Giraffabulous!

Today we had Show and Tell, so I took Geoffrey and Felicity to Teacher School with me.

For those of you who haven't met them, Geoffrey (a very down-to-earth, gentlemanly sort of elephant) and Felicity (a charming if somewhat highly-strung giraffe) are the best animal thespians I know. They met years ago [1] at the zoo where they both lived, and decided to form their own theatre company. They've been travelling ever since, performing various shows (both traditional and original) all over the world. Or so they say. Their version of Romeo and Juliet [2] is particularly to be recommended. They've both been living with me since Christmas, when my dear brother Edward introduced them to me. In short, we've taken rather a liking to each other, and I wouldn't be surprised if they stay.

My classmates were, I believe, pleased to meet them. And it's always fun going around for a day knowing you've got a giraffe and an elephant in your pocket. I almost took along Vince, the one-eared giraffe Noah brought back from Zambia, but I didn't want him to get hurt. He's quite a delicate creature.

Anyway, all this talk of giraffes (combined with one or two references on facebook) provoked a comment or two about my liking for these elegant yellow creatures. So whilst I'm on the subject, I may as well tell you about Ola Helland's project to collect one million giraffes by 2011. I can't remember how I stumbled upon the website [3] but I thought I'd draw a giraffe or two in order to contribute and, as Claire, Matthew and Simon will attest, it developed into something of a phase...

The only rule is that you're not allowed to use a computer to make your giraffe (and you have to make it yourself - you can't just go buying or photographing one). So when you have a moment, go and visit onemilliongiraffes.com, have a look at some of the charming creations on display, [4] and send in one of your own!

[1] Noah could tell you precisely when
[2] Performed in conjunction with Al the Alligator, and detailing the sad history of the feud between the Montaphant family and their sworn enemies the Capuraffes
[3] Actually, I think I may have been using StumbleUpon...
[4] There's a search link at the bottom. Search for 'Kate' and you'll get some that were, and some that were not, created by me... see if you can tell which ones are which!