An Extra Bear!

Hanley Bear and I had a very exciting Bank Holiday weekend. 

We didn't think it was going to be, as Polar and Grizzly decided not to take Uppie the narrowboat up to Endon for the Well Dressing and Craft Fair.  We were quite disappointed about that, but Polar said we could help her get ready for the fair and help on the stall, if we were good bears and stayed away from the wet paint.

Polar paints canal roses and daisies on things to make them prettier, or to make waste things useful again.  She uses enamel paint which we were warned is very difficult to get out of fur, so we were careful not to go near painted things until they were dry.  When they were, we helped to pack them.

The fair was in a big tent at the top of a field with lovely views towards the Staffordshire Moorlands and Churnet Valley, where we had gone to see the bluebells and steam trains earlier in the year.  Hanley and I thought about rolling down the hill for fun, but we had work to do, helping to set out Polar's pots and tins. 

We thought it would be fun to sit in the watering cans and wave to people, so Polar made signs pointing out that we were not for sale!

When people weren't buying things, Polar was busy painting new things.  Grizzly fetched us all cups of tea and tasty snacks during the day and went to talk to people running other stalls who were selling cards or turning wood or spinning or doing all sorts of other clever things we bears would like to learn to do. 

When Polar went for a walk around, she took us with her, so we could see the Well Dressing.  This is a Peak District tradition which goes back to when humans believed in water spirits and thought they had to honour them to stop their springs of fresh water drying up, so decorated around the springs with flowers.  These days, the flowers are pressed into clay boards to make patterns, usually with a historical theme.  Polar was pleased to see that Votes for Women was one of the themes this year, because it is one hundred years since the first British women were allowed to vote.

We wanted to paddle in the spring because it was hot, but Polar didn't want us getting our back paws wet or muddy and getting the stall messy, so we had to stay in our bear bag. 

On the way back to our tent, Hanley Bear started to cry.  He had seen other small bears on stalls but they weren't helping the humans running them - they were prizes in raffles and games.  Hanley said we ought to rescue them, because he had once been on a fair stall and had been very frightened he might be won by someone who didn't really care about bears and would give him to their dog as a chew toy.

'Polar and Grizzly don't have enough money to buy all the tickets,' I explained to Hanley.  'So how can we rescue any bears?'

That night, we talked about the fair bears and how to help Grizzly or Polar win one and set it free.  We couldn't think of a way to make sure they won the raffle but worked out that we might be able to win a bear at spin-the-wheel.  It would mean cheating slightly, but it was to rescue a fellow bear so we decided it was a good thing to do.

The next day, when Polar took us out at lunchtime, she showed us some rescued owls, so we would stop being frightened of them and a big carved wooden bear made from a tree trunk by a clever man with a chain saw, but she almost walked right past the spin-the-wheel game. 

Hanley Bear had worked out a plan to rescue a bear here, so we started wriggling in the bear bag.  When Polar stopped to check we hadn't fallen out, one of the men running the game asked her to have a go.  'Only one pound!' he said.

Polar had some change in her pocket so decided to have a go.  She spun the wheel, so hard we thought she would break it.  It whizzed round and round and round.  If the arrow stopped where it said LARGE, you won a big bear.  If it stopped at MEDIUM you won a middle-sized bear and if it stopped at SMALL you won a small bear, but there were lots of segments on the dial that said LOSE, where you didn't win any bear.  Hanley and I got quite giddy watching the arrow spinning round but we had to concentrate really hard if our plan was to work.

The arrow started to slow down.  It went past LARGE.  It went past MEDIUM.  Then it almost stopped on one of the LOSE segments.  Hanley Bear and I leaned out of the bear bag and blew with all our strength.  The arrow crept forward a tiny bit more and stopped on SMALL.

'Yay!' went Hanley Bear.

We made sure Polar picked a cub we had seen the day before and wanted to rescue most.  He is a little smaller than Hanley and very fuzzy, and we have told our human guardians they can call him Endon, after where we rescued him, although his name is GrGrowlGrGrowl in bear.  It was hard having to leave other small bears on the stall, but we hoped they would soon be won by kind grown-ups or good human cubs who would love and care for them.

Endon is settling in with us.  Polar will need to make him some clothes soon, as he is borrowing some of my pyjamas at the moment and they are too big for him.  Hanley Bear is looking forward to taking him to some of his favourite parks and other places and of course I want to teach him about being a boat bear.  

We have reorganised the bear basket so it sleeps three bears comfortably, as we will need to make sure we get plenty of rest if we are all going to have adventures together!