Gardeners Rest #18 (2023)

[Nicos]

…at which point Santa stuck his head out from the chimney ….”Bit early I know, but has anyone seen Rudolf?…I can’t find him anywhere and I know how helpful you lot are”…
thought everyone.
Bramble instantly offered him a mince pie, Flo gave him an egg nog with a straw ( cos it’s difficult to drink anything whilst hanging upside down) and Rary looked at his bottle of whisky and started trembling…..

[Nicos]

…..then he started shimmering….…..

[rary]

Oops sorry that's shivering, he was getting all hot and cold at the thought of having to give someone a free drink, even Santa, after all he only showed up once a year, so how was he going to get more drink back, wait if I give him a capfull I should get onto his nice list, well move up on the list, I'm sure to be on it anyway after all it was me that....

[Snoop Puss]

Did nearly all the cleaning of the GR, plus at home.

[Florence Fennel]

Never mind the cleaning - find him an apron - he's cooking today. In fact, there's a brush over there ..........

[greenishfing]

🤣🤣🤣 If Rary could have disappeared in a puff of smoke, now was the time he decided and made a grab for the fairy's wand..... Unfortunately.........

[rary]

He missed the wand and grabbed her arm instead , now fairies don't like being caught as they have to grant wishes everyone held their breath, what would rary wish for and how many wishes did he get, oh oh this could be trouble some one whispered, but rary leaned forward and in a low voice so that he didn't frighten fairy he asked for everything tidy and everyone in their place, whoosh... Snoop was over by the bar, Flo was working at a mobile oven where she seemed to be rolling up a Swiss roll and a look of delight on her face as she hadn't dropped it.... yet..... gf was sitting at a piano ready to play requests and Nicos was behind the bar pouring drinks for everyone, now the question everybody wanted to ask, was that one wish that rary had made or two and how many more did he have, rary leaned toward fairy again and again everyone held their breath, they must be doing breathing exercises for the singing thought rary, then said to fairy....

[Nicos]

…..”any chance of a buffet?…I’m getting peckish and nobody seems to have organised anything but cakes”….

[rary]

Very well said fairy, I will use the things that you all produce, gon tae be a misrable feast thought rary, glumly.
Then he remembered all the things that other Grapes posted on the Season to Taste threads, wow this could be a feast,and that brought a smile to his face, then remembered his home brew, naw fairy widny yase that, it wid be too strong for some oh the older grapes, maybe some of the younger ones as well, ah well we shall see and the good thing about it is I won't need to buy anybody a drink, so with that he....

[Snoop Puss]

Let the fairy go and she floated gently up to the top of the tree.

'Thank you, Rary', said Snoop. 'What wonderful wishes.' But as she stepped forward to give him a Christmas hug, she found she couldn't move. She was well and truly in her place, but her feet were stuck to the spot. Propping up the bar was all very well, but she wasn't sure she wanted to do it forever. And what about the others...?

[rary]

Nicos behind the bar couldn't move from where she was standing, Flo couldn't move the thingamajig that she was intending to make into a Swiss roll and gf was playing the same notes over and over again, though to rary it didn't make any difference as he has no idea of tunes and the only notes he can identify by sound are bank notes, but for some reason he could still move, on seeing the girls predicaments, being a gentleman he stepped forward to render assistance, when suddenly he stopped, oh no said Snoop have you now got stuck rary? but no ssomething had just struck him,,,, Nicos can't move, he thought, so I could get in behind the bar and help myself to a drink, I will tell them it's to help me think on their problems, I wonder how many drinks I could get out of that....

[Nicos]

…then they suddenly realised , it was the new steel toe capoed wellies they’d all been given by Santa….. Somehow the floor had become magnetised…

[Nicos]

…Flo’s Swiss roll flour had clearly been fortified with iron, so no wonder it fell on the floor…..

[Snoop Puss]

'And that', said the fairy, 'is why I've floated all the way up here. And why giant and I took refuge under the floorboard. There's something very odd about the floor. Not sure why Rary is unaffected, though. Maybe his iron levels are low.'

'Rary', said Nicos. You might be the only one who can solve this. So put that bottle down, don't want you being charged with being drunk in charge of a floor. Let's all put our thinking caps on and try and work out what's going on. When did this all start, fairy?'

[Snoop Puss]

'Hmmm', said GF, ever the practical one, 'What about taking our wellies off first, see if that helps?'