You might recognize the title of this blog as the title of a chapter from Lord of the Rings:  Fellowship of the Ring.  (If so, five bonus points for you!  lol)  I wrote that for two reasons, one being that mushrooms have spouted up all over town, ripe for collecting.  The second reason is that another note from The Shire washed up on Long Beach!  But I’ll get to that later.

November is a special month in Animal Crossing.  All month long, you can search beneath trees to find various types of mushrooms!  (They don’t appear under palm trees though.  Not that I have seen, anyway.)  Some mushrooms are better than others.  The mushrooms pictured above are worth a lot of bells!  Other mushrooms won’t be worth as much.  And don’t forget, some mushrooms are actually pieces of the Mush furniture series, in disguise!

So make sure to look for mushrooms all month long, to complete your Mush Series!  I wasn’t able to do it last year, because I didn’t get the game until mid-November.  But I’m hopeful that I will collect all the pieces I need!  From what I’ve experienced, you will find 3-4 mushrooms per day, one of which will be a piece of furniture.

Today was a busy day for Squirt.  He forgot to go to the city yesterday to get the new monthly charm, so that was his first stop:

“I have revealed for you a hidden charm that averts trouble that swarms from the boughs of trees…  You must catch a Koi in Shaolin…”

Hmm… that charm is… okay, I guess.  I don’t think too many people are concerned about bee stings.  But feel free to try the charm when you visit!

Squirt also stopped in at the HRA to see who was given the Model Room Honors this month.  Usually it is someone from ちびくろ, since my Japanese friends are EXPERTS at obtaining high HRA scores!  But to my surprise, the Model Room was filled with musical instruments, instead of the usual Mario set that I usually find.

I was so surprised to see Subi listed as the winner!  Congratulations, Subi!  Your room officially RULES!  XD

Later on, I logged in as Deb because she was requested to deliver a message to Rowan regarding “fashion flair.”  (He gave her a pair of pink glasses.  Big whoop.)  As she was walking along searching for Rowan, she ran into Chester, who had some shocking news:

She tried to convince him to change his mind but he wasn’t being cooperative.  It’s weird, he didn’t mention any of this to Squirt.  Why the big secret??  Sigh…  I’ll keep you all posted on Chester’s residency status!

Now before I go, here’s the latest news from Pippin in TheShire:

Greetings, mystery friend!  Things around here in The Shire are finally starting to get back to normal.  Well, somewhat.  Frodo still hasn’t left his bed.  We are all a bit worried about him, though Merry and I couldn’t possibly understand what sort of recovery one needs after being rescued from Mount Doom.

Apparently Samwise doesn’t need to rest anymore.  At first he wouldn’t leave Frodo’s bedside, but lately he’s been feeling a need to work again.  He’s resumed his old job as Gardener (although it makes him miss the old Gaffer), and has already started creating a lovely garden around our house at Bag End.  He even told me about a beautiful hybrid flower that spawned one morning – a blue pansy!  I almost didn’t believe him until I saw it myself.  I wonder what other hybrid flowers Sam will be able to grow in this land?

Last night I made a great discovery of my own.  I enjoy fishing (although most hobbits will avoid the water if possible) and when I was in the Far Downs fishing by the Sea, I felt a large bite on the end of my fishing line.  After a great trouble reeling it in, I pulled out a brilliant Tuna!  It was the largest fish I’d ever seen since returning to The Shire.  While I secretly wanted to keep this tuna for myself, I decided to donate it to The Shire Museum.  I will have to donate a lot if I want to keep up with Samwise!  He’s been finding all sorts of fossils every day as he tends the gardens and lays out new roads.

Lastly, I recently found my old helmet that I wore during the Guard of the Citadel.  I’ve been wearing it around to remember my days of battle.  I do enjoy living in peace, but at the same time… I miss the adventure from our journeys!

Until next time, my mysterious friend.

-Pippin/TheShire/3953-6655-4658