Monkey Business

Lucky is defined as "having unexpected good fortune".

Some people are quite lucky when it comes to winning raffles, draws etc whilst others are lucky in less material ways. I am certainly of the latter although the reason for this small but perfectly-formed blog entry is to celebrate the fact that ..........I HAVE WON SOMETHING!! Please allow me to elucidate:

Now, there is an extremely talented and quite idiosyncratic lady of whom I have an internet acquaintance and who goes by the name of Kitty Wrinkle. We are part of the same forum and she is one of these people who seems to remain positive throughout all sorts of happenings in her life. She writes a blog which is full of .........dare I say, girly things such as sewing and crafts and the like. Not exactly the thing for a superhero although she does write very wittily about all sorts of other matters and has this quirky view of Life which can be both amusing and thought-provoking. However, she gets excited about buttons.......need I really say any more?

Anyway, it seems to be the done thing in the weird and wonderful world of crafting to share one's talents by swapping not only exciting pieces of material or a particularly amazing ball of wool (shakes head sadly) but also exercising the philanthropic gene by doing the occasional giveaway. Followers of Kitty's blog will see that she has been quite lucky in these giveaways herself but I am now the object of her own particular generosity insofar as I appear to be the proud owner of .............................. SantaMonk!

Of the 70 odd comments left on her blog where this specific act of Christmas cheer was announced, the name of Bassett was apparently randomly generated and I now have a simian Santa to cherish. Kitty is justifiably a doyen of the monkey-making world and her creations are much sought after so I am both touched and honoured that I have a second creation of hers. Second?, I hear you say. Oh yes, she created Plod Monkey which I commissioned when Master Bassett became a police officer and he now resides in the foetid pit which is PC Bassett's bedroom alongside the Liverpool posters, sports equipment and pictures of scantily-clad wimmun.

Thank you, Ms Wrinkle and may your sock box never diminish.

"Winning" SantaMonk made me think back over the other wins of my long and tedious life. The first I remember is on the now defunct Radio Brighton when I entered a phone-in competition and won an LP token. It was my first album - Well Respected Kinks - and is still in my possession and worth every penny of the 17/6d which I didn't have to pay.

Other wins have been a limited edition Monopoly set, Rolling Stones tickets and a portable TV although, I have to say, I'm not somebody that necessarily goes in for competitions as a matter of course. Actually, come to think of it, maybe I AM quite lucky and ought to enter more things.

Anyway, I shall publish an in situ photograph of SantaMonk in due course and wait hopefully for Kitty creations to assume the financial worth of an early Steiff bear. Gosh, the thought of Arthur Negus' great grandson handling my primate is making me feel quite faint!

Above image from sockmonkeylady.com