April Showers Brings May Flowers

 Dear Readers, 

I hope this post finds you well? I have recently come across the 'sylvanian creations' blog which is keeping  the sylvanian families forum creative selection alive. Unfortunately, the sylvanian families collectors forum has closed so it cannot be run on their. But this kind person is keeping the tradition going and I wanted to participate this month. 

https://sylvanarium.blogspot.com/2026/05/creative-challenge-may.html#comment-form

My post for this month's challenge is about the Trunk family!

April showers bring May flowers: 

When Savannah looked out of her balcony on Saturday morning she was delighted to see that the sun was peaking over the forest. The warm breeze tickled her trunk and sun's rays had comfortably warmed the house from the chilly night they had just had. She sighed, breathing in the spring air. But, it was as she looked beyond her trunk that she saw their front garden. Moving house had been quite stressful and in the buzz and clutter of unpacking they had neglected the large garden they had. It hadn't been a priority but now it seemed such a shame to have all the space they had dreamed about, to then have no enjoyment from sitting in it. "It won't do" Savannah promised herself. "But I like my bow tie" said Hugo, sounding crestfallen as he was straightening his bow in the mirror. "Not you Hugo" she smiled, lovingly straightening his bow. "The garden, it doesn't look very nice". "You are right, it needs a good tidy from all the rain". Hugo was just pleased his wife was not criticising his recent fancy for wearing bow ties. 

Within the hour the entire family were outside in the warmth of the sun. It seemed there was little coordination of who was doing what but the family seemed to be enjoying their time outside. 

Peanut was just pleased to have his trike out, he was planning on carting around some sticks. Or, as in his mind, the logs that his father pulls around. 

Savannah wanted to get some laundry out first. 

But the peace didn't last for long. 

"Ivor, get off my flowerbed!"

"It's not yours Nellie, it belongs to the house which means it all of ours!" Ivor pulled back at the watering can Ellie was holding. 

"The previous owners let me plant these flowers and with all the rain we had in April I've finally got a pretty flowerbed" Nellie yanked back at the watering can. 

Ivor placed his hand on the remaining part of the handle and was about the yank when a familiar shadow cast over them both. 

"Ivor" Hugo didn't have to say much, his presence carried more weight, figuratively and symbolically.

"Yes Dad?" He turned to look at his dad, expecting to be told that he was being unkind. It was at that moment Ivor saw his dad had a tool in his hand. Beyond his father there were other tools scattered to help them with the gardening. 

"Come on my son, help me sort out this hedge" Ivor smiled, his dad always knew how to divert his attention. 

The two of them set about trying to tame the hedge that lead to their house. 

And Ivor forgot about wanting to water the plants. 

Meanwhile, Savannah was preparing her potted plants that she had been growing. She was hoping they were finally strong enough to live outdoors. 

She has been experimenting with different varieties. 

Although, perhaps keeping an eye out for the twins, who like to dig, might be a good idea... 

I hope you like this short story about my elephant family. I love their little faces and I think Peanut and Nana are extremely cute. 

I recently made the flowerbed at the front of their house because I thought my village lacked greenery. I used an idea from this blog: 

https://willowtreegully.wordpress.com/

and from this blog: 

https://mysylvanianparadise.blogspot.com/2017/04/diy-flower-beds.html

I created individual bricks from air dry clay and then built the flowerbed. After they had dried, I painted the 'cement' colour between the bricks and then the red for the rest of the brick. I used redundant cardboard to fill the bed and then used tea from teabags for the soil. This idea was from Willowtree Gulley and she had the great idea of sealing it with PVA glue. This was great because it doesn't shed tea everywhere now!

When I saw the challenge was about flowers I knew my new beds needed to make an appearance. 

Till next time, 

Helly x