elfie & Me

Gifts

Just look at this beauty . . . an original Mabel Lucie Attwell Money box. There it was in the window of one of Rochester's antique shops. Unfortunately there were not nearly enough pennies in the pixie purse to buy it so I tried to forget it. Of course, I causally mentioned it to the other half who, although appreciates lovely and unusual things, has been known to mutter about the house being full of "pointless objects". However, he willingly came and admired it with me and without any persuasion on my part, did a deal with the man in the shop and "Voila!" –it's mine. A totally unexpected gift from the very, very lovely Roland and I promise not to moan too much about cooking your tea in future. I'm very lucky, I know, and I get a warm feeling every time I look at it.

Today I was very touched that Alexei, very thoughtfully, bought me a flower ring back from his school trip, also: a tiny cuddly bush-baby for himself and a large plastic sword. What a lot for £5! By all accounts, the museum shop did very well today and the mini bush-babies were very popular, especially with the boys which surprised me a bit. Actually, I shouldn't be surprised because Alexei's friend came for a sleepover recently clutching a giant Tardis stuffed to the gills with tiny teddies which was not at all what I expected it to contain.

So as I'm feeling joyful, here's a happy drawing of Elfie from this weeks drawings. It hasn't got a title yet so if anyone feels inspired to think of one, I will send the first numbered print off the pixie press to the winner of the best title. 

Happy Easter

An exhibit of Easter eggs in the style of Darwin. (Unfortunately this exhibit is no longer with us.)

Never mind, there are still plenty of cakes.

The Easter tree.

Two little chocolate kittens for my sis and brother-in-law. I wouldn't be able to eat these, not with those sad little beseeching eyes. 

Good Friday, a spent day shopping in sunny Canterbury after a hearty lunch in the Boho cafe. Daffodils, bluebell scented candles and gathering up all those last chocolate novelties left on the shelves. 

Hope your Easter is full of fun and joy.

A secret box and seven things

 

What do you think of this little secret keepsake box-that-looks-like-a-book? I'm pleased with it as it is quite vintage looking and involves one of my most favourite things to do which is pasting. I adore wallpapering. I've got a whole stash of these wooden boxes waiting to be painted, pasted and varnished after the Easter hols. If you want one they are priced at £9.50 and are in the shop now. 

Ages ago Catherine tagged me about seven things about myself. I'm actually going to change it a bit and do seven things I liked doing when I was seven. I think a lot about this as I find myself comparing myself with Alexei to see the differences and similarities despite the fact that he's a boy and is now nine so probably we are not similar at all. So here goes  . . . 

Seven things I liked doing when seven years old

1. Making perfume out of rose petals. It was never much of a success and always stank after a few days.

2. Blowing hen's eggs and decorating them (v seasonal).

3. Jumping off the back of the sofa while wearing my dad's specs and watching the ground rush up towards me. I really yearned to do a parachute jump and this was my idea of a simulation. My father (ex para) said parachuting was horrible and he couldn't understand anyone who wanted to do it just for fun.

 

4. Making Japanese gardens out of moss, a biscuit tin lid and an old compact mirror as a pond and fish paste jars filled with tiny posies. They were sweet I recall. 

5. Sliding down the stairs in a sleeping bag. Alexei and his friends have just discovered this but the sleeping bags of today don't seem to give you the same static charge. There was a LOT of nylon in the 70's.

6. Taking a tape recorder out and interviewing people in the street. Must have been very tedious for the people we stopped.

7. Being feral, wanting to live in the woods and have bare feet all the time. I went on a trip to the Commonwealth institute with the Brownies. They showed us a film of little boys in Africa kicking a leather football around with bare feet. I was most impressed. I came home, took my shoes off and booted my brother's football as hard as I could and my toe nails turned black overnight.

I'm not going to tag anyone in particular but I think it would be such fun to see what you liked doing when you were seven. Have you changed much?