The Diary of Bellin Curlytoes

Spud was so jealous of me having a pony of my own.  I stopped off at mam’s to let her know that I was going to be moving in with Eleangil.  That got her all flustered  she worries that I might be a bit messy.  I gave her our address so she could go and have a look around and meet Eleangil.

Krispli's yard

I remembered to give mam her present from Dwaling she was very pleased with it and wouldn’t let spud touch it in case he broke it.

She was putting it on the table in front of the window when she saw my pony, unfortunately carrot was choosing that moment to eat some of her flowers.  I explained that he might be feeling a little hungry so I made my excuses to go before he ate too much more of the garden.

I found some new armour waiting for me when I got back to Eleangil’s smial, Krispli had made them for me.  Carrot wandered over to Krispli’s yard to eat some of the weeds.  Now I’ve got a pony it will make it so much easier to get around.  I think I might take a pony trek to Rivendell and say hello to those hobbits again.

I woke up really early this morning, it was very difficult to sleep because I’ve been so excited about getting a pony.  There’s a nice horse farm near Bree where Eleangil said that I would be able to get a nice little pony from.  I might drop by Fredemac’s smial on my way to see if he’s got any nice carrots going spare that Arnica doesn’t need.  Ponies like carrots so I think it might be a good way to make friends.

Getting my pony!

No one told me I had to take a riding test, well I think it’s just a way to deliver new ponies to the pony hire places.  The ponies have been friendly enough though and we reached all of the places without too many problems.

The timed run was a bit of a challenge what with all of the fences to get over and they didn’t even lower them for my pony.  Luckily the pony knew what to do so I just held on and we managed to complete the course on time.

The most difficult bit was making my mind up over which pony I wanted.  I kept walking along the stables and there was this one pony that kept nudging me as I walked by.  I eventually figured out that he could smell the carrots I had in my bag, I decided that he was the pony for me.  We shared the carrots and then headed back to the Shire.  I want to introduce Carrot to Elea, Krispli and Spud.

Eleangil has made me another new bow, I haven’t broken my old one or anything it’s just because I’m getting better at using them so I need one that’s stronger.  Eleangil says that she’s got better at making them too.

But that wasn’t the main surprise.  Back in the shire we went for a walk around some of the nice smials in Waterley.  It’s not that fare from mam’s house but it’s very nice there, good solid hobbit type housing.

An elf home in the shire

We were stood outside one smial and Eleangil asked me if I would like to go in for tea as it’s her home.  It looks very homely too and she has a statue in the yard.  Most of the furniture is elvish but its very cosy inside.

Anyway, the best bit was when Eleangil said that I could stay there whenever I wanted.  We walked around the neighbourhood a bit more after tea.  Krispli lives opposite, I had a peek through the windows because he wasn’t home.  At first I thought he had lots of pets but Eleangil says they’re trophies, a bit like the barghest I got for Spud.  He’d love to have a closer look at Krispli’s collection.

Radi lives just around the corner, he has a dwarf statue and a large picnic table.  I hope he  sorts out having a picnic soon.  There’s also a shortcut that you can take through Radi’s garden to get to the smial where Fredemac lives with his sister Arnica.  You can tell that Arnica lives there because of the lovely smell of fresh baked pies.  Radi must be hungry all the time living so close by.

This evening I counted through all the coin I have saved, I wasn’t far from having enough for a pony but Eleangil lent me the extra I needed.  I don’t know if I’ll be able to sleep tonight knowing that I can get a pony tomorrow.

I’m sure I’ve got a cold now it feels like I’ve spent days swimming this lake.  I hate swimming, if you’re not careful your pies get soggy.

Firebreathing salamanders

Eleangil caught up with me a couple of days ago on an island with loads more of those salamanders that kept trying to set me on fire.  Once Elea found me though we soon managed to sort them out, horrible fire-breathing things.

While we were there she collected some branches and I collected some ore, but only after she assured me that dwarf-iron ore is not just for dwarves.  She laughed when I told her that Krispli had told me that.

Anyway we’re back at Ost Forod now and Eleangil is busy in the crafting area.  She’s asked me to wait for her because I know the quickest way back to the shire and she says that she has some surprises for me.  I finally found someone who could teach me a shortcut to Tinnudir and I nearly have enough money for a pony.

An Ent, not a tree!

It’s a very long way to swim across the lake, I found a little island to stop off at on the way but it was full of those tomb-robbers so not a very nice place to stop for a picnic.  Over the other side I found a couple of elves and a giant tree thing that’s got arms and legs and everything.  I had a bit of an explore, there doesn’t seem to be any ruins this side of the lake but there are these strange men things that wear wolf skins and throw spears at hobbits just going around minding their own business and trying to do some mining.  I helped the elf redecorate some of their totem poles after that.

Oww, biting deer

There’s probably no boars to be found because  the wolves, bears and wargs have eaten them all.  And their favourite food after boars? …hobbit!

This place is so wild that even the deer try to bite you if you stand around for too long.

I asked directions to another place on the lake only to be told there was no road there and not even a boat.  It seems I have to swim, and it’s such a big lake, I hope the fish are friendly.