Rosie Helps Liana Solve Her Problem

ROSIE: "Oh my dear friend Liana! How happy I am to see you again!"

 

LIANA: "I am also so happy to see you again too my dear friend Rosie! I see that you are now a princess, just like me, and that you have found the prince of your dreams! I am so happy for you!"

 

ROSIE: "Oh yes, mijn prins Peter is soooo wonderful! I love him very much!"

 

LIANA: "Yes, I can see why you do! Prince Peter is so nice. He brought me here to visit you."

 

ROSIE: "Have you found your prince yet Liana? A princess as regal and beautiful as you should have a prince by her side."

 

LIANA: *Sighs deeply.* "Oh Rosie! For that I need your wise and sage advice my dear friend!"

 

ROSIE: "Oh I am always here to help you, dear Liana. Tell me what is troubling you? Don't tell me that you have fallen for a wicked prince!"

 

LIANA: "No, no, Rosie! Nothing like that. According to the faerie tale, I should kiss a frog and then he will, turn into a handsome prince. Just recently, a frog sat on a well next to me, and asked me to kiss him. But... I... I didn't want to. He was all wet and cold! Besides, I don't kiss strangers. I don't know what to do now. What should I do, dear Rosie? Should I kiss the frog, even if he is slimy and I don't know him? What is your advice, my dear friend? I also want to have a prince so badly, like you do!"

 

ROSIE: "Oh dear! I understand why you you don't want to just go around kissing starnge frongs that you haven't even properly been introduced to. Not to mention that, as you say, they are slimy and cold!" *Shivers.* "Yes! I can see why this is is such a big problem. I also want you to find your prince, dear Liana."

 

LIANA: "So, what do I do, dear Rosie?"

 

ROSIE: "Let's have a cup of tea first my dearest Liana. Tea always makes even the worst situations better. Daddy makes the best problem solving tea. I'm also sharing some of my very special pink Easter Eggs that the Easter Bunny left for me. Help yourself Liana! They are delicious melt-in-the-mouth chocolate inside!"

 

LIANA: "Oh thank you, dear Rosie!"

 

ROSIE and LIANA: *Sip tea and eat chocolate Easter Eggs.*

 

LIANA: "Daddy's tea is delicious, dear Rosie, but..." *Ponders.* "I don't feel any clearer about my problem."

 

ROSIE: "Oh I have found daddy's tea to be very helpful for me! I think I have come up with a solution, Liana!"

 

LIANA: "You have, Rosie?"

 

ROSIE: "I have!"

 

LIANA: "What do you suggest then, dear Rosie?"

 

ROSIE: "Well, I know you don't want to kiss that frog because he is a stranger. But maybe, once you have spoken to him, and maybe spent some time together, he won't be a stranger any more. You might also find that you have some things in common, which helps if he is telling the truth and really is a prince in disguise! Mijn prins Peter and I have soooo much in common!"

 

LIANA: "Hhhmmm..." *Ponders.* "That makes sense. That is very wise, dear Rosie. But... but that doesn't solve the fact that the frog looks so cold and slimy!"

 

ROSIE: "Well, I thought about that too. Looks can be deceiving sometimes, Liana. Maybe, if you just stroke his back once or twice with your paw. Have a bag with some nice fragrant soap in your favourite scent and your toothbrush and some toothpaste near to paw when you do though."

 

LIANA: "Why, dear Rosie? Why do I need the soap and my toothbrush and some toothpaste?"

 

ROSIE: "Well, if you stroke the frog and he is soft and warm, that's a very good sign. However, if he isn't, you can quickly wash your paw in the well and wash off his cold slime. If the frog is soft and warm, that probably means that he is a prince under enchantment, as frogs are usually cold and slimy. If he is warm and soft, you could then give him a quick kiss. If he is a prince under enchantment, he will immediately turn into a prince and you can live happily ever after!"

 

LIANA: "And if he doesn't?"

 

ROSIE: :You can use the toothpaste on your toothbrush to wash away the frog taste from your mouth."

 

LIANA: "Oh what a great idea, dear Rosie! You are so clever!"

 

ROSIE: "I hope that the frog really is a prince, dear Liana. I would so very much love to see you live happily ever after, like me!"

 

LIANA: "Oh dear Rosie! I am so happy now! You have solved my problem for me! I knew you would help me! I am going to go home right now to my kingdom far, far away and kiss the frog... well get to know him better first, and the stroke him, and then maybe kiss him! Where is your Prince Peter? I'd like him to take me back through the magic portal."

 

ROSIE: "Oh mijn prins is playing with Scout. They are playing hide-and-seek. Let them play for a little bit longer. Please sit and finish your tea and have another chocolate Easter Egg."

 

LIANA: "Oh, only of you insist, my dear Rosie."

 

ROSIE: "I do, dear Liana!"

 

This beautiful faerie tale pantomime nursery tea set was made in England by the Shell China Company in the 1930s. It features eight cups, saucers and plates as well as a teapot, coffee pot, milk jug, sugar bowl, platters, sandwich plate, a lidded soup tureen on its own dish and a gravy or cream jug. Not all the set is being used today. Each piece is gilt edged and decorated and feature different faerie tales including: "Cinderella", "Little Red Riding Hood", "Dick Whittington and his Cat", "Jack and the Beanstalk" and "Goldilocks and the Three Bears" amongst others. This is probably the first time I have had almost the entire set out on display. The set I acquired from England, and it is a sister set to a 1920s Shell China Company nursery rhyme tea set that I was given as a gift some years ago by a close friend who knows I collect nursery ware and children’s tea sets. There are also doll (bear) sized tea spoons which are sterling silver salt spoons, and the sugar ladle in the "Cinderella" sugar bowl is from the Eighteenth Century and is sterling silver.

 

Well here is something new we didn't know about Rosie! She is friends with a real princess, from a land far away! You can see Liana searching for the magic portal in Mummy Marian\'s garden when she came across Peter here: www.flickr.com/photos/66094586@N06/54487028000/ or in the first comment below. You can see her arrival in our garden here: or in the first comment below. and Liana and Rosie chatting here: www.flickr.com/photos/66094586@N06/54487838517/in/photost... or in the first comment below. Liana is a limited edition Steiff "The Princess and the Frog" bear, inspired by the classic faerie tale by the Brothers Grimm. She is made of wool plush, resplendent in a glittering tulle skirt and wearing just a hint of make-up.

She was a gift to Mummy Marian from her daughter!

 

My bears Paddy and Scout have made very good friends with two bears in Holland called Peter and Oleg (www.flickr.com/photos/40262251@N03/galleries/721577154558... and www.flickr.com/photos/40262251@N03/galleries/721577233464...) and their MummyMarian Kloon (on and off). Peter and Scout are very similar and have become best friends. Peter loves Rosie and Rosie loves Peter, so they have become prince and princess to one another.

 

Rosie is Scout's cousin, because like Scout, she is a free trade knitted bear from Africa. She was made in Kenya by one of the Kenana Knitters, Martha Wanjira. She is made from home spun and dyed wool. She was a gift to me from two very dear friends, including the one who gave Scout to Paddy.

 

Thank you to Marian Kloon (on and off) for the use of her photo of Liana in my photo montage.

Done