There were Ten little Hub-Nugget-Team-Members, or the Adventures on Pelee Island!

Text messages to and from SciPi....

Zs: Hiya SciPi, I bet you receive your invitation for our retreat on Pelee Island? Yes?

SciPi: Packed and ready. My plane is leaving shortly.

Zs: I'm packed too. I've been on the island many times but never in the winter. It's a fabulous place so I know we'll have a lot of fun.

SciPi: Did you have a chance to talk to the others yet? From the sounds of it everyone is able to come. How cool is that?

Zs: Because the retreat is so close to my neck of the woods I was given special instruction of picking everyone up at the airport in Windsor. I will be there awaiting everyone's arrival.

SciPi: Any ideas who our benefactor is. Seriously none of the team can think of who it could be. Mind you none of the team wants to give up on a few days of free-for-all holidays.

Zs: When is your plane landing?......... The entire team will be together tonight at the 'Big House' (100 year old mansion) on the island up the road from the wineries.

Pelee island is a fabulous small island and is the most southern part of Ontario, Canada. It is located about an hours drive southeast from Windsor, Ontario and about three and a half hours drive south west from Toronto, Ontario.

During the winter months the only way on or off the island is by small planes. Spring, summer and fall there are also ferry connection to the main land either from Leamington or from Kingsville.

Leamington (the tomato capital of Ontario) is the largest town that is the closest to the island from which just about all the supplies are flown in over the winter months.

Once upon a time not so long, long ago on a beautiful sunny and crispy winters day the weather co-operated for once. No snow blizzards, storms of any sort kept the team from arriving at the Windsor airport on time. This included our newest recruit to the 'hubnugget-pickers team' LadyJane. (It wasn't the welcome we had pictured for her... but I'm jumping ahead of our story) Just in case you do not remember who all belongs to the nugget pickers team here is the list: I start with the Califor-knee-i-a bunch Maddie, Simone and Jason. They take care of us hubbers with all the nuts, bolts, coggles, do-flickies, do-dads and the what-ya-ma-hoosits at Hubpages head-office. (well with the help of their techno team). RippleMaker our cheerleader extra-ordinaire. Then come the actual 'nugget-pickers' SciPi Patty (Patty Inglish), RedElf, KoffeeKlatch Gal, Enelle, LadyJane and yours truly Zsuzsy Bee... that makes the team a nice perfect 'ten'.

As I had been elected by our secret benefactor to act as chauffeur and guide I was a little surprised when I was supplied with a stretch van that would have enough room for all ten of us plus luggage, big poofy winter jackets and all to ride comfortably from the Windsor airport to Leamington's small one.

The flight from the mainland took all of thirty minutes including the short 'sight-seeing-fly-over-the-area' I had arranged with the pilot (weather permitting naturally) and as I said it was a gorgeous, beautiful cloudless sunny day with the temperature hanging at a balmy -11 degrees celcius. 

In short order we arrived at our destination just after 5:00 pm and it was starting to get dark already.

We were all a little disappointed when upon our arrival at the mansion we found a note from our still absent host. The note told us to make ourselves at home and get settled in. Dinner and wine were all ready for us in the dining room.

All of us were kind of snooping around trying to figure out who our mysterious host could be. Just before sitting down to dinner that evening RedElf pointed us to a small side table in the library displaying our framed avatar pictures.

The dinner laid out for us was a fantastic schmorgasboard that included eveything from shrimp cocktail to lobster bisque to roast beef with all the trimmings. A large bowl on the side table held a minty fruit punch and also displayed an assortment of Pelee island wines. Including the world famous ice wine for which the nearby wineries received an award for the fourth year in a row.

We had all decided to have a fairly early breakfast around 8:00 am or so, have a couple of hour brainstorming session about the hubnuggets until lunch then we would all go out and check out the island in it's 'winter-wonderland' coat.

Then there were NINE!

All, except for SciPi Patty showed up for breakfast on or shortly after eight. By the time we were all done eating RefElf decided to find out what was keeping SciPi. We knew from past experience that she was not a late sleeper. Minutes later RedElf came back saying "Strange, she's not in her room, and her bed doesn't look slept in."

"What do you mean by not slept in, she went to her room the same time as Zsuzsy Bee and I did" commented Maddie

"Maybe she didn't find her room comfy, maybe it was too cold, too warm, too...? Maybe she found another room to sleep in. Let's go look around and find her" I said.

We split into three groups one for each floor of the house. Twenty-five minutes later we all rejoined in the now again mysteriously cleared of dishes dining room.

No SciPi, no kitchen help that we knew of. Jason who had been one of the team who searched the main floor commented that the Library looked as if it had been readied for our planned brainstorming session. Sure enough the cheerful fire was giving out that cozy feeling that all fireplaces give a room. There was a large urn giving off the rich scent of coffee, a large tea cozy which I assumed hid a big teapot. Beside the tray filled with an assortment of china teacups, sturdy coffee mugs was a big three tiered platter filled with goodies, cookies and squares galore.

"Where could SciPi have gone? She can't have left the island even if she wanted to. The plane needs to be ordered ahead of time and only comes over once a week in the winter months." I informed everyone.

We were all worried that SciPi had gone out for a walk and had became lost or had fallen etc. "We need to search for her outside. Everyone bundle up and let's meet back here in ten minutes and we'll set out in groups." LadyJane said. Even though she was the newcomer to our little group she established herself as a decisive leader and assertively laid out really great plans.

"I'll call down to the store and the little restaurant maybe SciPi is there and we're worried without any reason" I said as I picked up the phone. "No dial tone... the house phone lines are down... someone try their cell phone please... No reception..."

Today was the total opposite of yesterday, where it had been all clear and sunny. This morning it was all gray, gloomy, damp and really cold. We're a tough bunch we all came back down all dressed in multi layers. From thermal long-johns to the essential hats, mittens and scarves we're all decked out in the brightest of reds, gem like blues and emeralds 'camouflage' Michelin-manesque winter gear.

"Wow, hold all the presses where are Jason, Maddie and Simone?"

Then there were SIX:

"What is going on here?" Enelle pointed to the little side table that had held all our framed avatar pics only yesterday. SciPi, Maddie, Simone and Jason's frames were missing.

In a bit of a growing panic, RedElf, Enelle, Ripplemaker, KoffeKlutch Gal, LadyJane and I split into three groups of two and searched the immediate area around the mansion and this side of the island in vain for our missing buddies. There were no footprints to be found in the snow anywhere. The weather too was worsening... there was a strong wind whistling and stirring up the snow. The steel gray clouds were heavy looking and ready to dump a whole mess load of snow on us... we felt on edge because we were cut off from the mainland, cut off from the rest of the island with a major winterstorm looming over us and we still hadn't resolved the mystery about our off the grid friends.

Then there were FOUR:

With heavy hearts Ripplemaker, KoffeKlutch Gal, LadyJane and I returned to the mansion to find the frames of RedElf and Enelle missing. Meantime in the Library the coffee urn etc had also been replaced by a platter full of sandwiches and four bowls of steaming what smelled like chowder. Ripplemaker bolted and shouted that she was checking out the kitchens, as there just had to be someone present who was making all these meals show up and the mess disappear.

Well that was the last we saw of Ripplemaker too and --- you guessed right her avatar too.

Then there were THREE:

LadyJane, Gal and I made the descision not to go anywhere alone from then on in. I pointed to the computer that was purring in the corner of the Library. "Maybe we'll be able to get a message out through that" Gal said.

"With the Blizzard outside, the house phone not working, the cell phones not having any reception I highly doubt it" Lady Jane replied.

I went over to the computer and tapped at it anyway, even though there was very little hope of getting through and you would not believe what came up on the screen...

Then there was ONE:

A direct line connecting us to Hubpages headquarters, Fawntia asking me to send her this weeks hubnugget choices... well, as it had been my turn to send them off they were all ready for you in hubland to read, enjoy and to vote on...

"look at this you guys" I said and when I turned around I was alone in the room... Gal and LadyJane had also disappeared... out of the room we all had been in. Pufffff, disappeared into thin air???????????

"What the H*** is going on here" I shouted. But before I moved away from the computer I pressed 'send' just in case... and wonder of wonders the computer informed me that the email with the choice nuggets of the week was sent...

Yeehaw that means I can send out an email asking for help. Nope it was not to be, the computer screen went dark with a sign in the center saying "No Signal"

Sitting there by myself in a fabulous, 'filled-to-the-brim-with-books-and-tomes-of-everykind' library, a warm fire crackling in the fireplace I was for once, the first time in my life, lost for words... I didn't know where to go, where to turn... I starred at the side table where there was only one steaming cup sitting now...

Still at a loss, drinking my hot mulled wine totally at odds of what to do next, when all of a sudden a three foot by six foot section of the bookshelf opened... and from there out came the whole gang laughing and shouting loudly "GOTCHA"

Those... so and so's had this all planned...

Shhhh, don't tell the team, I knew what they were up to all along... I wasn't worried one tiny little bit...

Could I please have a new diaper now please?

Living at the turn of the 20th Century: Would you survive or thrive? ( 6 votes, 11%) [author has removed hub]

Congrats to all of you wannabe nominees and hubnugget winners alike, for a job well done.

Keep the great hubs coming and we will be there reading them.

Family and Parenting (53 total votes)

• Saying Goobye To My Clean House (28 votes, 53%)
• Helping Children to Fail Well (11 votes, 21%)
• Living at the turn of the 20th Century: Would you survive or thrive? ( 6 votes, 11%) [author has removed hub]

Pets and Animals (57 total votes)

• Hummingbirds of Ecuador, Small Wonders (33 votes, 58%)

Technology (35 total votes)

• Help! I Know Nothing About Blogging!! (9 votes, 26%)

Now you may be asking how you can achieve all of that when you're still just a Hub-nuggeteer learning your way around here.

This is how: A few 'how to write' great HubNuggets Tips

• Build/Write your Hub on an interesting topic filled with original content
• Write from your experience or point of view
• About 750-1000 words or so is a good length
• Give it an attention grabbing title
• Check your spelling and grammar booboos
• Emphasize the content with a few relevant photos and/or videos
• Give photo/video source acknowledgements
• Move your capsules around to create an attractive layout, and preview your handy work.
• Add links and RSS feeds
• Add a news feed if you like.
• Now all that's left to do is hit that "publish" button, and watch your score rise. Your friends at Hub-Central will do the rest!

OR

The criteria to be considered a ‘hubnugget wannabe’ is as followes

To be eligible for HubNugget consideration you must have joined hubpages within the last 60 days, and have an author score of 75 or above. Your hub must have been published within the last 7 days, and have a hub score of 55 or above.

The HubNugget Wannabe is then chosen by the team and added onto the list of the current week's HubNugget contest.

Although this list of new hubber hubs is vast (thousands and thousands of hubs), the team narrows the number of choices down to just eighteen/six in the current weeks three categories. Those eighteen finalists are then showcased in the weekly HubNuggets hub, whereupon open voting begins via poll capsules.

That's it!

If you want more detailed information you can find it here or here http://hubpages.com/hub/HubNuggets-How-To

Sorry about the spelling mistakes, my 'puter went kapooey. On the borrowed laptop I couldn't get the spell checker to work.

Photos scu.hu