Welcome to the Teddy Orphanage - Blog 8 - NATIVITY PLAY

December 2014

Rosie and Radcliffe are now a newly married couple - the wedding went off very well, except when Cubby, as proud ring bearer, tripped over .... But then someone remembered that bears don't wear rings anyway, and they all rolled about laughing. Brie and Joy were beautiful bridesmaids - but I'm always the bridesmaid never the bride, thought Joy....

 Radcliffe and Rosie's outfits, and Rosie, Brie and Joy's bouquets - courtesy of Build a Bear and Bear Factory

 Rosie shows off her blue garter - ooh la la!

Cubby knows he is going to have a new baby brother or sister..... but hasn't noticed that mummy Cordelia's tummy is a bit bigger - after all mummy bears usually do have fatty tum-tums!  'Where do babies come from?' he asks. 'Sometimes' says Harry, the gardener, 'You find them under gooseberry bushes......  but mostly a special bird called a stork flies over the house and brings the new baby wrapped in a little blanket'.  The bears all smiled as Cubby rushed to the window to look out.

Now the wedding excitement is over, the bears started thinking more about the festive season. Here Joy is showing Roxie and little Cubby how to stud a spiced tangerine with cloves and tie it up with a ribbon. Roxie has really taken to Cubby and he to her - giving the parents-to-be, Cordelia and Cornelius, a little more time to themselves to get ready for the new baby.

Then Roxie helped Cubby to write his letter to Father Christmas while Brie and the new Mrs. Radcliffe enjoyed the roaring fire and listening to Cubby prattle on....

 Granny Annie helped Cubby sent his letter up the chimney

Later that afternoon Harry came in from his garden store with a basket of sweet chestnuts.....

and in the evening, when Cubby was in bed, some of the bears sat and roasted them on the open fire ..... very Christmassy

Notice that Brie has sat herself down next to Harry (right). On the left is Joy, and you can just about see Nisbet next to her, and Butterscotch next to him.

Granny Annie asked the bears what they wanted for Christmas....

Harry - a bear sized wheelbarrow

Brie - gardening gloves 

(hmm, thought Joy, she obviously is thinking she'll be helping Harry!)

Butterscotch - toffee, chocolate and fudge

Nisbet - he can't say that he'd really like Joy to be his wife!!! - so settled on a waistcoat

Joy -  new saucepans (honestly?...hmm I don't believe you!)

Rosie - Peace on Earth .... only joking, she's too self centred, unfortunately, and her list is too long to print!!!

Radcliffe - quite fancies a red Ferrari (dream on!)

Roxie - new hair extensions

Cordelia - a safe delivery

Cornelius - a cot for the new baby

It would be lovely if the bears put on a Nativity Play for old Rupert, Horatio and other local bears, decided Granny Annie, and gave out the parts as follows -

Mary - Cordelia (with Cubby's teddy to be Baby Jesus)

Joseph - Cornelius

Donkey - Old Donkey

Inn Keeper - Cuthbert 

Three Kings - Nisbet, Butterscotch and Roxie

Shepherds - Harry, Brie and Radcliffe

Angels - Joy and Rosie

The Star - Cubby

Much excitement was created by finding costumes and practising lines......... and then, without much warning, Cordelia went into labour! Husband, Cornelius, stayed up at the safe end, while Nurse Brie was in charge!

Bears don't make a fuss about having a baby, and Cordelia was soon delivered 

of a beautifully furry brown little girl-bear.

Nurse Brie hands the tiny new-born to the happy parents

The other bears, while waiting for news, got on with their usual activities, including sending out invitations to the Nativity Play to neighbouring bears.

The Orphanage Bears

cordially invite you for

drinks and nibbles

and

A NATIVITY PLAY

on Sunday 14th December '14

at 3pm

 RSVP

Granny Annie had kindly agreed to  provide the drinks and nibbles, and Cubby requested his absolute favourite - Pom Bear - though he does hate it when they come broken out of the packet!

 The big snowy owl and her owlet had been adopted, but Cubby took the chance to have a last cuddle before they went....

Harry felt a bit down in the dumps - the lioness gone, and now the owls..... and he'd particularly liked the lioness.... oh well......but then a reindeer arrived at the orphanage zoo, just in time for Christmas - and he had things to do - finding it comfortable quarters and food.

'Would you like a ride on a real reindeer, Cubby?' 

'Ooh yes' says Cubby - 'will Santa be there?'

'No, not til Christmas Eve' says Harry.

They're not working.....

Maybe we could use these......

'But, they're blue' whispered Joy, who likes traditional lights.

So, meekly, Granny Annie went out to buy the bears some more suitable lights

Joy and Rosie arranged the little crib - Rosie had swathed herself in tinsel. 'I think in our play I'm a much prettier angel than this one....' she remarked. Joy sighed.....

Spanish mud people Nativity figurres

The bears started to decorate their Christmas tree

And now......

Cordelia, Cornelius and Cubby are very proud to introduce you to baby Chloe

and when baby Chloe needs rocking to sleep, Auntie Joy is very happy to do it, while humming a lullaby and secretly wishing Chloe was hers....

Granny Annie managed to find the little cot, thus fulfilling Cornelius' Christmas wish at least....

Cordelia had no intention of dropping out of the Nativity play - she feels perfectly well - and now there can be a real baby Jesus - Chloe! It was hard for Cubby to get his head round this.....

'But, Mummy, Chloe's a girl' he kept saying...

THE CAST

No room ......

Cuthbert as the Inn-keeper

While shepherds watched.....

Brie and Harry

Radcliffe was supposed to be a shepherd too, but dropped out at the last minute - he said he couldn't get the hang of the tea-towel on head thing and would rather watch his Rosie being the angel she is....(well, he's newly married, so we won't disillusion him)

The Animals

Old Donkey as the Donkey (!)
Ty Beanies - Daisy, Derby, Fleece and Niles as the ox, ass, sheep and camel

 Angels from the realms of glory..... 

Rosie, with Cubby as the Star of Bethlehem, and Joy

Cornelius and Cordelia as Joseph and Mary

Little Lord Jesus, asleep on the hay

Baby Chloe

We Three Kings........'Bear' -ing gifts ....

Butterscotch, Nisbet, Roxie

THE AUDIENCE

The invited bears - and some gatecrashers - joked and talked amongst themselves, whilst sipping apple juice and ginger beer and crunching Iced Gems and Pom-Bear snacks. Cubby's little friends sat at the front, next to Granny Annie's miniature bears.

Below, Granny Annie's tiny bears

Left to right - Blueberry, Candy Floss, Barnabee, Pinkinton, Hammond, Humphrey, Joseph and Button

Button is the smallest at 5cm and Pinkinton and Joseph the tallest at about 7.5cm. All the bears, except for Hammond, date from the 90s. Hammond is, as far as I am aware, a Schuco jointed mohair bear and I've had him from the 70s. He was named after the family in  The Brothers - tv series - 1972  and was bought from a lovely, old-fashioned and much loved bakery and tea-room called Peter's in Weybridge, Surrey. The baker's daughter has written a cookery book with her father's recipes in it - I gave both my daughters a copy as it was a special treat for me to take them to Peter's for lunch or tea - see photos of the tea room and book HERE. I had two bears, Hammond and another, in a paler mohair, and I stupidly gave the other to a boyfriend. Well, profit from my mistake - never give a loved bear away - boyfriends mostly don't last, but bears do!

So, the audience of bears are now sitting comfortably and quietly - are you? because the play is about to start....

THE PLAY

How far to Bethlehem?

There is room - the stable

Keeping watch over their flocks at night

 The great glad tidings tell

Little Jesus sweetly sleep

Following yonder star

to the stable in Bethlehem

Gold, Frankincense and Myrrh

Away in a manger, no crib for a bed

Later on, when the bears had changed out of their costumes and were relaxing after the audience had gone home, there was a bear-sized tap at the door.....'Maybe someone's forgotten their scarf or something' suggested Brie. She and Joy went to open the door....... and this is what they found....

Joy felt totally unable to move or speak, and just stared down...... but Brie ran out of the door and down the path, just as she was, into the cold, with no coat and in her bear feet.......but came back exclaiming that she could find no sign of anyone - human or bear.

By this time, Cornelius and Harry had carried the cot and whimpering babies in, and Joy had recovered herself and was bustling round.

As you can see, the baby triplets were not newborns, but certainly not old enough to talk.....

'Who on earth could've left them here?' asked Granny Annie 'On such a cold night too!'.....'Well, it is an orphanage' remarked Horatio, reasonably.  'Lucky they're all furred up and got their comfort blankets' said Brie.

The bears discovered that the babies each had a little label.  'Like Paddington?' asked Cubby. 'Well, not quite' answered Horatio 'Their labels say 'Alice's Bear Shop'. 

'Alice...' Harry started to say 'Who the f....... '  But he didn't finish his sentence as he caught Joy frowning at him. She doesn't approve of bad language, especially in front on young bears like Cubby.

Horatio, playing detective, started to find out about Alice's Bear Shop as he's got to be quite a whizz on the internet, but Joy wasn't interested....'Obviously too busy running a shop to look after her own dear babies!' she said, scathingly, while Brie rummaged in the kitchen for baby bottles, and warmed up milk on the aga.

'Gosh, we'll need a rota to look after them all' said Brie 'Yes' answered Joy, 'Feeding, bathing, nappy changing....'  Don't look at me' said Harry, 'I don't do nappies!' 

Joy felt mildly irritated, without really knowing why. 'I'll help' said Nisbet quietly, and gained a smile of approval from the lady-bear he is always trying to please.

Soon the babies had stopped crying and were drinking enthusiastically from their bottles. Joy smiled at Nisbet again.

......causing Nisbet to go off into one of his lovely little imaginings.....

 'What are the babies called?' asked Cubby. 'Well' said Brie, puzzled 'they all seem to be called 'Tat'.... it's on their labels'

'What was their mother thinking of? ' muttered Joy 'They can't all have the same name....we'll call them Tat, Tet and Tot' - and (she said to herself inside her head) I will be their new mother!..... and maybe, just maybe...... Nisbet would make a very good father!

This is the last blog from the teddy orphanage... unless the spirit moves Granny Annie otherwise.... but I don't think so. You can be assured any bears that remain unadopted will live here happily ever after...... and to you they say 'Beary Merry Christmas' .......  and thanks for playing!

The End