Learning Journey!

Yesterday we had our class excursion! Let me share some of my pictures with you. Here I am on the bus with one of my best friends, Kirthi! The bus was huge, because it had to carry our whole class and two grownups -- our form teacher and my Mom!

Can you guess where we're going?

Yup! The National Orchid Garden at the Botanic Gardens!

Here we are walking through orchid-covered arches into the garden.

See how tall the palms are?

Here we are in front of some fountain.

Here we are walking a very long bridge to get to the Cool House. It is so nice to be surrounded by so much nature.

Here we are outside the Cool House. Our teacher is explaining what the Cool House is. The Cool House shows what it's like in a tropical mountain forest. There are lots of orchids here, and carnivorous plants from all over the world too! The air here is cool (I think my teacher said it's 20 degrees), and there is a heavy mist which got us all damp.

Isn't this orchid wonderful! Like something from another planet.

And here you can see us getting wet in the mist.

Of course, because this was a "Learning Journey", we had to do some work. We all had worksheets we had to fill out along the way. Here I am writing about the orchids I liked the most.

I don't know why I am glowing here.

Here I am in front of some Vanda Miss Joaquim.

Finally we got to have our snack time. A lot of us were quite tired and hungry by this time. Here I am snacking with two of my good friends, Harmony and Emma. We are sitting in a colonial bungalow.

Before we left the Gardens, our teacher said we could play for awhile in the field. Here we are looking at it. Our teacher is telling us how far we're allowed to go.

And here we are playing Duck Duck Goose! For some reason, there are people who actually want to be Goose.

Harmony, Emma and I played some jump rope.

And here we are back in class. We had been at the Gardens the whole afternoon, so we just had about an hour of school left. Our teacher wanted us to go over our worksheets. What a fun day!

Now, I will show you some of the beautiful plants and flowers we saw. Actually, there are thousands of species and hybrids in the Gardens, so this is just a small handful. I hope you like them!

Competition Time!
To get a special mention in my blog, just leave a comment with the correct answer to any of the questions here!
1) Which orchid is your favourite?
2) Have you been here before? Do you plan to?

My Sylvanian Chronicles

Let's see what's happening up on the roof garden today! As you can see, the Sylvanian mommies are having a nice chat while looking after the babies. Mrs Reindeer was just explaining that reindeer are sometimes carnivorous. She said she had tried lemming and fish pie before, which her cousin in Norway had sent her. She said it was quite good.

Mrs Siamese Cat is agreeing enthusiastically. She is trying to get baby Ella to nap. Mrs Kangaroo is looking a little anxious because she thinks her joey is about the size of a lemming. But the Sylvanians really do try not to eat each other. In the background you can see Mr Owl giving Melody Monkey her piano lesson. She has not been practising, so Mr Owl is saying "No dessert for you!"

Here at the trellis wall Nora Raccoon and Lulu Deer are having tea. Lulu is describing the Kids' Club marshmallow eating contest which she hopes to win. Earlier, she had told Nora that deer have a special stomach that lets them eat poison ivy. She think she might do well at the marshmallow eating contest because of her four-chambered stomach which helps her eat things quickly. Nora Raccoon is saying she hates the green-coloured marshmallows.

See you again soon!

Kipper

Hi there! How are you? I hope you have been having a super week! Well, I've already introduced you to my cats, so today I thought I would introduce you to my doggie Kipper!

Can you tell what kind of dog she is? Yes! She is a West Highland White Terrier. People like to call them Westies for short. They are called Westies because they are a breed of dog from the west coast of Scotland. They are working dogs and were bred to hunt foxes, badgers, otters, and other vermin. They are medium-sized, and have a white double coat of fur, which means they have a soft, thick undercoat, and a rough outer coat.

Kipper is four years old, which my Mom says is about 32 in human years. We rescued her from being put down when she was just three months old. When we first brought her home, she was so tiny I could lift her up in the palm of my hand. Now she is so big and heavy, even my Mom complains when she has to carry her!

In the first days of being at home, she was very quiet and sad. She would just sit all curled up in my lap. I think she had had a bad time with whoever it was she was with before. My Mom says she was the quietest puppy she'd ever known. Usually puppies cry a lot when they're left alone, but Kipper never said a word. She was also really skinny, so I think she had not been taken care of very well.

But slowly, she started becoming happier! She started eating better and playing more, and after awhile she stopped being shy and sad. She is very energetic and loves to play with our cats. See, here is a picture of her with Ming when she was little. They look like they are having a nice chat.

Kipper is also really smart -- when she needs to poo or pee, she just opens the back door herself and runs to her pee tray. She doesn't do her stuff anywhere else, not even if she's out with us a whole day at the park.

When she was about six months old, we started bringing her for obedience training. My Mom said this would also be a good opportunity for her to socialise more with other people and dogs. Puppies need to be properly socialised so that they will behave well with other animals and people, and in different situations.

The training classes were every Saturday morning for a couple of hours for two and a half months. Kipper learnt all sorts of things, like "sit", "down" and "stay", and how to walk nicely on a leash and off it. When my Mom stops walking, she is supposed to stop walking too and sit down.

At the end of the whole course, Kipper had to pass a test so that she could get her certificate. The most difficult part of the test was walking with your dog without a leash. One lady's dog even ran away across the road and a few guys had to go looking for it. But Kipper did great! She kept walking close to my Mom, and she sat down when my Mom stopped walking. So she got her certificate!

Well, I've read that Westies are "the most friendly and jolly of all the Scottish breeds of terrier", and if you knew Kipper, I'm sure you'd agree! She is sooooo friendly and always loves a good cuddle.

Here is a picture of Kipper in the newspaper last year. Isn't she cute? OK, see you soon!

Roof garden!

Hi there! Today I decided to write about my roof garden! My Mom actually made it for me about two months ago, but I was too busy to post about it then. Let me share my pictures with you now!

Here is a picture of the roof garden drying. My Mom protects it with lots of varnish. She made it to fit on top of Berry Grove school. You might know that that clock piece is right at the top of the school. My Mom had to cut holes exactly for the clock to go through. Did you know that it tells time properly? Yes, it works!

This picture shows my roof garden furniture. You can see that I moved the nursery here, and then I added seats and things for the Sylvanians to sit and chat and have tea. My Sylvanians love dessert, so there's lots of fruit cake, cheesecake and pastries! There is a cream puff on the piano for Lolly Cat to snack on while having her lessons. The flowers here are very pretty and colourful.

This is the part of the roof garden where the trellis wall is. There is a bench here and of course, more dessert! Doesn't that chocolate log cake look yummy? The Sylvanians are so lucky, they can have dessert any time they want.

There's the blueberry cheesecake! Doesn't it look good?? You can see a bit of the inside of the baby playpen. It's so cute!

Here is the roof garden on top of the school! My Mom had to build pillars in the room underneath to help hold it up because you know Berry Grove school doesn't actually have a roof. You can see one of the pillars beside the bed on the right, with the tulips in front of it. My Mom made it like a bookshelf! I made the old nursery a bedroom and so the kids can put their books and things there.

And here is everyone in the roof garden! Margo Cat is playing with Baby Sheepdog while telling Mrs Deer about her prawn aquarium. Mr Owl is giving Lolly her piano lesson. Charlotte Elephant is showing Baby Ella how her trunk works. At the trellis wall, you can see Jasper Beagle and Drake Seadog talking about the scary goblin movie they watched last night. Baby Badger is thinking they are very, very, very high up.

See you next time!

My Ballet Concert

Ta-dah! This photo here is me in my ballet costume. I wore this costume for my Four Seasons ballet performance. You see, this performance was all about the four seasons. My classmates and I were the first to go onstage. Guess what season I was in? Spring, of course!

Before the concert, we had weeks of practice, and then, the day before, we had to do a full dress rehearsal -- ten times! To get to the concert venue, we all rode on a huge excursion bus. The bus was very cold and those girls who didn't bring jackets were freezing!

I was a little nervous at first, but I got over it soon. Doing ballet exams, and being in other performances and choir helps a lot with that! The performance was extremely fun and we got loads of applause. The last thing all the ballerinas had to do was take a great, big bow during the finale. After the show was over, each dancer got a pretty flower from their ballet teacher. Mine was a big sunflower. It was the best; no, it was extra-terrestrial!

See you very soon!

New patio!

Hello!!! How are you? Did you have a great school holiday like me? I had lots of fun, and one of the cool things was that we finally had our ballet concert which we had been rehearsing for. I will post a picture of me in my costume when I can. Now school has started -- waaah. But I have some free time now so I thought I would share with you the latest thing in my Sylvanian village!

It is the new school patio which my Mom made for me! It is connected to the third floor of the school building which you can see is the second building from the left here. The patio is 31cm by 10cm, so it is quite a bit of extra space! It extends high over the courtyard, so my Mom built a fence for it so no one would fall and get hurt. The floor of the patio is covered with big pink peonies.

I decided to use my new patio as a place where the Sylvanian kids could go for extra tuition and have a snack if they didn't have time in the morning. Half the patio has desks and chairs, and the other half has a little table for meals. Here you can see Felix Renard and Ernest Polar Bear having their brunch. They are having eggs, sausages and hot chocolate. Felix Renard is describing his latest invention: a machine that helps antiques talk about where they came from and how they were used. There is also custard and spaghetti if anyone else is hungry.

Today Mrs Beagle is taking the extra class. The Sylvanian kids wanted some extra coaching in the process of mummification. Mrs Beagle is explaining how you have to take out the brains through the nose with a large hook. After washing the body and covering it with salts, you leave it to dry for 40 days.

Lulu Deer is fascinated, but for some reason she can't help looking at her tomato pudding. Drake Seadog is wondering if he can mummify the leftover fish from dinner last night. Franklin Bear is thinking his toast already looks mummified.

Bye till the next post!

Giveaway!

Congratulations to Sara, the winner of this giveaway! Please check your email :)

Hello everyone! How have you been? I've been so busy since the school holidays started. I was in a science workshop for a few days, where I grew crystals and built a lava lamp! I have also been going for a lot of ballet rehearsals because of our concert this weekend. But I am taking a little time now to host another giveaway!!

Up for grabs is this great book from the Candy Apple series! It is called Accidentally Friends, by Lisa Papademetriou. This is the book synopsis from Amazon.com:

Seventh grader Amy Flowers is at it again in her fourth fish-out-of-water adventure at super-snooty Allington Academy. It's always hard to meet people at a new school, but it's even tougher at Allington because the Queen of Mean, Fiona Von Steig, rules the roost with the League, the most popular and fabulous girls in the class. Amy's already proven she can be fabulous (accidentally, of course) -- but can she finally find true friends?

This book got 4.7 out of 5 stars on Amazon! Now you can have a copy of your own for free! This book is in almost-new condition; I only read it once or twice, and the pages are clean and crisp!

Here's how to take part in this giveaway!

Mandatory entries

(You must do these to be included in this contest)

1. Be a follower of this blog through Google Friend Connect (just click "Join this site" on the right there :).

2. Leave a comment for this post!

Extra entries

(Not mandatory, but you really up your chances! If it says 2 entries, please leave 2 comments)

1. Grab my button (it's over there on the right) for your homepage (please leave me the URL so I can check). Doing this is worth 3 entries :)

2. Refer to this blog and this giveaway in a post on your own website (please leave me the URL so I can check). Doing this is worth 2 entries :)

* This book is free, but please help with the shipping cost of $4.80 if you're in North America or Europe ($3.80 if you don't mind sea mail) *.

This giveaway will end on June 15th at 12pm EST.

The winner will be chosen by Random.org. The winner will be notified by email and will have 48 hours to respond, or a new winner will be selected. Please be sure your email is in your comment!

Thanks a lot, have fun!

My Sylvanian Chronicles

Hello! How are you? Have you been busy with school and games and going places? I have been quite busy doing all those things! But now I have some time to write the next chapter of my Sylvanian Chronicle story!

Do you remember what happened in the last chapter? Go read it if you've forgotten, but I hope you didn't!

After meeting with the fairies and getting the special Invisibility potion, the Sylvanians went home to their village. Everyone in the village was very excited to see them, but Mr Owl reminded them that they had to whisper because they didn't know where the thief was and if he or she was listening. After a lot of talking in the bathroom, Mr Pete Postman, Mr Sheep and Mr Rabbit said they were willing to take the potion and wait that night for the thief. Mr Owl and Mr Walnut Cat were still a little tired from their long journey, but they wanted to take part too.

After dinner that evening, Mr Postman, Mr Sheep, Mr Rabbit, Mr Owl and Mr Walnut Cat put their hot chocolate water bottles in their pockets, and each took three teaspoons of the magic potion. It tasted very good, just like Hatshepsut had said it would. It tasted like whatever happened to be the drinker's favourite food.

Mr Postman said the potion tasted like blackberry pie covered in honey. Mr Sheep said it tasted like grass pudding with alfalfa hay topping. Mr Rabbit said it tasted like grape and muesli salad. Mr Walnut Cat said it tasted just like salmon-and-cheese pie. Mr Owl said it tasted like a combination of small rodents, but everyone told him to be quiet.

As soon as the flavours disappeared from their tongues, the four Sylvanians started fading like mist until they completely vanished. They couldn't even see each other! They kept bumping into each other until Mr Sheep whispered that they should form a conga line till they reached the courtyard.

So Mr Postman held on to Mr Sheep's shoulders, Mr Rabbit held on to Mr Postman's shoulders, and Mr Walnut Cat held onto his shoulders, while Mr Owl perched on Mr Walnut Cat's arm. Mr Sheep kept wanting to do the three shuffle steps of the conga dance, but Mr Walnut Cat said now was not the time.

When they reached the courtyard, they let go of each other and went to the spots they had said they would wait. You can see the courtyard is dark and looks empty, but it's not! Mr Rabbit waited at the stew counter, Mr Sheep waited by the babies' train, and Mr Postman and Mr Walnut Cat waited on the chairs. Mr Owl said he would wait on the food trays and Mr Rabbit said they'd better disinfect them before lunch.

The five of them waited for a long time. They heard the school clock chime midnight, then one o'clock. They had never stayed up so late before! All the other Sylvanians had already gone to bed because everyone knows you need a good night's sleep, at least eight hours.

Then suddenly, right after the clock chimed two, there came a little slithering sound from the top of Babblebrook Grange. It slid all the way down the side of the house and plopped right into the middle of the courtyard. The sound was very small and gentle, like a soft pillow. But it was too dark for the waiting Sylvanians to see clearly who was making the sound. They waited with bated breath!

Suddenly, the sound went to the courtyard fountain, and turned it on! And there, by the rainbow lights of the fountain, the Sylvanians saw the intruder!

Quick as a wink, the waiting Sylvanians grabbed their water bottles and gulped down their hot chocolate. Immediately, they began to reappear like a mist until they were completely solid and visible again.

"You there! Halt!" called out Mr Walnut Cat in his fiercest voice, jumping up on his bench. "You are surrounded!" added Mr Owl, flapping his wings.

The intruder jumped, and turned around. The Sylvanians were so surprised! It was a big orange cat! Not a Sylvanian cat though, but a cat from the Outside World! It had large pointy ears and the biggest, greenest eyes the Sylvanians had ever seen. Mr Walnut Cat felt a little anxious. Would the strange cat pounce on him? Would he know the right cat dialect to speak? Was it shedding into the fountain?

Stay tuned to find out what happens next!

(And in this picture you can see that not all the Sylvanians went to bed on this exciting night!)

Giveaway!

Congratulations to Stephanie, the winner of this giveaway! Please check your email :)

I am hosting my first giveaway! Up for grabs is this great book from the famous Rainbow Magic series! It is called Phoebe the Fashion Fairy, by Daisy Meadows. This is the book synopsis from Amazon.com:

It's party time! A big bash for King Oberon and Queen Titania is underway in Fairyland. The Party Fairies keep everything running smoothly, until Jack Frost's goblins steal their magic party bags. Now parties everywhere aren't festive -- they're a flop!

Kirsty's friend Charlotte is having a birthday party. But everyone's pretty party outfits are ruined! Phoebe the Fashion Fairy has to track down her magic bag -- fast.

Did you know that the Rainbow Magic books were the most-borrowed children's books at libraries in the UK? Now you can have a copy of your own for free! This book is in almost-new condition; I only read it once or twice, and the pages are clean and crisp!

Here's how to take part in this giveaway!

Mandatory entries

(You must do these to be included in this contest)

1. Be a follower of this blog through Google Friend Connect (just click "Join this site" on the right there :).

2. Leave a comment for this post!

Extra entries

(Not mandatory, but you really up your chances! If it says 2 entries, please leave 2 comments)

1. Grab my button (it's over there on the right) for your homepage (please leave me the URL so I can check). Doing this is worth 3 entries :)

2. Refer to this blog and this giveaway in a post on your own website (please leave me the URL so I can check). Doing this is worth 2 entries :)

* This book is free, but please help with the shipping cost of $4 if you're in North America or Europe ($2.50 if you don't mind sea mail) *.

This giveaway will end on May 23rd at 12pm EST.

The winner will be chosen by Random.org. The winner will be notified by email and will have 48 hours to respond, or a new winner will be selected. Please be sure your email is in your comment!

Thanks a lot, have fun!

Happy Mother's Day!