This morning I woke up earlier than anybody else, and stayed in bed a while, listening to the birds chirping outside my window. It suddenly occurred to me that it has been a long time since I’ve heard or seen birds, so I crept to the window and looked outside and sure enough, there were birds busily feeding! Miss Chrissy has left a feeder out for them all Winter, though there haven’t been many visitors. But this morning I saw some cute little gray birds, pecking away at the seed.

Miss Chrissy woke up, and I told her about it, and we talked about how it’s now the later part of February, so we may not have too much more Winter left before Spring starts to push her way in. I told Miss Chrissy how much I miss going outside, and she pointed out that even though it’s still cold out there, especially in the mornings, since her last shopping trip, we now have a big furry jacket, and also her baby shoes, which should go a long way towards protecting cold little Whimsie feet. Suddenly, I was so excited. “Oh, please!” I exclaimed. “Do you think I might take a walk outside, just to look for birds and breath the fresh air?”

Miss Chrissy smiled and said of course, and bundled me up in the furry coat, put the hood up over my head, and helped me tie up my shoes. Then we headed outside together. Yes! It was cold, and I was glad of the furry hood on my jacket (which, by the way, can you see that it has a little kitty kat on the front? and the hood has little kitty kat ears?? How adorable!) But it was not too cold to want to go back inside right away, and so we ventured out further.

I wanted to see the birds, so I stopped by the feeder, but of course, if you come near the feeder, the birds fly away. They’re very skittish like that. But I asked Miss Chrissy to take this picture of me, just so I could post it here, to always remember how crisp and wonderful it felt on this Winter morning, when the promise of Spring is hovering around the edges of the day.

Soon, I think, we will have lots and lots of birds at this feeder, and Miss Chrissy will set up food for the hummingbirds as well. Hummings eat very different food than regular birds, since they are very different birds, quite peculiar, yet beautiful. I think, perhaps, they are my favorite kind of bird ever. I sometimes wish I could get one to light on my arm or my shoulder, but realistically, I don’t think that’s ever going to happen.

But anyway! It’s been fun staying indoors and cuddled up under the blankets, watching movies and the Olympics, reading comics and old scrapbooks, but I think perhaps all of us are beginning to long for that time when tiny pink and white and yellow flowers begin to appear on the Girl Trees, and we can put the winter jacket in the bottom drawer, to await another wonderful Winter, which I’m sure we will be fully ready for, when it happens.

Here in Whimsieville, it strikes me that the seasons are just about right. In the Winter, it doesn’t snow so much that it becomes tiresome (or worse yet, dangerous!) and our Summers are not generally so hot for so long that we despair of ever again feeling cool and comfortable. Autumn and Spring have much to recommend them. I do so love the repeating “Circle of Life!”

Miss Chrissy recently made a trip to the Thrift Store Boutique and got us some wonderful new clothes, so it’s time for another Fashion Show! If there’s one thing we Whimsies love, it’s putting on Fashion Shows! So here are a few of the items that have now been added to our Wardrobe.

First of all, check me out in my snazzy new hat! It’s certainly roomy enough, so I thought I would try tucking my braids inside, and doesn’t it make me look so completely different? In some ways I think I look like one of Santa’s elves in this hat (tee hee…) but at the same time, I also think it’s a very sophisticated look. Sort of French…no? Especially with this very plain but very bright outfit in red and white. The stretch red pants fit perfectly, and will go with so many things—perhaps best of all with this plain white top with long sleeves. Since it is February, and the middle of Winter, we all decided to stick with long-sleeved shirts for this Fashion Show. But as we all know, white can be very chic. And don’t I look tres chic? And besides being extremely fashionable, I’m also incredibly comfortable in this outfit! I could hang out like this all day! (My white and red socks are especially soft and comfy!)

Now check out Tillie. She is once again throwing caution to the wind and experimenting with the color YELLOW. Yes, I know we have all agreed that nobody looks good in the color yellow…but tell that to Tillie in her cute little yellow flowered pants! I think the trick with yellow is to keep it away from your face, since it drains the complexion. But as part of a summery flowered design on pants, it’s simply fabulous! And to make sure the whole look doesn’t get too busy, Tillie chooses a simple white long sleeved top. The pants may scream “Summer!” but it is in fact still the middle of Winter. So this outfit is sort of like the HOPE of Spring, which is on the way. And the light violet hat and socks (which were already in our Wardrobe) add a hint of gentle drama.

But here’s the outfit I think I like best of all, as modeled by my friend Tessie. Just look at her! What do you see? Again, the simple white long-sleeved top, but what else? Camouflage pants, very trendy. A nice, new look for us. And by the way, these pants are the softest FLEECE, so soft you could even wear them as jammies. But they’re not jammies, they’re very serious pants. The kind you would wear when you go out exploring or hunting for dinosaurs. And if you’re going out exploring, it really is best to wear some sturdy yet comfortable shoes. Right?

Yes! We have shoes! Here Tessie is wearing our first pair of real shoes. Though I must tell you the story about these shoes. Miss Chrissy did not find these shoes at the Boutique. She looked and looked, knowing we were hoping for shoes, but there were none to be had. But then she suddenly remembered: in a little box full of trinkets from her childhood, she had a pair of shoes that she used to wear when she was very very little, no bigger than a Whimsie. She kept these shoes all these years, and at one point even hung them as an ornament from the rear view mirror of her very first car (a VW Bug). But for many years, these shoes have sat in the box of trinkets, waiting patiently for the time when they could once again be Of Some Use. Now, she brought them forth, and amazingly, they fit Whimsie feet just fine! A new pair of shoelaces…and we have added our first pair of shoes to our Wardrobe!

It’s just so amazing to me how things keep getting better and better for us all the time. Before you know it, we will be the best-dressed Whimsies in all of Whimsiedom! Now that Miss Chrissy knows our shoe size, and sees how great we look in shoes, she says she’s going to look in other places (not just in the Thrift Store Boutique) to see if she can find us some more shoes.

There are many more items we got from Miss Chrissy’s latest shopping trip, but some of them are Summer dresses, so we will have to wait a while to show you those. But there were a couple of cute jammies! As you know, one can never have too many jammies.

But we’ll have to show you those next time. Right now, I think it’s my turn to try on the shoes!