The Great Chasing Dog Race

The winter that Lina spent living with the little mouse Clarissa was very adventuresome for the people she left at Thimble Farm.  I've been telling you about sporting activities so I think today I will tell you about a great race that happened then. It was in early winter, while everyone still lived at old Thimble Farm.  The fairies were worried about the way a river, that had been a small stream, was backing up near the farm.  Tom had been thinking that he might have to move the farm the following spring.  The fairies had come to the farm to tell Tom he should move the farm, and all the extra refugees as well, as quickly as possible.  Many people had been coming to live with Tom because of fires and floods in the area that had ruined their own farms. While they were talking about the move, the little baby, Tamara, who had been born the day Croadine kidnapped Lina, came by riding in a small dog cart.  She was now old enough to sit up well and it had been safe when her brother Karl had been walking by her to balance her and keep the dog walking slowly.  But suddenly Heinz, the little dog, spotted a rabbit.  Something about the yellow-green tinge on that rabbit's fur drove him wild.  He started to chase the rabbit. It was an evilly enchanted rabbit, but he didn't know that.  Little Karl was chasing for all he was worth but he couldn't stop the dog and cart.  About twenty people were now living at the farm and they all started to chase that dog and cart for all they were worth.  But the way the cart was actually stopped was by one of the swallows.  That bird had not left for the South yet.  He darted in the face of the little dog until he started going in circles and people could reach the cart and Tamara.  The cart turned over and the baby fell out.  She didn't hit her head and didn't cry.  But later she had a lot of trouble walking and that accident may have been the cause of that. It was a hard day for everyone but people did learn they were all pretty fit and could run a good race when they had to.  Stay fit and I will buzz you later.  Delbert Bee.

Frog Wrestling is Not an Approved Sport

Like I told you earlier, Lina learned a thing or two about wrestling by watching Karl try to get away from Tom. Once Karl knew Tom was a friend he wrapped his arms around his neck and let him carry him.  But later that night, while everybody was eating supper, Lina was kidnapped right off the windowsill.  She was sitting with Adar, the swallow, and all of a sudden she was snatched. Lina didn't have much chance to resist at first, it was so sudden.  But later, when Croadine, the evil frog, wanted Lina out of the way while she fixed up the muddy room she wanted Lina to live in as the bride of her son, Lina put up a good fight.  Croadine wanted to set her out in the middle of the pond on a lily pad.  She wrapped her long tongue around Lina and started to swim out to the lily pads.  Lina thought about how silly that must look and started to laugh.  That tickled the frog's throat and she started to cough.  At first Lina was scared because she thought the frog would drop her and Lina didn't think she could swim.  But Croadine just wrapped her tongue around Lina a bit more tightly and kept on swimming.  But when they reached the lily pads they got into quite a tussle.  At first Lina just wanted to reach into the water to wash off because she felt yucky from being in Croadine's mouth.  But Croadine though she was trying to swim away so she grabbed her again.  Lina did things like flipping around and changing the way she held her arms and legs.  She even tried to get Croadine's long tongue tied in a knot.  But then Croadine did something that Lina thought was super yucky.  It was unfair I think.  Croadine hacked up a bunch of sticky frog phlegm and glued Lina to the lily pad.  In sportsmanlike wrestling one of the wrestlers gets pinned to the mat.  Lina got glued to it.  But it all worked out in the end.  Croadine swam away and before she returned the fish rescued Lina.  They splashed water on Lina to loosen the goo and then chewed the stem of the lily pad so it could be a boat to carry Lina away from the pond. She had more adventures, of course, but she never had to wrestle a frog again.  Let's hear it for good sportsmanship.  Buzz you later, Delbert the bee.

The Sports Scene at Thimble Farm

Hi, it's Delbert, the inquisitive bee here.  Today I think I will call myself a sports reporter.  About the only sports bees take part in is racing.  But I've noticed that other creatures throw things, run and wrestle.  I want to talk about how Lina learned to wrestle.  This took place the day before the evening when she was kidnapped by that awful frog, Croadine. That was a very busy day.  Farmer Tom's sister-in-law, Sara and her daughter-in-law, Bettina came to live at Thimble Farm.  Bettina was in the middle of having a baby and things were hectic.  It was discovered that Karl, a very energetic boy was also with them.  When Tom tried to lift him out of the luggage where he was riding, he tried to run away.  He really had some wild wrestling moves.  Eventually Tom got hold of him, gentled him and took him in to supper.  Lina watched how he would make himself big by the way he would hold his arms, then shrink and twist to get away.  Finally Tom had to grab hold of his sturdy clothes to make sure he was safe. Karl and Lina liked each other right away.  Karl called her a doll lady, because she was so small. That was such a busy day.  I will investigate some more and share the sporting events with you. May the home team win.  I heard that's something a sportswriter might say.  I'll buzz you later.  DElbert.