100 ABSTRACTS - NUMBER 59 & SILLY SATURDAY

Hello Lovely Blippers,

We were very excited to hear that our cousin, Paddington “Picasso” Bear, was coming to visit, so we thought we should do something in his honour on his first day with us.  As we knew he loved to paint, hence his name, we thought that painting a picture for him to take home with him would be a good idea - although some might think that silly - but we thought he would love it!  

Mind you, he’s  not just an ordinary bear like some of us, he’s a Steiff bear - and normally lives with Mrs. HCB’s friend, Gill, who, after reading about us having so much fun with the HCBs, wondered if he would like to visit for a few days because he gets a bit lonely.  

Mrs. HCB said she was sure we would be delighted to see him, and of course, we were;  after all, he is one of our relatives, albeit a posh one!  We asked Mrs. HCB if she could sort something out so that we could all do some painting together, and after she had had a good think, she came up with the idea of doing some abstract flowers.  She said that this way, she could get another one in for her 100 Abstracts Challenge and we could have fun together so two for one!

You know that Mrs. HCB is quite imaginative, so she made us all aprons out of her old Waitrose bags.  Mr. HCB had saved every one of them from the home deliveries, because he said he knew they would come in useful sometime and of course, he was right!  

It was a  bit crowded in the HCBs' conservatory, because their Podiatrist, Jo, visited early this morning, and she was very interested in what we were doing.  She said she had never been to a house where so much was going on!  However, she did like our painting and I think she might have been interested in buying it, but we said that it wasn't for sale, but was for our cousin, Paddington Picasso.

Well it was fine at first, but we got very messy so we will definitely have to get in the bath or shower later and wash the paint off ourselves.  It was a good job we were wearing aprons!  Actually, Mrs. HCB was messier than any of us, despite wearing an apron and her blue gloves - well, we expect nothing less of her!  Do you know she even had paint in her hair, but she refused to have her photograph taken, because she said she would look silly!  Now, come on, if we were looking silly, then surely Mrs. HCB should look silly too.

We coaxed and cajoled her, but she was adamant that we should be the only ones in the Blip shot for today, so here we are, just getting on with our painting with Paddington watching over us - and I think you will agree that we have painted a beautiful abstract.  It’s quite easy to do, all you need are the insides of toilet rolls, which you cut, but not too far down, dab it in the paint and then press it down on the paper to make an abstract pattern.

We all enjoyed our session, but Hoggy was at a bit of a disadvantage because the toilet roll painter would only fit over his nose - and he kept sneezing, but Snowy was very kind and helped him by telling him where to put his blob of paint.

Paddington wasn’t too keen on joining in though, because he said he had only brought his decent best clothes and not his painting gear, so he did not want to get them messy, so while we had a great time, he just stood and watched us all - getting messy.  However, he said he was happy to give us any help and advice we needed, because as he said, he wasn’t called Paddington Picasso for nothing - and admittedly, the advice he gave us was good - well you would expect that from a famous and posh bear, wouldn't you?

I hope you like our abstract pattern - we think Admirer would like it and it would certainly have made her giggle.  Mrs. HCB says this is Number 59 for her 100 Abstracts Challenge to raise awareness of the Mamie Martin Fund, which she and Mr. HCB are supporting to help girls in North Malawi pay their fees for their secondary school education, which is such a good cause.  Perhaps you would like to support the Fund too by donating to Mrs. HCB’s VirginMoneyGiving page down below.  We did wonder if perhaps we could all go and visit some of these lovely girls in Malawi but the HCBs would need to come with us.  Now that would be an adventure and we’re sure that Paddington would be up for that.

Have a great weekend and be kind to one another.

With love from

JH Ted, Tiny, Snowy, Penny Penguin and Hoggy xxxxx

https://uk.virginmoneygiving.com/MaureenIles