Yay!! The Kiosk Helpers have just closed the doors…and now I get to prepare my favourite meal for lunch!! What could be better than nice buttered toast spread thickly with jam!! Now…where did I put that toaster?

Aha! Here it is. I must be very careful because I don't want to set off any fire/smoke alarms. It would be soooo very, very embarrassing if all of a sudden the alarm went off and the next thing I knew, a bright shiny red fire engine appeared right outside the Kiosk! And 2 firemen would leap out of the fire truck, and fly into the Kiosk a bit like Superman ready to fight the fire…and all they would find would just be little me, a little teddy bear just wanting to enjoy some toast and jam…and I might get drenched by the water from the fire hose!! I would then be a very soggy and drenched Teddy…and I might get pneumonia, in fact I might get double pneumonia ( Can teddies get triple pneumonia? I don't want to take the chance! Well…I did have my flu and pneumonia injections late last year when I heard that I would be taking on the delightful position of being the official Strathalan Kiosk Mascot. I definitely did NOT want to give any flu or pneumonia germs to the lovely people who visit the Kiosk!! And the teddy doctor even gave me a jelly bean for being a "good teddy" and having the injection! Dr. Teddy said that the jelly bean would take away any pain that I had from the injections… I'm not sure if that was true but it was very "sweet" of him to let me choose my favourite coloured jelly bean to eat. )

But back to my delicious lunch that I am going to prepare. But…another thought has just crossed my mind. I certainly must NOT leave any toast crumbs on the floor!! That would be "evidence" of my toast meal,,, and I may get "caught out". No, I must be extra careful that I don't leave any crumbs and also not spill any jam. I was so extra glad that my friend, Mr. Benjamin Baker Bear, very kindly delivered a freshly-baked -today loaf of bread to me earlier this morning, just as the sun was rising. Aren't sunrises beautiful to watch?!!  The lovely colours just paint the sky and what a beautiful start to the day and morning. Mr. Benjamin used the standard form of bear transport vehicle to deliver the bread, which is the "bearmobile". Most of us bears have bearmobiles, you know. They can just travel through the air as quick as a flash, and we land at our destination. We travel up in the sky. My friend, Mr. Oliver from Oxford Bear, and his friends, have a bearmobile too, but their one has a golden horn that goes "Toot! Toot!." And comfy brightly coloured cushions to sit on. And their bearmobile is coloured vibrantly bright shiny red. And has a lacy white parasol for any lady bears who ride in it, to shelter them from the sun because it is an open top vehicle. And it has a green radio with a blue knob on it. Not that that I am jealous or envious of their bearmobile.., but what a stylish bearmobile it is!! But Mr. Oliver is so generous and very often "takes me for a spin" in it. He is such a great driver, and did you know that Mr. Humphrey B. Bear used to be the bear that serviced Oliver's bearmobile. Yes, Humphrey was such a good servicebear tradesbear. He used to really like oiling and greasing and checking over the bearmobile to keep it "tick-tocking" good and running/operating  well. I would often see Humphrey positioned under the vehicle in his tradesbear overalls. But now Humphrey very proudly lives in an Adelaide Hospital and has such a lot of fun cheering up all the sick children in the hospital wards there. But he still often pops back here to Victoria in his own bearmobile to catch up on all the local "gossip" and news, and of course to make sure Oliver's bearmobile is running smoothly. (Did you know that bearmobiles don't need to have any petrol to run on?!  Yes, that is quite correct, which is very good because bears don't have any pockets so where would they keep their money to pay for petrol??)

But, sorry, back to the toasting job that is at hand. Okay, 2 nice thick slices of toast I spy in that loaf, so I'll just get them out with my paws.  Now, there are some blocks and tubs of butter in the Kiosk fridge which would be good to use. I did sneakily put some butter out earlier, when no-one was looking, so that the butter would spread easier as it would be softer. Now for the great task and huge decision…what jam will I spread on my toast today?? What a big choice of jam flavours the Kiosk has to choose from!! Hmmm… there is strawberry, ginger marmalade, apricot, raspberry, plum, breakfast marmalade, mandarine orange marmalade, blackberry …and the selection goes on! I think today I will go for apricot jam, seeing this year seems to be a good year for backyard apricots. Wow! It gets a bit sticky on bear paws though!! And it takes such an extremely long time to clean my bear paws and get rid of the stickiness off my fur.. but it IS a nice reason for having sticky paws!!

Toaster ready? Yes! Bread popped into it Yes! Up pops the toast, and now I get to spread the butter and jam on it! Yummy!! I do so like the smell of freshly cooked toast!! (Oh! I do so hope that the smell of the toast though has disappeared before anyone comes into the Kiosk!!  I do hope that they don't suspect anything!!) Mmmm…delicious buttered toast and jam!! And now I will clean up my lunch "mess' and make everything look "spick and span" again.

 Until the next time, when I will share more of my adventures…I extend a "sticky' paw of friendship to you all!!

         Your friend, Mr. Kiosk-Ted Strath

                       Also simply known as 'Ted".!!