TWIDDLE TWADDLE AND FRIENDS

On the edge of a lovely medium sized town lived a pretty lady named Brenda.  She is an athletic lady who likes to walk and take care of herself.  Brenda's neighbors will usually see her leave her home loaded down with bread.  You see, there is really two reason's Brenda walks everyday.  Yes, one is to exercise, the other is to feed her ducks at a pond a couple of miles behind her house.

 

The lake is large and beautiful especially in the morning when the sun is coming up over the water.  There are many different kinds of ducks that Brenda feeds, many who stay year round, others are seasonal.  This day, Brenda is in for a pleasant surprise.  Peaking out from behind a bunch of tall cat tails she spots a cute mallard duck.  It is the first one Brenda has seen at her lake.

Brenda was always pleased to see new and different ducks at her lake.   This little guy was real pretty.  He had a glossy green head and a cute little waddle when he walked.  Brenda immediately thought, "I'll call him Twiddle Twaddle" and so it was from that day forward, everyone came to know the little green headed duck as Twiddle Twaddle.  Speed Demon the turtle agreed with Brenda that it was a perfect name for his new friend.

Mae Ling is a little girl that lives near the lake too.  Brenda and Mae Ling have become good friends.  Today is breezy so Mae has a kite she is playing with.  There are all kinds of people who come to the lake.  Many boy and girl scout troops camp out over night and always have lots of fun fishing, swimming and boating.

Summer was just starting to arrive and Brenda's favorite tree by the lake was still waiting for his new leaves to appear.  She usually took a little nap under the tree after feeding the ducks.  Today she decided just to sit by a stump since her tree had no leaves yet anyway.

The weather was really getting warm.  There was a boy   out on the lake riding a jet ski and even a lady getting ready to water ski.  Summer was definitely here!  All the animals in the lake had learned to stay away from the boats and skiers so they didn't get hurt.  All the people watched out for the animals also, no one wanted to hurt anyone. 

When Twiddle Twaddle first flew over the lake   he was so glad to see a no hunting sign posted by it.  Right away he knew this would be a great place to set up home and maybe have a family.  He was already making lots of friends.  One of his favorite was Speed Demon.  Twiddle thought his name was so cute because of course it took Speed Demon hours just to get from one side of the lake to the other.

If Speed Demon was swimming, now that was a different story.  He     could swim pretty fast.  Sometimes a friend would carry him and that helped a lot.  Speed Demon was easy going and never in to big a hurry.  He really didn't mind that it took him longer than most of his friends to get where he was going.  He was just happy when he got there.

Frogs where another large group that lived in the lake.  Jamal, a friend we have met before in other stories, had a great friend he came down to see a lot.  Toadly the bull frog.  He was one handsome frog and liked Jamal a lot.  Jamal always brought him jars of flies to eat.  Maybe that was one reason he was such a BIG frog.  There was one other frog even bigger than Toadly.  The giant King Kong!

Now this was a toad no one wanted to mess with.  Motorboats steered clear for fear if they hit him he would tear up there boats or motors.  Kong got a lot of respect from everyone.  He went pretty much wherever he wanted to and everyone cleared a wide path for him!

Summer was in full swing now.  People were water   boarding, skiing and doing all the fun things that summer brings.  Twiddle Twaddle was one happy duck, he had made lots of friends and loved living on the lake.  Brenda kept him well feed along with all the other ducks.  She fed them only the best great wheat bread.  It kept them all happy and healthy.

This beautiful morning as Brenda walked up her path to the lake she stopped to pick a plant to take home.  When she looked up the path she saw her favorite tree all leaved out and it was such a pretty scene, it almost took her breath away.  Everyone around the lake was so happy.  Brenda was happy too.

She laughed when she saw Toadly goofing around doing a hand stand on a lily pad.  Then along came Twiddle Twaddle headed fishing.   He was a very happy duck these days, you see Mrs. Twaddle was going to have babies and they were the happiest couple you could find.  Brenda couldn't wait to see the babies.  The whole lake community was very excited!

Then early one morning the most feared thing of all happened.  Duck   hunters snuck on the lake grounds and everyone became very afraid.  These hunters knew what they were doing to.  They even had a duck whistle to lure the real ducks out into the open.

While one hunter had a hot cup of coffee, two of his friends were in a boat   on the lake watching for ducks.  The poor animals were helpless unless the Game Warden came along and caught the hunters.  The only problem was, he only came around once in awhile.

Luckily Brenda headed out early that morning to feed her ducks.  The first unusual thing she saw was Twiddle Twaddle hiding in a crop of cat tails in the lake.  He was also being very brave because he had Mrs.Twaddle and the eggs hidden so that if anyone was found it would be him.  Fortunately, Brenda knew just what to do.  She went to see King Kong!

When Kong showed up at the lake there were hunters running in every direction.  You could be sure no one would see those hunters at this lake ever again!  When Twiddle Twaddle saw the hunters running away he was so happy he flapped his wings and turned around and around in circles.

The next day was the most special day in Twiddle   Twaddle's life.  His babies were hatching and he was very nervous.  Poor Twiddle just swam around in circles.  He thought it was going to take forever.  Mae Ling got to go and tell Twiddle that he had three new babies.  Every one started to celebrate.  Mae Ling picked flowers for Mrs. Twaddle and  a few of the guys even shot off fireworks. 

A neighbor friend Henry offered to grill some burgers for everyone.  It     wasn't long though before he was in trouble and had to put out a fire with a hose.  Henry was a great guy but had never been known as a great griller.  Brenda just smiled and drank some soda to celebrate.

    Just a few days later the lake community saw the    cutest thing they had ever seen.  Twiddle Twaddle walking along with his three new babies.  He was so proud!  You could sure tell they were his babies, they all had that special Twaddle walk.  Brenda brought some extra wheat bread and headed for the lake everyday to feed all the ducks including the Twaddle gang!

HAPPINESS IS HAVING GREAT FRIENDS TO SHARE THE BAD TIMES AS WELL AS THE GOOD!

"THE SECRET OF THE SUNFLOWER PIXIES"

In a lovely home in Kentucky there lives a Pixie Princess named Elizabeth.  She is very found of sunflowers and already has her seeds planted for this summers beautiful flowers to grow.  There are many things that are needed to be successful in growing any plants and sometimes not so nice Pixies try to keep the pretty flowers from growing.  They are sad little creatures who don't like pretty things they just want the world to be a dull black and white.  Because of them, Mother Nature has provided us with special Sun Pixies who love all flowers and plants and help to keep our planet green and beautiful!

Another important part of growing any plant is water.  If we have a good summer with occasional rain showers that is the best water there is for any plant.  If not we need to help Mother Nature along by watering with a hose or watering can.  Next is sunlight, we need plenty of light for most plants to grow big and strong!

Most people don't realize it but Mother Nature has millions of helpers.  Otherwise how could she possibly keep everything all over the Earth so beautiful and green?  These little helpers she calls her Green Pixie Fairies.  They are lovely little fairies who most people can't see but are always around helping to make the plants grow.

The Green Pixie Fairies are very pretty and usually have all different colors of hair.  There is a Pixie Fairy somewhere with every color of hair that you can find in the rainbow.  They match the colors of flowers all over the world.  Of course with all the good things in life, there sometimes are things that aren't so good.  So it is with the story of the Pixie Fairies.

The Midnight Black Fairy is one of those who is never happy and does not like anything that brings joy to others.  At night she comes out and sprinkles black dust on the pretty flowers of the world, trying to make them die.  During the day she hopes for clouds to keep the sun from helping them grow.  She also loves to see long dry spells when it doesn't rain for long periods of time.  So long even the cacti in the desert suffer!

The Green Pixie Fairies have to work extra hard to keep Midnight Black from hurting their beautiful wildflowers.  One day Mother Nature noticed that all the Green Pixie Fairies had picked themselves some sunflowers.  It appeared these were their favorite flower.  She gathered several pixies together and asked them why.  All the Pixies looked at each other and one shy little one stepped forward and said, "because the are smart flowers."  Mother Nature asked, "smart flowers, what do you mean by that my child?"  "Well," said the little Pixie "because they follow the sun each day as it moves through the sky."  Mother Nature smiled and said, "you are right my child, they know what they need and they follow the sun to get as much as they can!" 

Mother Nature smiled to herself, she was so proud of her Green Pixie Fairies.  She thought how very smart THEY were to realize the intelligence of the sunflowers.  This year Mother Nature had a baby Green Pixie and she was very proud of her also.  Mother always gave extra attention to all her baby Green Pixies.  They needed extra love and teaching until they were old enough to take care of themselves.  Mother fondly called her Sprout.  She was learning fast and loved to show everyone her green thumb.

Other helpful creatures to Mother Nature were the animals on Earth.  Cats and dogs helped out a lot to watch over the sunflowers.  It seemed everyone loved sunflowers!  The cats would sit on the fence post and watch out for the Midnight Black Pixie.  The dogs liked to hide in the tall stalks of the sunflowers to jump out and scare her away if she showed up.

One of Mother Nature's favorite pixies was Pet Pixie.  She was part animal and part human pixie.  A real cutie who rode around on her turtle friend named Pokey because he was never in a hurry.  Midnight Black was very frightened when she saw Pet Pixie.  She would run away very fast because she thought she was so odd looking.  The sunflowers loved to have Pet Pixie and Pokey around for that reason.

The cats loved Pet Pixie because she had ears and a tail just like them and even loved to eat fish.  They considered her the cat's meow and one of their best buddies.  When they saw Pet Pixie and Pokey coming, the sunflowers were always happy because they knew Pokey would hang around for awhile. He was never in a hurry to go anywhere, especially when he was among friends and the sunflowers all loved him!

It always helps to have Pet Pixie around because more kitties show up to help watch over the sunflowers.  It seems the kitties like Pet Pixie and were curious to be around her and watch her.  That helps keep Midnight Black away.

Though the Pixie Fairies are around all the time, most people think they live in large hollow trees and come out mostly at night.  When people see pretty fire flies at night they just may be seeing some Pixie Fairies also, and just not realize it.  The forest at night is alive with all kinds of creatures, we may never know all the different things we think we are seeing.

You see the closer you look the more possible it appears.  Never say never, a firefly can be a pixie fairy in your mind if you want it to be.  Mother Nature has named all her Pixies after a flower the color of their hair.

This pretty Pixie is named Heather because her hair is like the wild heather in countries like Ireland and even here in America.  Heather is one of Mother Natures oldest Pixies and is a big help to her training the little ones like Sprout and helping out with all the others.

This is Buttercup.  She loves all yellow flowers, daisies, daffodils and of course sunflowers.  If you could see her in a field of sunflowers you can be sure she would be there weeding and check on the plants, making sure everything is ok with them.

If you see some very happy sunflowers smiling in a field you can bet Buttercup has just been there to water, weed and care for the smiling sunflowers.  When the sunflowers are happy so are the bumble bees and all the wildflowers all around them!

Bluebells has lovely blue hair and likes to wear sunflowers in it to dress up her hair.  Mother Nature always thinks she looks so pretty and so do a lot of the boy Pixie Fairies also!  She always wears ice blue dresses and has huge blue eyes.  Bluebells is very pretty, no doubt about that!

Under a lovely large brimmed sun hat, Mother Nature saw Autumn.  Mother had named her that because of her beautiful brunette hair that always reminded Mother of the warm colors of fall that went so well with the sunflower arrangements most people displayed from early fall until at least Thanksgiving.  With her large black eyes she is beautiful. 

Olive is our next sweetheart.  Without her to keep the leaves healthy to feed the plants the buds would never come out and become beautiful flowers.  So you can see Olive is very important.  Without happy healthy plants there would be no flowers.  What a sad world it would be.  So many things depend on one another.  Without flowers and plants that produce seeds the birds would die and many other things would change.  We really need Olive!

Violet loves all flowers, animals and people.  She is simply a wonderful loving person and all the Pixie Fairies are very fond of her.  She is everyone's friend.  If you need help or a shoulder to cry on, you can always count on Violet to be there to listen patiently.  This is Violets little puppy named Precious, because she is to Violet.

Precious is sitting beside a bouquet of miniature sunflowers.  As you can see there are all different kinds available.  All are beautiful and fun and easy to grow if you just help out the Pixie Fairies a little bit.

Mother Natures next Pixie Fairy is, wait a minute, a beautiful Pixie with huge blue eyes, lovely brunette hair and a smile that could light up the world.  It must be one of her Pixie Fairies but no, she didn't know her name!  Ahhhhhhh!  It was Elizabeth the young lady who lived in the house!  She was her grandma's Pixie Princess so I guess Mother Nature would just have to keep the ones she had and leave Elizabeth alone.  Elizabeth had plans already to help out Mother Nature though, she is going to grow some beautiful sunflowers and is pretty sure the Green Pixie Fairies will help watch out for them.

Happy sunflowers are hard to miss.  In the morning they face one direction and follow the sun all day, so at night they are facing the opposite direction.  One other thing, sunflowers always seem to be smiling!