::Winkie::

There is something unquestionably book-ish
about winter. So let me share a bit of vintage
goodness with you. A little winter-ish treat.

Let me introduce you to Winkie.......



Published in 1949 and belonging to my
mum when she was a little girl, it is the
tale of a little squirrel called Winkie.



A baby squirrel, who is rescued and carried
home in the pocket of some one's raincoat. Where
he is duly fed, raised and soon up to all sorts of
mischief!



I love the richness of the watercolours and the lovely
post war domestic details. Here he is teasing Bessie the maid.
"In a flash he leaped on to the top of the door and crouched
ready to spring on her...."



And more than anything else I want to
be on one of those deck chairs on the lawn,
as the the "tea wagon" is brought into
the garden at four o'clock!



"It was crowded with good things to eat;
bread and butter, scones, a plate full
of exciting little cakes and right in the
centre was a large fruit cake. So he lightly
jumped upon it and helped himself-by
eating a hole right into the middle...!"



And all this before he hibernates for the
winter, then returns next spring~with
his wife.

Its such a beautiful book and somehow
in all its domesticity, fits with the
the adult books I have been reading
of late. Enjoy!

"Winkie the Grey Squirrel"
by Albra Pratten, Illustrated by
Ralph S.Thompson, Oxford University
Press, 1949.