Happy Valentine's Day

From C.A. Cupid

And Lizzie Hearts

And the Valentine's Day cards that I made for my daughters this year with the Cricut. My eldest loves Winnie the Pooh. I found a cute pattern that I think was supposed to be a cut-out, but I didn't want to deal with all of those little tiny pieces of paper. I discovered that you can tell your Cricut to use an ink pen to draw a pattern, instead of cutting the pieces out.

My youngest daughter is into cooking Asian food. She and Mr. BTEG buy pho by the large box from Costco. This pattern did have little pieces, but not as bad as Winnie. This turned out a little odd looking, partially because of my spacing issues and difficult gluing little tiny pieces, partially because the pieces didn't match up as well as they looked in the pattern (which was digital and didn't show an actual paper version.) 

 

I bought the Pooh pattern for $1.99, but I can now reuse it whenever I want. The pho pattern is subscription based, but I think since it's in my saved folders I can reuse it?? And my daughter will say it's pronounced "fu" and not "fo." And I will say, be grateful "fo" your Valentine's Day card. Happy Valentine's Day! :)
 

Chapter Five: A Letter

Addi and Sig started at the knock on Felicie's front door, but Felicie remained calm, at least outwardly. "It's probably someone coming by to get some of my produce or medicines," she said as she rose, and went to the front room of her cottage. Addi and Sig however, heard a tone of nervousness when she saw who was on her doorstep.

"Madame!* Welcome!"

"Isabel, please," said the visitor as she stepped into the cottage. "I'm passing through on my way to visit one of my friends. I wanted to take her a couple of your delicious jellies. I heard the berry crop was remarkably good this year."

"I'm honored. Please, take this comfortable seat here. It will only take a minute to get the jars out of my pantry."

This Isabel, however, did not sit, but followed Felicie into the kitchen. "Oh, forgive me, you have visitors already!" said the girl ingenuously.

"Yes. Madame de Corseul-Yverdia, meet my guests, Sigismund and Adolfina Jager. One of my friends from their area asked me to host them for a night. They're passing through," Felicie said firmly.

"Isabel, please," repeated the girl. "Titles are stuffy! Only my sister makes me use them."

Felicie rapidly moved to the pantry and returned with two glittering jars.

"Thank you, Felicie," said Isabel, laying some coins on the table. "My friend Rosamund will love these!"

"I hope she will," said Felicie, subtly trying to urge the princess towards the door.

"Oh, and I have a letter for you," Isabel added. "I imagine your postmistress was happy not to have to send someone out here. I hope you've enjoyed your stay here," she said to Sig and Addi. "Goodbye, Felicie!"

Felicie showed Isabel out, then returned and sat down with the letter. "You probably guessed that was Queen Eleanor's younger sister. She runs rather wild sometimes, but her sister spoils her. She's rather sharp, and oftentimes more curious than a princess should be."

"Rather coincidental, her visit," said Addi thoughtfully.

"Well, yes," said Felicie slowly. "I presume she was already passing this way, though, so perhaps... it's nothing."

"Let's hope so," said Sig cheerfully. "I hope your letter is good news. Should we leave while you read it?"

"Oh no," said Felicie. "I'm sure it's nothing important." She opened the letter and scanned over it quickly. "Hmm. Another coincidence. I wonder..."

"Is there something we can help with?" Sig asked after a minute or two.

"Well, you may as well know," said Felicie. "When my aunts fled this region, my eldest aunt moved to a quiet town named Beaumont, in the kingdom of Normandie. This letter is from her granddaughter, with whom I keep in touch. She's not part of the Marchen world, but she mentions in passing that there have been several break-ins in the capital city of Rouen, and she's worried, because the thieves have apparently moved on to the countryside. There's recently been a break-in at the summer home of the royal family, Roseraie."

Sig turned to Addi as she drew in her breath. "Roseraie has long been in the royal family of Normandie," Addi explained. "Supposedly, it was once a hiding place for one of the younger princes, who had been turned into... a beast."

Sig sighed. "I see. Felicie, do you know any Marchen who live there?"

"No, I only know my cousin. My aunt made the choice to leave the fairy life behind, for the safety of herself and her children. The truth is, my own fairy powers are rather limited. My mother worried about too much power leading to more evil. She only passed down some of her abilities to me."

"Louise might know someone," said Addi. "Ulfer clans try to stay in contact with at least the nearest clans in their regions."

"Hopefully she'll know someone to send to investigate, too," added Sig.

"Do you know, Sig, I think we ought to handle this ourselves," said Addi slowly.

Sig stared at his friend. He trusted her judgment, but he still felt his duty to point out that could possibly draw more attention to themselves than they wanted.

"More attention than you might know," said Felicie. "The current daughter of the king of Normandie is named Rosamund. She's likely to be the friend our inquisitive Isabel is going to visit, seeing as they're both royalty."

"That may make it all the important that it be you and I, Sig, that go."

"You know something, Addi," said Sig.

"No, I've guessed something. But I may very well be wrong. Do you trust me enough to draw possible attention to yourself, in the case that I am wrong? I imagine Louise can find someone else to accompany me."

"No, I've begun this, and I'll see it through. But I wish you could tell me what you suspect. You've always trusted me."

Addi sighed. "Let's get to Normandie and find out more about the situation. If we find what I think we will, I'll tell you what I'm thinking. We'd better get over to Louise's village and see if she knows a Marchen near Roseraie."



*Although the current story location is not in a unified France, it's obviously in an area of what today is France. I did some research on what princesses were called in French royalty, and my best guess is that Isabel's royal title would be "Madame de (her home kingdom.)  I'm taking a little license here, as the kingdom of France did not allow reigning Queens, as we see the Queen Eleanor is in this story. Therefore there really isn't precedence for what the younger unmarried sister of a reigning Queen would be called.

Chapter Four: Felicie's Secret

The sun shone with a gentle warmth as the three adventurers started up the low hill behind the village. The castle was only a couple of hills beyond, but even as the trio approached the base of that hill, no ruins were visible.

"It's still a real tangle of trees on this side," Felicie said as she pointed upwards. "On the other side, several of the trees have fallen, or died. The cold north wind is hard on that side in the winter" She turned to Addi. "Your cousin's village is only a short walk northwest from here."

"Now," Felicie said in a louder tone, "let me show you how to gather these rose hips."

Addi and Sig had already decided that Sig would make the first clandestine trip up to the old castle. Felicie was completely absorbed in her work, and Addi laughed at Felicie's surprise upon looking up and seeing Sig gone.

It took Sig longer to complete his investigation than Addi. Sig relied on his visual tracking skills, and his ability to blend into the trees and tall grasses. Addi's talents were her speed, and her enhanced sense of smell. Although her eyesight was also keen, Sig's years of training had made him almost as good as picking out the smallest details as Addi herself.

On Addi's return, she and Sig quietly made sure that they were ready to leave, and after a little more work with Felicie, they headed back to her cottage.

Sig glanced at Addi a few times as they made their over the gentle hills, wondering what she was thinking. The cozy village below them, and its bucolic peace, to Sig's eyes, was a comfortable contrast to the desolation he had seen at the ruins. The trees and vines, once set out to protect the castle, were now aiding in its destruction, and wove in and out of crumbled walls and empty windows with blank stares. Sig had actually been surprised to find the footprints of a human, probably a female, among the clusters of animal tracks. Still, he reasoned, it was probably just another botanist like Felicie, or at most, someone else curious about the place. Certainly its bleakness told of a time that had come and gone, leaving only faded emptiness.

Out of courtesy, and a lack of any important information, Sig gestured to Addi that she should speak first, once they were seated again at Felicie's table. Used to Addi's crisp, practical nature, Addi's first words to Felicie still hit him like a clap of thunder.

"Were you planning on telling us that you're a fairy?"

If Sig was startled, Felicie was completely calm. She even smiled. "You are as intelligent and observant as your cousin Louise said you were."

"But how did you figure that out?" Sig said.

"Partially by my senses, and partially, I admit, by guesswork, " Addi replied. "Beings who are born with magical gifts, like fairies, have a slightly different scent than unmagical mortals." Felicie nodded.

"So you could tell right away that she was magical, and you never told me," Sig said. "Did you not trust me?"

"Oh Sig, I trust you absolutely. But I didn't know, Felicie, what kind of being you were. For all the book learning that I've had, and stories that I've heard, I've not been able to travel and meet many others from the Marchen world before. I've come across witches, but they're simply normal humans, whose magic isn't innate. The mostly likely creature you could be was a fairy, especially since I knew for a fact that fairies did live here, but I decided to see what other clues I could pick up before I shared my knowledge. And then I discovered something further at the castle.

"One thing I have noticed, on the evilest witches I've met -- do you remember Beru, Sig? -- was a hint of sulfur. And there was a stronger odor of sulfur at the ruins today, especially strong along the path of those human, or seemingly human, footprints we saw."

Sig was pleased that Addi took it for granted that he too had noticed the signs that any creatures but animals had been there recently. "So whoever walked through there was someone else who has embraced evil. And you could tell it was someone magical."

"Yes. And the underlying scent was very similar to Felicie's. After that, it was a guess, but an informed one." Addi turned to Felicie. "That last fairy that lived on here, that helped rescue Princess Constance. That was..."

"My mother," Felicie said. "She told me her story, and brought me up to work with the other Marchen in this area, like your cousins, to be on watch for any new evil that might arise. I didn't want to tell you I was a fairy, Addi, because I wanted to see what evidence you could discover on your own. Your cousins got close enough that night to sense the presence of evil, but they didn't want to draw attention to their whole village by doing a deeper investigation. A magical being might even recognize them as Ulfer in their wolf forms. You and Sig knew enough about our world to investigate, without drawing attention to anyone here as a Marchen."

"Except you," said Sig.

"Well yes, an evil fairy could probably tell right away that I'm another fairy," said Felicie with a sad smile. "But we couldn't trust a non-Marchen with the story either. Better to put me alone at risk than an entire village of Ulfer."

"You said another fairy could *probably* tell," said Sig. "Do you not know for sure?"

But before Felicie could answer, there was a knock at her front door.

Chapter Three: Planning and Plotting

Sig was relieved the next morning to see that Addi was not as uneasy and worried as she had been the evening before. It didn't seem to be particularly like her, though, to seem so relaxed in the face of the uncertainty about this situation.

"You look very well-rested," Sig ventured.

"I got some good ideas from some of the things that you said last night. I've got a plan laid out," Addi replied with a smile.

"So you're the brains, and I'm the brawn?" Sig flexed his arm teasingly, but didn't press Addi to reveal her thoughts. Observing her at the site of the chateau remains would tell him much more about the way that her mind was working. He put the issue aside to concentrate on eating the hearty breakfast with which their hostess had provided them.

"I do need to tell you one thing before we start out," said Felicie. "We are going to have to be very cautious in our exploration. Our Queen, Eleanor, has declared it illegal to explore or excavate at the chateau ruins. Fortunately, we have an excuse to at least be on the hill on which the remains sit. There is a type of wild rose, called la rose epineux, that grows very thickly on the hillside. You might have seen the plant for yourself in my gardens when you arrived yesterday. I grow vegetables and herbs to eat and to sell, but I also grow plants for medicinal and health uses. Rose hips from that strain are full of vitamins and make a good tea. As the best time of year to gather them has just begun, it's a perfect cover to be on La Colline Chateau, although not up to the top height. I think Queen Eleanor would forbid her subjects from being near the area at all, except that the roses seem to thrive there more than any other part of this region. I have hard work to maintain the few bushes that I have in my garden." Felicie stopped herself here from getting into a discussion of soil and drainage issues.

Addi was more interested in Queen Eleanor's attitude. Addi's own work was preserving these time-worn stories of magical beings and happy endings, or not. She always found fascinating how the outside world saw her life's occupation. "Why are the ruins forbidden to explore? Are they unstable, unsafe?"

"Your cousins say no." Felicie folded her hands on the table. "There has always been interest in the place, to varying degrees. Sometimes people seek to visit looking for ghosts or hidden treasure, sometimes it is only an object of curiosity at the center of a quaint fairy story. But Queen Eleanor dislikes having the old story even mentioned at all, so the Chateau Corseul is forbidden to be spoken about, much less viewed. The Queen gives off the impression that she finds the old tales a slur to her royal lineage, reading between the lines of what I've heard her say." Felicie shrugged. "Well, of course, there are some versions of The Sleeping Princess that aren't really suitable for wholesome children's tales," she added wryly.

"You're the resident authority on this story, then," Addi said.

"Yes, I've always had an interest in it, perhaps because I've been gathering roses there since I was a little girl. And speaking of roses, we should get started." Felicie turned to Addi. "We'll start by doing some actual work with the flowers, and then you and Sig should be able to do some surreptitious exploration on your own. I hope we'll find something. Your cousin Louise seemed certain that you would."

"I've always found my cousin's ideas good," said Addi. "I think we'll definitely learn something today."
*****************************************************************************
Two notes:
1. I had a hard time with this chapter. I was going to add the castle exploration here, but decided that would make the chapter too long; however, that left me with exposition and very little action, and so I wrote and re-wrote a lot to still move the story along.

2. For the time being, I've given up on having the proper accent marks on French and other languages' words, because I can't get the formatting right. If you have any tips on how to do this with Blogger, let me know. I might do my own experimentation as well, but in the meantime, no accent marks.

Chapter Two: A Sleeping Princess

After a journey of almost two days, Addi and Sig reached the village of Bois de Bruyére, just as the sun was beginning to set over low, rolling hills. The cottage to which Addi's cousin had directed them, was within sight of the large village itself, just beyond a bordering river filled with rushing, white-capped waves over a rocky bed. Unlike many of the straggling row of cottages further on, the house they approached showed no signs of having a busy farmyard, but there was a large, stone-walled garden behind, and a smaller garden adjoining the side facing the river.

A young woman named Félicie, lone occupant of the cottage, greeted her guests warmly, providing them with a water jug and basin for a quick wash after their journey. She then sat down with them for a simple but filling supper, including some very refreshing cider, which Félicie informed them was brewed by a woman right in that village.

Félicie had a open, honest face and warm eyes, and the cozy surroundings and calm atmosphere were relaxing after the rushed journey. Addi, however, was also hungry for information. For the past three days, her brain had run over and over the little information she had, and she was desperate to get her mind out of its tired groove, with fresh knowledge to mull over. So after a few bites of the meal and a compliment on the cider, Addi turned frankly to their hostess.

"I know a simple version of the what happened here, since it's part of Märchen lore. But I want to hear it from your point of view, as someone living here. I want to hear the history, not just a simple fairy tale. And I need to know why we were called here, and what we might be looking for tomorrow."

Félicie smiled. Addi was very different from the few members she knew of Addi's nearby related pack, but
Félicie had already been wondering how she could ferret out what these two strangers knew without insulting their guidance or tutelage. So lightly waving away a gentle protest from Sig to let their hostess eat, Félicie settled down to an explanation.

"I suppose you've been told that this village lies in the kingdom of Corseul-Lignon. But hundreds of years ago, the kingdom of Corseul stood alone, and just south of this village, at the crest of the hill, stood the château of the reigning king and queen. When this story starts, there was much concern on the part of then King Hugh and his wife Queen Adelaide, for they were childless. They feared for their kingdom if they died without a direct heir, for Queen Adelaide had a brother, Duke Robert of Mauvais, who Queen Adelaide feared would try to usurp the throne over King Hugh's cousin Ranulf, who ruled the neighboring country of Lignon and had a better right to a throne of his own flesh and blood. There was much rejoicing among King, Queen and subjects then when at last Queen Adelaide gave birth to a baby girl. Due to the kingdom's Salic law, the princess, whom they named Constance, could not inherit the throne herself, but she was instead almost immediately betrothed to her second cousin Raymond, oldest son of King Ranulf, in hopes that they would rule together over newly combined kingdoms.

"The proud parents planned an enormous banquet in honor of the princess' christening, and there were indeed twelve good fairies invited." Félicie paused. "You don't have many fairies left in your part of the world, do you?"

"Not good ones," said Sig dryly.

"You probably know," Félicie moved on, "that fairies have the gift of bestowing both blessings and curses onto mortals. Their magic is always strongest, however, the younger the recepient is, which is partly why fairies were so favored as godmothers

"When the big day arrived, so did the twelve good fairies. But an evil fairy intruded, and cursed the innocent princess to death on her sixteenth birthday. Stories have been told about gold plates and whatnot, but it's more likely that the evil fairy was in the pay of Duke Robert, who was seeing his plans of stealing his brother-in-law's throne dashed.

"The last fairy did manage to save Princess Constance's life, but her parents were still heartbroken when the princess fell into the magical slumber on her sixteenth birthday due to an enchanted spindle. The King and Queen almost immediately abondoned their château, after being reassured by that last fairy that she would take measures to protect their precious daughter until her curse could be ended. Almost overnight, an almost inpenetrably thick forest of large trees and thorny vines grew up around the abandoned home. The King passed his kingdom to his cousin, the evil Duke Robert dying before he could try to carry out his plans. Ranulf died shortly after the kingdoms were united, and Raymond became king. In due time, Raymond's son become king, and had his own son, Theodoric.

"Meanwhile, twelve of the thirteen fairies had fled the region, after the people of the realm decided angrily that the blessings of good magic were not an acceptable bargain for the curses of evil that attacked the good. The twelfth good fairy stayed on for many decades, after disguising herself, to enable the breaking of the sleeping spell she had been forced to give. She used magic to secretly enter Prince Theodoric's nursery, and gave him the gift of being the one to break the sleeping curse. She then later obtained a post as Theodoric's nursery governess, secretly telling him often of the story of the sleeping princess, and that someday, a prince would receive a sword on his eighteenth birthday that would enable him to break the magic barriers around her chamber, and awaken the princess with a kiss."

"I think I can guess what happened next," Addi broke in. "The fairy made sure Theodoric got the sword on his birthday, and he found the castle and managed to awaken Princess Constance."

Félicie blinked. "Well, yes, that is the ending to our fairy story. Of course, there was a bit of an uproar, to say the least, when Prince Theodoric showed up with a princess no one had heard of except perhaps in an old woman's tale. Theodoric was adament, however, and poor Constance found stability in her frightening new world in him, for he did have a family resemblance to her previously betrothed, Raymond. So they got their way, after much argument and after a few proofs were produced: a few things Constance brought with her from her former home, and a few things found in her parents' last abode. Theodoric and Constance did live very happily together as King and Queen, and after a change in the laws, their too-many-greats-to-count-granddaughter rules Corseul-Lignon today."

"But what could possibly be left that someone would want to poke around ruins from centuries ago looking for!" exclaimed a perplexed Addi. "Once the spindle produced its curse, its magic would be gone, wouldn't it?" Addi looked at Félicie for affirmation. "Prince Theodoric *must* have taken that sword back with him. And even if someone was insane enough to dream of finding some sort of clues now, that Constance's story wasn't real, would her subjects want to overthrow a current queen whose ancestors have been established on the throne for many generations behind her?"

"There's too much to guess," said Sig quietly. "Maybe somebody thinks there's a spindle there that still has magic, or that the sword is still there." Then he laughed. "Or maybe somebody is looking for those mythical golden plates you talked about, Félicie." He turned to Addi, who he could tell was oddly troubled by a sensed undercurrent of danger, with nothing visible on the surface. "If our mystery visitor left any kind of a presence or trail behind, you can find it better than anyone. And we can track anything together. Get a good night's sleep, Schwesterlein. Tomorrow we hunt."

Happy Valentine's Day

Farrah Lily reminded me that I have the perfect doll to feature for Valentine's Day: C.A. Cupid from Ever After High. Why she didn't occur to me on my own, I don't know! As the daughter of Cupid, she's all about true love and happily ever after endings. The outfit she's wearing is from a webisode called Heart Struck, where she has to clean up after a bunch of her arrows go astray and create some mixed-up feelings of love. She is so delightfully over the top in her ornate decorations and hearts motif.

Happy Valentine's Day!

Changes at TRU for 2017

I ran out to my local TRU a few days ago, to get the EAH Birthday Ball Cupid and Duchess to go with my Birthday Ball Blondie. It became imperative to get them, after I saw that Target is now starting to stock the same version of these dolls, only without wrist articulation. Now that the less articulated dolls are out, I don't feel safe buying the dolls on Amazon anymore, either. So it was off to TRU to get the original versions. I bought the last Duchess at my store, and there were only a few Cupids left. As with Blondie, I'm pleased with the dolls for what they are. They have all the EAH articulation, plus their hair is very soft and not too thin, and their clothes and accessories have some level of detail.

I thought TRU was only going to be going to be carrying the Wellie Wishers dolls, but it seems a good bit of my TRU has changed into an American Girl Place, at least for the modern AG girls! I feel perhaps TRU and Mattel are both feeling a bit of a financial pinch since they seem to be trying to milk the AG brand for all that it's worth. I'll admit that it was neat to see all this stuff in person, and I do like the two American Girl dolls that I have. This set-up at TRU makes me wonder if the historical dolls might be on the way out completely, although I have no concrete reason to believe that. I will admit that the latest historical doll release, Melody, seems to have been hugely popular, and Felicity is also making a return. Still, I've also heard AG is releasing a modern doll for Felicity's line as well. She is the character who will go back to Felicity's time for the "choose your own" adventure style book that other historical girl dolls have. I'm not the target market for these dolls, however, so whatever happens, happens for the American Girl line.

The display case model scheme was also carried into the Barbie aisle, which was just past the aisle that looks like a mini Claire's store. The actual Claire's store that was only a few minutes away from where I live, went out of business a few months back. But that's neither here nor there. Let's look at the Barbie aisle.

I guess you could also call this aisle the Mattel doll aisle, since as you can see, Monster High and Ever After High dolls are on the back left side of this section. People may not like the changes that are being made to Monster High, but I wish EAH was getting as much attention paid to its line as MH is getting. I can only assume the interest in EAH is just not as strong.

I didn't have time or energy to check out the rest of the doll sections, although I'm wondering now what they look like. I'm sure Hasbro has a pretty decent section with all the Disney dolls, except for Moana, who has her own large area near the front of TRU, since her movie just came out. I'm sure I can find an excuse to go to TRU sometime soon to find out. :)