About Me

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No Fixed Abode, Home Counties, United Kingdom
I’m a 60-year-old Aspergic gardening CAD-Monkey. Sardonic, cynical and with the political leanings of a social reformer, I’m also a toy and model figure collector, particularly interested in the history of plastics and plastic toys. Other interests are history, current affairs, modern art, and architecture, gardening and natural history. I love plain chocolate, fireworks and trees, but I don’t hug them, I do hug kittens. I hate ignorance, when it can be avoided, so I hate the 'educational' establishment and pity the millions they’ve failed with teaching-to-test and rote 'learning' and I hate the short-sighted stupidity of the entire ruling/industrial elite, with their planet destroying fascism and added “buy-one-get-one-free”. Likewise, I also have no time for fools and little time for the false crap we're all supposed to pretend we haven't noticed, or the games we're supposed to play. I will 'bite the hand that feeds', to remind it why it feeds.

Friday, April 7, 2023

S is for Squirrelling Around

Spring struck suddenly a couple of days ago, and I got out and mowed! Only took the tops off to help the lawn dry out, and I'm hoping to get a lower cut done today or tomorrow, but it got the old blood pumping and I managed to sort out all the missing image folders and import them into Picasa, that evening!
 
It took hours, in batches of like-stuff, or random lots of 24 folders, which had to be done one at a time, but once I'd got a rhythm going the time slid-by, until - suddenly - it was done! I even found a few folders which had been lost on the old machine, but I still have a lot of sorting and minor 'housekeeping' to finish!

One of the folders I found was this bunch of squirrels, which is a bit Easter'y, he says; watching them all charging around in the beech trees, over the road, as I type!

The original starter for the folder was a TBS bag heading into storage a while ago, nothing too exciting, with an R&L 'Stretch Pet' cereal premium/novelty telescopic one at back left, and the Schleich one from Mum's cake-decoration tub, back right, it'll now join the rest of the animals, having done sterling service on chocolate-logs for years now! And, I know; two rabbits and some other less than tree-squirrel types!
 
In front are a bunch of more cartoony ones, with the grey one on the right having some age I suspect (1970's?) and the little one's a Kinder type. The two on the left go together - I can't work out if they are cake-candle holders or missing something? While the other two with their contrasting tummy paint look like they may go together, but I'm not sure that they do, just both following the Hollywood cartoon trope re. decoration!
 
This was in our bedroom when we were kids, and it was sort of accepted I'd inherit it one day (my brother got the silver dragon match-box!), cold-painted bronze, probably German. It would be employed as a night-light during the power-cuts of the 1970's, Mum would put a new candle in it, and in the morning there'd be an interesting stalagmite growing off the roots, to be removed with satisfying waxy 'snaps'!

The glass was cracked and went to recycling about 18-months ago, but I've seen packets of them for affordable sale on evilBay, so I'll sort that at the other-end, it's in storage now. Lead weighted and with the squirrel a separate piece who can be removed for cleaning, the long branch makes a carrying handle, and I love it!
 
Shot these last night to fatten the folder/post! The one on the right is a copy of the Schleich one, so I assume the - very Easter - hare is too? Modern Chinese and from a mixed lot, which may have been from Peter Evans or Chris Smith, so thanks to both for everything. They follow the pattern of those cheap two-half dinosaurs I found in Farnborough a few years back?

Anyway, that's a few squirrels . . . and things; Happy Easter readers!

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