Though the Weather here in Whimsieville has not yet been notified, Summer is now officially over. The time for wearing shorts and running barefoot is quickly coming to an end for this calendar year, and we know there may only be a few more weeks, or even a few more days, of this hot steamy weather that is so appropriate for our colorful Summer Wardrobe. So while there is yetl time, we want to dress up and go outside to run and play in the sunshine and have our pictures taken in our Summer Best.
We always like to take our pet Dinosaurs along with us for any outdoor activity, so naturally they accompany us on this photo shoot. You know, of course, that Dinosaurs will not sit still for photographs until their bellies are full of leaves and berries, so before we can even think of posing, we decide to first let Fred, Wilma, Barney and Betty graze around in the grass, chomping on the greenery.
The best eatings are on the very edges of Whimsieville, so the Dinosaurs keep making their way further and further from the homestead, into the tallest weeds. Only Tessie is willing to accompany them, since the outfit she chose includes a sturdy pair of sneakers. Tootsie starts to go too, 
but quickly returns when she finds a burr with her bare foot. Ouch! Tootsie’s a tough tomboy, so she doesn’t cry much, but returning to the shade, she ‘s happy to cool her tootsies in the cool grass.
While we wait for Tessie to return with the Dinosaurs, let me take a moment to mention how very proud of her I am for being bold enough to head out alone to the very edges of Whimsieville. She’s come such a long way since I first met her, when she was so terrified of the possibility of meeting a dog (or a wolf) even the slightest distance from the back door. Mr. Squee, our official “Dogcatcher,” has not actually done much in the way of catching any dogs, but he has put out the word, laid down the law, and scared away any dogs (or wolves) that might even consider getting close to Whimsieville. It’s now pretty well known in the neighborhood that dogs and wolves are not welcome in Whimsieville, and they respectfully keep their distance. Tessie has developed a deep level of trust in Mr. Squee’s ability to protect the property,but I think, also, she is beginning to realize that not all dogs are monsters. Maybe someday she might actually be able to watch a movie with a dog in it! We can only hope…
But here she comes, back from her tiny adventure with our Miniature Dinosaurs, and those four little ones certainly look contented, and almost ready for a nap, so best to get them to pose for pictures before they all fall asleep!
Here then is our official Summer Portrait, a happy group of Whimsies in the sunshine, wearing our Summer colors and accompanied by our pet Dinosaurs! Let’s take a moment to explore how each of us is using Fashion to celebrate the end of Summer.
As previously mentioned, Tessie has chosen to wear sneakers, She expertly coordinates the delicate floral print of these very girlie sneakers with simple black shorts and a pink and white striped top. Nothing fancy going on here, she’s just ready for adventure, and at the same time looks so very feminine.
Trixie goes bold with yellow and white. Now, you may not think there is anything bold about the color combination of yellow and white, but remember that us Whimsies solidly cling to the belief that “Nobody looks good in yellow.” Well, guess what? We may just have to change our minds on that one! Trixie has found a darling pair of yellow flowered pants, which she matches with her simple white tee, and tops the whole thing off with a white seersucker hat. You may not be able to see it in these photos, but there is the tiniest little yellow ribbon on that hat! Oh yes, Trixie has most definitely overcome her fear of Yellow! That is practically as impressive as Tessie overcoming her fear of dogs!
Now for Tootsie, recovering from a burr sting on the bottom of her foot, but still smiling to beat the band. Despite Tootsie’s penchant for denim, today she has chosen soft clothes in soft colors to celebrate the end of Summer. Tootise is our little tomboy, but today she certainly looks girlish in sherbert hues of pink and green. Or should I say….strawberry and lime? Tootise has tied a huge pink ribbon around her head, to keep her hair away from her pretty face. And aren’t we proud of the latest addition to our little Whimsie family for being willing to experiment with a new kind of look?
Finally, here I am, also in sherbert-y colors, but totally working the plaids. The plaid of my hat is blue and green, while the plaid in my skirt is green and pink. No, they don’t really match, but it’s Summer, and we’re outside, having fun, so who cares about matching? Summer Fashion is more about feeling good than it is about looking good, though when it comes right down to it, you know what? Not only do I feel good, but I think I also happen to think I look great in my crazy conglomeration of Summer colors!
So there you have it. The End of Summer. To some degree there’s a hint of sadness in the passing of one Season, but at the same time, we celebrate the arrival of another: our beloved Autumn! We all had a great Summer, with each of us going on a special Adventure with Miss Chrissy and Mr. Russ, and we will always have those great memories. And we can always hope for more Adventures in the future.
So now comes Autumn, with its own particular charms! And here we go, a bunch of happy Whimsies at the height of Fashion, with a menagerie of Miniature Dinosaurs, piled into a metal basket we found lying about in the yard, pretending it’s a boat that will carry us off into the Future of Everything Life Has to Offer, in this coming Season, and in all the unknown Seasons that lie beyond the horizon!
(Tillie here. The following is mostly about our new Whimsie friend, Tootsie, but since she is still learning how the internet works, and continues to feel somewhat bashful about adding her voice to the blog, for the moment she has asked me to relay the following events. Tootsie has read this through and approves of every word, so please take this as having come from her own heart and lips.)
During this time we’ve had only a little time to explore the great outdoors, not nearly as much as Tootsie would have liked, since when she came to us, Winter still had us in its grip. And now that Spring is here, we’ve been having an awful lot of those April showers that bring May flowers. But slowly, that’s all beginning to change, and some of those flowers are beginning to make an early appearance. In fact, it must have been the sight of those flowers that made Tootsie start thinking more and more about the greenery and trees she’s always loved so much. 
Tootsie was not only distraught to hear this, but also incredulous, a word which here means “she decided she wanted to take a long hike in the morning to go check out this information for herself.” Trixie said she would have to decline the adventure, since the threat of rain is still too much in the air, and for Trixie there is nothing more distressing than getting wet. Tessie also, sadly, had to decline, since the scope of these travels would take us to the very edges of Whimsieville, and the possibility of running into dogs would make her too nervous to enjoy any of the pretty flowers. And Mr. Squee, our resident dogcatcher, would be no help in this department, since he planned to spend most of the day sleeping off the Catnip Binge he was currently indulging in, even as we indulged in our chocolate milk and sugar cookies.
Waking up early this morning, the first thing Tootsie and I did was to put on some good adventuring clothes. For hiking and possible tree-climbing, you absolutely must wear a good pair of blue jeans (or “dungarees,” as Tootsie calls them), so that was how we began our outfits. Next, of course, sturdy shoes. Though Tootsie prefers to climb trees barefoot, I convinced her that we would have a lot of traveling to do over some possibly rough terrain, so even though she fought me a little on the shoes, eventually she agreed—especially when she saw how darling these flowered sneakers looked with her “dungarees”! Personally, I chose the suede hiking boots.
So now we are ready to head out! (Miss Chrissy woke up briefly when she heard us chattering about our outfits, and snapped the pictures of the two of us standing by the front door, right before we headed out on our adventure. Then she went right back to bed.) Neither Tootsie nor I are anywhere near as afraid of dogs as Tessie and Trixie, but when Fred, our dinosaur, heard that we were venturing into the outer reaches of Whimsieville in search of trees, he offered to come along with us for protection. So gallant for a miniature dinosaur! How could we refuse him?
Not all four of us at one time, oh no! That would be too crazy, and besides, each of us would surely like to go to a different place, so these will be four very distinct trips. I’m hoping to visit the Local Public Library, and perhaps take out some exciting books I’ve never seen before! But as for Tootsie, no doubt she will choose to go to a Park with the tallest trees she can possibly find! 
Fred, our Gentleman Dinosaur, has agreed to come out each morning as Tootsie climbs and practices her climbing skills in the bushes, so he can run and get help should she accidentally fall and hurt herself; and also because the lower leaves of the bushes happen to be quite tasty, and he can have a snack for himself, and bring a few leaves home for his other dinosaur pals.
It’s always good to have something to look forward to. I look forward to my visit to the Library, and Tootsie looks forward to climbing trees in the Park. And as we took the long hike back home this morning, finally removing our light jackets as the sun at last made its full, clear appearance in the sky, while Fred said he looked forward to sharing the Bush Leaves with his fellow dinosaurs, Tootsie and I both looked forward to more chocolate milk and sugar cookies for breakfast. 
Whimsieville has a nice variety of weather. It never gets as hot as the Amazon, and it never gets as cold as Siberia. But this last week or so…it has indeed been cold! Colder than we’re used to. That means the Fireplace is getting a good workout, and also that we get to bring out all our latest in cold weather hats and clothing—which is always fun! We have in our Wardrobe several Winter Coats, which we don’t usually get a chance to wear, so when we saw that the weatherman was predicting below freezing temperatures for several days in a row, we were so excited! We couldn’t wait to bundle up and go outside to test out the cold weather.
So the towels went out, and because the sun was strong, they dried quickly, and when it was time to bring them in, we Whimsies decided we had had enough of being babied, and begged Miss Chrissy to let us go outside and help her bring in the towels.
Well, that was a little scary, to tell you the truth, to think that the Weather could have been so violent at one point, and we decided Miss Chrissy has probably been right to persuade us to stay indoors. I mean…if the Wind could do that to a tablecloth secured with clothespins, what might it do to a wee Whimsie? We shudder to think…
It seems very strange, but as soon as we woke up on the chair, since it was already getting to be night-time, we went back to our Wardrobe to put on our jammies. Have you ever woken up and then put on your jammies?? Oh, what a topsy-turvy day we Whimsies had! Yes, indeed, but it was lots of fun! And maybe most fun of all was late at night, when the outside temperatures once again dipped below freezing, with the Fireplace roaring full-blast, Miss Chrissy made us a nice little snack of cherry-filled chocolates The Man had gotten her for Christmas, and cups full of steaming hot chocolate, topped with whipped cream! 
Nothing beats two kinds of chocolates and whipped cream, especially if it’s a gift of a gift, and you get to share it all with good friends at the end of an extremely fun and pleasant day.
around quite a bit, but that’s all. Still…you never know when weather might get dangerously bad, so it’s a good thing to know what you’re going to do in case it does.
In the Safe Place there is a radio with batteries, in case the electricity goes out and the TV won’t work anymore. If we can’t hear the TV Weatherman on the TV, at least we can listen to him on the radio. There are also flashlights and a couple of “flameless candles,” which are really cool, because they look just like a candle, but there is no actual flame that might burn you. 
Miss Chrissy and The Man have a couple of bicycle helmets tucked away in a corner of the Safe Place. If the Weatherman ever said the weather was getting REALLY REALLY bad, they would put those on. They would also put some money and some Important Papers in their pockets, and keep it all safe there pinned down with a safety pin.
In fact, last night, we just mostly listened to the rain and the thunder and the TV Weatherman, and watched the lightning, and stayed alert, ready for anything. We were ready, ready for anything…and nothing happened. And that’s a good thing.
Except for poor Tessie. She’s a bit sensitive. Sometimes, I would even say she’s timid. I think maybe the possibility of bad things happening reminds her too much of her experiences from years ago, when she was abducted from Miss Chrissy’s clubhouse by wolves, and they bit off her earlobe. It was a terrible, terrible time for her, and even though she usually doesn’t think about it (she doesn’t ***dwell on it) sometimes the memory can come back pretty strong and make her feel more afraid and anxious than she actually needs to feel.
Last night, Trixie wanted to stay in the Safe Place all night, and listen to rock and roll music on the radio, and use the flashlights to play games with Mr. Squee. She kept wanting to try on Miss Chrissy’s bicycle helmet, which of course doesn’t fit her — not even close! She went rummaging around in the boxes and running through all the hanging clothes, thinking this was all one big lark.
The last few days the weather has been just a little cooler and crisper than usual, with bright blue cloudless skies, giving us hope that Autumn is truly on its way. The official start of Autumn is yet a few days away, but that hasn’t stopped us Whimsies from thinking about all the wonderful outfits we’ll be able to put together for the new season! And what says Autumn more than long sleeves, long pants, and socks? That’s our theme for our latest Fashion Show, as we now begin to look forward to cooler weather.
Let’s start this time with Tessie, since she has put together a cute little outfit in mostly neutral colors. You may notice her pants as something she’s worn before, last February, when she had a
So, Tessie has incorporated a kitty kat into her outfit, and I’ll do the same…not in my outfit, but in my pose. Because here I am, visiting Mr. Squee in his condo! My long sleeved shirt is one you have also seen before, pink, with a spotted brown elephant on the front! You know, when you start putting pictures on shirts, you can certainly come up with some pretty wild ideas, don’t you think? Who ever saw a spotted brown elephant? Well, you’ll see one now as you look at me, posing here with both Fred the Dinosaur, and Mr. Squee. (Fred and his other dinosaur friends live in the penthouse apartment of Mr. Squee’s condo, of course, so it was a quick trip for him to jump down and cuddle with me in my lap.) 
Now we come to Trixie, and is so often the case, Trixie is doing something a bit outrageous. Yes, she’s adhering to our theme of long sleeves, long pants and socks, but hers are all in black! Well, not the socks, because right now we don’t happen to have any black socks. But Trixie can put “black socks” on her list to Santa, because with her “Christmas Rocks” tee shirt, she is looking straight past Autumn and all the way to the biggest holiday of the year!
You see, there are a couple of electric guitars under the words “Christmas Rocks,” so the message on Trixie’s shirt can be taken two ways. First, Christmas “rocks,” meaning it’s cool and groovy, but also, Christmas rocks in a musical way! Since we all know that in addition to Christmas and candy, Trixie also loves music, I’m sure that before this year is over, she will reach into Miss Chrissy’s extensive CD collection to find some Christmas Rock & roll music to share with you all! (Remember, I recently helped Miss Chrissy sort and alphabetize her CD’s, so I know there is some fine Christmas music up on those shelves!)
