Working with children and animals

A couple of weeks ago we were frantically busy making the house all christmassy, in preparation for a Japanese magazine photo shoot. I can’t reveal the end result yet but what I can say, is that that while both children and cats love to be where the action is, the former were properly helpful but the latter opted to merely monitor proceedings!

December

Blank skies black boughs

the final coloured shards of autumn

flicker and fall.

Rudolph

Last week I had a wisdom tooth extracted. Topical, because I’m sure the grappling irons lounging in the dentist’s instrument tray were not that dissimilar to those I have been using to make my reindeer.

Short of suitable muzzle for Rudolf I popped to the supermarket in search of a little square tin. My heart skipped a beat when I spotted “Princes Corned Beef” on the shelf.

What child of the 60’s didn’t while away fantastical hours twiddling that little key between their fingers... unlocking a thousand fairy castles and unleashing mischievous monkeys from their zoo cage! 

Maybe, I pondered, the world of make-believe has never really left me, as I fashioned spent cardoon stalks into a pair of antlers!

Feeling festive

I’m having a lovely time getting our house ready for a Christmas photoshoot. Think handmade decorations, flickering candlelight and a kitchen full of delicious aromas. 

This week I was in London for my agent’s Christmas Party which was perfect opportunity to glean some inspiration. It seems like Rudolph is a recurring theme in the bright lights of the capital this year, and even the reindeer hat my daughter made five years ago is experiencing a comeback.

When I got up the following morning, Suffolk was shimmering with it’s own dusting of festivity, and wherever I looked I somehow saw antlers framed against the cold morning light.

Even Gareth (the ram), glimpsed at a distance, could just about pass as a reindeer. (Incidentally he deigns to give me no more than a civil nod now that he hangs out with a group of girls that are more his type.)

So, anyway, all that’s got me thinking.... give me a moment and I’ll get my tin snips and secateurs out and see what I can come up with!