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Countdown
Author: Blossom
Date: 06-05-11 19:04
"Is it my birthday yet, Mummy?"
"Not until the twenty-first of August. Hold still if you want the plaits of your braids to be even."
"How long is that?"
"Well, today is April 24 so there's the rest of this month, then all of the months of May, June, and July, and then most of the month of August?"
"So is that next week?" Larkin's face is screwed up in concentration as she tries to remember what a month is in comparison to weeks and years.
"No, honey, not next week." Blossom finishes plaiting Larkin's long, thick, shiny, rich chestnut coloured hair and ties it off with a length of ribbon to match the other braid then turns her daughter around to face her. "How about we make a countdown calendar to help you see how many days there are until your birthday? You know, like when we count down on an advent calendar for Christmas."
"Right now?"
"Not exactly right now but in just a little bit. You could go get the art container and bring it here to the kitchen table."
"And paper?"
"And paper."
"OKAY!"
Larkin runs off to get the things they will need and Blossom gets up to go out into the yard. She had thought Fred was just right there but he's not so she walks in the direction of George and Maj's. As she suspected Fred is with George and they are standing in the expanse of ground between their house.
"Hi, George," Blossom says, walking up to join them. "Fred and I were thinking of doing a cookout for lunch. Interested?"
"Yeah, though let me double check with Maj. Won't take long," he replies, turning to go to his house.
Fred had been staring at the ground and now he starts walking heel to toe along a somewhat straight line.
"What are you doing?" Blossom asks.
"Remember how we've kicked around the idea of putting in a swimming pool?"
"Yes."
"I was telling George about it and he's keen for one as well so we've been talking about putting one between the houses and splitting costs."
"That's a good idea. Whoever has one would end up sharing with the other anyway."
"Do you prefer a fence around, an age barrier charm, or both?"
"Hmmmm. I don't know. I suppose it will depend on what the pool looks like and what the fencing might be. Whether or not we do go with a fence, the age charm is a must for when we aren't out here chaperone. One to keep animals out would also be good. Now, before I forget why I came looking for you, did you want to do steaks, chicken, or hamburgers?"
"Steaks I think. Hamburgers or hot dogs for the kids?"
"We're out of hot dogs but have sausage, which they will eat like a hot dog. They had hamburgers yesterday so the change will be good. I thought we had some but there's only one and if we're doing steaks, baked potatoes would be nice so don't let me forget to ask George when he comes back"
"Jacket potatoes. You've been here long enough to know the lingo," Fred teasingly says.
"Whatever," Blossom laughs.
George is soon rejoining them. "Maj says a cookout is great."
"We were thinking steaks, is that all right?"
"Excellent."
"Would you happen to know if you two have any potatoes?"
"Not sure but will find out. If we don't, we can ask Mum and Dad and if they don't, we'll make a quick trip to the grocer. I've got to go anyway. Maj wants us to do homemade ice cream."
"Yum! Okay, will see what else we might need so please check with me before you go to the store, Fred, oh, and George, we were going to do sausages on buns for the kids so if yours will want something different let me know."
"Mummy!"
"Here, Larkin!"
"I'm ready for my counter."
"Calendar and I'll be right there."
"What's she want a calendar for?" Fred asks.
"We're making one for her to mark the days off until her birthday. Making one is more fun than just using a premade calendar, don't you know?" Blossom grins at him.
"Any reason to get out crayons, paint, scissors, and glue," Fred grins in return.
"Don't forget the glitter," George says, acting extremely serious.
Blossom, mirroring his seriousness, nods, "We won't. It will be high on Larkin's list must use supplies."
Blossom breaks back into a smile. Her parting words are, "See you both in a bit."
She checks on Seth and Gideon, who've been playing in the backyard, then entering the house again at the kitchen tells Larkin, "Let me check real quick on the twins and then we'll start your calendar."
A quick peek in at the couch in the den lets Blossom know Fabian and Freddie are still passed out. They'd gotten up earlier than usual and played hard, taking a break at breakfast then played even harder. When things got overly quiet she'd looked in to find them both passed out on the couch. She'll let them nap a tiny bit longer, giving her time to get this countdown calendar started with Larkin.
Puppy Love
Author: Furnella Hodfuffer
Date: 06-06-11 21:52
I'm on this afternoon at the restaurant but came to Hogsmeade this morning to do bookkeeping, go over invoices, and other things required to keep a business running. There were also some employee reviews to take care of for two who were on a sort of probationary status as they went through a training period. I'd talked with Phlagmelina, Lars, and a few others such as those who had been doing the bulk of the training but needed to write the official reviews to have ready to go over in one-on-one sessions tomorrow.
I was getting a lot of work done until Phlagmelina ran me off. It's nice that she worries I'm working too much but couldn't she have waited to be a pest until after I was done with both the reviews?
I wasn't in the mood to go sit at home even though I do have a good book to curl up with. I decided to walk over to McFusty's Pets, glad that Indigo has Sunday hours, to see what kittens or puppies might be available. I've been thinking of getting a pet for awhile now, not just for the companionship but because having a pet at home relying on me for food, water, and affection would force me to cut back on all these extra work hours.
Standing at one of the display windows I watching several cute kittens and kneezles frolicking. In another display are puppies, most of them also romping around. Stepping inside the shoppe, I go over first to peer in at the kittens and kneezles to see if any in particular tug at my heartstrings more than the others then do the same with the puppies.
Just as I'm turning to walk further into the shoppe to see if there are any other puppies and kittens to see, Indigo McFusty steps around the counter from where he'd just finished ringing up a sale. "Hi, what can I help you with today?"
"I've decided I need a pet."
"What sort?"
"Either a cat or a dog."
"The kittens in the window are all the cats I in the shoppe right now. I will have more in the week, and of course if there's a particular breed you're wanting, I would locate what you're wanting. There are the puppies in the window, then I have a play pen area back here where there are more. As with the kittens, I'll have others to choose from later in the week or as with the kittens, you can tell me what breed you're wanting."
"I really don't know what I want other than I want a pet. I equally love dogs and cats, which makes the decision harder."
Indigo leads me to the pen in the back where some very cute puppies are playing with toys he's put in for them as well as playing with each other. Just as I'm about to bend over to pick one up I see a much smaller pen with two puppies in it playing tug of war with a thick piece of knotted rope.
"Oh, they are cute! Is that a basset hound? And aren't you cute too but I don't know what you are," I say bending to scratch each in turn. The little basset hound is adorable with its ears far to long for its tiny body. The other puppy reminds me of several other breeds I've seen but there's something different that I can't quite put my finger on.
"Yes, he is a basset hound and she is an otterhound."
"Are they separate from all the other dogs because they're spoken for?"
"No, that's not it. They were bought together by a wizard about five weeks ago. He had a heart attack and died on Friday. His daughter promptly had her husband bring them back as she has no interest in them. Problem is they had bonded with him and are bonded with each other. They were scared at being dumped here as they were and instead of overwhelming them by putting them in with other puppies several weeks younger or putting them in cages I put them in this small, more open pen. Then Ccco talked to them and sort of explained things and they've mainly been down in the dumps, missing their wizard. Just then is the first time they've been seen doing anything more than moping on top of each other."
"May I either get in the pen or have them out?"
"Sure."
Indigo lifts a section of the pen away and I drop to the floor to sit. The two puppies just stare at me at first but then the otterhound, the female, takes a few steps towards me, her expression one of trying to figure me out. Not to be undone, the little basset hound suddenly leaps up and runs on his short legs to me. Next thing I know both are in my lap, showering me with puppy breath kisses.
Indigo joins me on the floor. "It's going to be hard of them to be separated."
I laugh, "You don't have to go for the guilt trip sell. You know I'm already hooked on both."
He laughs in reply, "Just had to be sure. Coco's coming in fairly soon. Would you like to have her explain to them they will be together at a new home?"
"That would be great. I have to say, I envy Coco's gift a tiny bit."
"I envy it a whole lot," he grins.
"Being a veterinary healer and a pet shoppe owner, that's understandable."
"If you want to give them new names, I can have Coco explain that as well."
"I suppose that depends on what their current names are."
"He's Bogey and she's Bacall. According to Coco they were a popular Muggle couple several decades ago."
"Famous for what?"
"Do you know what a movie film is?"
"Yes, sort of. They were American film stars. Coco said they did were in at least one film together, though she thinks there were more, and they were an actual couple for a time as well."
"I can live with Bogey and Bacall if they are fine with them. I never thought about something like that until just this very second, knowing that Coco can ask them."
"Ask what?" Coco inquires, walking over to join us.
"I never heard the door," Indigo tells her.
"Me either but then I wasn't really paying attention," I say before answering Coco's question. "I was wondering if you'd ask these two if they like their names."
"Furnella's taking them both so if you would, Coco, please let them know they are going to stay together."
"I should get food and doggy beds and all that, shouldn't I?"
"You could be taking care of those things while I have a chat with them," Coco suggests.
"Good idea." With reluctance I remove the two puppies from my lap and get up, accepting the now standing Indigo's hand for assistance.
We're still picking out things when Coco brings the puppies to me. "They like their names but if it helps you to want to keep them both and give them a nice, loving home, they will gladly take new names."
"No, Bogey and Bacall are fine," I tell her.
I finally have everything picked out, including name tags with my address on them that take no time really to make. I have a fenced yard and I'll put a charm up to keep them from getting loose to run the neighborhood but such tags are good to have just in case. As he's finishing ringing up everything Indigo tells me, "I nearly forgot to mention. Their previous owner had her spayed and him neutered. I hope that doesn't change your mind."
"Not at all. I'm sure I would have had you do that as well."
Bogey and Bacall are prancing around my feet, him with a purple leash and her with a red with, just like their collars. I've got plenty of time to get them settled before needing to be back at the restaurant so, with a parting word from Indigo assuring me the magic for the doggy door installation is relatively easy and straightforward but to let him know if I do end up needing help with it, Bogey, Bacall, all their new stuff, and me go home.
Late that night when I am home once again from the restaurant, Bogey and Bacall snuggling next to me instead of in their doggy beds, I realize I made it through the day without once thinking of Forrest or his sort of look alike until now and I haven't felt tense for hours. I'd say I should have gotten a pet, or pets, sooner but then I would have had a reason to ever meet these two. With that last thought I snuggle in myself, tired and more than ready to fall asleep.
Spuds and Pickles (Cat)
Author: Fionna
Date: 06-07-11 17:46
Polly makes a face and shoves her History of Magic book away. "Tell me again why we have to take this when it's so boring?"
Bianca taps her Potions notebook. "I'd ask the same of this if not for the fact there are some potions easily brewed at home instead of having to buy them."
Catriona, putting the finishing touches on a Herbology assignment, doesn't look up from her work when she says, "According to Christopher, Professor Douglass makes history more interesting and I have to agree, based on the one year I had him."
"Bet he doesn't say that about Snape and Potions," Bianca snorts. Then with a shudder she adds, "Course, I'll take him over that arse Carrow."
Cat and Polly shudder at the memory of Amycus Carrow. Polly had had to have him in Potions when Severus Snape was forced out partway through the term then the following year when the student body consisted only of those deemed pureblooded, Cat and Bianca had had him. To get them off of talking about Amycus Carrow, Polly asks, "Who was the lady who taught you first year? Potato something?"
Cat laughs. "Spudmore. Augusta Spudmore."
"How did you get potato from Spudmore?" Bianca asks.
"You know, because spud is slang for potato." Polly grins at them then flips to the next page in her History of Magic book. "When we were first years, I had Ivy Whitman for this. She was nice. Still wasn't my favorite subject but at least I wasn't falling asleep every class."
"We have Professor Pickiewickle, Picklewillie, Pilliwinkle... Why can't I say his name right?" Bianca asks, laughing so hard at her inability to say Pilliwickle that it's now difficult to even get the question out."
"We know who you mean," Cat says, Polly and she dissolving into giggles right along with her.
When they giggling starts to trail off, Bianca observes, "It's much easier to say Professor Douglass and he's also much better looking than Pinkywinkle ever though about being."
This leads to a discussion who they think are the cutest of the male professors, which then leads into a discussion of who the cutest boys in the school are. Before the girls know it, it's almost time for lunch and as lunch is when they had said they'd work till on homework, they pack up their things, collect the blanket they'd been sitting on, and head to the castle, trying to decide what to do for after they finish lunch.