Hitty Helen Robertson Arrives!

Just as we hoped the travel compartment of our second guest arrived the following day...

We are excited to meet her and can hear a few muffled noises coming from inside.

Hitty Madge carefully cuts open the seal

We pull back the doors

Hi there! Cries a friendly voice.

Hitty Helen R has arrived!  We had been eagerly awaiting her arrival after reading about her journey preparations here...

We welcome Hitty Helen R... and tell her that we have TWO Hitty Helen's staying with us - how funny is that?  

Hitty Madge embraces her.

'Look, I brought my passport!' She tells them.

'You'll need that for when we go to New Zealand'  Hitty Madge tells her.

Come on, I am sure you are parched after your long journey.  First stop Rose Cottage Tea Room, where Hitty Joyful is looking forward to meeting you.

Hitty Joyful is delighted to welcome another Hitty Helen to stay with them.  Hitty Helen M is busy chatting to whom she has discovered is her long lost twin Hitty Michaela - they were amazed to see the resemblance to each other!

Hitty Joyful is very attentive and keeps the teapot full of fresh tea.  

Refreshed from her journey Hitty Helen R, joins the other Hittys in the large living room where they are all gather and spends some time getting to say hello to them all.

They are all very excited about the good times they are going to have together!

Our First Visitor to Rose Cottage Boarding House has Arrived!

The excitement here in Rose Cottage reached a high this morning as the first, yes you heard right, the first of not one, not two, but possibly THREE visitors to Rose Cottage Boarding House arrived.  This was most unexpected.... seems the thought of  visiting us here in England and then travelling with Hitty Madge  to New Zealand is a very popular destination indeed.

So anyway....who was the first to arrive we wondered?

Hitty Mary Jean gets the scissors to help open the travelling box.

Oh wow look!  Our visitor is from the United States of America!  How very exciting!

Lots of white polystyrene peanuts to protect and soften the journey.

Hitty Rimu, Hitty Madge, Hitty Mary Jean and myself, Hitty Patience start trying to clear the way.

First we discover all these amazing little baskets - this was certainly unexpected and very exciting.

We put them aside for now so we can see who is in her special travel pouch.

We are delighted to see she knows how to travel in style.

Untying and lifting the lid and there is Hitty Helen.

We welcome her to England.  She is a little bewildered after her long journey.

To give her a chance to recover before meeting the rest of the Hittys we take her to the Rose Cottage Tea Room where Hitty Joyful has been making her some sandwiches and cakes and of course the ever needed cup of tea.

Enjoying some sustenance, Hitty Helen appreciates a bit of a quiet chat.  She is very pleased to have arrived safely after her long journey.

Hitty Mischievous says goodbye and is on her flight home!

 The time has come for the adventures of Miss Hitty Perdita Mischievous to come to an end (or at least her adventures in England....)  She has packed her bags  box and is about to undertake her journey home - to her original destination, before she decided to take a 'small' detour!

Hitty Joyful presents her with a special voucher.

This voucher entitles her to a free cream tea at the Rose Cottage Tearooms for her lifetime.

Hitty Leonarda presents her with her very own broomstick.

Hitty Madge gives her a pumpkin

My Pumpkin can keep her company on her way home.

Hugs are given all round.

They have all really enjoyed Hitty Mischievous company and she will be missed.

A few little souvenirs were gathered along the way....  a little bat brooch for the hat

I (Hitty Patience) pin a little hat brooch on Hitty Mischievous cape.

A few of the 'spoils'.

Hitty Madge has been working hard on a book for Hitty Perdita Mischievous to take home with her.

She tucks it under her arm....

...pleased that she will have some reading material for her journey home.

Hitty Mischievous tries her hand at painting

It seems Hitty Mischievous wants to try her hand at painting before she leaves.  She has seen Hitty Madge at work at thinks it can't be all that hard.

She looks at the apron and brushes, but decides she really doesn't want to be bothered with them.....

She makes sure no one else is around....

To her surprise, a picture appeared!

Hitty Madge comes along to see what is going on in the art studio.

Hmmm......

Looks like Hitty Perdita Mischievous has some explaining to do!

One thing though, she has a nice work of art to put up on her wall at home!

Hitty Mischievous visit is soon coming to an end....

Hitty Perdita Mischievous' visit is coming to an end....there are still a few things she wants to 'experience' before she leaves on Monday.

Today she joined Hitty Madge in visiting some friends where she had her first 'experience' - English Fish and Chips....she decided to pass of the mushy peas business.

....

For the life of her she couldn't quite figure out why anyone would want to eat peas all mushed up like baby food - she had her teeth still so didn't need her food puréed.   

Once home she decided to look up just what Mushy Peas were...as they were a brighter green than expected....no one in Rose Cottage could give her an explanation....

It seems they aren't just 'peas mashed up' but rather dried marrowfat peas which are soaked overnight in water with baking soda (bicarbonate soda) then rinsed in fresh water and simmered with a little sugar and salt until they form a thick green lumpy soup.   They are a traditional accompaniment to fish and chips in Northern England and the Midlands.    Sometimes mint is used as a flavouring and quite often food colouring is added to enhance the colour.

Quite frankly we all agreed after reading this we would rather stick to peas 'a la natural'   unadulterated without all the additives!

She did enjoy her fish and chips very much though!

Hitty Mischievous lights the Christmas Tree!

You may recall that we had to remind Hitty Mischievous to wait until we had more decorations on the tree before she could try some of her 'magic' to get the lights working.

We worked hard this afternoon getting a few more decorations up.

Hitty Mischievous was delighted she could finally have a go at some of her 'special MAGIC' as she called it.

She raised her hands....

Said a few words (and we waited with trepidation...  when lo and behold...

It worked!

What a surprise, for all of us, including Hitty Mischievous!

She looks absolutely stunned and very pleased with herself.

We are all thrilled, doesn't it look pretty?

While all the excitement was going on, Hitty Joyful was out looking after the animals....  she also did some decorating of the trees in the garden.