Thursday 22 July 2010

Crunchy on the outside, soft in the middle.

 

 

armadillo.jinksy

I’m thrilled to announce the arrival in Great Snoring of a very special mammal. The little fellow burst out of his white padded enclosure and onto my lap accompanied by a shower of shimmering stars. I recognised him immediately and shrieked with delight. Guy dropped his granny-knicker-pink newspaper into his bowl of muesli and looked at me in alarm. “What the….?” I held the little chap up for his close inspection. “Good grief, girl, you squeal any louder and….oh, it’s your armadillo”. He picked his newspaper out of the bowl, shook it briskly to get the oat flakes off and continued reading. It wasn’t that he was unimpressed by my beautiful little multi-coloured creature – it’s just that he’s English and the English are not known to be excessively effusive.

For me, however, it was love at first sight. My blogpal Jinksy of Napple Notes is the creator of this diminutive masterpiece of mammaldom. Affixed to one of his flanges was a little poem. (Jinksy is a poet extraordinaire who creates the most wonderful word pictures you could ever imagine. And there is always a twinkle of mischief somewhere. For me, she brings to mind a glorious combination of Joyce Grenfell and John Betjeman – this will probably annoy her greatly! You never know with Jinksy.)

Here’s Arnie Armadillo

A psychedelic fellow

Who can fly across

The bluest arc of sky

To bridge the rainbow gap

‘Twixt you and I.

I shall treasure my little Armadillo always.   He will be my talisman and I shall take him on all my travels....be they via armchair or aeroplane, cruise ship or camel. Thank you, Jinksy.

Speaking of travels - the Friendship lino-cuts I'm sending to all my friends across the globe are now properly dry and are in the process of being matted, wrapped and mailed.  Please excuse the wait, they will be with you soon-soon.  Things tend to get done rather more slowly now that my  Arriba, arriba! Andele! Andele! mode has been immobilised -  temporarily, of course!

33 comments:

The Bug said...

Oh I love him! I think she should market them. Hmmm - I would buy one with the promise that some small portion of the proceeds would go to your favorite charity...

Rosaria Williams said...

Oh Jinksy is on a roll with her knitting needles. Love that the creature fit right in your space, Tessa, to give you a little lift.

Mina said...

What a lovely armadillo, I love the colors and the idea of him ( her?) , traveling wherever you go!
Have a wonderful weekend!

rossichka said...

"Hello, sweetie!"... What a lovely gift - precious and loving, created with love by a true friend. He's sitting so comfortably on your computer.:) I'm sure he'll be a nice companion in all your travels...! I'm so glad to hear from you!!

Carol said...

OMG that is gorgeous...no wonder you squealed with delight!!

C x

Pamela Terry and Edward said...

He has so much personality, doesn't he? I know he'll be a good friend.

I have a monkey named Wilmont that travels with me. You know, I should do a post on him soon. Thanks for the reminder. He's a faithful friend, and quite the intrepid traveler.

Anonymous said...

I'm terribly impressed.
That Jinksy is alarmingly talented........love your astounding armadillo!

Bonnie Zieman, M.Ed. said...

Oh ... how you are loved. What a delightful gift from Jinksy!

pink dogwood said...

Wow - so adorable.

Cheryl Cato said...

He's so cute!!! I would squeal too!

Beth Kephart said...

Jinsky, this is your best moment!!!!

Merry ME said...

Jinxy is definitely the woman of the hour. Well done!
Oh to be able to create the perfect gift and poem to brighten a friend's day. It is a blessing to be sure.
Well done!

xxx said...

A truely beautiful surprise. I think that would have to be one of the cutest knits I've ever seen.

What an awesome reminder of the magical world we live in.

Well done Jinksy

Happy days to you Tessa
Robyn

Caroline said...

Oh, he's utterly adorable and I can imagine your squeals of delight when he arrived! I have a few soft toys too - my favourite being a Meerkat named Merve!

Marilyn & Jeff said...

What a wonderful creature.

Anonymous said...

Gorgeous and perfect!

Robin said...

Jinksy is a true "Good Fairy"....when I saw the photo, my heart lept up too. (I am going through a personal crisis of my own.) This little armadillo IS your talisman and he will bring you strength and hope every time you look at him.

Sending you many hugs and much strength from foggy San Francisco,

♥ Robin ♥

Yoli said...

He is very cute!!!!

Cindy said...

Tessa, This post made me so happy!!!!
I've been thinking of you a lot since your "Stormy Weather" post and I'm so glad to see that a little traveler made you smile (though I highly doubt that you ever lack in quantity in the smile department). He is perfect!

Also, I wanted you to know that the print you sent me last summer, "Dance, Pretty Mama" is adding a much needed splash of color to our otherwise dreary apartment bathroom and it makes me smile each and every time I walk in and am greeted by its symphony of color. It makes me want to samba, even with my great big pregnant belly!

Thanks for being such an inspiration :)

Linda Sue said...

What a beaut! Cuddly and cute! i do hope that he minds his crusty manners! Living in England can be demanding for one such as he! Awesome present from Jinksy! You are indeed so loved...big kiss!

Unknown said...

Oh man! He's gorgeous and I've gone an unattractive shade of green just looking at him! What a beautiful little critter!

Jinksy said...

Hello people! Glad Arnie won your hearts- but then he would, for he was Tessa's idea originally. I hasten to add he is, and will remain, a total one off - again, like Tessa! I had no pattern, but simply let him grow beneath my fingers. So apologies to The Bug, but no mass production will be possible!

Madame DeFarge said...

He is so cute and looks so adorable. Reminds me of a superior clanger!

Ces Adorio said...

That is the coolest ever! Aren't friends wonderful! They are true blessings and I sometimes can't believe how blessed I am.

Grace Albaugh said...

He's perfect!

Marion said...

Beautiful little guy...it's so heart warming when friends think of me in this way. The colours are perfect!

Teri and her Stylish Adventure Cats said...

Us in the 'Cat Blogosphere' have a sound we make when we see baby kittens (and now armadillos!)...it kind of is like this...Squeeeee!

So purrfect...just like the one in your header but soft and squeeable!

Silke Powers said...

Oh, I love this little armadillo and I LOVE him in front of those big colorful paintings in the background! I assume those are your paintings - wonderful!! Love, Silke

Lori ann said...

I'm so late! It's not been a summer for blogging for me.

How exciting! What a lovely treasure, i would squeal too Tessa, he's just perfect! YaY!
xoxoxo lori

kj said...

i'm late too, but only late in commenting. i saw jinksy's armadillo last week and was so impressed i could almost see him leaping in the sky we share. :)

tessa, i have a little stuffed giraffe named irene and i take her on most trips. she fits in my pocket and peers out cautiously, exploring the world. once jb and i left her in an arizona motel and we were devastated. we called the motel, with little hope of course, but five days later she arrived back home, tucked into a little makeshift bed, laid out in a tender box. i imagine the cleaning woman found her and fell in love with her too, rightly so.

btw, your first paragraph here is great!!! you set the scene perfectly.

applause to your friend jinksy. how totally wonderful all the way around!

love
kj

Tessa said...

Thank you all, again and again, for taking time to stop by. You truly make my heart soar, every single one of you. Flurries of love across that big sky we all share - no matter how near or far. xxx

Elizabeth Musgrave said...

Isn't he fab? I love him and love your husband's reaction too!

soulbrush said...

'the English are not known to be excessively effusive'
lol I have one of these too...