Bessie

Meet Bessie.  This old lady is not one to be trifled with!  She takes no guff or backtalk from anyone. 

This priceless piece was made by Robin Thew, the mother of a dear friend of mine.  She originally had a very snarly, ugly little dog next to her, as well as a placard that read "Be Nice" (I'm talking about Bessie here ... not Robin!)  When I turned 50 (eleven years ago?  How can that be?) my friend Katie presented Bessie to me as a gift, and she has lived here ever since.  Robin is having a retrospective art show in November, and Bessie is heading over to the gallery to be reunited with her nasty little dog so they can greet visitors at the door!

When we unearthed Bessie from the attic yesterday evening (where she's been living for a while ... she used to stand on our front porch, but I was worried someone would steal her!), I thought Mabel was going to have a stroke.  As soon as she caught sight of Bessie, she became airborne, and such a volley of loud, ferocious barking came out of her, I thought the windows would shatter!