Tuesday, June 16, 2009

A Tiger On the Loose in Scotland . . .

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I would like to dedicate this piece to Liz at Jumble Sale Rabbits, in part to thank her for all the effort she undertook this weekend to dig up from wherever it was buried, and then photograph, her marvellous old tricycle, which I suspect she did partly due to the requests she got from me after I'd heard about it; but also in large part to encourage all you good people to pay her a visit, and take a look at her marvellous illustrations. I grew up on a literary diet of Kenneth Grahame, L. Frank Baum, C.S. Lewis, Rudyard Kipling, Maurice Sendak, Lewis Carroll, and so on, all of which came with illustrations that set my mind wondering at an early age. And I suppose I'm still looking for a way back to some of those magical worlds, which still seem pure and clean compared to our own . . . In any case, I fell in love with Liz Gunby's charming tiger Tiddles at first sight, and sincerely hope her dream of getting Tiddles published for the large audience he deserves will become a reality someday.
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In honor of Tiddles, and to let him know he has some friends in France, here are some stuffed animals that were patiently and hopefully awaiting a good home at the jumble sale that took place near here a few weeks back, already documented in these pages. . . this wild looking duck was spurring his captive rabbit on to new adventures. . . (am wondering if this may be a cousin to one of the evil rabbits Tiddles had to deal with not long ago?)
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Rabbits and tigers and bears !
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Whole colorful crates full, waiting to be adopted . . .
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This one had a hand knit sweater . . .
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Ready to roll . . .
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Even a zebra was hoping to escape the stuffed lions that were stalking him . . .
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15 comments:

The Sagittarian said...

Crikey, if it's one thing there is no shortage of in our house (after books anyway0 it is stuffed animals! (And I don't just mean me and The Stud!!) - we have knitted ones, crotcheted ones, one's I had a kid, we have one's with two eyes and some with none....
I am loving your blog, Almost Adopted Brother you!

Owen said...

Ah Amanda, I'm sure you must have seen the post over at Steve's place already... I already am your brother, and you're my sister... like you say, crikey, that's one big family ! Absolutely adore your latest photos, even the bidet had be bursting (with laughter !):-D

A lucky sod : Someone who encounters masses of charming stuffed animals in his wandering...

Lynne with an e said...

My teddy bear has voted this posting her favourite thus far. But now she's after me to knit her a sweater. I begged off with the excuse that summer's nearly here. Thank god she didn't see your bikini posting!

Margaret Pangert said...

I would be willing to share that adorable puppy (or bear?) (the one with the crocheted sweater standing in his playpen) with Liz's bunny! Adorable!

Owen said...

Ah Louciao, you have to be careful, before you know it stuffed animals will take over your life, almost as much as the ones that purr...

Margaret, thanks, we all need stuffed animals in our lives I think...

Steve said...

That duck looks damned evil...

Buskitten said...

Good Morning M. Owen!
It's a beautiful, sunny morning at that too! What lovely photographs - Tiddles was delighted to see some French Fluffvilles. Today he has taken the Stepford Bunnies for a day out to the seaside, so I hope they get on OK. Map reading has never been Tiddles' strong point, so goodness knows where they might end up!
Well, all this talk of campers etc indeed! I still need to earn some money! But I have a few applications in the pipeline, so I keep my paws crossed. The camper is a T25 high top, which has been bought by someone, then just left with Stan the Garage Man (yes, he really is called this!) Stan says it doesn't need much for an MOT - it's just tatty and needs some tlc inside; well that's what I'm good at! So I really hope the bloke accepts my offer!
Thanks you so much for linking back to my site Owen, I hope you are all well in 'Gay Paris', said with a gutteral French accentLove Liz and Tiddles x

robert said...

many times i do think that these soft pets are better humans. with regard to my son, he won't sleep without his little bear, huging eachother into sleep.
liked this entry of yours very much. please have a nice tuesday.

Ronnie said...

A well deserved promotion of the brilliant Liz of Scots. I too adore her creations.

namaki said...

that's a nice "jungle" sale ! ;-)

Anders Enochsson said...

The rabbit looks frisky and ready to jump out, while the fox looks like he is in charge of the gang, smug bastard!

Lynne with an e said...

Re: Monkey on My Back--Good tune & animation. Glad to see Curious George making his comeback.

Loulou said...

Owen, my daughter showed a huge smile on her face when she saw the images on this post. She liked in particular the rabbit on first shot, and teddy bear on 4th...
I like your eye on our world...
Have a beautidul day!
Loulou

Owen said...

Hi Lou x 2, so you have a daughter... am very happy if these made someone smile, especially someone near and dear to you...

Louciao... glad you liked George...thought you might

Ande, yes ! you have to keep your eye on the lot of them, or they'll be after your pocket money !

Namaki, plenty of wild animals in the jumble jungle that day :-D roaring and grunting and snorting and howling like hyenas !

Ronnie, she really is brilliant, I totally agree... (and you are no slouch yourself...)

Robert, many thanks... something very re-assuring about stuffed critters...

Steve, that duck was damned evil, definitely. You should have seen the black leather biker's get up he had in his suitcase...

Hi Liz ! I hope Tiddles had an absolutely marvellous day by the sea, and hopefully was able to find his way home ? And didn't track too much sand into the kitchen where I'm sure he stopped to get a glass of milk when he came in... to wash down his cookies with of course... And good luck with Stan the Garage Man. Just make sure the fuel lines are in good shape... that's the only thing I remember from my VW Bus days...

Jenny said...

That is one bossy chicken!

However, I can tell by looking at the donkey-looking rabbit's (or rabbit-looking donkey's?) furious gaze that he is not going to take it much longer.