Well, well, well look who it was !!!!!

But why the straw ?

Why the oats ?

​And why the secrecy ?

Bertie Button has some explaining to do !
  

Beatrice loves to go and visit local beauty spots in the rare winter sunshine. St Conans Kirk in Loch Awe is one of her favourite places . She keeps her eye on the time with the beautiful sundial but what is she looking at ? Why is she not enjoying the view . It may be the giggles from her Book Cover Bear friends she brought on todays visit .

They were having so much fun she decided to join in their game of "slide the buttress". It was lovely to see this very serious bear having fun with her friends . The building is very tall and the loch very near .

.
A bright and beautiful snowy day in the Highlands of
Scotland. Perfect for a lovely walk to blow the
cobwebs away, but of course that meant the
combination of snow.....
​and Bertie....

I should have guessed that it would probably not end
well for someone....

.....and it seems I wasn't far off the mark.....unlike Bertie ! 
Poor Ollie ! I think hot chocolate and cuddles in front of the fire might be in order .

As all bear mums know, teddy bears can be very inquisitive little souls, particularly when they suspect there is something going on that they don't yet know about and it would appear that Bertie Button is no exception.....

Liz and I are currently working on a very exciting Book Cover Bear commission, which of course, like all of our commissions, is Top Secret until finished and delivered to their new homes.
Because of this we have been waiting until enquiring eyes are fast asleep or out on an adventure before working on her - oops a little clue there - so I was somewhat surprised, whilst working with some lovely pieces of soft felt and colourful beads late last night, to find myself feeling somewhat uncomfortable, almost as if I was being watched......​and then I spotted a familiar little face peering through the glass in my door !
​
​
Bertie Button !!!
​Naughty little bear ! He was supposed to be fast asleep !
He knew he had been caught but he's a quick thinker is Bertie - especially when he's up to mischief of some sort - so when I asked what he  was doing he said he had been trying to catch my attention because he had woken up when his blanket had fallen off and now he was chilly and hoping for a glass of warm milk, and, although he had managed to climb up to the door handle, he was too small to turn it .
Well !!! 
​
Despite his late night Bertie was up bright and early today and very keen to borrow my magnifying glass .....apparently he has a mystery to solve and clues to find ..... I think I am going to have to keep a very careful eye on my very curious bear...... 

 I hope everyone has had a lovely day !
I spent most of the day trying to track down a certain little bear so that we could send out a Happy New Year greeting to all our lovely new friends and customers, but could I find him ?
Nope - Bertie Button seemed to have disappeared and remained missing until bedtime approached and the cottage fell quiet......apart from the sound of gentle snoring drifting from the bookshelves........  

​It seems all the festive excitement had finally caught up with little Bertie Button. 
​Sometimes being mummy to a mischievous bear can be quite a challenge !

HAPPY NEW YEAR EVERYONE.  ​

I thought I would like to share with you my excitement , Bertie is off on an adventure with his Mummy Andrea and there is great giggling in the Bear Room . My Mummy Liz thought she would take some photos of the Christmas decorations here at the Railway Station. It's lovely to watch people press their noses to the window to see the lights and decorations and of course the rest of my family of bears .
We will be sad to see some heading off to new homes but delighted that they will start a whole new set of adventures in their own world. Mummy Liz and Mummy Andrea are busily stitching and creating new friends for me so I don't feel sad when they leave home all tucked up in their felted bag and precious documents 

If you happened to be visiting Dalmally Railway Station this week you may well have heard a rather loud commotion coming from The Bear Room and if you had been brave enough to investigate you would, I'm sure, have been very surprised to discover that all the noise was being caused by just two little bears ..... two very excited little bears......

Beatrice and Bertie had decided to decorate the cabinets where the Book Cover Bears waiting for new homes live, as a surprise for their friends, but were finding it very difficult to be quiet as the more Christmas decorations they found the more excited they became....and the more excited they became the more they giggled.... and the more they tried to stop giggling the louder they got....

When I was making some felted flowers, Humphrey Bear reminded me ( several times ) that he loved the colour yellow, and in particular, yellow flowers. I took the time to listen, as any Mammy does, and we decided to have a play day .

Beatrice and Bert had very busy paws today when they got involved in a very Scottish Highland event that took place on the station platform, 'The Walking of the Harris Tweed'. Waulking is the final stage in the long laborious process of producing homespun cloth 
When a piece of Harris Tweed ( woven on the Island of Harris ) comes off the loom it is stiff and rough and the weave is quite loose. Waulking ( like fulling felted wool ) thickens and softens it. This is all done commercially these days so it was lovely to see the traditional methods being used on our rather special piece of cloth and we were delighted to be able to take part as the preservation of traditional skills is at the centre of everything Book Cover Bears are  about.
Our hand waulked Harris Tweed will be used to create some rather special bears accessories.
Beatrice found the 3 hours it took to waulk this piece very tiring but she and Bert so enjoyed the authentic Gaelic songs the ladies sang while working and have am sure will be humming them for a long time to come.
​The whole event was filmed by a visiting TV crew who are making a documentary series about Railway Stations around the country. They were very kind to our bears and made Beatrice and Bert feel totally at ease on their first television debut. We will have to remember to look out for them when the ' Beautiful Railways' programme airs next year !