Hello! Do you like the study of Genealogy? It is the study of family trees! I can tell you a little secret if you would like to know one? Would you like to know? I am sure that you would so I will tell you. The secret is... even though it is called a family TREE , you can study your family tree all the year around, it doesn't have to just be in Autumn when the trees are full of leaves! In fact, you can sit under an apple tree, or a pear tree or a spaghetti growing tree ( no you can't! Because spaghetti doesn't grow on trees! ) and study your family tree. And... families don't grow on trees! You don't need to be alarmed and think that you need to climb a tree and hang from the branches to be a part of your family tree! You might hurt your leg when climbing the tree, and get a scratch on the leg, then it gets infected , and it hurts, and then you call a teddy ambulance ( if you are a teddy that is! ) and you end up in hospital and a doctor comes to visit you and the specialist asks you how and why  you came to be climbing the tree and sustain the scratch injury ( and at this moment you are running out of breath because the written sentence is soooo long! ) and you have to reply : "Oh, I was just wanting to be a part of my family tree!"  Well, that would be a touch bit embarrassing! Soooo.... don't worry! The only injury that you will sustain is if a big red juicy apple falls on your head if you are laying under its branches whilst thinking about your family members! Hmmm... you could end up with a big bump on your head though!  I suggest a kilogram of frozen beans to be put on your head in that circumstance then! It might be icy but it is a well known remedy! ( The coldness is sooo bad that it makes you forget about your head pain! ) 

       Anyway, I have just spent a delightful afternoon with my teddy friend Mr. Oliver from Oxford , and he has been telling me about his family tree! I discovered many unknown details about his background today! I will tell you about it, but you must not let him know that I told you. He got a little sad when he was talking about his family, because they are no longer here. He is the youngest in his family. As you may know, he is aged 99 and 3/4 years old. As you also may know, teddies can't turn 100, they are locked in at being 99 and 3/4 years old. Sooo Mr. Oliver has not aged for quite a while. Anyway, I discovered that his Teddy Mum's name is Bethy Bear and his Teddy Dad's name is Bobby Bear, and his brother is Oswald and his sister is Olivia. He is the only teddy left here in the family. I did not want to be nosey and intrusive and ask what happened to his parents and siblings ( I didn't have a nosey cold, but I had run out of tissues and needed to grab a packet from the Kiosk shelves. I prefer the thick and large variety of tissues, don't you?? ) Mr. Oliver from Oxford came to Australia from Oxford UK some years ago. In fact, his last name is Oxford. But, funnily enough, his  parents originally lived in Brussels! Yes, that is correct! You read that right, he has a Brussels history in that his Mum was a brussels sprouts picker in Brussels and his Dad was a Professor there. Then, the uni transferred his Dad, Bobby bear, to Oxford to lecture at the teddy uni there. Mr. Oliver and his siblings were all born in Oxford. Oliver even attended the uni there too! He is such a knowledgeable teddy! He knows nearly everything! ( Except he does get confused about the order of the seasons in the year!  It is a very confusing thing to know. It is definitely rocket science! ) Olivia, his sister, did NOT like olives! Oswald liked  eating oranges and visiting the Zoo to watch orang-utans. The three siblings sometimes used to ride on the back of ostriches! Apparently it is a bit of a  bumpy travelling ride, but it certainly gets you from place A to place B quite quickly! Oh, I forgot to mention that Oliver goes to the Teddy doctor once a year to have his liver tested. The teddy doctor said that because he has the word "liver" in his name, it is wise to have the check up each year. His Dad, called Bobbie, used to bob and nod his head about a lot. He ended up with quite painful neck and headaches! 

     Well, I had better be off now to have some cookies! Mmmm.... just like my teddy used to make me when I was little!

    Until next time,

        Watch out for falling apples! 

             Your friend, 

                   Kiosk Ted Strath.