Anne initially made a poor impression on the townsfolk of Avonlea with an outburst at the Cuthberts' neighbour, the outspoken gossip Mrs. Rachel Lynde, but this was amended by an equally impassioned apology. Anne soon became 'bosom friends' with a girl from a neighbouring farm, Diana Barry. Together with Matthew, Diana is Anne's "kindred spirit". The friendship was disrupted by the temporary enmity of Diana's mother, after Anne mistakenly made Diana drunk with Marilla's homemade currant wine, mistaking it for raspberry cordial. Anne was soon restored to Mrs. Barry's good graces by saving the life of Diana's little sister, Minnie May. Minnie May had an attack of the croup, which Anne was able to cure with a bottle of ipecac and knowledge acquired while caring for the numerous Hammond twins. Throughout her childhood, Anne continued to find herself in similar "scrapes", often through mistakes and misunderstandings, and no fault of her own. At one point Anne "admires to the point of nuttiness" an amethyst brooch, which she is falsely accused of stealing, a crime she has to confess to in order to attend a picnic. Anne tends to define herself in opposition to older people via humour, and forges a relationship with Marilla Cuthbert via humour. The dreamy and imaginative Anne asks that Marilla call her "Cordelia" and "Geraldine" as Anne likes to imagine herself as somebody that she is not.