EMMA, DORIE, BLOSSOM & FAITH

EMMA, DORIE, BLOSSOM & FAITH: Born - September 19th, 20th, 21st & 22nd respectively. This quartet of sisters just happen to be the backup singers to a Sock Monkey Band called "Orange Peel in the Ditch". Their ability to sing in perfect unison or four part harmony is uncanny and they are known all over the world. The sisters didn't always sing, they each had individual jobs at one point. Emma was a door sales monkey, Dorie raised goldfish for Pet stores, Blossom was a chandelier light bulb changer and Faith actually worked as a guard at the local sanatorium. One day, they were visiting each other and a cool song came on the radio. They started singing along and before they knew it, had a groove all their own going on and decided to give singing a chance. I'm really glad they did and so is the band - especially the lead singer Stripes Magee who appreciates the distraction the lovely girls bring to the audience. No more lost kilts for Stripes Magee....
Author's note: You can read about Stripes Magee if you go back o March 3rd of this year. You'll understand why Stripes appreciates the distraction...

CHARLOTTE & SANDERSON

CHARLOTTE & SANDERSON: Born - September 17th & 18th respectively. So Charlotte and Sanderson are not a couple and not related. They just happen to be two very good friends who connected over their passion for their jobs. Both these amazing Sock Monkeys are "Gumbusters".
There you are, on a lovely night out with your better half, sitting at a fancy restaurant and your knee accidentally bumps the underside of your table. You pull your knee away but wait....there's something stuck to it. GUM!! Or, you and your date are in the very last row at the theatre, holding hands, getting ready to share popcorn and enjoy a movie, when you shift in your chair and realize....there's something stuck to your butt. GUM!! Or, you're on public transit and you bend down to pick up the book you have just dropped and your hair touches the back of the chair in front of you and BAM! Fricken GUM!! We've all been there and it isn't pleasant.
Here's where Charlotte and Sanderson come in. They are the ones who go around and remove gum from all these hidden places - hence, Gumbusters. The world is alot less "gummier" with these two around. Thank you Charlotte and Sanderson for working diligently at your job. We humans appreciate it!
Author's note: We humans would appreciate it a ton more if stupid humans would NOT put there GUM in places it doesn't belong. Just saying...

LADY ARCUS

THE LOVELY "LADY ARCUS".



LADY ARCUS STRIKING A CASUAL POSE....



LADY ARCUS: Born - September 16th. Firstly, let me explain the word "Arcus" then, you'll understand why I chose it. Arcus is the Latin word for "rainbow". As Lady Arcus is created from 6 different pairs of socks  (all the fuzzy ones I might add) and they are all brightly coloured like a rainbow, I thought it would be appropriate. She also struck me as a Lady. Not a duchess or a princess but, a "proper Lady" (as my mother would say). She is also a HUGE fan of the Smurfs. No one really knows why and she's not saying, we just walk around all the Smurf paraphernalia. Anyway, without further ado, here is Lady Arcus's story.  
Lady Arcus is an internationally well known Snake Milker. What is a snake milker you ask? Let me enlighten you. A snake milker removes the venom from snakes. First, he/she must capture them, then stretch latex over a jar and make the snake bite the latex. A snake milker then extracts the venom by either manually massaging the venomous glands or using electric stimulation on the muscles around the glands to encourage the snake to "spit" the venom into the jar. The venom is used for anti venom AND some is also used for research in stroke victims. Cool.
So, why did Lady Arcus decide on this profession? After five of her family members and many friends became victims of the very rare "White Polar Snake" (found only above the 60th parallel) , Lady Arcus decided it had to end. She studied  "Herpetology" - which is the science of reptiles - and also Pharmaceutical Science for several years and is now the worlds top Snake Milker and Anti Venom creator of this rare Snake. She is sought out from all circumpolar regions of the earth and can't seem to keep up on the requests for seminars and Smurf facts. Whoa. That was random....
ANYWAY, if you happen to encounter the rare White Polar Snake and unfortunately get bit, you'd better hope Lady Arcus has been around and there's anti venom at the local health facility. If there is, you can thank Lady Arcus someday, if there isn't, well, it was nice knowing you....
Author's note: While there is no such thing as the "White Polar Snake" (yes, you can breathe now), there are actual Snake Milkers out there. Fascinating field. It would be interesting to see what their turnover for employees is...or maybe death toll?....

BROOKE, JUNCTION & OSLUND

BROOKE: Born - September 14th. So..... deciding on a name. Sometimes you just look at a pair of socks and you have it - other times the design on the sock gives it away. Well, THIS pair of socks was chosen by my good friends daughter and we looked at the socks and thought of "Ducky". However, as I was cutting up the socks, my son pointed out they were chicks, not ducks. Was I going to name it "Chicky"? I think not. Therefore, I did the only rational thing I could do and named this Sock Monkey for the young lady she will belong to. Hope you like her Brooke!
JUNCTION: Born - September 15th. Junction is a Vacuum sales Monkey. He goes from house to house and does his very best to sell you vacuums. I'd like to point out that most vacuums are 10 times his size and 50 times his weight which can cause problems when you're demonstrating your product. Needless to say, Junction leaves your house owing you a free vacuum after he's destroyed your living room as he can't control the vacuum. He will never get rich at this but, it is rather entertaining...
OSLUND: Born - September 16th. Oslund has long legs (just in case you didn't notice). They are great for when he needs to find other Sock Monkeys in a hurry. He can tower over the troop and find anyone within seconds. Though he's not the tallest Sock Monkey out there, he is just smart about how he uses his height to further his purposes. He owns stilts, platform shoes (vintage 1973) and a pogo stick. I won't go into detail but, all his props are either an asset or a weapon, especially the pogo stick....but that's another story.
Author's note: I would like to point out to you the buttons used for Brooke's eyes. They are either ceramic or porcelain and hand painted with a tiny "bamboo" pattern. Thanks Bev for sharing these special and really cool buttons - they worked well with the Sock Monkey. 

LEMON & LIME

LEMON & LIME: Born - September 12th & 13th. These two brightly coloured Sock Monkeys are appropriately named "Lemon & Lime" - not just because of their colours but also because I couldn't come up with anything better. Really, it's not like I'm gonna name them "Lucy and Dan" or "Mark and Corrina" - how could I NOT name them their colours?? Look at them. ANYWAY, I digress..... I could make a smart ass comment like "all they eat are lemons and limes" BUT, that's incorrect and I don't need these two ticked at me. They eat bananas. Hey - some bananas are brightly coloured like Lemon & Lime. There. Issue solved. They ARE what they eat after all.

STAR, SPORT & FLOWER

STAR: Born - September 9th. Star was in a horrible hand mixer accident when she was 3. It started out innocently enough. She sat on the counter while her human made buttercream icing. When Star had a moment alone with the mixer, she grabbed ahold and turned the beaters on....full blast. Star hung on for dear life but was whipped around the room (as the beater stayed plugged in) and smashed the bowl on the ceramic floor. When the human finally came back and turned the beater off, there was buttercream icing from one end of the kitchen to the other - not too mention a beat up Sock Monkey lying in the midst of it all. This might have been a nightmare to clean up however, Star just invited the other 200 monkeys and clean up was done in 3 minutes. Mmmmmmm... buttercream icing...
SPORT: Born - September 10th. Sport is involved in just about every sport imaginable. He is very fit and a bit of a health nut. So when the opportunity came for him to help in the above buttercream incident, he jumped at it. Literally. He jumped around and cleaned the most buttercream icing out of all 200 monkeys. While that was good for other monkeys, it was not so good for Sport. He spent the next two days in bed with a tummy ache. 
 Sometimes it doesn't pay to be so fast....right Sport?
FLOWER: Born - September 11th. Flower was created in memory of the Flowers that were planted at Ground Zero. Today is a day we should all take stock of our blessings and thank God for our lives. Thank you Flower for reminding me to do that.

DONNY, TINA & CHRIS

DONNY: Born - September 6th. Donny lives in a small garbage can that was once the home of Oscar the Grouch. Though Oscar outgrew this can before he became a star on Sesame Street, Donny likes to let people think otherwise. He once had a few Sock Monkeys convinced he was just "garbage can sitting" while Oscar was away and sold them an old smelly mitt claiming it belonged to Oscar. Donny was always a bit crafty...
TINA: Born - September 7th. Tina was the inspiration behind the ABBA song "Nina, Pretty Ballerina". You see, Tina is a dancer (of sorts) and happened to be dancing one night at the Monkey Tale Bar when the group ABBA walked in. They were all so taken with her dancing they sat down right there and wrote the song. So why is it "Nina" not "Tina"? The music was so loud that night that when the group asked the name of the dancer all they heard was "ina". They took a vote and came up with Nina.... And no, Tina doesn't get any royalties.
CHRIS: Born - September 8th. Chris is an amateur magician. He has started to get good with card tricks and is working on pulling coins out from behind your ears. When he first started, he wanted to jump in and do the magic hat trick and pull out a bunny. Unfortunately, unless you've been practicing for awhile, pulling out a bunny just doesn't happen on the first try. Chris almost lost his arm when he reached in, botched his magic words and pulled out a Tiger Shark. I won't even get into the story of him trying to saw another monkey in half - I've tried to erase that from my mind. Stick to cards Chris...