The Mulberry Racoon Grandparents

Dear Readers,

As I promised in my last post, today I´m  going to show you the Mulberry Racoon grandparents. They come with the motorcycle and sidecar set.
Even before I got the Mulberrys I had always liked the motorcycle and sidecar.Once I bought the four family members, I had the perfect excuse to try to get the grandparents and their motorcycle. And I did! The items are in good condition but I just realized later that the motorcycle is missing the number plate that says "True luv" and that was a cute touch.

This picture is not mine. I took it from this site.

I was also missing two of the leaflets but I was lucky to find the scan of those stickers in the Sylvanian Families Forum.

I think the set included two maps but at least I got one.The stickers are not in the best condition in Mildred´s and George´s driving license but look how cute it looks.

The set also includes two helmets and a pair of googles. I think it should have included two pair of goggles. When they go for a ride they both should protect their eyes from the wind.

The boot on the motorbike and the front of the sidecar open and shut and can be used to store all the stuff Mildred and George need for their trips.

There´s enough place to store a picnic basket in the front of the sidecar

The map, the motorcycle manual,the countryside magazine and the driving licences can be stored  in the boot of the motorbike.

Now, they´re ready to enjoy riding around the country lanes of Sylvania.

If you want to know a little more about them here is the bio I wrote:
 

George and Mildred are a young at heart couple of grandparents. 

George, now retired from his job as the village mechanic, is still a passionate about motorcycles. He used to love repairing them but what he really likes is to ride them. Now, he and his wife, Mildred have the time to enjoy long drives to explore the lovely country of Sylvania .His old motorcycle and sidecar is still running like the first day. He takes well care of it.

He was driving his motorcycle the day he met Mildred. Mildred was hitchhiking to go from her village to Sweet Berry Valley. Some of her friends had moved to live there and she missed them. When George saw her, he stopped the motorcycle and invited her to sit in the sidecar.  Since then, once a week, George used to go to Mildred´s village to give her a lift to Sweet Berry Valley and then take her back home. Soon, they realized they were soul mates. Two free spirits made for each other and after many years of happy marriage they still feel the same way.

They have two children. Elma who followed in his father´s footsteps and became a professional mechanic and Edward who is a renowned toy maker in Sylvania.

Very soon you´ll be able to follow them in one of their motorcycle excursions.

Enjoy the weekend!

Lots of love 

The Mulberry Racoon Family

Dear Readers,

Recently, I´ve bought some second hand families that are now retired.One of these families is the one I´m going to introduce you today: The Mulberry Racoon Family. 

I´ve been doing some research and I think I have the Tomy version. At first, I thought Ike, the brother, was not in his original trousers but it seems in the Tomy version he´s wearing these trousers instead of the white and blue checked ones.If they are Tomy I guess they can be considered vintage. 

This is the bio I wrote for them:

Elma is the village mechanic. He has shown a big interest in cars and motorcycles since he was a very young boy. He used to go to sleep with a toy car instead of with a teddy bear. His father George was the one who sparked this interest as he was also a mechanic.

"Let´s see what´s wrong with this engine"

Mae is the school cook. She prepares healthy and delicious meals for all the village schoolchildren at lunch time. Children love her vegetable soup and cheese nuggets but their favourite are Mae´s fruit pies. She loves reading cookery books and try new recipes to fill and delight the schoolchildren´s stomachs and her own family´s.

"Today fruit pie for dessert."

Ike wants to be a mechanic like his father and his grandfather. His best friend is Vespa Farthing. They both love motorcycles and like to draw their own designs. They want to build and ride their own motorcycle when they grow up. In the meantime Ike is more than happy when his grandpa takes him for a spin in the sidecar.

"Let´s go for a spin, grandpa!"

Candy is as sweet as her name. She loves dollhouses and miniatures. She likes to make their own dollhouses out of cardboard and sew tiny dresses for her dolls. She also likes cooking like her mother but just sweet treats. Her berry trifle is delicious. She also likes cars, or rather, toy cars that she borrows from her brother. She likes to pretend her dolls travel by car to lovely places.

"Do you like my toy house?"

Would you like to meet more members of this family?

I´ll be back soon with the Mulberry Racoon Grandparents!!

See you then. Thanks for reading!

Lots of love

 

The Maces´ shoe shop

Dear Readers,

As I told in my last post, the Maces are the proud owners of the village shoe shop.

This is the interior of their shop. Very colourful!

They offer a good selection of high quality shoes,lovely bags and the best personal attention to their customers.

At this side of the shop they have place for storage and the check out counter.

This morning,shortly after the Maces opened their shop, Carol Osborne fell in love with a pair of sandals she saw in the window.

"They´re lovely for the summer and you´ll see how comfortable the soft leather feels" Harvey said.
 

After Carol tried on the sandals, she liked them even more. "I´ll take them" she said without hesitation.
"Good choice!" Harvey praised Carol´s good taste.

The second customer was Constance Grunt, or rather, her triplets. They needed new shoes. They were thrilled looking at themselves in the mirror. "Nice shoes!" the three of them exclaimed at the same time.

For the past few days Spencer Maces has been making a pair of hand made leather shoes. Mayor Moss was coming to collect them today.
"You´ve done a very good job" Mr. Moss congratulated Spencer.

Meanwhile, Mrs.Moss was having a look at the bags. She liked one that matched her drees.

They were so glad with their purchases that they wanted to wear them straight away. "No carrier bag, thank you. Just tell me how much I owe you, please" Mr. Moss told Spencer.

After lunch, the Chocolate grandparents were the next customers. Patricia wanted to buy a pair of sleepers but she found it hard to choose. "They´re all so nice and comfortable!" she commented.

After taking her time to choose she ended up buying two pair of sleepers and also a pair of shoes."Next time it will be my turn to buy shoes" Rhys said as they were about to leave the shop. "You´re welcome anytime" Harvey said always willing to please her customers.

The Buckleys are looking at the shop window. Maria seems to be interested in a pair of sport shoes.

She was lucky. She tried on the last pair in her size. "They really suit you, Maria" her mother said and Mrs. Maces agreed.

Oscar was a little bit jealous of his sister. He also wanted to try on a pair of blue shoes.

"Look at you two!You look fantastic!" They all complimented.

Harvey recommended Agatha to clean the shoes with a special shoe cream. "They will look like new for much longer if you clean them with this" she suggested.

As they were leaving, a blue bag caught Agatha´s attention."What a lovely bag!Just a hint in case you don´t know what to get for my birthday" Agatha said smiling at her husband in complicity.

It was nearly closing time so Spencer started to do the accounting for the day. He is very organized and likes to keep a record of the daily sales.

Harvey is restocking the shelves to have the shop all set up for the next day.

She also likes to change the window display very often.

Harvey and Spencer really enjoyed another day in their little shop.

When they were about to close, Nancy Waters, who was baby-sitting the Maces´children after school, came into the shop carrying  John in her arms . She was followed by Nichole, Lucy and Mark.

After a working day Harvey and Spencer were delighted to see their children.Now, it was time to close the shop and enjoy the rest of the day with their family.

*****************************************   Building a shoe shop was one of the projects I had in mind since last summer when I bought the shoe shop set and I got the first family of Maces (the second hand one).However, it was just recently, after buying the brand new Maces Family, when I was determined to start working on it. Actually, it  didn´t take me long at all.I made the shop out of cardboard box.I saw a box at a supermarket that reminded me to the shape and size of the Blackurrant café and the hamburguer restaurant buildings so I put it in my trolley with the rest of my groceries. At the check out the cashier  was a bit surprised when I said I wanted to keep the box too.I forgot to take a picture of the box before starting making the shop. I took these pictures when I was already working on it but you can get an idea of what I mean about the type of structure.

    

Next time I see one of these boxes I´ll take it. They come handy to turn them into little shops or rooms.

Hope you enjoy today´s post!

Lots of love