Please meet Delia, a One-of-a-Kind Artist Teddy bear by Canna Paint Bears.

Please meet Delia, a One-of-a-Kind Teddy bear by Canna Paint Bears, created by the very talented Margaret and Kelly Zimmerman.  I believe she was crafted in the 1990s.  She is made of a rust colored, wavy mohair with airbrushed accents to her face.  She has that Steiff-like style, with long arms and suede paw pads.  She is very firmly stuffed and is about 12 inches tall.   She is in excellent condition.

Not long after Delia moved into her new home, the Teddy bears referred to her as "a nosy parker."   When they walked by her front gate in the morning, she would often be weeding in the garden.   If she noticed a bear ambling down the lane, she would wave them over and ask what felt like 150 questions.  Most Teddy bears would keep their furry heads down and pass her little cottage at a brisk pace and avoid catching Delia's eye.   Some bears even started wearing earmuffs all year round or used earbuds despite having left their mobiles home.   Teds who were more polite or didn't know better would stop for what they thought was a short chat and then were late for work or for scheduled appointments, promising to return another day.  They never did.

But it wasn't her inquisitiveness that was the problem.   As we all know, bears are naturally very curious creatures.   The fact was Delia never revealed anything about herself.   She regularly popped into her neighbors' homes, where they would discover her helping herself to a chocolate biscuit or a cool glass of lemonade or having a little look-see around their gardens, sometimes pocketing a cutting from their border plants for her own flowerbeds. And yet no one had a memory of Delia ever having guests.  The local Teddy bears realized Delia repeated what she heard, clarifying any information she gathered, so if a mama bear mentioned her son's dilemma with his lady bears or her sister's health issues, the entire neighborhood would soon know about it, too.
 
At times she appeared scatterbrained, stopping mid sentence, jotting down a few lines in her well-worn notebook, then disappearing back into her cottage at the slightest distraction.   Whatever Teddy bear was in conversation with her at the time would simply take a deep breath, consider themselves fortunate and be on their way.

On the positive side, however, Delia was the most well-informed bear in the village.   If a bruin wanted to know who was the new resident two streets away or when was the best time to catch the mayor in his office or which pub had the most delectable desserts, Delia would have all the answers, but an excuse needed to be at the ready if they wanted to get away quickly, or else the entire afternoon would be spent in front of Delia's home instead of  more important things being accomplished, like making extra strawberry jam or posting fun pictures on Bearstagram.

When I knew Delia, she was just the same way, asking too many questions, secretive,  making notes in a little notebook, maybe sometimes a little scatterbrained, but knowledgeable about current events.   She was evasive when I asked about her personal details, and on a number of occasions I found her in the kitchen helping herself to cookies and lemonade.  I also noticed several plants in the garden had missing sections of new growth.

The day she left our hug, as per usual, a sending-off party was held for her by all the cuddly toys.   She thanked each and every one of us personally, and whispered to me she knew she would enjoy her new assignment.   Oops.   I mean, her new home.