frogs – underneath the open sky

Continuing the sequence of wonderful, principally frog-themed mystery gifts that I get in the post…

In the deranged, feverish haze of spring 2020, with the world turned upside down, I got a box in the post marked “Beatrix Potter Collection” and with no indication of the buyer. Inside was the greatest teapot-themed work of art ever devised by man.

I immediately tried it out as a teapot, but that didn’t work well (the handle is hollow and the porcelain very thin so it gets uncomfortably hot): this is a frog built for form rather than function. However, he’s an absolute delight to have in the kitchen, and each morning I am greeted by Jeremy Fisher stepping out happily into the new day.

The Tale of Mr. Jeremy Fisher is in the public domain and can be enjoyed here by anyone unfamiliar with it.

Unfortunately the anonymity of the gift was slightly compromised by it coming with customs fees, which the donor (when I asked the group chat if anyone knew why I’d got a demand for such) immediately stepped up and paid. However, that means I get to publicly say thank you to my friend Hoov, who specialises in puns so niche, contrived and excruciating that the gang made him an entire twitter chronicling them as his birthday present, because the world is not a good or just place. https://twitter.com/epipuns

I get sufficient mystery gifts in the post that I think I need to create a new tag for them. Some are from known parties, some are anonymous but clearly well-targeted at me. (I really ought to post about the teapot, the paper art, and the really horrifying custom made frog pins. I already posted about the hat I forgot I was middlemanning, over a decade ago.) I’m increasingly of the view that a number of these are from my old pal Tom, especially the incredible netsuke and a terrifying Shell poster* from the 1930s which he addressed to “frogboy sadface” (to the absolute confusion of our postwoman.)