance together. 

For this new year of 2012, Pearl, Doodle, Mango and of course, me Sherbet, would like to say to the world: "We wish you PEACE, LOVE, KINDNESS, GOOD HEALTH, HAPPINESS, FRIENDSHIP and MORE LOVE as LOVE is all."