Wind In the Willows Grand Tour Has Arrived!!

Guess who are at my house right now? Toad, Mole and Ratty! They've arrived! And Little Pom is being a perfect hostess. The Traveling Trio came here from Texas. They've been around quite a bit out West, and now they will visit in the East. Our first duty? A warm cup of tea, of course, and a few "biscuits."

The Trio brought with them a copy of their famous book. One fun activity for this World Tour is the making of an annotated copy; we bloggers are enjoying coloring the pictures and writing our own exuberant notes on favorite pages. Here, I've found the picture of Badger, welcoming Ratty and Mole into his home on a frigid, snowy night. My favorite thing about this story is all the hospitality, and the many tasty meals enjoyed in front of a crackling fire.

Pom Pom is the blogger who started this Tour.  They were sent to me by Lisa at Pen and Ink. And I shall be sending them on to Sandra at Thistle Cove Farm.  Half the fun is getting to know all these lovely ladies, with whom I share so many joys.

At the front of the book is a map of the river area, and what a beautiful map it is! Pom must have colored this, I suppose.

Julia wanted to color some pictures too, and I thought I'd better let her, since we were using her pencils! She's working on the famous raid on Toad Hall, in which Badger leads the reclaiming of Toad's home from the wicked Stoats and Weasels.

Since they are traveling all over, Ratty, Mole and Toad need a passport, of course. Each blogger on this tour places a stamp in the passport, indicating that the travelers have come and gone. But I was stumped -- I have no stamps! And then I remembered! I have a bag of stamps that belonged to my husband's great-grandfather, who worked on the railroad. Most are letters and numbers, so I created my own stamp arrangement:

E. L. Wooldridge was my husband's great-grandfather. I loved using these neat stamps, and showing them to Anna and Julia. "C. B. & Q." stands for Chicago, Burlington and Quincy. These three cities in Illinois and Iowa indicate the railroad's destinations, so these stamps are so appropriate for our Traveling Trio!

Tomorrow, Julia and I will be posting more about their visit to our area. Stay tuned!