Izannah Walker Sisters Discover Creature in Corgi Creek!

A Rare Sighting of An Unusual Phenomenon!

Sisters Bridget and Eliza had been inside the cottage, looking out the window enjoying the birds and squirrels coming and going. Watching the little red squirrel scurry about outside the window, Eliza wanted to go out and about Corgyncombe for a closer look at the little red squirrel!

Whilst out, they hope to find some pussy willows down by the creek.

The chosen music to accompany this post is by Shostakovich:
Click Here for Specially Chosen Musical Entertainments.
Return Here to Read the Corgyncombe Courant.
The music is so appropriate whilst reading!

Izannah Walker inspired dolls Bridget and Eliza and their clothing and bonnets were made by Margaret Flavin. Charlotte's clothing and bonnet were also made by Margaret Flavin.

Bridget asked her Cousin Charlotte if she could wear her bonnet and cap. Bridget has a superb hood to go with her coat but this time, because Eliza was wearing her bonnet, Bridget wanted to wear a bonnet also. Of course, Eliza wants a coat and hood like Bridget's, only in another colour. Little girl sisters seem to be that way, wanting what the other has. Charlotte allowed Eliza to borrow her brown wool cape for her ride in the sleigh.
As they glide along the ribbons on their bonnets flutter in the wind.
Ah, yes, there he is, the little red squirrel!

See how he blends in with the bark of the old maple tree!
What a red streak he has down his back and tail!
How amusing the squirrel is to watch as he hops from tree to tree and scampers here and there!

How swift and smooth their sleigh glides over the snow!
They love watching the squirrel and think he is so cute even though the proprietress at the old book shoppe calls them rats with tails! Bridget and Eliza think that the proprietress actually is quite fond of squirrels, despite her remark.

'Twas a chilly day and the little ladies had their warm woolen blanket tucked round.
Eliza is so cold that she had to tuck her hands under the blanket.
They will have to knit some warm mittens of wool.

Creekcicles along Corgi Creek
The banks of Corgi Creek beckon them as they think that is where they might find some pussy willows to gather.

In "First Poems of Childhood" illustrated by Tasha Tudor, there is a poem by Kate L. Brown called "Pussy Willow". Tasha has illustrated a girl and a boy with school books and lunch bucket, on a stone wall collecting pussy willows.

The last stanza of the poem "Pussy Willow":

Happy little children
Cried with laugh and shout,
"Spring is coming, coming,
Pussy Willow's out."
by Kate L. Brown

Oh, the little squirrel has popped out of the door of his little house!

He is looking left and right in rather a nervous manner!

"How curious, I wonder why?" they both think.

The creek is a beautiful sight with all the rocks covered with snow!

They find some pussy willows and gather them.
They will make a fine display inside the cottage!

Across the bridge, the water glistens and looks as smooth as glass before it shoots and rushes down the falls!
Bridget and Eliza were startled by something going UP the falls!

(The music at 2 minutes, 20 seconds with the trombone is perfect for viewing this creature!)

Eliza says "Look, there is some sort of creature coming UP the falls! Do you see it, Bridget?"

There is a lot for imaginative little girls to ponder!

"Yes, I do!", replied Bridget,

"It looks to have a broad duck bill with nostrils,
large round eyes on either side of its head, and flippers!"

Eliza disagrees and exclaims,
"Oh, no, sister, that sounds too duck-like.
It is clear to see that it has a snout of a more carnivorous nature!"

The Squirrel is thinking
"A Carnivorous Nature!?!"

Bridget says, "Oh, yes, NOW I see, it is as you say!
Oh, how frightful it is, to be sure!"

Eliza continues to describe the sight before her!
"The creature has bumpy scales, fins, wings, and feet, and its tail fin flaps!
One can actually see how its nostrils are creating paths of air in the water!
One can see the motion of the water as the creature is making its way through the water!
One can see the steam rising from the hot springs as it hits the cold air!"

The girls are quite sure that the creature must live in the gloomy, eerie, creepy cave in the back of the photograph with stalactites hanging down!

Concerned, Bridget asks Eliza "Do you think it eats squirrels?"

"Oh, I'm sure it must!" says Eliza.

A Creature of a Carnivorous Nature...
Eats Squirrels...
Do they mean ME!?!

A negative is studied during the investigative process to analyze the creature (and its lair) further!

As Bridget and Eliza have tea in the Corgyncombe Library, they check to see if anything similar to the creature had ever been seen before and checked through their books.
They had heard rumors of the Loch Ness Monster in Scotland and Champ of Lake Champlain.

As nothing quite like it has been observed and described before,
they think they have discovered a never before seen in recent history, long forgotten species which they declare to be a:

"Corie Combie"
The Curious Carnivorous Creature
of Corgyncombe's Corgi Creek

Subsequent investigative strolls along the creek since the thaw have revealed nary a sight or trace of Corie Combie, so far.
The girls are positive it is something, somewhat of an unusual phenomenon, but they are not quite sure what!

This is not the first time (and, we trust, not the last) that unusual discoveries have been made around and about Corgi Creek! Several years ago a petrified frog was found washed up along the banks after a flood! The petrified frog was named Phineas T. Frog (T. is for Taylor). It has since been on exhibit at the Corgyncombe Hall of Oddities and Curiosities, much to the thrill of all who view it!

Eliza and Bridget are considering opening an inn and observatory overlooking Corgi Creek for Izannah Walker dolls and other dolls, where they can patiently wait and observe, in hopes of catching a glimpse of Corie Combie! The girls are sure they can provide some shopping opportunities for those wanting souvenirs of this rare phenomenon (post cards, perhaps, or other knickknacks bearing the striking image of Corie Combie as photographed by Diane Shepard Johnson)!

http://corgyncombecourant.blogspot.com/2012/04/izannah-walker-sisters-discover.html
copyright © 2012 Diane Shepard Johnson and Sarah E. Johnson

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Seasonal Changes at Corgyncombe Cottage!

Hush, Is That The Peepers I Hear!

Corgyncombe Nubian Goat Louisa May in the barnyard.
She was named after our cousin Louisa May Alcott.

The rushing waters of Corgi Creek.

At the beginning of winter, a snow fence is put a little ways up on the hill to keep the snow from drifting into the yard so much. During the height of winter the snow can make it to the top of the snow fence and over. This is how the fence looked last Saturday as the snow is slowly melting but there is still a huge snowbank left. After the snow melts, the fence is taken down for the season.

Diane's husband took a walk down to the lower forty and gathered a bunch of pussy willows along Corgi Creek's edge, much to Diane's delight!

Corgyncombe Moon on April 9th, 2011.

The snow is melting, the days are warming, the peepers were heard last night, but what's this we hear about snow flurries in the forcast!

There are a lot of goats and goat kiddles that Tasha Tudor illustrated in "The Springs of Joy". In "Around the Year", written and illustrated by Tasha Tudor, one of ways April is portrayed is with a creek with rushing waters and emerging ferns at creek's edge. In "A Time to Keep" Tasha Tudor illustrated goat kiddles running and jumping in April.

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The Joyful Sights and Sounds of Spring!

The 1st of April!

Sir Redfield Opulent Epaulette

The days 'fore April flew by and the Corgyncombe Courant neglected to report to our readers that a couple of weeks ago hailed the return of the Red-Winged Blackbird to Corgyncombe after their long journey!
Such a joyful, cheerful sound of Spring!

"The blackbirds make the maples ring

With social cheer and jubilee;

The redwing flutes his o-ka-lee"

- Ralph Waldo Emerson


Snowdrops
The background colours remind us of snowdrops at sunrise.


The four photographs above are different views of a Corgyncombe sunrise all taken the same morning looking in different directions.

The Red-wing calling at early morn.


The above photograph was taken a few years ago.


"Bird Songs, 250 North American Birds in Song" by Les Beletsky, "Featuring Audio from The Cornell Lab of Ornithology", is a wonderful book that has beautiful illustrations of birds with a button to push to hear the sounds the birds make. The book was added to the Corgyncombe Library several Christmases ago.

The Corgyncombe Library gives "Bird Songs, 250 North American Birds in Song" by Les Beletsky, five stars! This book is great for children!

In grade school one of Diane's teachers loved birds and always fed them in a tree outside the window. Diane always liked to watch the birds instead of concentrating on school work. One of Diane's favorite birds to watch was the Nuthatch. Diane received an award for perfect attendance which was a certificate to be redeemed at the bookstore. The second Diane walked in the bookstore she knew which book she wanted... a big wonderful book about birds. The book included a recording of all the lovely bird songs. The book that Diane was awarded in school reminds her of "Bird Songs, 250 North American Birds in Song".


Sir Redfield Opulent Epaulette points with his beak to the postcard calendar that reads April 1st!

In "A Time to Keep", written and illustrated by Tasha Tudor, pussy willows and red-winged blackbirds surround the March illustrations of a sap house and sugar bush with a family partaking in the annual tradition of gathering sap. In "The Springs of Joy", illustrated by Tasha Tudor, there are some red-winged blackbirds amongst the cattails.

A "Chippy Hackee" was seen under the bird feeder this morn.


Skunk Cabbage near Corgi Creek

In May, the meadow behind the garden and along the creek are abundantly full of almost continuous O-ka-lees.

In "A Year with the Birds" by Wilson Flagg, he writes of the Red-winged Blackbird's song: "These notes seem to spring from a fulness of joy upon returning to their native swamps."


In "Bird-Life" by Frank M. Chapman, he describes the Red-winged Blackbird's song: "The Redwing's liquid kong-quer-ree is pleasantly suggestive of marshy places, but it is his early spring music for which we should chiefly value him."

He also writes: "But when early in March the Redwings come, then we know that the tide of the year has turned. With perennial faith in the season they come in flocks of hundreds, singing their springtime chorus with a spirit that March winds can not subdue."


In the summer, whilst in search of other lovely things, we happened upon a serendipitous find, a Great Blue Heron amongst the reeds. The cover of "Bird-Life" by Frank M. Chapman reminds us of this Blue Heron.


Found tucked in the pages of "Bird-Life", a penny postcard sent to Mr. E. G. Tabor from Frank M. Chapman, the author of "Bird-Life".
"Dear Mr. Tabor: Glad to hear you are using your camera again. You do too good work to be long idle. I shall be delighted to have the pictures for Bird-Lore and when I return in July I will tell Professor B? about the negatives. Yours truly, Frank M. Chapman"

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An Antique Butterfly Observatory!

Corgyncombe Nature Studies

The other day whilst tidying the parlour for Valentine's Tea, Diane came across a delightful find that she acquired last year well after butterfly season was o'er. From behind the sofa where it was put for safe keeping, by its leather strap, Diane lifted out the antique wire mesh butterfly observatory.


An old glass slide from The Corgyncombe Magic Lantern Theatre.
The girls have gathered flowers, one lad is collecting butterflies, and if you look closely at the other lad you can see that he is collecting specimens in his vasculum.


These butterfly cards were found last weekend whilst perusing Corgyncombe's vast antique ephemera collection. This butterfly observatory will be such fun to observe butterflies in when there is lovely warmer weather.

Butterflies in the Corgyncombe Gardens remind the Corgyncombe Courant of Beatrix Potter's "The Tale of Tom Kitten". As Mother Cat Tabitha was expecting company she had dressed her three kittens up in fine clothes. More preparations needed to be completed before her guests arrived so she let her kittens go out in the garden but warned them to be careful not to soil their clothing. There is an illustration of Tom Kitten dressed in a darling blue suit and straw hat amusing himself with a butterfly as it flits about the garden.

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