Sherbet gets a late Christmas present

What a lovely surprise I had this morning. There was a knock on the door and there stood the postman who delivers letters and parcels in Wiggleway Lane. I was really very happy to see him as we had such a lot of snow over Christmas that he had not managed to get to my cottage in his red postman's van.  I had been worried that his van had been stuck in the snow. He handed me a package and inside, cleverly wrapped inside a pretty Christmas stocking were 2 lovely little books. How beautiful they were. One was from my dear old friend Sheila Sheep and one was from a new friend of mine called Mark Mole who I met when I went to stay with Sheila Sheep at the seaside. It was so very kind of them both to think of me at Christmas time. It makes me feel all warm and huggly to know I have such good friends who really care about me. I wish everyone in the whole world could have wonderful friends like I have.

Some prickly hedgehogs move in to Sherbet's garden

Oh what a delight!
When I went into my garden this morning . I found  several  prickly hedgehogs waiting for me there.  I had never seen them before so I invited them to stay and live in my garden. One of them was very shy and afraid of me so he curled up in a prickly ball when he saw me  but the others were very happy to see me and started to roll around playfully . I knew they may have travelled a long way to reach my garden and may be very thirsty so I went into my kitchen and brought them out some saucers of milk. They drank the milk gratefully and then I showed them a special, cosy, leafy corner under some bushy bushes where they could live. 
They loved their new home and now that I have some new little creatures living in my garden I will be sure to order more milk from the milkman every day. I have given them names. I call them Helly Hedgehog, Henry Hedgehog, Hannah Hedgehog and Herbie Hedgehog. I hope they like their new names and will be very happy in their new home. They are very welcome to live in my garden as long as they like.

Doodle helps Sherbet with his pumpkins

Well, I really do think Christmas is finally over until next year, we have all had a lovely time being together with our friends and for some of us seeing family and friends that we do not often see. Even I was very lucky to have Reginald Rabbit come to visit me in my dream, even though he could not be here in person. Today the snow has thawed and I have collected all of my pumpkins together. They were actually very heavy so Doodle came to help me. Mango wanted to help as he always does as he is such a kind little  mouse but I am afraid he was too small and all he could do was ride on top of some of the pumpkins as we rolled them to a corner of my garden. They are beautiful, a lovely orange colour and I know they will be very tasty. I am going to ask Pearl to give me one of her best pumpkin soup recipes so that I can make a lovely, big, healthy pumpkin soup for us all to warm us up in this cold weather.

Sherbet sees reindeer skiing

How funny, I was just about to think to myself,  well, Christmas is really over now,  when  I saw a really amazing thing. I was working in my snowy garden trying to rescue some poor cold cabbage and some frozen carrots from under the snow in my vegetable patch when I heard a kind of whooshing sound. I looked over my shoulder to a hill on the far side of Wiggleway Lane and there to my complete surprise was a mother reindeer skiing with her children in her arms. One of her children was finding it difficult to hold on as she was going so fast down the hill. She must be going home back to where she lives with Santa Claus. I imagine she must have left her children with a baby sitter while she was hard at work helping Santa deliver the presents and now that she has finished her work she is taking them home.

A lovely red squirrel visits Sherbet's garden

This morning, even though it was very cold outside, I decided to go into my snowy garden to see if the snow had thawed out yet. I saw that it was looking almost the same as yesterday except for where we had rolled our snowballs to make our snowman family. As I was looking around my garden, I saw some little animal tracks and when I followed them I saw that I had a visitor. A lovely red squirrel was sitting in my garden on the snow. I am sure he must have been very cold but he was not shivering. I was happy to see though that he was eating an acorn that had fallen down from my oak tree.

I imagine it must be very difficult for him to find enough acorns with the trees all covered in snow so I took my ladder and my basket and I climbed the tree to collect lots of acorns for my new squirrel friend. I left the basket full of acorns for him under the oak tree so that he would have enough to eat for the next  few weeks. It makes me so happy to be able to care for all the little creatures in my garden.

Sherbet and his friends make a family of snowmen

What a happy Christmas day we all had yesterday. Having breakfast with Santa after finding him in my bathroom was a perfect way to start the day. Mango, Pearl and Doodle stayed the night in my cottage because we were playing  games and eating some delicious food until quite late. We woke up this morning to find pretty snowflakes floating softly down to the ground and my garden was covered in the most beautiful, white, sparkling snow. Before we could stop him , Mango ran straight outside and plunged right into the deep snow and disappeared. "Oh dear," said Pearl," he didn't even have his boots on." We all rushed out to try and dig Mango out from the snow. He is so small and for a few moments we thought we had lost him. He was nowhere to be seen. Then we heard a desperate little squeak and saw a pair of ears sticking up out of the snow.  I had my gloves on so I was able to scoop Mango back to safety without getting cold hands and Doodle cuddled him up in his fur and took him inside and dried him with a nice soft towel . When it had stopped snowing, and before my dear friends went home, we all spent time in my lovely snowy garden making a family of snowmen. I made the father snowman, Pearl made the mother snowman and Doodle and Mango made the little snowman. We used some of our own hats and scarves to dress them with and found some sticks to give them some arms. It was such fun making snowmen together. It has been a truly lovely Christmas.

HAPPY CHRISTMAS EVERYBODY

 HAPPY CHRISTMAS EVERYBODY  or HAPPY HOLIDAYS  in case you do not have Christmas where you live. I know I always say YOU WILL NOT BELIEVE THIS,  BUT!!!  You really WILL NOT BELIEVE THIS ! I awoke this morning, it is December 25th and I heard singing coming from my bathroom.
Someone was singing  the words Jingle Bells, Jingle Bells, Jingle all the way !! Now as I live alone, it was a very strange thing. I crept nearer to the bathroom being careful not to make a sound. I listened outside the door. All of a sudden I heard HO HO HO! I nearly jumped out of my boots in surprise. It was Santa Claus. I peeped into the bathroom and there he was. Santa was having a bubbly bath in my bathroom. What a lovely guest to have on this special day. I imagine he must have been so tired after his busy night flying through the sky with his reindeer and no doubt he was feeling a little bit sooty after climbing down all of those chimney pots. I shouted through the door " Welcome Santa,  please join me for a lovely Christmas day breakfast when you are all dry and dressed ". Santa left soon after breakfast and I was so glad  to have had the chance to meet him in person as  he is not easy to find as you probably know.

    

I still had time during the morning to put the finishing touches to my Christmas tree as Pearl, Doodle and Mango are coming here to spend Christmas day with me. I  will put their gifts under the tree. It will be such fun being with my best friends on this special day  and I know they will love to hear my amazing story of finding Santa in my bathroom.

Sherbet has a surprise when he looks out of his kitchen window!!

I am not sure if you will believe me but this morning I looked out of my kitchen window and guess what I saw in my garden. I saw a big group of penguins dressed in scarves to keep them warm in the cold weather. I was not really sure they were real as many magical things can happen around Christmas time. I went outside and sure enough they were real! I asked them what they were doing in my garden. One of them, the one with the stripey bobble hat,  told me they were on a day out from a sealife park quite a long way away from here. They had heard about the famous Sherbet Sheep and his amazing garden and thought it would be a pleasant place to come and visit. So of course when I heard that I said  "WELCOME TO MY GARDEN"!  Just as I said that it started to snow so I asked them to come into my cosy kitchen where I made them all big steaming mugs of hot chocolate. Afterwards, when the snow had settled down I took them  all to show them my Winter garden. One of the penguins had lost his hat. I told him he could borrow one of mine to go home with. You can see him in the picture,  he is the one with the purple scarf. How lovely to have new friends to share a mug of cocoa with.

Sherbet has an amazing dream!

I have to decide what to give Pearl, Mango and Doodle for Christmas. I think it is best if I give them something I grew myself from my garden. After all,  I have given lots of love to my vegetables and flowers to help them grow so if I give my friends  something from my garden I am also giving them my love. I will go into my garden tomorrow and decide what to give them. 

Last night I had an amazing dream I thought it was real and when I woke up I found I was laughing. In my dream I was walking along Wiggleway Lane, It was a lovely Winter's day.  My old friend Reginald Rabbit was walking beside me and we were chatting about old times. Reginald was bathed in bright white light that made his fur shine just as it had when I saw him in my garden that morning. Reginald was so happy and it was lovely to be together with him. All of a sudden 2 dancing reindeer popped out from behind a tree and started to dance a silly, happy dance for us. Reginald and I laughed so much that we nearly fell over. Just as soon as they had appeared in front of us they disappeared and so did Reginald Rabbit. The next thing I knew I was in my bed laughing and laughing. I am trying to understand what it means as dreams do have meanings. I think it was Reginald Rabbit coming to say Happy Christmas, and the reindeers appeared to give us a happy, memorable time together. Happy Christmas Reginald even though you are living far away from us now you will be in our thoughts on Christmas day. Thank you for coming into my amazing dream.

Christmas is coming, the geese are getting fat !

This one is for my old friend Reg.  It is a Christmas nursery rhyme and also a Christmas carol that he taught to my dear friends Pearl and Doodle last December. It is from a long time ago when they had different money in England.

Christmas is coming the geese are getting fat.
Please put a penny in the old man's hat.
If you haven't got a penny, a ha'penny will do.
If you haven't got a ha'penny, Then  GOD BLESS YOU !

Today, Mango helped me to collect lots of shiny green holly from the holly trees in my garden. We  had to be very careful not to scratch ourselves as the holly is very prickly. I will decorate my cottage with it. It has the most beautiful red berries too. Pearl, Doodle and Mango are coming here for Christmas day. I am still wondering what to give them as Christmas presents .

Sherbet Sheep tells one of his favourite poems

I want to tell you one of my favourite little poems. It is about a garden as you may have guessed. I love to recite it especially when I am happily working in my garden or just relaxing in my chair after a worthwhile day's work. Here it is.

    

      THE KISS OF THE SUN FOR PARDON
    THE SONG OF THE BIRDS FOR MIRTH
    ONE IS NEARER TO GOD'S HEART
    IN A GARDEN
    THAN ANYWHERE ELSE ON EARTH

Isn't that just wonderful!  I really do feel that when I am in my garden I am in a blissful place. It gives me so much joy and peace and contentment. I know that my dear friends Pearl, Doodle and Mango agree with me too.

Sherbet's best cat ever was called Haricot

Hello again. It is a lovely Sunny day today. I just want to tell you that as I was talking about planting beans yesterday, it brought back memories of a lovely cat that used to live in my house and garden. I loved her very much, her name was Haricot.  Haricot was the best cat I have ever known . She was such a kind and loving cat and loved to be cuddled and picked up. She loved to sit on my shoulders tucked up warm in my wool  I have a very funny picture of her here asleep in one of my old flower pots. By the way,  Haricot's mother was called Bean and she named all of her kittens after herself so they were all named after kinds of beans! There was Haricot, and her 3 sisters were called Adzuki, Chick Pea and Cannellino. You may think Cannellino is a funny name but she was named after Italian Cannellini beans.

Sherbet Sheep has lots of froggy friends

Today, I am going to introduce you to all the frogs in my garden pond. They love to sit on their very own water lily pad and they love to jump around. They also love to play with their dragonfly friends. I hope my rescued dragonfly has settled back at her pond again. Here is a picture of my froggy friends. They do all look a bit the same but I will tell you their names and see if you can guess which is which. In the picture you can see  Freddy and his wife Freda, Florence and her friend Felicity, Francesco and his friend Fernando, Fabian and his friend Freda  and Flora and her friend Fern. By the way, did you know that the meaning of Fabian is the bean grower  Oh, so that is why he always watches me when I plant my beans !

Sherbet rescues a dragonfly from a naughty black and white cat!

Oh how strange to wake up this morning without seeing my dear friend Reginald Rabbit. I have to get used to being here alone again. Please don't worry about me though as I am quite content living alone. I am happy to have the space to do all the things I like to do all day long but I also love being in the company of my good friends. I have just rescued a dragonfly. It must have come from my garden pond. I heard it buzzing around near the tomato plants and saw that a naughty black and white cat was trying to catch it. I have never seen that cat before but as it had a collar on with a tinkly bell on it I think it must live on the farm at the end of Wiggleway Lane. I know there are lots of cats living there. I will take it back to the farm this morning. I hope it doesn't mind riding in my bicycle basket. I will try not to ride over the bumps in the lane. I do love helping all the little creatures around me.

Reginald plants some pretty red flowers for Sherbet before he leaves

 This evening I will be a little bit sad as Reginald Rabbit has to go back to his own home. Before he goes though he said he wanted to plant some new flowers in my garden. He brought the flower plants with him from his own garden as a gift for me and we have been keeping them fresh in water. This afternoon Reginald planted some of the pretty red flowers in flowerpots and some in the ground. I appreciated his gift very much and it will be something to remember him by. Every time I look at them I will be reminded of my dear friend Reginald. I hope he comes to stay with me again soon.

Reginald helps Sherbet to water his carrots

Reginald has slept very well here at Clover Cottage I am so glad to have given him a comfortable night's sleep.We shared a scrumptious breakfast this morning in my sunny kitchen. Pearl had brought us a warm wholemeal loaf that she had baked early this morning. The aroma of the bread filled our nostrils with delight!! We had some of Pearl's home made blackberry preserve and some apples from my tree and I made some special tea from the mint in my garden as I knew Reginald would enjoy that. This morning Reginald is going to help me water my carrots and we will eat some for lunch as I know that rabbits love to eat carrots. I am so enjoying having my old friend here to stay for a few days.

My old friend Reginald Rabbit comes to stay!

Today I still feel so good after that huge, delicious, healthy salad yesterday. I feel so bouncy and full of energy. I have something very happy to tell you today. As I went into my garden this morning I had an enormous surprise! There standing in my vegetable garden was my old friend Reginald Rabbit. How lovely to see him, I have not seen him for a whole year. He looked like an angel standing there in the bright morning light . His fur was all pure white and shiny. He was also being an angel as he had come to my garden out of the kindness of his own heart to help me with my tasks. He must have woken up very early as he had already picked a whole basket of lovely, green, fragrant smelling peas. Yummy, I can just imagine eating them for our lunch.

I have asked him to stay with me for a few more days as he had such a long journey to get here. I know he can run fast as rabbits do but I know also that he will be very tired after a long day  working hard in my garden. How lovely to be re-united with my old friend Reginald Rabbit, I have missed him so much and I am so happy to be spending this day with him.

Sherbet prepares a healthy salad from his garden for his friends

I am sneezing a bit today after getting caught in that heavy rain yesterday but the sun is shining down on Clover Cottage so I will work in my garden this afternoon under the lovely warm rays of the sun. I will pick some pretty flowers from my amazing garden and put them in vases to brighten up my home. Mango did not catch a cold probably because his feet were warm and cosy, into my woolly coat. Doodle, Pearl and Mango will visit me this evening and we will eat a big healthy salad picked fresh from my garden. It will be so delicious. I will make it with 3 different types of lettuce, one with green leaves, one with red leaves and one with curly leaves, some lovely orange carrots freshly pulled from the ground (and washed of course!!) some juicy red tomatoes, a ripe crunchy cucumber that I have seen hiding under a leaf and red, green and yellow peppers.  I have some delicious sunflower seeds from the giant sunflowers in my garden  so I will sprinkle them all over the rainbow coloured salad. Pearl will bring her special home made salad dressing and we will put everything in a  big colourful bowl, made especially for me by Doodle in his art studio. Mango will help me to serve the salad. It feels so good to share a delicious, healthy meal with my friends.

Oh my goodness rain rain rain!

Oh my goodness rain rain rain! Today I went for an early morning walk with Mango. The sky was a bit grey but I did not feel rain in the air so we walked all the way down Wiggleway Lane.  Just as we were turning back it started pouring down with torrential rain. My wool was getting really soaked and poor little Mango mouse was nearly washed away so I carried him on my shoulder to keep him safe, he managed to tuck his feet deep into my wool where it was still dry and warm so I didn't have to worry too much about him ! Oh dear, guess what happened next ? A river was overflowing and the water was gushing onto our little lane and flooding it. Luckily I had my rubber boots on because I had to wade through the deep water to get home. It was such fun splashing about in the water though. It made Mango squeal with laughter and it put a huge smile on my face too. However, I didn't want little Mango to catch a cold, so as soon as we arrived back home to Clover Cottage I wrapped him up in a warm, fluffy towel and we both had a nice, hot mug of cocoa.

A very sad day for Sherbet

Today is 12th December 2011 and it is a very sad day for me. One year ago today I lost my very dear human friend Reg Clark. Reg helped me so much, he believed in me and watched me grow into the sheep I am today.  I am so blessed to have had him in my life. Reg loved the birds in his garden as I do. He loved to hear them sing, especially in the morning, he loved to feed them and to quietly watch them. Today I am holding one of my birds just for him. I miss him very much but he lives on in my heart. Thank you Reg for always being there for me.

A visit to Doodle's art studio

Today Pearl, Mango and I visited Doodle in his art studio. It was so exciting. He has so many interesting things to see there. He has tadpoles in a jar, painted stones, a book about frogs and a book about painting. The thing we loved best of all though was that he showed us how to paint a big pot. He said we should use our imagination and that there were no rules and we could paint anything we liked on it. Doodle painted big insects on his pot, I painted big spots on my pot, Pearl painted flowers on her pot and  Mango painted leaves on his pot. It was so much fun and we were all very proud of our lovely colourful pots . Doodle said we should all keep them in my garden and grow flowers in them.  We all thought that was a great idea. I am so proud to have a wonderful, creative friend like Doodle.

Sherbet is so tired after working in his garden

Oh I am so tired. I spent all morning weeding and planting new seeds in my garden. But how lovely to spend time sitting on my grass with my friends this afternoon. Pearl made daisy chains, Doodle spent his time drawing the frogs on the pond and Mango went to sleep under the oak tree. I just sat happily watching the birds in the sky and feeling the sun on my face, it reminded me of being on holiday again with my old friend Sheila Sheep. I miss her and wish she could be here now to enjoy this time with us. I am very grateful to have such good friends in my life .

Sherbet buys new salad seeds for his garden

It is nearly the weekend again. Today I will buy some new salad seeds from the garden shop and tomorrow I will plant some. I have lots of weeding to do too and then in the afternoon I will ask my dear friends to come to my garden to sit on the grass with me. How lovely to spend some quiet relaxing time with my best friends.

Fresh juice full of vitamins to keep us healthy

Today I still have the yummy memory of the tasty pie Pearl made us. I have given her lots more fresh fruit from my garden, pears from my pear tree and more apples from my apple tree and tomorrow she has invited us all to breakfast again and we will drink fresh juice full of vitamins to keep us healthy. Pearl is very wise and knows how to make very delicious, healthy meals from the fruit and vegetables in my garden. I am very lucky to have a friend like Pearl.

Happy Birthday to our lovely, creative human friend Barbara xx

Today is the 7th December. Happy Birthday to our lovely, creative human friend Barbara. Happy, happy birthday from all of us, Doodle, Pearl, Mango and of course me Sherbet. We are celebrating by sharing the delicious, blackberry and apple pie that Pearl made us. Barbara, we are sending you a special blessing and big hugs for your birthday. xxxx

Mango is a very kind mouse!

This morning Mango was a very kind mouse, he helped me to pick 6 lovely ripe, red apples from my tree. He was very brave because he climbed the tree and balanced on the branches to pick the apples . He threw them down to me,I caught them and then placed them gently into my basket, taking care not to bruise them. I did see that some apples had already fallen onto the grass but I decided to leave them for the little creatures in my garden to enjoy.




 Mango was very tired after picking the apples so I put him in my bicycle basket and we rode to Pearls cottage with the 6 juicy apples. Pearl will bake us all a special blackberry and apple pie this evening  Yummy! I can't wait. She has all the ingredients now. I am very thankful for Mango's kindness and his help in picking the apples.

Breakfast was just like a dream

Oh the breakfast was just like a dream. We all appreciated Pearl's jam . She told us that she also has some preserved blackberries  that she picked from Sherbet's fence a few months ago. I also  have some ripe apples on my tree and Mango will help me to pick them.

We will take the basket of apples to Pearl as she has offered to make us a very tasty blackberry and apple pie . We are all looking forward to sharing that too. It's such fun to share food with friends!!

Mango helps to pick some strawberries

Mango is helping me to pick some strawberries from my garden today and Pearl will make us all some delicious strawberry jam. I can't wait to taste it. We will all have a scrumptious breakfast together tomorrow with toast, butter and the jam that Pearl made with so much love. Yummy!

Sherbet waters his one pink rose

Well, here I am again in my garden. As I have been away I have lots of watering to do .. I don't think it has rained much in the last few days My one pink rose is wilting a bit but some lovely fresh water from my watering can will soon revive it.

Sherbet comes home from the seaside

Hello I am back safe and sound from the seaside. I had a wonderful time. I paddled in the sea and made sand castles. My face is now a bit pinker from the sun and I was a bit too warm in my woolly coat. I should have had my wool trimmed a bit before I left.

The slugs escape and Sherbet goes on holiday

The slugs have all escaped !! I can't find them anywhere . Pearl, Doodle, Mango and I have searched  the whole garden and there is no sign of them except one last nibble on my biggest and  best lettuce. Oh well, it's a blessing really as I don't  have to worry about raggedy lettuce leaves anymore. I am going away to the seaside to visit my old friend Sheila Sheep. I will be back on Friday so bye bye for now.

Sam the slippery slimy slug escapes

The slugs have settled nicely into their new box apart from one who I  have named Sam ( Doodle says I should call him slippery Sam!). He keeps escaping. I have just found him hiding among the autumn leaves in my wheelbarrow. He was not easy to find.






Mango Mouse offered to help me by climbing in and out of the lovely crunchy leaves until he found the naughty little slug. Mango was afraid to touch  Sam's slimy skin so I put my special gardening gloves on and plucked him out of the leaves. He was sent back home to his box just in time for his dinner. (Oh no not lettuce again!!).

Doodle makes a lovely big box for Sherbet's slugs

My clever friend Doodle has made me a lovely big box and has filled it with earth for me and put it in a far corner of my garden. Last night I collected all the slugs. I did get slime on my wool which was hard to wash off but I didn't mind as I was helping them to prepare  for their new home. I let them stay in a big bucket overnight making sure they had plenty to eat and this morning after transplanting some lettuce to their new box I put them in and they are so happy now. It feels so good to help the little creatures in my garden.

Pearl my wise friend gives me advice

 


My dear, wise friend Pearl has advised me to make a separate little lettuce patch especially for the slugs to live in. I will ask Doodle to construct me a special wooden box where the slugs can live happily with their very own lettuce.

Sherbet's Dilemma

 Oh dear, this morning  I am in a dilemma, my lettuce has raggedy edges, it has been invaded by slugs. Now as you all know I love all the little creatures in my garden even the slugs so what am I to do ? I cannot hurt them. I know,  I will ask Pearl she is very wise and will help me solve my problem ..

Introducing Sherbet's friends

Hello everyone. Welcome to my amazing garden. My name is Sherbet Sheep. You may have met me before but for those of you who haven't, then I am delighted to meet you, my new friend. Let me introduce you to my best friends. They love to help me in my garden and in my life too.

This is Doodle Dog. He is very creative, he loves to draw and paint. He makes wooden bird huts and other useful things for my garden.

This is Pearl Pig. She is very wise and understanding and she always gives me good advice. Pearl loves to cook the vegetables and fruit from my garden and also preserves them in jars .

This is Mango. He is a little shy but has a very kind heart. He loves to help me do any task in my garden. He lives in a beautiful red watering can.