Grandma giant
I’m sure that most of you saw the giants that visited Liverpool recently on the news. This time around they were here to remember the Liverpool Pals, local men who were recruited from tight knit communities to fight in WW1. The sad thing was that virtually none of these men returned and the women who lived in the rows upon rows of two up, two-down houses lost their menfolk, husbands, sons, brothers and uncles, neighbours who fought and died together.
When you see pictures of the giants or see them on TV, they look good all right, but seeing them in person is an incredible experience. They are puppets, and their strings are there to be seen, yet there is something incredibly lifelike and moving about them, their expressions are almost beatific. One child next to me in the huge crowd screamed…”They’re alive, they’re alive!”
Little girl giant
They have an incredible range of movement, they can walk or sit, move their heads, eyes, hands, and arms and can bend and stretch. They were seen sleeping, showering, hugging and in the case of the dog…..
galloping and panting. I swear they read my blog and modeled this dog on my Sam…..it even looks and acts goofy, just like him! I suppose this dog is older than Sam though….
Anyway after a thrilling session of giant watching, hubs, daughter and I toddled off for an Italian meal to allow the crowds to die down as over fifty thousand people where all crammed into the same small space and would be now dashing for the trains.
The meal was fab and we got the train home quite easily. At about eleven pm we arrived at the station and two awful things happened at once. First the rain thundered down, and secondly hubs patted his pockets and announced with horror….”I’ve lost the keys!” Yes….the house and the car keys.
So, we walked/ran home in the rain, all the while discussing/arguing as to how we would get into the house. I knew two windows were open, one downstairs and one upstairs.
Initially I tried to squeeze through the downstairs one but got stuck, so after being hauled out, which was NOT very dignified I can tell you, hubs decided to try the upstairs one.
Now it may look easy in the sunshine, but it was NOT childsplay in the dark with the added hassle of torrential rain. By now all three of us were squabbling; daughter was fuming at the thought that either of us would attempt to get through windows given our middle age and all, and she was convinced the pair of us would break our necks or worse.
And daughter and I were terrified at the prospect of hubs getting onto that slippy roof in the pitch black and rain. Of course neither hubs or I would allow daughter to try either route, which infuriated her. We, at least had done this before….FAR too often over the years!
But up he went, and so we shut up and held onto the ladder for grim death……only for him to come down saying it was far too slippy and dangerous. Sooooooo…..
After other options were tried and tested we had no choice in the end but to smash the only piece of glass that was not double glazed. Oh the noise, horrible it was….and climbing over the broken glass was not fun either. But we got in….at two pm in the morning, dripping wet with nerves as shattered as the glass….and we were all disgruntled, in every possible way you can be disgruntled!!!
The next day I called the Italian restaurant and asked if they had found a large bunch of chunky keys, and they replied “You’ve lost a large batch of chunky cheese?” Eventually I dropped the chunky bit and yes….they had found a large set of keys, so that saved £200 that a new car key would have cost!
An-y-way…..
On a more positive note, I’m almost halfway through illustrating the little cat story….
And met our smallest inmate yet, a baby field mouse that still hasn’t opened it eyes, they have big beautiful eyes, in fact they seem all eyes. This one is being fed on kitten milk.
Now do you recall the spotty little herring gull chick that came in a while ago? It’s huge now and is in the water aviary with lots of other herring gulls getting ready for release. Well, every now and then an animal remembers us and remains friends. Whenever we go into the water aviary this little/big guy comes over. First it screeches hello…
Then it ducks it’s head and repeatedly bows to us. Awwww….why is there always one that is SO hard to let go……if only it would attack us like the other thirty or so gulls we’ve raised this year do if we come too close. And it only acknowledges those who have reared it….sobs….
And finally….
As I am a huge fan of all butterflies, this year I grew a batch of kale in my herb garden JUST for the cabbage white, and they sure appreciated it….all the plants are completely laden with fat caterpillars while my plants are safely under nets.
Well, those giants completely passed me by on the news, so I’m glad you’ve highlighted them here, they look incredible!
What a nightmare with your missing keys! Been there, done that and got the t-shirt as they say. So glad you found yours in the end though, it’s a pricey business having to fit new locks on everything.
So kind of you to grow kale for the caterpillars, you know they’ll be expecting it every year now though 😉 .
Glad you enjoyed the giants, they really are something, I’m so glad I saw them as I missed them last year as we were away.
Oh….those darn keys……what a spoiler! At least we found them which saved a fortune.
Yes….I think I may have started something with the cabbage whites, they’ll be queuing up for them next year. Thanks Paula.xxx
The FUMES are coming back to me just thinking about it! Thank god none of us died. the food was worth it though… x
Deep breaths now….deep breaths!xxx
Dina Dina Dina. You are bound and determined to have an adventurous life, aren’t you. I’m so glad the keys were found and no one fell off the roof or lost a limb climbing through broken windows.
And when I saw that last photo, I thought you’d be bemoaning the loss of your kale. Should’ve known you were providing fodder for BUTTERFLIES. Brilliant 🙂 Yes, you. Brilliant!
Lol, thanks SO much Anne….I must say it wasn’t the best ending to a wonderful day. Keys are now hidden outdoors so hopefully no more midnight climbs!
The butterflies were most satisfied with the kale buffet……so plenty more fluttery cabbage whites next year.xxx
Well, you did it again, didn’t you? 😉 Found my muse lurking in your garden watching you and your B&E..such a shattering experience!
You’ll find my response on my blog, and here
http://i929.photobucket.com/albums/ad139/moreles2/shatteredpoemcopy_zpsdeb71387.jpg
😉
a slight edit on poem
http://i929.photobucket.com/albums/ad139/moreles2/shatteredpoemcopy_zpsa801247a.jpg
Off to look…Oh….MARVELOUS!!!xxx
Hahahahahaha….you DO make me laugh, what a talented gal you are. I simply LOVE this and shall be smiling for days!! Thanks SO much Glo….p.s…hubs was a little perturbed that his feather may be removed!!!xxx
Those giants are amazing. I left the post up so my hubby could see them too.
Time to get a spare key and hide it under a rock or something! I can’t tell you how many times I have locked myself out of the house! I am always glad and relieved to have a spare key hidden among the foliage near the back door.
It must be hard sometimes to part with the animals and birds in the rescue. The bowing gull would be a bit of a heartbreaker to part with.
Thanks Jennifer, I hope your hubby enjoyed them, Yes, deffo time to put a key outside, I surprised I haven’t done that already! You soon forget how awful being locked out is.
Awwww….I am far too attached to that little gull, it really is so lovely and it’s antics are so amusing.xxx
I hadn’t heard of this – looks like it was great fun. Sorry to hear about the lost key thing. I know how you feel I have been through the same thing myself – sorry but it did make me chuckle, glad you solved it in the end without too much harm done (may be you should leave a spare key with the neighbours, just in case).
I am glad I saw them, they really are memorable. I’m chuckling myself now, all’s well ends well!
We usually have spare keys outside but recently we changed the lock and forgot to put one outside….I must put some back…..Thanks Elaine xxx
I’ve never heard of these giants but they would be a sight to see! While Chloris has loads of butterflies, there are so few here. The USA’s love affair with pesticides has done an excellent job of slaughtering our pollinators. I love that you grew kale just for the cabbage whites. Mice occasionally fall into my birdseed bins and I release them before they eat themselves to death.
They certainly are a sight to behold, the way they move is uncanny!
Oh….how awful to hear of the decimation of the pollinators, it’s utterly heartbreaking isn’t it, I hope one day we all learn, hopefully not before the food runs out.
I am laughing out loud at the thought of your mice eating themselves to death.Thanks Casa xxx
Goodness, you do have adventures. Never a dull moment in the Snowbird household. I always enjoy reading what you have been up to.
I would love to have seen the giants, what a wonderful experience, but oh dear, what an awful end to the evening, having to break into your own house.
I love butterflies too, there are so many this year. Mind you I wouldn’t t go as far as setting up a restaurant for the cabbage whites.
Thanks Chloris…..there doesn’t seem to be a dull moment of late, however, our latest escapade was the WRONG kind of fun!
The giants were absolutely fantastic, well worth braving the crowds for, I do hope they return, they have a huge spider and a deep sea diver too.
It has been a wonderful year for the butterflies hasn’t it…..long may it continue.xxx
As always a varied post. Lucky you to have seen the amazing giants in the flesh so to speak.
I won’t comment on the lost keys and ‘break in’ ( said rolling eyes!).
Interesting on what you did for the cabbage whites. xx
Thanks Flighty, I did love the giants, well worth seeing. Some of these things are bigged up and can be disappointing, these were not.
I always leave a patch of nettles for the butterflies too, over-tidy gardens are of no use to them.xxx
I hope those white butterfly caterpillars weren’t injected with wasp eggs like some I once raised were!! Yuk
Your antics made me smile as I had a similar incident when I couldn’t open the car boot. I pulled a back seat down and wriggled in through the gap to open the boot from the inside, I don’t know how I would have escaped if the boot hadn’t opened..
Eeek! Injected with wasp eggs you say? How awful for the poor things!
Lol….I’m smiling at the idea of you wriggling into the car….the things we do eh?xxx
I saw something about those giant puppets – I think they look incredible and it must have been quite something to actually see them! … despite then discovering you’d lost the keys … 🙁 I remember our son breaking a window in our house when we were away, because he’d locked himself out )… it is very drastic but sometimes, needs must!
What a brilliant idea to grow some kale just for the butterflies :yes: If you can’t beat ’em join ’em!!
They truly were astonishing close up, so very lifelike. It’s always such a pain to be locked out isn’t it and it never happens on a nice sunny day!
Lol…..yes……you will never truly get the better of a cabbage white but these tactics seem to be working well. Thanks Gilly.xxx
Wow, you’ve had some adventures this week, Dina! I don’t envy you the moment when it was discovered the car/house keys were missing – such a sinking, awful feeling! I left my keys indoors when my son was young, we had a ground floor flat and in the early evening, after dark, I had to borrow a chisel and hammer to try and remove the beading around a pane of reinforced glass in our back door – despite the banging, no-one came, not even the cops! I managed to get in and now leave a spare set of keys with a trusted friend/neighbour.
I absolutely LOVE your little bowing gull – what a sweetheart, I hope he comes back to see you when he eventually flies off. And thanks for telling us about the story behind The Giants – so devastating, an entire community of menfolk just gone; I can’t begin to imagine how those women carried on, I guess you just had to. Anyhoooooo….. hope you have a brilliant weekend and your family have recovered from the adventures! Caro xx
Good grief….your story is much more dramatic than mne, and how ODD that nobody came!!!!
Awwww….that little gull is such a sweetheart, there’s always one that breaks your heart, it was so hard parting with it!
It’s heartbreaking to hear of how many men lost their lives, and how many still are….if only war was a thing of the past. Thanks Caro.xxx
Having seen the news on the television about the Giants and what they represent this year I was pleased you got to see them. Your photos are great and give a good idea of their size – amazing – and it must have been fascinating to see the animation. Sorry the enjoyable day ended so badly, but glad the keys were found. The herring gull sounds quite a character.
The illustrations for the cat story are delightful and it looks like its having quite a few adventures! Take care and have a good weekend!
Everything about the giants was wonderful, even the crowds were dealt with beautifully. The whole thing is very professionally done, I do hope we get them back again.
I will really miss that little gull, there is always one that tugs on the heart strings, it has always been so gentle with us which is surprising in herring gulls, they tend to be aggressive when handles, only out of fear though.xxx
Oh, goodness, what a rich post! I LOVE the giants and was completely unfamiliar with them till I read this and saw your amazing photos, Dina!
Your stormy (on a few levels) and keyless adventure is now an exciting story…but I can imagine how draining and frustrating it was at the time. Happy no one was hurt and that the keys were found.
All the dear ones at the rescue look precious and uniquely endearing: Bless you!
Your illustrations look so lovely, enticing and colorful, Dina! What a wonderful story you seem to be creating! Children (and their parents) will love this! 🙂
Joy and gentle peace to your week’s end…may all your adventures end happily :).
Oh….the giants were astonishing, they behaved just like people….I am glad I saw them and as you say now the window is repaired we can laugh about the whole sorry saga!
I am really enjoying illustrating this book, it is beautifully written. Thanks Kitty, hope you get chance to post soon, I miss knowing what you are up too.xxx
My kids would have loved the giants when they were small – they probably still would. You’re illustrations look wonderful, you’re clearly very talented. But I have a question – did you ever find the cheese?
Thanks Jason….hahahahahaha…..no….there was sight nor sound of the batch of chunky cheese.xxx
Massive amount going on with you this post. A glass window a small price to pay for an expensive bunch of keys. Did anyone check to see if you were being burgled?
The men lost their lives, mums,some dads, wives and children lost their breadwinners too. They were left in real poverty and hard times, like so many up and down the land. The puppets are a tribute to all of them.
Not a soul came out to see what all the ruckus was about. The next day our neighbours said they thought the noise was coming from the other side of the road!!
Yes, I couldn’t agree more re the giants being a wonderful tribute, it was truly shocking how many men were slaughtered….and how many families struggled to survive. Let’s hope there won’t be another war like that.Thanks Menhir.xxx
OK…I’ll start with the magnificent giants. Yes, I have seen them on TV and yes I am so envious that you get to see them in person….absolutely amazing.
As for the trip hope and loss of keys, in thundering rain…I can only imagine…and am glad that the story ended well, other than one broken window!!! Oh my:)
I love field mice…they are so sweet….and your illustrations look fantastic…can’t wait to see the book.
Another weekend is upon us and so I hope you have a lovely time…without any loss of keys etc. Janet:):)xxxx
They are incredible aren’t they, I think their movements and facial expressions make them so lifelike.
We didn’t think we’d ever get into the house Janet, but now it’s all rather funny!
I am a fan of field mice too, such delicate little critters. Here’s to a less exciting week.xxx
I’ve had to break into my own house before now, oh you feel so guilty! I was looking over my shoulder all the time to see if anyone was watching.
I’d love to have seen the giants, brilliant stuff.
Oh the giants were well worth going to see, they are so impressive.
I was amazed that no-body came out to see what the racket was about!!!xxx
Wow! Those ‘giants’ are fantastic….Must have been wonderful being there in real life……They sure look ‘real’…
Sorry about your ‘losing’ your keys…..Happy that you discovered you had NOT lost them….lalala….
Yes! We have plenty fledgling gulls around here….
Another great post! Thanks D! Hugs! xx
Thanks Bushka….the giants were fantastic close up…..
It was great to finally find the keys and now the window has been repaired I can see the funny side.xxx
Wow those giants look AMAZING and yes… the dog is definitely modelled on Sam I reckon! 🙂
How absolutely horrendous to leave the keys in the restaurant and have to walk home in torrential rain in the middle of the night and have to smash a window to get in… you poor beasts!
Glad you got the keys back though!
Your book illustrations look fab – aren’t you clever?!
You have a friend in your young spotty seagull… awww…. another creature you’ll miss….awwww…..
xxx
The giants really were something! And I was struck how similar giant dog was to Sam….and how could it all go downhill so bloomin’ quickly????
You would just love spotty gull, it’s the cutest thing EVER and I shall sob when it goes!xxx
Knowing where you live, I just knew what the title of this post was referring to before I read it. I’ve never heard of The Giants before, but I read about them on my blog buddy’s blog just recently:- http://angeljemscitycottage.blogspot.co.uk/
I wish they’d come to Leeds, they look fantastic, I love things like that. What a palaver getting in to the house, but at least there were no injuries from falling off a roof, and the keys were found in the end. What a little cutie that baby field mouse is. I do hope the Cabbage Whites aren’t homing butterflies otherwise your garden is going to be inundated next year.
Lovely to know others have been giant watching too! I hope they do go to Leeds, they would look super on some of your city hill!
Ooops….didn’t think of homing cabbage whites, I suppose I’ll have to grow even more if they come back!!!xxx