Connie and her song

I think this little girl should have been singing for the Queen.

Niss: a blanket

Here's Niss (with Ellie underneath).

Niss of course is a blanket and his name came about, quite simply, because of Ellie pointing at him and saying, "I want niss" (this) when she was too little to be able to use her mouth for TH words quite properly yet.

Ellie's Niss was the inspiration behind Binky's Blanket in Handbag Friends. In fact, Ellie was the inspiration behind a great deal of Handbag Friends. She invented the brilliant word: "misappeared", for instance. She is also "The Beautiful Princess Eleanor" (but you don't need me to tell you that. It's plain to see--she's so completely umdidlyscrumptiously oodlingforthingfull princesstral in every way.)

She's also the inspiration for the Big Sister in How To Be A Baby: by Me, The Big Sister. Best of all, she's my niece and I get to be her aunt.

You could say she's a bit of a muse for me. But then you could say that about every one of my nieces and nephews. And actually pretty much every child I meet.