Gus and Trudy Have a Visit With the Tooth Fairy

Gus couldn't believe the news - Abby had wiggled her tooth out! "You know what that means - don't you?" Trudy hooted. "Yes, yes, I know - we need to start geting ready," Gus grumbled. Trudy knew that Gus was happy that Abby had wiggled her tooth out. he was ust grumpy because they had just seen the Easter Bunny off after a visit and now they were going to have a new visitor. "I just wish I had a day or two to get ready," Gus grumbled again. "Oh Gus, don't worry. You know she doesn't spend much time visiting. She just needs a cup of tea and a small snack and then she is on her way. She has a lot ofhouses to visit every night." Trudy hooted and then tried to hide a laugh. "She" was the Tooth Fairy. The Tooth Fairy was going to have to pay a visit to Abby tonight. The Tooth Fairy would take Abby's tooth and leave something behind. When she was done at Abby's, she would fly over to the little garden on Bloomfield Avenue and have a quick visit with Gus and Trudy. Gus and Trudy spent the day cleaning up and baking some scones for their visit. Around midnight, Gus put the kettle on for some tea. Trusy put the scones on a pretty plate and they waited. Just as the kettle started to whistle, the Tooth Fairy came flying into Gus' house. "Hi Gus and Trudy. It is so nice of you to have some tea and scones ready for me. by the way, what happened to your house Gus?" "Long story. Why don't you sit and rest. Have some tea. Trudy made cherry scones - your favorite," Gus said. Gus, Trudy, and the Tooth Fairy sat down and had tea and scones. The Tooth Fairy had them laughing and laughing with stories of her nightly visits to collect children's teeth. Finally, she announced that it was time for her to go. She had many, many more houses to visit and not a lot of night time left. Before she left, she showed Gus and Trudy Abby's tooth. It was beautiful, so white and clean. You could tell that Abby was taking very good care of her teeth. Gus and Trudy were so proud of Abby. The Tooth Fairy sprinkled some fairy dust on Gus and Trudy and flew away to finish collecting teeth. Gus laughed and Trudy hooted. Together they cleaned up the tea and plates. Just as the sun starting coming up they finished. trudy hooted at Gus and he climbed on her back. Together they flew to trudy's cozy nest. They covered themselves with fluff and stuff and snuggled in for a good sleep.

Happy Easter From Gus and Trudy

The Easter Bunny was very tired. He had been hopping all night to get the Easter Baskets delivered. Finally, he was going to his favorite after-egg delivering place. "Hi Gus and Trudy!" The Easter Bunny said,"Do you have my cup of tea and my hot cross bun ready?" "Sure we do, come and have a seat," Gus and Trudy loved this time of year when they were able to have a good long visit with the Easter Bunny. Gus, Trudy and the Easter Bunny sat down at the beautiful table filled with hot cross buns, tea, scones, cream, sandwiches and all kinds of delicious food. They talked and they laughed and finally Gus could see that the Bunny was getting very tired. "You have had a long night Bunny," Gus said gently,"Why don't we let Trudy fly you up to her nest and you could take a long nap?" "That would be lovely," the Bunny said,"But Gus, what happened to your house?" The Easter Bunny had just noticed the big chunk of roof that was missing from Gus' roof. "Well, it is a long story and I will tell it to you after your nap," Gus said as Trudy put the Bunny on her back and got ready to fly to her nest,"But don't worry, Abby and Tommy drew up some plans for a new house and it will look beautiful." Gus watched as Trudy flew with the Bunny up to her nest. He whistled a little tune as he began to clean up the dishes and started to cook up some carrots and desserts for dinner. While the carrots were cooking, he took another look at the plans that Abby had drawn for him. "This is certainly a wonderful picture. I can't wait to start building my new house. I am so happy tha Abby and Tommy took the time to plan it out for me." Trudy flew down from her nest,"Bunny was already asleep by the time I tucked him in," she said. "He will be hungry when he wakes up. And you know he will tell us about all of his adventures from last night," Gus said,"Why don't we have a small cup of tea and a little rest while the carrots are cooking?" Gus and Trudy sat quietly on the rocking chairs on what was left of Gus' front porch. Gus whistled a little tune and every once in a while Trudy would join in with a soft hoot. They were very happy.

Gus and Trudy Greet Spring

It was a warm April morning. Gus walked out of his tiny house in the garden on Bloomfield Avenue. He faced the sun and stretched his arms wide. He was so very happy that Spring was finally here. Gus had spent this winter hibernating. Gnomes don't usually hibernate, but then they get to a certain age and are very, very tired they sometimes do sleep through the winter. Gus was getting older. He had been very, very tired when winter started. He had talked it over with his best friend, Trudy, and decided that hibernating was the way to go. Gus had set his alarm clock to April 6, 2012. He figured the weather would be nice by then. It would also give him time to plan out the garden with Elaine. "Hoot,Hoot, Hoooray!", said Trudy as she flew down from a nearby tree branch, "I am soo glad that you are finally up Gus! I've missed you!" Gus and Trudy hugged. Gus was so happy to see Trudy. He turned around to look at his house. "OH NO", Gus cried,"What happened to my house?" "Well, that darned groundhog got hungry and decided to chew on your roof this past winter. Didn't you feel it," asked Trudy. "I most certainly did not know that my house was being used as a winter snack for that pesky groundhog!" The little gnome house did look afright. The roof was really chewed up. The chimney was completely gone. It didn't look like it could even be repaired. Gus and Trudy decided that Gus could stay awhile in Trudy's nest while he set abput building a new house. "First things first," said Gus, "Let's check up on the kids." Trudy flew Gus around the neighborhood. They checked in on Anna and Nick, Gianna and Anthony, Carmela, and finally Abby and Tommy. Gus couldn't believe how tall Abby and Tommy had grown! He checked in on Florrie to make sure that everything was OK. Florrie explained that there had been a lot of changes and a big family secret had come out. She explained everything to Gus and Trudy. Gus and Trudy understood. They were glad that Florrie was around to help Abby and Tommy. "Maybe Abby and Tommy could draw a picture of what our house should look like," said Trudy. (She shared Gus' house with him. "Sounds like a great idea. Florrie, could you ask them to draw a new house for us? We cold use their drawings as plans to build our new place!" Gus said. Florrie agreed and Gus and Trudy flew to Trudy's nest high in the trees and decided to take a nap.

Gus and Trudy Watch the Ocean Turn Green

Gus and Trudy were so excited. Today was the day that the people at the beach in Allenhurst were going to dye the ocean green. Even though they did not like to see summer, Gus and Trudy were very excited to see this tradition. Gus climbed on Trudy's back and off they flew. As they were landing on the beach (in a little hideaway corner behind a dune) they saw Abby and Tommy! Boy were they having fun. Then it happened - green - the ocean turned green! All the kids (and some grown ups) laughed and played in the ocean. It was a beautiful sight. Gus and Trudy stayed on the beach until the sun set. It had been a glorious day. Trudy told Gus to climb on her back and she began the flight home. They talked about all the things that had happened this summer. Earthquakes, ambulances, hurricanes, and now, the ocean was turned green. When they landed at their house they went inside and had a cup of herbal tea. They nibbled on some scones. Trudy began to yawn and Gus said they should go to sleep. They went into their rooms and snuggled in for the night. Everything was calm and peaceful in the little house in the orderly garden on Bloomfoeld Avenue.

Gus and Trudy and Irene

Gus and Trudy were in a panic. They had seen Elaine going into the garden and pick up all the objects and take them to the garage. They just couldn't figure out what was going on. Then they heard the neighbors all talking about Irene. How Irene would come and blow everything away. How Irene would make floods all over the garden. How Irene might even take down some of the big oaks that Trudy loved to sit in. Gus and Trudy decided that they did not care for Irene. They decided that when they saw Irene they would kick her out of the orderly garden on Bloomfield Ave. The neighbors were still talking. Oh no! They were saying that maybe the beloved beaches could be ruined by Irene! Gus and Trudy, as honorary lifeguards, were mad about this. How dare she! What was the matter with Irene? And better yet - what did Irene look like? "She must be pretty big to do all that damage," Gus said. "She must be pretty fast to whip around and cause big, strong oak trees to fall," said Trudy. "Where do you think she gets the water to dump all over the place?," Gus wondered. "If she can knock things over that are so big - what about our little house?," Trudy hooted. Gus and Trudy had so many worries and so many questions. They were getting very scared. Then they overheard Abby and Tommy talking about leaving their house and going next door with Annalisa and Nick to stay the night. Now they were worried. What about Anthony and Gianna? They heard that their whole family was going to stay in one room so they would all be safe. "Does Irene steal kids too? What about gnomes and owls? Is anyone safe?,"they wondered. "And what about Carmela? Will she be OK down the road?," Gus and Trudy asked each other. They certainly had a lot to worry about. What to do? "We can't even get hold of the Great Flamingo to help us out,"Trudy said. Then they remembered Dorrie. She knew a lot about everthing because Abby talked to her all the time and explained things to her. So Gus jumped on Trudy's back and they flew up to Abby's window. Tap, tap, tap Trudy's beak tapped the window. Dorrie came to the window. Gus and Trudy asked her about Irene. What did she look like? How could they fight her? How could they help protect everyone on the street? Why was Irene so mad at them? Dorrie laughed. She knew a lot about Irene and others like her because she had lived in Florida for a very long time. She very patiently explained to Gus and Trudy that Irene was a hurricane. And as a hurricane, irene had to do what Mother Nature told her to do. She didn't have any choice. And when she was done blowing and rainingn she would just fade into nothing. "Sometimes I think that these hurricanes get a little carried away and blow and rain so much because they know that soon they will fade into nothing," Dorrie said wisely. Now Gus and Trudy understood. But they were worried about their house and the orderly garden. They deicded to talk to Elaine. Elaine told them that she was going to take their house and put it into the garage. When the storm was over she would restore order to the garden. She even invited Gus and Trudy o stay in the house with Josie and Jasmine, the cats. They did. Then Irene came. She blew and she rained for two days. The wind was actually very scary. Branches of trees were flying everywhere. But the mighty oaks fought hard. Not one fell. The garden was flooded and Elaine said they would have to wait for the water to go down. They waited. Elaine straightened up the garden and it was orderly again. She out Gus and Trudy's house back in it's spot. Gus and Trudy checked out the beaches and boardwalks. Elaine had shown them oictures from the internet. They were scared about what they might find. The beaches were somewhat washed out but people were in big machines trying to put more sand on them. Other people were nailing loose boardwalk boards back into place. Everything was going to be OK. Gus and Trudy went back home. They saw all the kids on the street. Everyone was safe. Gus and Trudy were tired from the worrying. They went back to their little house in the orderly garden on Bloomfield Ave. and promptly fell asleep.

Gus and Trudy Meet a Turtle

Gus and Trudy met a new neighbor today. Old Gnome had moved into the oak tree hollow in the front yard. What was the most exciting part was that Old Gnome had a Turtle move in with him.

"I'm so old now," Old Gnome grumbled" I don't want to move too fast or fly through the air or run fast on a rabbit. I just want to take my time, go slow, and smell the roses."

Gus and Trudy helped Old Gnome off of Turtle.

"Hello! My name is Gus and this is my dear friend Trudy. We live in the gnome home in the orderly garden."

Turtle blinked very slowly and said," My.......name....is....Old Turtle....Pleased...to ...meet..you....."

Gus and Trudy thought there could be more coming from Old Turtle so they hesitated.

Old Turtle drew a big breath and let out a sigh. "Old.....Gnome....it....is....time.....for....our...nap....."

Old Gnome patted Old Turtle's back and chuckled. "Yes my old friend it is time for our after-breakfast-but-before-lunch-nap."

Old Gnome waved to Gus and Trudy and helped Old Turtle into the hollow of the oak tree in the front yard.

Gus and Trudy and the Dog Days of Summer

Trudy had spent the morning watching Elane in the garden. She heard Elaine mumbling and complaining about the groundhog who continued to snack on her vegetables. She heard Elaine making plans to make her garden :groundhog proof" for next summer. Then she saw Elaine sit down, take a big gulp from her water bottle, and say,"These really are the dog days of summer."

That got Trudy to thinking. Were dogs going to start coming over to the garden? Did these days belong only to the dogs? Would it rain dogs without the cats? What was it about these days that made it the dog days of summer?

She headed into the little house that she shared with Gus. She asked Gus about the dog days of summer. He shrugged and then started to get worried too. he certainly did not want dogs to spend all the days in his garden. he wanted these days to belong to everyone. This was going to be a problem.

Do YOU know what the dog days of summer are? Maybe you could leave a note for Gus and Trudy and let them know!