toadstooltales

Friday,and one more day in what has been a much more constructive week. I saw the doctor on Thursday, and the Faery Physio on Tuesday, so between the two of them, I feel my leg injury advanced a pace or two. The Physio gave me ten exercises,and showed me how to move on one crutch rather than two. She feels I should be leading a much more normal life in three weeks. Jubilation C. Scroat,my trusted alchemist, was also very positive, but administered a verbal scolding to me for not setting up a more manageable pain regime.He has given me some sturdy painkillers and told me to take them regularly. I must also walk more,and put my foot down as normally as possible. The painkillers should help with that.
So I am feeling a lot happier. This was enhanced further today by a much needed visit to Melissander ,my Hair Technician. She filled me full of acorn decaff. and took care of my long dark red locks and I emerged in a couple of hours,like a butterly from the chrysalis. I was treated very well by her ,and her assistants,as she combed,and weaved my tresses into place..

I'm home now,and awaiting the arrival of Pendragon on the tram,back from his labours. He has forbidden me from entering the kitchen and has promised to make me a lovely meal tonight. I so love our weekends together. Maybe this weekend we will get out for a little run in the car,and have a coffee together somewhere swanky in the country. I am feeling so much better, my spirits have been raised as I get better, and I am very anxious to get on with our lives.
In the outside world today,as I journeyed to the Hair Technician, I noted how beautiful everything looked around me,whether in the town or countryside. The town is preparing itself for the winter celebrations,and Yuletide. Mercantiles look sparkly, their windows full of Yuletide gifts.Shoppers bustle around,noses pressed to windows,or bags full on either arm. Maybe in the next two weeks I'll be able to get out there and join them. I love the Yuletide celebrations,the seasonal feasting and fun.
The weather is changing though,with snow in some parts,and plenty of rain everywhere.It is cold,but fresh outside,and I really enjoyed wrapping up today to meet the challenges of Dingley Dell climes. It was just so great to be out and about at last.

Dilly Gumm came yesterday to do her Thursday clean,and was her usual efficient self. She changed sheets, put a washing on for me and washed all the wood floors in the toadstool. so busy,but I did notice she wasn't her usual perky little self. She had a sombre air about her,and would have sat throughout our eleven o'clock cuppa without talking at all if I had not encouraged her to tell me what was on her mind. At first I thought maybe she was unhappy about her work for me,and did not wish to say,but it emanated that it was family worries which were pre-occupying her. Her husband Bolsover had told her on Wednesday that there were going to be some staff cutbacks at the Metropolis Infirmary by January. He had not been told it would be him,but was simply preparing her in case the axe should fall in their family direction. She was genuinely worried. Neither of them were earning large amounts of geld per month,,and they needed both wages to keep their growing brood in necessities. She might have to take on a night job she said if Bolsover lost his place. I really felt for her. Life was never easy for Dilly. She just survived one difficult time after another. She was not a woman who was jealous of others' success either, she just wanted enough to be able to keep everything going. I said what I could to soften her worries, but it all felt a little hollow coming from someone like me who did not really have to rely on her own efforts to secure a decent meal every night.
I must talk to Pendragon tonight about this. He may have some insider knowledge about what is happening at the hospital. Maybe he will agree to keeping Dilly on here for a few months longer than we had intended. That should help to some degree.
She is such a lovely person, I hope life on this occasion will be kinder to her.

The garden is hopelessly wet tonight. The Backyard Boys looked shiny and clean sitting out there,washed dirt free with the last plout. Mandolini cuts a steady figure by the Sun Room door,watching everything that happens in our Backyard plot. Pianolo,Verde and Basso Profundo have their own positions at various parts of the garden from which to monitor the comings and goings of garden predators and garden friends alike. The plants are in various stages from desolation to burgeoning leaves. I mean to weed and plant this weekend regardless of crutches or precipitation. The garden needs me now.

Happy shopping to you all,my dear friends, and may your thermal underpinnings keep your tidy bits warm and glowing throughout the winter.
Rejoice in the coming seasonal celebrations,and let that joy be shared with all.
From Amarantha Willow, sweet pea of Lobelia Drive, known to all as the Rainbow Faery.

Thursday, and I was just putting the finishing touches to my hair when the doorbell called out with a shrill ring that Dilly Gumm was on the doorstep. I hobbled to the door as best I could and there she stood,with a brown fur hat perched over her plaits, a warm woolly brown cape over her shoulders, and her little brownie legs encased in some thigh high- yes,you've guessed - brown boots.
I welcomed her with a smile. She transferred the brownie legs into her black felt carpet slippers in the hallway, and headed for the kitchen cupboard below the sink. I watched her gathering stocks of cleaning materials ready for the off, and felt if I was going to intervene with my take on the morning's activities, then I would have to do it now.

"I would love you to be able to help me with the upstairs' beds" I said,pleading with another smile." The sheets really need changing."
She looked at me a little daunted from her obvious alternative plan,but nodded and agreed that that might be a good place to start. I felt quite good about myself once she had headed for the bedrooms as the beds really did need done,but I also felt I had made a slight endeavour to be the mistress in my own home,and just a little in charge of my new home help.
I heard her warbling from the top floor, happy in her work. I had some letters to write so made merry with them while she moved from room to room, taking in bedrooms and the bathroom with the same apparent gusto.

On the stroke of eleven,as Wally paraded around the front of our cuckoo clock, she descended the stairs,and bustled into view, calling "elevense, Mrs. Willow ? We can't have you wasting away. "

I laughed, not quite sure whether she was joking or not, but certainly was in the mood for a hot cup of decaffeinated something and one or two of the marsmallow fondant fancies lurking in the cakebox.
Dilly found everything without my help,and I urged her to join me when she appeared with the snacks in hand. She perched herself on the end of our corner suite and helped herself to a tea and a bun.

"You are doing great work, Dilly," I said. I can't thank you enough". She blushed shyly,and gulped another mouthful of tea.
"I'm pleased to help, Mrs. W. ",she said.

"How do you manage all of this ?" I asked and keep your family going ,too."

At the mention of family her little black beady ones lit up(as I knew they would )and she began to talk in earnest. Tales of Gilletto at school,and his interminable desire to avoid his homework- Wearianna's friends, and her dancing classes,and how much she hates wearing her eyesight savers- Blossombelle's great beauty,her love for her DaDa, their walks in the country, and how much she and Bolsover want them all to do well.
I didn't need to say another word. She talked on and I listened. She was a joy to listen to, her merry voice, her love for her family shining through. This quaint wee person had the biggest heart in the whole world. She said nothing of herself or where her own aspirations in life might lie no, - her life seemed to be all about those she so clearly loves.
She stopped herself eventually, eying the clock and saying "I really must get on, Mrs. W.., there's the stair to do and the kitchen, and I fancy you'll need a bowl of soup before I go. Mr. Willow won't want you living on nothing but marshmallow fancies...... "
But her tiny heels clicked together in a small demonstration of inner joy as she rose to get on.
wally was doing his noon time dance from his cuckoo clock home when she waved me a big goodbye wave and scuttled off down the path.
The toadstool felt strangely quiet after she had gone. I was missing her merry prattle already. She made these long mornings on crutches go by very much more quickly, even though I noticed that I had not done much work. I would save that for the afternoon .

I hoped Dilly would not always have to work so hard but knew that somehow her working days had contributed to making her the fine person she was. I liked her, and hoped in some small way she was not finding working with Mrs. W. too onerous a task.

It's cold outside, really cold, and wet and windy too, my dear friends. Heat the soup,bake the bread, then toast your worn out tootsies close to the hearth, while your home made supper warms your insides.
Love and good wishes to all from Amarantha Willow, the Rainbow Faery.

Pendragon was ever so pleased to find out that Dilly Gumm had called and that I felt she had done a whizz up job. He had only spoken with her briefly on the woodland phone,but had warmed to her no nonsense approach. He did not know her personally,but spoke most days to her husband Bolsover Gumm who was Head Gardener and Handyman at Metropolis Infirmary,where Pendi does some of his work. He described Bolsover as very quiet,a man of few words in fact, but who made them count when he did speak. He mended and fixed things all the time,and was happy in his work. He always had a cheery word for Pendragon whenever he met him,and some timely garden advice.
"Don't forget the rhododendrons, Dr. Willow" he'll say." A bit of a trim now, and be packing away those carrots before the frost. "
Pendragon will just smile and move on his way,but does appreciate the trouble taken.
He feels they are a happy if none too wealthy little family,with Dilly and Bolsover working double hours to keep the geld rolling in for neccessities for their growing brood.
They have three children, two of them into teenage years and a little'un,just sprouting towards school times.
Gilletto their eldest son has fourteen brownie years, Wearianna Gumm has 12 brownie seasons and their brownie baby,BlossomBelle has seen four and a half summers come and go.
No doubt they are all lots of work for Dilly,and to be sure when she visited on Monday she didn't look like she had much time to spend on herself. She cut a strange figure,small with grey wispy hair,two plaits rolled up on either side of her head like woolly headphones. A peculiar mixture of fastidious habits and dowdy appearance. The main impression of her that I carried away was of brownness. Brown tunic,brown skirt, brown paisley scarf. Brown demeanour. You could have been forgiven for thinking she had just emerged from the hedgerow,and washed everything with a used teabag. Her sepia wraparound apron was covered by her chocolate covered cardi, worn at the elbows and fastened at the neck by a large bronze safety pin. Her long tan socks were turned down and melted into an overlarge pair of black felt carpet slippers. Any visible colour other than brown, somehow faded into the background , overwhelmed by the unanimous feeling of brown completeness surrounding her.
It would be hard to determine how young or old Dilly was as brownies always carry an air of wrinkle about them,even from birth. But her attitude to life and work superceded that ,and when she left our home, it felt like we had been visited by a spring will o'the wisp.
I can't wait to get to know her better,although methinks I may also learn a few things about myself in the process.

Lots of love to you,my dear friends,and may all your troubles be removed with a flash of scouring powder.
From Amarantha Willow, the Rainbow Faery, from number five Lobelia Drive.

Dillititmay Gumm came to call today.

I wasn't expecting her, she just came. At 9.30 am, as Wally our cuckoo was just skipping back into his cuckoo clock apartment, the bell rang. You can imagine my dilemma. I am still in, pale green dressing gown, carpet slippers, hair running amok,and barely erect on my crutches, when the bell rings. Do I ignore it ? Do I try to catch the attention of the caller with a wave of my crutches through the window, or just hope the waiting visitor will hang on till i get there.
The bell rang again rather more urgently, indicating that my caller had no intention of waiting any longer than they had to. I stumbled to the door,only opening it partly and squinting round the white door edge.
There she stood. A vision of wrinkled brow and bundled up clothes on my door step. Four feet nothing of ardent determination. Dillititmay Gumm................

"Mr .Willow asked me to call",she said. "He said there were things needed doing, and you can't do them."
She looked at me as though it might always have been obvious that I was a little wanting in the "doing" department.
"I've had an accident," I said, not quite sure why I was explaining myself. Pendragon had vaguely mentioned that he could engage someone to give me a hand around the house for a few weeks, but had neglected to say he had engaged someone. he had particularly forgotten to say he had engaged someone of the Gumm variety.
The cold blast from the morning haar was wafting round both of us,so I had no alternative but to put aside any feelings of peak and invite Dillititmay inside.
Her small beady ones were taking in everything in our modern lounge,the beautiful leather corner suite,our huge oaken coffee table, the plants,the flowers........unfortunatley they were also alighting on the rolled up newspapers, the untidy pile of cushions, today's breakfast dishes, and some of Pendragon's shirts awaiting washing. I felt embarrassed and my face showed it.
Dillititmay seized the uncomfortable moment and offered to make us both a cup of tea. I was feeling slightly weepy at being found in such a pickle on a Monday morning,and meekly mumbled "that will be lovely".
I flopped down on the leather settee and within minutes she returned with our best wooden tray laden with two cups and saucers, milk, the large white teapot, and some almond jammy biscuits. I smiled wanly and let her pour. The hot tea really hit the spot and I smiled gratefully over to her, as I chose the most almondy and jammy biscuit I could find.
"I'm Dillititmay Gumm",she said. "Mrs. Gumm,if you like.I'm a woman that does. I've met Mr. Willow, and he's given me a list of things you might want done. I can do other things ,of course, if you'd prefer, but I'm here for two hours, Mondays and Thursdays, so you can decide what most wants doing. Mr. Willow said you'd have a mind of your own, and might find it difficult letting someone else do, but I'm sure we can come to some arrangement,and get along quite nicely,thank you."
I was a bit mesmerised by this plain speaking from Dillititmay,and quietly mumbled" ."yes, I'm sure we can ."

With that, she upped and gathered in all the teaware,bundled everything back on the tray,and hit the kitchen. She did not return immediately to ask what I wanted doing,but judging by the noise and clatter
emanating from the sink area she had found plenty to occupy herself. I watched her as she washed and dried the earthenware,cleaned the kitchen floor, tidied away the loosely scattered utensils and flashed around the lounge chasing the hoover. On at least two occasions I saw Wally peeping out from his cuckoo clock base to marvel at this scene of dust demolition. She dusted, she sorted, she primped my cushions better than they have ever been primped before, and order gradually returned to my little toadstool haven.
"I'll be doing in the bedrooms ", she said, and I'll muck out your bathroom too."
I felt slightly miffed that she thought the bathroom needed mucking out. We were not living in a byre,and even Pendragon's careless handling of the soap and towels on occasion, hardly amounted to the room requiring a blitz.
But I already had sensed that taking umbrage at every remark might not be the way forward with Dillititmay Gumm. I felt she was a woman who needed to be needed. She probably felt she was coming to our rescue, and was determined to raise us up from the sinking ship.
She didn't take long to "do" upstairs. Her shrill voice started to warble as she sped to and fro restoring order to our sleeping quarters and bathing room.
"So Dilly sings" , I mused. I had somewhat taken root on the settee so as not to get in her way. But my spirits rose as she busied herself in her chores.
She re-emerged ten minutes later with a look of satisfaction,put her dusters and other tools back in the kitchen cupboard,and said "I'll heat you some soup, Mrs. Willow, and then I'll be on my way."

What, lunch as well. My heart skipped a beat. This little treasure was even going to make me lunch.
I smiled and said thank you.
"Then you might want to have a bath,madam," she said, you can't sit around in your dressing gown all day."

I did not know whether to smile or get mad. Clearly Dilly was going to be the world's best home organiser, but the price I would have to pay would be to accept a few of Dilly's well-placed home truths.
I decided to smile . Dillititmay Gumm was a much needed help right now,of the highest order, and for that biting my own tongue occasionally might be required.

She said a cheery goodbye as I supped a bowl of hearty pea and lentil broth. Where did Pendragon find her ? What was Dillititmay's story ? I had to find out. For now I just looked around our Flowerpot Cottage,spick and span thanks to the efforts of Dilly ,our woman that does.

Hoping your own houses are in the most perfect of order, and your own hearts are lightened by the efforts of those around you. More talk of Dilly on the morrow.
From Amarantha Willow,the Rainbow Faery.

It is taking me such a long time just to do the basic necessities everyday(washing,combing, dressing) that time for other activities has not been exactly extensive. I am now practising the art of crutch walking as well so patience is having to become a newly restored virtue.

I got a call from Portamus Cumberpatch yesterday,he being the editor of the Daily Scandal. He has quite naturally been anxious as I have now missed two editorial meetings for the Arts and Entertainment column, thanks to my untimely accident.In my absence thay have had to resort to using a backlog of material ,hitherto unused.He does realsise that my injury could take some time to heal,and was keen to reassure me of my continuing place at the Scandal, and to offer me an interim solution. UThe rest of the Team would do the footwork, carry out the interviews(good practise for 'em, me dear )and they would supply me with enough material to do a leader article for the column each week, until I am better.

"It's important", he said, "that the column still retains the essence of Amarantha. Warm, a little bit satirical, a little bit naughty."

I should have blushed, but it was good to feel I am still considered more than a gammy leg.

I felt so much brighter after his call. Cub reporter Carflax Prattle would be my link to the Scandal for the next few weeks. I have only met Carfax once at the Daily Scandal but know him to be bright and conscientious.
So I lie sleepily, listening to the woodland radioand waiting for Pendi to return from the Mail Slot with his used parchment trawl.

We will have a quiet weekend.
Pendi will cook, and I will encourage im with lots of hugs and sweet nothings. I may be able to walk into the Sun Room with care, to check out the back garden and the Backyard Boys. There is much to do there in these cold months, to clear the pots and plant a few dozen bulbs. everything is beginnig to dress with its winter weeds, turning from brown and orange to stark and leafless.November will bring the first signs of frost and snow,and the old romantic seasonal celebrations will follow fast.
I hope to be toddling better by the time we pot our festive tree, and almost back to my old ground breaking ways.
I am going to try to work out how I can do some "sit-down" ironing this weekend, and may persuade Pendi. to make me some of my favourite apple and peach charlottes.

In truth sometimes when trouble besets, we have a glimpse of what is truly important in our lives.
Right now I never felt more loved.

Get out this weekend, my friends, and see the changing beauties of this world. Walk and talk with those you love. Waste not a moment wondering why. Just Do and Be.

Much Love to you all,from Amarantha Willow, the Peg- Leg Rainbow Faery.

Saturday morning, and Pendragon is home. I am lying rather gracefully in our four poster oaken bed,in a pastel green nightie, while the sun streams through our first storey bedroom window. it looks like it might be about to be a fine day. I have only been able to watch the weather recently through this window, due to my injury. I've felt the occasional rush of cold when Pendi has opened the front door,but in the main worsening climes have failed to touch or move me.
Pendragon brought me an acorn tea at 8.30, and a rather lavish bowl of muesli with berries. I am being so well looked after. For the last three weeks Pendi has worked in Metropolis by day, then come home to look after me, the Toadstool, the shopping, the garden and done it all with a smile.
Today he is going to extend his remit further by doing a used parchment run for me, at the Ladies of Mercy Charity Shop, and at the Faeries' Fancy Bookshop.He beamed when I asked him and is presently pulling on his wild and wooly Beanie and stout jacket to venture out on this mission. I trust him. No doubt he will make some interesting purchases. I am a little excited to see what he will buy.

This will keep me busy as I endeavour to keep my little online business topped up.
it is very strange not to be working properly. I am usually so busy running here and there, a regular little multi-tasking elven go-getter. My leg is healing,but slowly, and I am stil spending lots of time resting with it elevated.
I am occupying myself with my favourite pastimes - reading,knitting and writing.

I hate doing nothing. Time is for doing.

More tomorrow dear friends, from the bedside of Amarantha Willow, the Rainbow Faery.