Paddington Boots

Strictly speaking these are Wellington boots, but actually they are the wellies that Paddington Bear wears.

My mum almost never bought me 'branded' toys, but being a thrifty woman she spotted a money-saving opportunity, as Paddington's footwear is a pair of genuine size 5 baby wellies. So they came with Paddington, then I wore them, then my sister wore them, and now Alexander is wearing them. They are 35 years old but not leaky at all. I know we're not the only ones, as my friend Claire told me her mum, also a creative thrifty type, did exactly the same thing.

Paddington himself (the soft toy) was created by Jeremy Clarkson's mum, clearly also a creative woman, and Paddington paid for the education of the national treasure Jeremy is today. Ahem. All I can say is I'm glad we got our money's worth from the wellies.

Contrary to my previous assertion, we went into the back garden and did a spot of tidying up today.