First of all I received a massive box from my friend Amanda, who lives in Providence. Amanda is an all-round creative being and she makes, amongst other things, hand-blown cake stands for single fairy cakes (or cupcakes, as the Americans call them.) She and I did a trade, but her parcel of oddities far outweighed anything I'd sent her way.
First of all there was THIS - a half-sewn half-drawn note. Can't you just HEAR the frantic ZRRRRZRRR of the sewing machine?
![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEif3EBDeFXj3qGVIdjwShTyRidsELsOhY5RKctG8AbAHVI4caS0I9IYlhqSvFi_MRB79fvBB59lUbSbBsNihCyVLJkt1qXLHOPYv2VwmvNyuih2oxEZx7qTvXmRhxIDCJJrC-gs/s400/P1060366.jpg)
Then delving through the padding was this: wahhh! Snakes and a newt! They later had a fight - turtle won with his flip-top-smother-prey-stealth move:
Beetleface leapt out a bit further down, 3" long, but HE was made of stuff we can't identify, with metal bits, and has a magnet stuffed into his belly so he can hang off anything which makes a clonking sound. I tried him on the range flue, but seeing as this can reach 127C at full pelt, I decided melted beetles wasn't a look I fancied.
![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi_Q4Bjadk6fpTu5Vj2E8RQ2Ha9Ms8jwcuQvp06WpUQKmBRatBern3_suxR1UhJ7mZhofD-8PTZHAcsSueR-HQM3vUWmLw8T2KNSwbOOCXOQ4hbTQPTnuU-IgIEIkFZLfvD7OrD/s400/P1060368.jpg)
Enough already? NO. Buried in paper was the magnificent surprise of an Edward Gorey tarot pack - MY WORD. Did I tell her I liked Gorey? No! Did she guess? Can she see it in my face? Shall I tell my own future and that of everyone I know with characters like The Black Doll and The Limb from now on? Yes, I shall.
![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEig8toIczmT3Futb-a9thk1k8Lf98CAwpqNEvodc3rJ36wmEml2VzDvFWq9ETTDIGN5slaBiAlFXjdX_Odh0ztF5u3DDQUmBDks8L7Wz76zlGYt8UclWX4iBzfRMPhEQ_2ln7Fw/s400/P1060364.jpg)
![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiQqljYhLyGkZ4qBh0AHsOIG5x5RheD7_wi8dRLgKZo_RUjHTEVJq6NOQ4R_WncqNNh8wBf6CQpaPkVF0naRVoXD8eDQFVe73uVY7gCdyr1G1hb7EUzY6eOPYOi0psZo6D23EpV/s400/GoreyTarot2.jpg)
And all this is before I even get to the cake stand. Here it is - and can you believe, I had JUST made a batch of sticky chocolate ones. Popped one inside. Yum. Amanda must have used special Dorian Gray-style glass to make her stand, because the cakes in the tin turned to mush that night...and the one inside stayed smugly perfect and youthful.
![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhb-25t9Ju5ppHinp1xLCGZrg7ag7hXw6X_aJrnMi0e7sxYnffb3UdRGuLzoNSTGat9Tz2frk90lZ9YDa8a9gk_MCZlQuTxTXXoX3j7ORkzmKbceppDzGa6dMdshK1y_LdleK1q/s400/P1060363.jpg)
Then my friend Hayley, who normally writes books like this one showed me her drawing of a rhino. It was so good and so captured the essence of a rhino that I dared her to draw a Mole. Now this was bad of me, because my own drawn animals are always deformed beasts of indeterminate species, but she did it. And here he is. Charmed? I nearly cried. Looks at his massive digging hands! His tiny eyes! His surprised sun-struck face! Now that's what illustration's all about - capturing the squinty digness of the Mole. Ten out of ten, Hayls.
![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhv-_53MNzgo7T-WwduQft9XluGXl_EkVi-wLdLJOK5VlO0DeQFRRwG3jH_Y_2dfWLI23q2lvPFuNrz8Lnuy2F7iiRPJuhwqr4RI-dFLkN4OWQ_sK6n8sMk-EKnZc93PQc8xNoo/s400/Mole.jpg)
And on the same day I received a thank you gift, which are ALWAYS appreciated - even if I can't drink that wine or eat those well-meant chocs - this was received from Laura and was thoroughly spontaneous, made by hand, and reflective of the arts occasion which triggered it!
![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjIXaXFgWvo2lfJXf1QiwR8gG_wng3fH4LeS2hgBCW_UL28zuVPxmuDpfo02N-gB05QKf2zo64WQA-jjPh1AkRm0LncrmVOHSnrcm4w7GD5gmcr5Ebb2nnkNAe8vMlCkK-Rwm3E/s400/P1060415.jpg)
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