Ditto Town Holiday Mansion, 2018

[Lady Arwen]

Maeve nodded.

"I'm glad you have found some good resources. I hope it helps Grace."

~~

Kaelin was consider another brownie when she heard a soft thud thud thus. She quickly realized this was the sound of a tail against a tablecloth, and looked around to determine who the tail belonged to.

"Miss Mel!" she exclaimed. "I've missed you!"

[Stylteralmaldo]

Meanwhile, the ever-elusive blue lobster went unnoticed in the corner of the room taking in all the sites while also planning his next move.

[Ryadian]

"Nice to meet you both." Ocean adventures - these girls must have a really active imagination. Before Cody could say much else, though, a Saint Bernard approached the table and started collecting food. Before he could look around for someone the dog's owner, Kaelin... greeted her? Right, some animals in Ditto Town could talk. That... was still a strange sight, though. He still half-expected to hear someone shooing the dog away from the table.

He really wanted to ask the girls about this, but even if he knew them better, there was no polite way to ask, "So, what constitutes as 'normal' around here?" So, instead, he decided to turn to his plate of goodies. He selected a cinnamon bun and scarfed it down.

[Meltintalle]

"It's nice to see you again, Kaelin, Grace," said Mel. She gave them all a wide-eyed and hopeful look, ears pricked. "You look very festive tonight! Would any of you be interested in a game of 'Fetch the Ornament' later?"

[Lady Arwen]

Kaelin looked doubtful.

“Maeve always says not to take them off trees,” she said slowly.

[Meltintalle]

"True." Mel hadn't thought of that. Then she perked up again. "We can ask one of the waiters for an extra one."

[stargazer]

"Hi, Mel," Grace said with a big smile.

"Puppy!" Emma squealed all too loudly, dashing over to embrace the big dog in an enthusiastic hug. She still had a cookie in her hand and offered it to Mel. (She was still too young to worry about what might be proper protocol around Talking Dogs).

Grace glanced up at Cody and introduced him to Mel as if this were the most ordinary thing in the world.

[Pattertwigs Pal]

Pittersticks ducked under the coat rack and watched the foreign squirrel for several minutes before approaching. Owenbranch was approximately 14 inches long plus a two-foot tail. Pitterstick’s body was about the length of Owenbranch’s tail but his tail was shorter. “Don’t you think you are special with your fancy coat and jeweled harness. Oh, I see,” he said looking into Owenbranch’s vacant eyes. “you aren’t a talking squirrel. Still, I see I am underdressed.”
Ottillia stopped sampling the offered goodies and handing out dollar tips. “How diverting!” She exclaimed. “The squirrel talks!” Pittersticks turned his attention to Ottillia. “I assure you,” he said stiffly. “I do not talk for your amusement.” Ottillia laughed. “I’m sorry I didn’t mean to insult you,” she said. “I heard there were interesting citizens in Ditto Town. I’m very glad to find it is true. I was getting tired of the people one meets at holiday parties. My name is Ottillia Nordin. What is yours?”
“Pittersticks and now if you’ll excuse me, I have something I need to attend to.” Pittersticks scurried out the front door.
“This party is so delightful! Why, there isn’t a caviar or drop of wine in sight! Violet, I’ll take Owenbranch. Do run into the kitchen and see when dinner will be ready. And check on the menu. You know what I mean.”
“Yes, ma’am.” Violet handed Ottillia the leash, curtsied, and heading to the kitchen.
~

Yes, it’s my first time back,” Twig’s answered Faye. “I don’t get into Ditto Town very often.”

[Delia Death]

Greetings, gentlefolk!

As the Feast of Epiphany approaches, so does the end of our current mansion festivities. Please note that the last day for the Holiday Mansion will be January 9th, after which the doors will again be shuddered--I mean, shuttered.

Peace out!

Delia

[Pattertwigs Pal]

Pittersticks scurried to one of his secret stashes in Ditto Town and dug it up. He pulled out at dark green and red plaid vest and matching bowtie. He buried the rest of the items and then dressed himself and returned to the party as Violet was returning from her trip to the kitchen. Ottillia saw her coming and went to meet her. “No ma’am,” Violet said. “It is not on the menu and dinner will be in about one hour.”

“Well, then. We must take matters into our own hands. Go fetch the supplies from the car.” Violet curtsied and hurried outside. Soon she returned laden down with bags and followed by the chauffeur who was carrying a card table. “Wonderful,” Ottillia exclaimed. “Set it up in the middle of the room. Attention, please! You at the piano could you stop for a moment please. It has come to my attention that the menu tonight does not include a necessary traditional dish for every holiday. Lucky for you I brought all of the necessary ingredients. Please step this way and my maid Violet will demonstrate how to make grape salad.”

Twig’s loved to cook so she instantly got up and headed over to the card table. Pittersticks got an evil and mischievous look in his eye and walked to sit next to Owenbranch. He had to try several different squirrel dialects until he found the one that Owenbranch spoke.

[Meltintalle]

Mel pricked her ears at the mention of more food.

Unfortunately, the first ingredient in the 'necessary traditional dish' was grapes, which Mel knew were not good for her digestive system. She sighed heavily and turned away so as not to be tempted.

[Lady Arwen]

Kaelin rolled her eyes and sighed heavily at Ottillia’s announcement, for which she received a strong glare from her sister. Ignoring Maeve, Kaelin turned back to Mel, Grace, and Cody.

“You know...they do keep the extra supplies in the basement,” she said, glancing at the doorway. “No one’s gonna notice until after we’re gone.”

[Cleander]

Harry Herbert awoke in a strange, dark place. By some dim light coming from somewhere or other, he could make out a great gnarl of pipes and knobs and cobwebs. It took him a moment to remember how he had got here last night- ah, yes, he had wandered up to this mammoth mansion, saw lights, heard voices, and reasoned that this was just the place for a shiftless ne'er-do-well to stay overnight if he desired to scrounge some decent vittles. And of course he'd found the entrance to the usual secret passage leading into the basement, and found a luxurious mound of moldy blankets to sleep on.
So much for a good night's sleep. Now he must do something about breakfast...

[Pattertwigs Pal]

A small group gathered around the table. While Violet began chopping the grapes in half, Ottillia began a lector on the grape salad. “There are different varieties of grape salad. We always have one type at all of our holiday gatherings at home. The favorite one is whole grapes mixed with sour cream and sprinkled with brown sugar. However, that one needs to be broiled to caramelize the sugar and then chilled. Since we don’t have the time for that, we will be making a faster but still delicious variety. As you can see, Violet is chopping the washed seedless red and green grapes in half. We like to make this recipe in the summer because it doesn’t involve using a hot oven.” Although Violet was an expert, she still had not finish chopping both bags of grapes. “Violet, please pick up the pace,” Ottillia said. “I do not want these fine guests to become bored.” “Yes, ma’am,” Violet whispered.
Twig’s felt bad for Violet who was obviously chopping as fast as she could. Would it be rude to offer to help? Maybe distracting Ottillia would help. “Excuse me, Miss Nordin,” she said timidly. “Would you please tell us what kinds of grapes you recommend.” “Excellent, question Miss?”
“People call me Twig’s.” Twig’s responded to the question. Ottillia went into a long speech about the pros and cons of different grapes in grape salad. Twig’s hadn’t realized there were so many kinds of grapes. When Ottillia finished her lecture, Violet was just chopping the last grape in half. “Perfect,” Ottillia said. “Now, in a bowl Violet will mix 8 oz of cream cheese.” She paused while Violet added it. “One small container of vanilla Greek yogurt,” pause. “1/3 cup sugar,” longer pause, “and 2 teaspoons vanilla. Once all these are added they need to be stirred together.” Violet stirred. “Now it is time to add the grapes.” Violet had just added the grapes and was about to start stirring when a commotion broke out under the card table. Pittersticks ran out from under the table with Owenbranch at his tail. Owenbranch’s harness hung empty from the leash. “Owenbranch, darling, come back at once.” Ottillia screeched. “Someone catch him please!” The two squirrels raced up the Christmas tree and back down sending a cascade of ornaments to the floor. Violet, Ottillia, and the waiters raced after the two squirrels.

[aileth]

Molly Brown was late to the party. In fact, she almost hadn't come at all. She wasn't sure how people would feel about her after the little adventure they had had on the cruise ship the past summer. However, she was at a bit of a loose end, and when she had received her invitation, she had realized that she really did want to see some of them again, to hear how they were doing and if everyone had fully recovered.

Shyly hesitating, she stood at the door, hearing the cheery sound of people visiting with each other. Before she could make up her mind to go in all the way, there was a sudden outcry. Molly blenched as she saw not one, but TWO squirrels racing across the room. Oh no! not squirrels again!

[Ryadian]

"Well, if you stop by again, feel free to swing by my shop." She gave a sly smile and added, "I promise that's not a sales pitch, I'd just like the opportunity to show you the place when things are normal. I promise, there is such a time."

Almost as if on cue, Miss Nordin made her announcement about about showing everyone how to make grape salad. 'Necessary dish? I've never even heard of it!' Faye was really trying hard to give her the benefit of the doubt, but it was getting harder and harder to do.

It was almost a relief when something interrupted the demonstration. Almost. Maybe it would've been, if that something hadn't been Pittersticks, with the other larger squirrel hot on his tail (err, literally)! Faye noticed that the tree reached up to the railing on the second floor, so the squirrels would likely just jump to the next level rather than come back down, so their best bet of catching them would be to go up there. She would never beat them, of course, but she raced up the stairs in hopes of at least seeing where they would go next.

Cody, meanwhile, had been trying to figure out the best way to dissuade the younger girls from going in the basement - ideally, without feeling like a babysitter. He did not want to get in trouble at a party in front of his boss. In that sense, the sudden distractions were almost a relief for him as well. When the ornaments fell off the tree, he glanced at Mel and the girls and dryly commented, "Well, I guess we get to play 'Fetch the Ornament' after all!"

Cody ran over to the tree and quickly started picking up some of the scattered ornaments. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw one rolling over to a set of stairs that had been roped off. He knew he wasn't going to make it before they rolled over the edge, but - surely the staff wouldn't mind if he was rescuing one of their ornaments?

Cody dashed over to the staircase, ducked under the rope, and scurried down the stairs, catching the ornament just before it hit the bottom of the landing.