TIME FOR TRASHING

"That's a good one!" said Filberto to The Pirate. He turned to The Mouse. "Now show us the best way into the house. We've got some serious trashing ahead of us!"

POETRY PROHIBITION

"Blank verse, schmank verse," said Filberto. "There will be no couplets, no iambs, no sonnets and no trochees!"

"Tell him, 'No Trochee, No Laundry," said The Pirate, passing the bottle to Filberto. The Prohibition was limited to poetry, it seems.

THE MONSTER

Filberto espied The Mouse first and held The Pirate away. "I'll protect you from this monster," he told his friend.

"I'm not a monster, I'm a mouse," said the Mouse, and I'll show you the best way into the house."

"One more rhyme and you're breakfast," warned Filberto.

"Is blank verse all right then?" asked The Mouse.

THE VOTE

Filberto and The Pirate held a low-level meeting to decide how to infiltrate the house.

"I could gnaw a hole in the foundation," proposed Filberto. "Then we could crawl through the vents."

"Another capital idea!" cried The Pirate. "All in favor, say 'Aye!'"

"Aye!" said Filberto, swigging from The Pirate's bottle.

"Aye!" said The Pirate.

"Eek!" said another voice.

"Eek?' said The Pirate. "What kind of a vote is that?"

THE PIRATE CELEBRATED, TOO

The Pirate commandeered a card for me. It was a wonderful birthday.

PAUSE FOR MY BIRTHDAY

I can't help it--the puppets wanted to get together and celebrate. Some of them gathered around a present for me--

WHAT A GOOD IDEA!

"Ahoy, there, Matey! Now that we've made a jolly bad mess of the shed, what say you we move on further into this vessel?"

FEELS LIKE HOME

So Filberto The Raccoon and The Pirate felt that no one would mind a little additional mess inside.

FIRST LOOK AT THE SHED

The shed turned out to be quite dirty and filled with curious old things.

WHILE SHE CHEWS & HE SUES--

We should find out what ever happened when Filberto and The Pirate entered the shed though the open door?

PLUS ÇA CHANGE....

Night was beginning to fall, and Pinocchio could not--or would not--move. "I thought-a you were going to call-a for the help? " he asked Carol Cowstanzo.

"I hate to rush with anything," she replied, ruminating.

"Time is of-a the essence," he said.

"OK, just let me finish chewing and I'll get right on it."

"Hurry-a up, because I can-a sue-a you!"

ANSWERS & QUESTIONS

There was a simple answer: He had come originally to huff and to puff and to blow the house down (it's a common practice amongst wolves), but then saw the place was mighty nice and wanted to figure out a way to get it all for himself.

What is it about nice houses that makes some puppets needy? Speaking of which, what has been happening back at Little Red Riding Hood's house while she is at Malin Ridge Farm?

OH DEAR, OH DEAR, OH DEAR!

What is HE doing HERE? thought Little Red Riding Hood. Should she go to the stables to warn Boo?

BOO TO YOU!

It was none other than The Wolf at the Door.

BACK AT MALIN RIDGE FARM....

Little Red Riding Hood was about to just leave the basket of goodies for Boo, when she heard a strange noise. Actually, not so strange. It was a sound she'd heard before.

I LOVE-A THE TAX DAY!

"I could fill out-a the forms all day!" said Pinocchio. "And sometimes-a I do that."

Do you tell the truth on your income tax?

"I never-a lie to the Uncle-a Sam-a!"

And now back to the story.....

RED RIDING HOOD GOES TO MALIN RIDGE FARM

After she dropped off some goodies with the deserving Token Blogger, Little Red Riding Hood then made another basket of goodies run to Malin Ridge Farm. She let herself in the side door to the Solarium while Boo was down at the stables feeding the horses. Little Red Riding Hood had heard from a little owl that this would be a good time to bring a basket of goodies there.

THE SWELL SOLARIUM

The fireplace is wonderful, the view spectacular.

THE HOUSE AT MALIN RIDGE FARM IN SPRING

Glorious! Happy Easter!

THE DINING ROOM AT MALIN RIDGE

Nice, yes? These folks do things right.

SLEEPING AT MALIN RIDGE FARM

Speaking of making your bed (or stall) and sleeping in it, let me digress a little more about Malin Ridge Farm, a little bit of heaven on earth. Here is just one of the four bedrooms....

GREENER PASTURES

Hmmmmm. These pastures are not yet green, but they will be soon, and ripe for grazing. They belong to Malin Ridge Farm, where only good cows and horses get to graze, so sorry, Carol Cowstanzo, you made your stall, now you have to sleep in it!

INSULT TO INJURY, YAY!

"This is-a the insult-a to the-a injury!" said Pinocchio, suddenly feeling much better. "Don't-a you touch-a me, I am going to need-a the ambulance chaser to see how much pain and suffering I have."

"You want a doctor?" asked Carol Cowstanzo.

"Get me one of him-a, too," said Pinocchio.

Carol became afraid of thought there must be greener pastures somewhere, and simpler puppets to deal with.

SOME COW-NFUSION

"Gently, do it-a gently," Pinocchio instructed. "I am not-a the lawn."

"I know you're not lying," said Carol Cowstanzo.

"I am-a lying down," corrected Pinocchio.

"I just don't know what you want," she said.

"No pull!"

"I HATE that expression, said Carol Cowstanzo.

ON THE OTHER HAND....

"Help-a me up!" Pinocchio repeated, trying not to add, "You're the one who-a knock-a me down, you stupid-a cow."

"Of course," said Carol Cowstanzo, grabbing his hand. Unfortunately, she was still in chewing mode.

"OWWWW!" said Pinocchio. "Let-a go!"

"Well, make up your mind, which is it?" said Carol Cowstanzo.

NOT EASY TO STOMACH

"Now, tell me what can the matter be?" asked Carol Cowstanzo, as she finished gulping her second breakfast. "I have a big day of digestions ahead of me in several stomachs, along with the rest of my work."

BACK AT THE SHED

"Arrrrgh," said The Pirate, "It's nice and dark in here. Let's bed down for the rest of the day and and plunder into the night. What do you say, Filberto?'

But the Raccoon was already asleep and dreaming of nocturnal trouble-making.

NEATNESS FIRST

"Help-a me, please! I fall-a down and I no get-a up!" Pinocchio called.

"Let me just tidy up this section," answered Carol Cowstanzo. "I don't want it to look uneven."

ABSOLUTELY NO ONE CAN GET IN

Carol Cowstanzo finally emerged and secured the new locks against Little Red Riding Hood. "Absolutely no one can get in now," she chortled, pleased with her work. "Oh, just one last nibble," she said, turning back to the tasty front bush and knocking Pinocchio even more off-kilter.

"Ow! My back!" cried Pinocchio.

But Carol Cowstanzo was too busy enjoying her treat to notice.

NOW THAT'S HARD WORK!

As he juggled the large boxes, he wondered if he had taken enough, or should he go back to get more? He did want more, but his back was beginning to hurt. In his wooden mind, he weighed the pain in his back against the benefits of taking more of Little Red Riding Hood's prized books and antiques, that he figured she didn't really deserve. She's-a never worked a real-a job in her-a life, he thought to himself. Lifting these-a boxes of heavy valuables, now that's-a hard work!