#terence ttte

[jaysfanart]

terence gijinka

[lswro2-222]

The last coloring page from the 1988 Annual! It was a fun one. I love the detail of Thomas, Annie and Clarabel’s reflections in the water!

I’ll definitely be on the lookout for more copies of Thomas Annuals or other vintage coloring books that haven’t already been filled in! As a reminder, the original illustration is by Owen Bell!

[weirdowithaquill]

Traintober 2023: Day 21 - Roots

Terence Hates Weeds:

Terence the Tractor works on a farm near Hackenbeck, on Thomas’ branchline. He’s a pleasant sort, but he can be rather cheeky, and a little impatient. Once upon a time, he’d saved Thomas from a deep snow drift, and ever since the tractor had always been the first to remind Thomas to be careful whenever the snow began to fall.

“Do be careful, Thomas,” he chortled. “I might not be able to pull you out if you get stuck this time!” Thomas often ignored him when he got like this.

Terence’s farm was often all but barren during the winter. Terence was only started up to go and check on the cows that lived in the far paddock, but otherwise he spent his winter days dozing in his shed.

One morning, however, he awoke to the farmer flinging open the door. “That sodding weeds are back!” he grumbled. Terence groaned. The last of the frost had only just melted away!

One thing that the farm often had to contend with was weeds – and one particular type was continuously causing the farm trouble was horsetail. Horsetail weeds could spread their roots deep into the ground, making it almost impossible to full dig them out. Furthermore, they spread rapidly: one day, it was one, then the next it was four, then sixteen, and by the end of the week the field was covered, and the harvest was ruined.

The weeds also resisted everything Terence and the farmer did to remove them. Mowing had down nothing, burning them had only worked to remove the visible plant and weedkillers couldn’t penetrate through its rubbery skin.

So instead, Terence was coupled to a large tanker of lime. “We’ll begin by liming the soil,” the farmer said. “Then, we’ll burn the lot of them, dig up the tubers and be rid of this menace!”

Terence was excited to begin – though his excitement dimmed when he realised just how boring it all was. He dragged the tanker across the field a number of times, then sat beside the line and waited while the farmer set fire to the horsetail weeds.

That was when he heard a familiar horn. “What’s going on?!” exclaimed Mavis, looking horrified. Terence was confused. “Um…” “Quick! Driver! We must rescue Terence from the fire!” “Wait…” Before Terence could protest, Mavis’ driver had grabbed a coil of rope and tied it around his bumper. The other end was tied to Mavis, and the diesel began to pull Terence away from his field as quickly and carefully as she could.

“Mavis! Stop!” shouted Terence. “The farm isn’t on fire!”

Mavis stopped. “What?” “The farm isn’t on fire,” spluttered Terence indignantly. “We’re burning off weeds!” Mavis winced.

“Oh… sorry. Um…” The two paused – Terence looked down and groaned. His caterpillar tracks had gotten caught in a gnarled tree root. Mavis chuckled nervously, and hurried away with her stone trains.

“How’d you do that?!” exclaimed the farmer. “Mavis thought the farm was on fire, and wanted to save me,” Terence replied. “I tried to tell her, sir.” The farmer could only sigh. “It’s nice that you have such good friends, Terence, but they need to leave you alone so you can do your job!”

At that moment, a cheerful whistle peeped from behind them. “Oh no…” groaned Terence. “Need a little help?” asked Thomas cheekily. “Though I might not be able to pull you out, seeing as you’re stuck this time.”

Terence groaned – all this, and because of some annoying weeds with deep roots.

Back to Master Post

[lswro2-222]

I recently got my hands on a secondhand copy of the 1988 Annual, and since most of the coloring pages weren’t already filled in I decided I’d make copies of them and color them! Here’s the first of those! I used a combination of Crayola and Sharpie markers. I believe David Palmer is the illustrator, but please correct me if I’m wrong!