Little animals

In about two weeks friends will come and see us from Paris, kids included. In an attempt at anticipating the friendly invasion of adults and above all of kids, I was trying to find out which activities we could do with them obviously taking into account the children and their youthful greed for outdoor life and movement - yes, I need to plan in advance: as a non-mother I need to stretch the imagination beyond the safe boundaries. There is the beach, of course, since it is nearby, the natural park, also nearby, the botanical garden in Amsterdam, the dolphinarium or the Artis zoo... Thinking about the zoo led me to cast a couple of admirative and maternal looks on the mini zoo we have at home - live doggie is the sheriff of them all, so careless trespassers, beware!

The other animals around the apartment are not the live kind, so they are quite a peaceful crowd that enliven the everyday world with their looks, feels and stories: two elephants (the silver one is a lucky charm, the wooden one comes from sout east Asia), a giraffe (called Fanny, a brave adventurer that came all the way from Namibia), a couple of ladybugs (more lucky charms - more is better), a collection of plastic bugs (local supermarket for a touch of curiosity cabinet style) and the latest entries, kitsch to the core and I like them all the more for that: the colorful bird above sings every time you move it around and it is supposed to be a "desk friend" according to its packaging. Your boss will so approve and your credibility will sky rocket to the sky (this bit was not written on its packaging).

And then there are all the new little animals of the farm: cutsie white cats and pinkish piglets that act as magnets and found their metallic home above the kitchen stove. Yes, I then feel I have dozens of watchful eyes checking if I salted the pork cutlets - how appropriate is that?

From animals to humans - as it were - I started thinking about a peculiar street-art project I found out on the net. These little people would be a perfect match for my lilliputian zoo, even though most of the pics on the site show urban environments. I am sure the mini humans would appreciate the country side for a change. And having a happy dog as their Gulliver.