Order Only: Bea and Beth and Some Other Things If I Remember What They Were Going To Be

[alt_nymphadora]

We had a nice birthday supper here tonight with fairy cakes and pressies, and later, everyone in the garden sang (totally inappropriate) choruses to make her laugh. I think Bea had a very fine time learning that she's accomplished a very big thing by growing to be TWO.

And she has been growing. And growing and growing! It's lucky she had a birthday so we could give her new robes! And shoes and everything else! Not that she only got boring old clothes. She has a very nice set of blocks that dutifully stack just the way she wants them, her very own feather duster and mop bucket just like her mum's, some very clever books (and one or two seditious ones that we left at home). Oh, and something called a WhizzzBang! That burples and pings and shrieks, and spins wildly around the room, making people hop out of the way to avoid having their ankles dented. (Thank you, Uncle Charlie. We can't wait until you come to visit so we can show you just how very grateful we all are.)

So. A fine evening all around!

And we've news to share. As busy as we've all been, taking advantage of the winking eye of authority, Beth's people have been just as active. And they were through our place with several groups with Ellie keeping the place running. All went well, and a total of eighteen people (a record for us) used our space as a stop along their way to the north coast in preparation for a solstice trip to Norway, they hope.

I'm sure there were other things I was going to write, but I can't remember any of them, so I'm just going to call this enough. I hope you're all well and that the news is good from your parts of the Protectorate.

Comments

[alt_lupin]

I re-read those Tales of Beedle the Bard after Bea was done opening them and realised I'd forgotten how utterly grim the Warlock's Hairy Heart was. We are not reading that one to her for a few years yet.

The Fountain of Fair Fortune is still as lovely as I remember, at least. I'm pretty sure that's the reason the book got banned.

[alt_sirius]

I've never read them but with a name like 'The Warlock's Hairy Heart' are you surprised it's grim?

[alt_lupin]

No, I'd just forgot this one was even in there.

I remembered 'The Fountain of Fair Fortune' really well, and the Three Brothers, and I dimly remembered the hopping pot. I'd forgotten Babbity Rabbity and the Warlock's Hairy Heart. Probably my parents never read me that one, either.

You probably never read them because they're seditious. The Hopping Pot suggests that wizards have a moral obligation to help muggles, and in the Fountain of Fair Fortune there's a Witch that marries a muggle as part of the happily ever after.

[alt_lupin]

I mean I'd forgotten Babbity Rabbity AND I'd forgotten the Warlock's Hairy Heart.

Babbity Rabbity and the Warlock's Hairy Heart is a story I'd like to read, mind you.

[alt_sirius]

I'm not sure which would be more traumatic: a Hairy Heart or any kind of rabbit named Babbity.

We're just lucky Bea doesn't understand why we're celebrating late, you know. As long as those blocks stack she's happy.

(By the bye, did you see the look on Kreacher when she smeared herself with icing?)

[alt_lupin]

No. Did he look approving or appalled?

[alt_sirius]

Appalled, of course. To think that in the House of Black a child could behave with such a lack of dignity!

You know, I really ought to see if I can find Bea a toy motorcycle.

[alt_lupin]

I could check at that same junk shop where I found Beedle the Bard.

Or have one brought from France with the wands. We'll have to keep it at 12GP with the seditious books, mind you.

[alt_sirius]

Oh, good idea. I bet Aleks could find one easily.

[alt_lupin]

I'm surprised Kreacher was appalled. If it inconveniences you, me, or Dora, he's usually pretty pleased with whatever Bea does.

[alt_sirius]

Well, perhaps he was just upset that more of his lovely frosting ended up on her face than inside her.

Though it would have served him right if we'd made him put her to bed after all that sugar.

[alt_sirius]

Yes, speaking of the solstice - Frank, we should be thinking about the trip.

I've got the usual supplies coming through Aleks, and he wrote this week to say he's secured a further 30 wands. Who are we bringing out for the return to France?

[alt_frank]

agreed.

thirty is brill. with that, the haul we've got from ollivanders, and melli's work, we might make a real dent in things.

I'll see who Davidson's scraped together, and we might try for a bit of a break out in one of the camps where we've made inroads while MLE's still sorting out their heads from the arses. doncaster, maybe.