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.

look! first place!

The good news: I ran a 4-mile race in Staten Island and came first in my age group and got a trophy and everything!

The bad news: It was in the 65-69 year old age group.

(Check out the last line of the women first place finishers by age group.)

People are now looking at me in disbelief wondering exactly what cream I'm using to look so good at 67.

Not only that, but there's some poor 65+ year old out there who trained herself to death and now I've gone and robbed her trophy right from under her feet. I've also left all the other 65-69 year olds in despair with my incredible time (which while it may be trophy-winning if you're 67, is not quite so trophy-winning at my age).

All I can think is we had to write our ages on our entry forms and perhaps, when you're writing quickly and you have handwriting like a doctor, 67 and 27 (say) are easy to confuse...

Win a free copy of How To Be A Baby!

How To Be A Baby is appearing today on Daily Candy Kids. Win your free copy before it's gone: click here

are you my mummy?

Came across this story on the BBC...

Four orphaned baby tawny owls have been taken under the wings of a surrogate mother--who just happens to be a cuddly toy. The baby owls don't seem to much mind, judging by this photo. Their Mum is obviously very good at cuddling, being as she is a cuddly toy. I think perhaps she's something of a Cuddle Expert. After all, it's not the first time she's come to the rescue. Apparently, two other orphans she raised have now moved on to an outdoor pen.

Something about this story makes me want to laugh and cry at the same time.

To read more: click here.

door of hope

(doorway of an old Sussex church, England)

"A vision without a task is but a dream.
A task without a vision is drudgery.
A vision with a task is the hope of the world."
-- From a church in Sussex, 1730

Semolina and the Ginger Cats

NEWEST NEWS JUST IN: Semolina and this blog have just been tagged by The Ginger Cats (aka The Ginger Darlings) on their True Confessions Meme. (We had to check and find out what exactly a "meme" is. It's kind of a virtual "tag you're it" all around a theme, as far as we can tell. And clearly it's our turn... so now we know, here we go.)

(Semolina is of course the clever ginger cat seen in this picture of The Handbag Friends.)

We're supposed to give away deep dark cat secrets is the idea but of course Semolina is a cat far too clever for such things. However, she will say this. As anyone who knows her will tell you, Semolina loves to say the word "ACTUALLY" rather loudly, quite without warning and very much all the time. Because first of all, it sounds nice to say; second of all, it feels nice to say; and third of all, she doesn't have a third of all.

In case you don't believe her, try it and ACTUALLY you'll soon see what she means. And ACTUALLY now Semolina is going to ACTUALLY tag: Jago. (We aren't sure if he ACTUALLY has a cat, but we know he ACTUALLY can draw one!)

Tip toe through the bluebells

Blue bells are all very well but what must it be like to have them come up to your head?

Remember what that felt like? To be in a world where you weren't much bigger than blue bells? Everything so electric and startling and strange. I have one particularly vivid memory of walking through a busy departement store with my mother when I was about 5 and all the ladies' handbags coming up and hitting me on my head.

It's a wonder I am not in mortal terror of handbags. Thankfully I'm not. And only completely adore them instead.

(Just as well. Otherwise, where on earth would Handbag Friends be?)

(this photo, by the way, is of little Lily Peach, daughter of Jago, my friend and fab illustrator of The Jesus Storybook Bible.)