Evie and Fiorella's Sleepover

Hello everyone!

Here it is, at last! The sleepover story I have been talking about for months now is finally finished. I apologise for the long delay, but the motivation to take pictures and write Sylvanian stories has been a bit lacking for me lately, and the whole pandemic situation sure didn't help. I do want to get back into my Sylvanian hobby, so hopefully more pictures and stories will follow soon!

(I feel like I always say this, haha...).

I have had this idea for a very long time, and I actually wanted to present it for the SF Collector's forum challenges... Challenge number 14 of 2021, ouch!  Better late than never, right? The prompt was "Sleepover Party".

This story has taken me so long that there's even Christmas cookies in one of the pictures, haha... (made by my dear friend  Cutata, thank you!). I do apologise once again.

Once again, there's not much of a story, really; it's more a slice-of-life succession of scenes, but I hope you'll enjoy it. 

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It was a sunny afternoon in the village of Arcfield, and near one of the houses in the outskirts, cheerful voices could be heard: Karen Hazelwood and her daughter Evie were just arriving to the home of the Andes alpaca family, where Ariadna and her daughter Fiorella were welcoming them. Fiorella was delighted; she and her best friend Evie were going to have a sleepover that day, an event she had been eagerly awaiting for weeks.

She didn't waste any time and quickly led her friend upstairs to show her that in her room everything was already ready for their sleepover.

"Oh!" said Evie, quickly turning to say hello to Fiorella's baby brother, Óscar, who adored her. "You even moved the bed, Fi?"

"I did!" beamed her friend. "Well, papa did. He's going to be out until late today, and mama promised to keep Óscar occupied. We already have the sleeping bags prepared, and I even got some playing cards! We are going to have so much fun!"

Evie couldn't help but smile back at her friend, seeing her so excited. When they were with other children, Fiorella could be headstrong and bossy; lately, she had been proclaiming to anyone who would listen to her that she and Freya Chocolate were lifelong rivals, a rivalry the young Chocolate rabbit herself seemed oblivious about!

But when it was just the two of them, no one else around to boss around or impress, her friend visibly relaxed and was able to just be herself, the amiable and generous Fiorella that Evie knew so well.

Downstairs, Ariadna and Karen were enjoying some tea and cookies that Evie's mother had brought with her. Ariadna was also at ease despite her usual shyness and introverted personality, since Karen had been a very close friend of hers for a very long time, ever since their daughters were just babies. So they happily chatted, enjoyed their snacks and started making plans for next time; they would have liked for Camilla Hunter-Smyth and her daughter Isabella to join them and their daughters, but they hadn't been able to come, so they hoped it'd be possible at another time. Camilla was a relatively new friend of Ariadna's, and she would be very happy if she and Karen could become friends as well. And she was convinced the responsible and studious Isabella would be a good influence on her Fiorella.

Not long after, Karen Hazelwood left, leaving Ariadna with the girls and her baby son.

The sleepover was already in full swing upstairs; the girls had changed into their nightgowns and were excitedly chatting about anything and everything while Evie brushed Fiorella's hair. Despite them almost always being together, they never ran out of topics to talk about.

The afternoon had already turned into evening by the time Ariadna went upstairs and smiled at the two.
"Girls, how are you doing? Are you getting hungry? I'm starting to think about dinner and I thought we could bake some sweets for dessert if you feel up to it. What do you think?"
Needless to say, Evie and Fiorella were on board! 

After deciding that they would be making waffles, the two friends went to the kitchen and gathered the ingredients for the batter.
"Eggs, milk, butter..." muttered Fiorella.
"Do we need a mould as well?" asked Evie.
"Not at all!" her friend replied, her smile a bit mischievous. "You'll see!" 

When it came to start mixing the ingredients and making the waffles, everyone moved to the dining room table, where there was more space. Little Óscar was quite interested by the batter, and Evie was amazed at the Andes' waffle maker!
"See?" Fiorella said, as proudly as if the machine were her own invention. "We pour in the mix, and then just wait a little and bam! Instant waffle!"
"It looks and smells so good!" exclaimed her friend, marvelling at the golden waffle shaped like a rabbit's head that appeared when they opened the machine's lid.

Since making the waffles with the waffle maker was so quick and easy, the girls ended up also making cookies for fun. With Ariadna in charge of the oven, Evie and Fiorella prepared some cookie dough, rolled it with the rolling pin and used moulds to make differently-shaped cookies. Fiorella was having so much fun that she even forgot her slippers somewhere!

After having a healthy and delicious dinner consisting of a fruit, cheese and nut salad Ariadna prepared, the girls were finally able to enjoy the sweets they had made while playing a friendly game of cards. Fiorella was in such a good mood that she didn't even get angry when Evie eventually won.

After their game, feeling contented and a bit sleepy, the two girls went back upstairs and got their sleeping bags ready.
"We could read a story. Do you want me to read aloud?" asked Evie. The two friends had enjoyed reading together ever since they were very little.
"Sure!" Fiorella agreed, happy that Evie had volunteered to do the reading. They usually took turns, but she was feeling quite tired already.

After reaching the end of the first short story, Evie noticed that Fiorella's eyes were already closed. Smiling, she put the book away and got in her sleeping bag as well.

Just before drifting off to sleep, she heard Fiorella's slightly drowsy voice:
"I had a lot of fun today, Evie. Thank you for being my friend".
"So did I" Evie replied, her voice warm. "I will always be your friend, Fi. Good night".
"Good night" Fiorella replied, the corners of her lips turning slightly upwards in the comfortable darkness of the room.

And so, the two of them peacefully fell asleep. It had been a great sleepover, as it always was when they were in each other's company.

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And that's it! I am a bit out of practice, and I know it isn't perfect, but I had fun taking the pictures and writing the text; I hope you enjoyed this hopefully wholesome story.

Have a wonderful rest of the week, everyone!

March 2022 Calendar Picture

Hello everyone,

We're in March already, Spring is rapidly approaching in my part of the world (and my allergies are noticing it too, ack!) and here I am with this month's picture in the official SF Calendar, along with the items we need to look for this time:

This month, as usual, we have a colourful picture! It looks like a nursery scene, specifically during a health check day! I understand that in Japan these yearly medical checks are done at the school, so that must be what this picture is representing. We can see the teacher, Mrs Periwinkle, measuring the babies' height in the background,  there's a scale for weighting, and even an eyesight test taking place!

I like this picture; the scene might be a little unusual but it's quite original and shows something that happens every year for Japanese children. All those babies in their kindergarten uniforms are quite adorable, too! And I love the decoration and the drawings on the wall above the little piano. I've been meaning to write a story featuring the kindergarten for a while now (my friend Berna generously gifted me the building quite some time ago!), hope I'll be able to get to it soon.

I also wanted to show you my entry for February's Sylvanian Photo Challenge in the forum. The theme was "Your favourite colours":

Mr and Mrs Diggory are experts at making tunnels and underground chambers. It's what they have been doing all their lives, and, up until now, they have always lived underground. Recently, however, their tunnels have led them to an area full of oversized roots, and those roots led them to the surface, to a forest full of huge trees and plants. They're quite curious about this plant that's growing right inside a tree trunk. I wonder if they'll find the little Sylvanian village right next to the mysterious forest...?

You might be wondering where my favourite colours are in this picture. Well, I like blue and yellow! :D

I wasn't sure what kind of picture to take or what family to feature for this prompt, and when I saw my new moles, dressed in their colourful outfits, I knew it had to be them. Love this family!

I hope you have a wonderful month of March. Stay safe and healthy, everyone!