Lost bunny...

This is the story of a toy bunny. It was made for Cora Rose, my oldest granddaughter (she's two) by her very lovely cousin, Lucinda Ganderton. 

Lucinda, a designer and creator of wonderful things (you can buy her books and make them yourself), upcycles stuff and Babbit was made from a cashmere cardigan that had a bad wash day and other odds and ends.

You'll notice that Babbit has no ears. They were "loved" off, but are safe in a drawer for the day when Cora's mummy has Babbit, needle and thread and time all in the same place. Or at least that was the plan. Grab hold of your Kleenex... 

On an outing to Tesco in Purley, Babbit was lost.

Many phone calls to Tesco and the bus company ensued. Cora was distraught. She cried for hours. Mummy told her that Babbit had gone on holiday. Family members all over the world sent postcards from Babbit, telling her that he was having a lovely time. She still cried. Babbit might be having a good time but she wanted a cuddle!

The lovely Lucinda rushed to the rescue. She couldn't make an identical Babbit - when you upcycle, your materials are what you have to hand and let's face it, you don't want too many cashmere cardigan disasters. But she found this Babbit in her workroom. She's  grown a little (just like Cora) and has a lovely tan from her holiday.

And the really magic thing about Babbit mark II is that she's in a book because Lucinda made her as the prototype for "Boo" in tbe Belle & Boo books by Mandy Sutcliffe (Cora and her mummy went to Waterstones and bought one). And here's the thing - Boo's friend Belle, looks very like Cora.

And the moral of this story? Never take your best loved toys to the supermarket. They may decide to take a holiday, and they don't all come home.

BREAKING NEWS!

Since I wrote this I've received this picture of one very happy little girl:  Babbit I has made it home.  Now how to explain Babbit II ... a lovely cousin, perhaps?

COINCIDENCES…

A gift arrived unexpectedly in the post this week from my lovely cousin, Lucinda Ganderton (the incredibly talented lady who designed and made all the lovely things in the Liberty Sewing Book that I featured a week or two ago).

It’s a handbag dangly and was designed by Livia Firth (yes, Colin’s wife) for the Helping Handbags charity founded to support vulnerable children in Bulgarian care homes.  The two lovely handbags on the website were designed by Lucinda’s sister, Emma.

The whole point of this blog though, is that enclosed with the gift was a note from Lucinda written on a postcard reproduction of Sir Stanley Spencer’s painting of Cookham Moor.

I know Cookham Moor well, have walked across it many times as a child and teen, wheeled the first born across it in his buggy (and my Dad used to see Stanley Spencer working in the village in his own youth).

Cookham provided the inspiration for my imaginary village of Longbourne, setting for Tempted By Trouble, where Elle Amery lives with her sisters and grandmother. This painting is the site of the annual fair, where Elle, every year, hopes to see someone who might be her father.

She blinked. ‘June?’ For a moment her brain freewheeled, before she managed to get grip, engage the cogs, start thinking. ‘The first week is the highlight of the Longbourne calendar.  The only highlight,’ she added, wryly.

‘The fair?’

‘I never go myself. I just stand on the sidelines looking at the men putting up the rides, erecting the stalls.’

‘Searching for a likeness?’

No doubt about it, he was good at mental arithmetic. Give him two and two and he came up with a neat four, no problem.

‘I know it’s stupid. I mean what would I say? You don’t know me but I think you might have met my mother twenty-four years ago?’

‘Actually,’ he replied, ‘I think it’s far more likely that some man would look up, see you with the sun shining on your hair and remember a long ago summer. Wish he was still young.’

Just love coincidences like that.

IT'S A FAMILY THING...

We are not a one author family.

The son and heir's book is at the "Spooks" end of the market, I - as you all know! -write romance and our lovely cousin Lucinda Ganderton makes the most beautiful things and writes craft books so that you can make them, too.

My granddaughter is lucky enough to have an heirloom patchwork quilt made by her.

Her latest book written for Liberty's is out on the 5th October - you can check it out here - she has made some special limited edition items that will on sale in the store to celebrate the launch.


It's the kind of book I reach for when the nights draw in.

Writing tends to be an all consuming occupation, but the the arrival my granddaughter did produce a sudden rush of knitting and, as the nights draw in I'm looking at the abandoned projects in the basket in the corner.  Small, lovely things to keep the hands occupied in the quiet after dinner while I watch Downton Abbey.

What kind of stuff do you turn to when the nights draw in and the inclination to leave the house after dark declines sharply?

Are you a demon knitter, a Christmas decoration queen, or does cross-stitch keep you busy?

FUN STUFF!

I was checking out The Green Hub website for the lovely Lucinda Ganderton's blog for fun stuff to make with your kids for Hallowe'en (and other stuff), which you'll find here when I spotted this, The Rosetta Rug designed by Michelle Mason..

Just the thing for a romance publisher's Christmas stocking!

The fact that Colin Firth is a director of the company wouldn't influence my yearning for this.  At all.