I hope you have all had a wonderful Christmas, celebrating and spending quality time with family and friends.
I am very conscious though, that this festive time is difficult for many, so hugs to anyone who is struggling at this time. My somefamily and I managed to catch Covid in the run up to, and over Christmas, so ours was a more subdued time this year.
But it will soon be New Year!
The end of each year can be a time to reflect on the past, to relive highlights and happy memories, both from this past year and times long ago.
I have read that ‘Retro’ may be a theme in 2024, and with both The Beatles and The Rolling Stones now releasing new songs, who knows!
Now then, thinking back to the past, who remembers Bagpuss? “A saggy, old cloth cat, baggy, and a bit loose at the seams". In the Bagpuss TV stories, a little girl called Emily finds lost or broken objects, which Bagpuss and friends mend in the night. A good example of the important Eco trend to encourage ‘reuse, repair, recycle’ rather than throwing broken objects away. Bagpuss and friends even had their own Mending song!
“We will find it, we will bind it
We will stick it with glue, glue, glue
We will stickle it, every little bit of it
We will fix it like new, new, new”
Bring back memories?!!
I have wanted to make a Bagpuss hat for some time now, so have spent some of this ‘holiday’ time working on this new design. In doing so, I have realised that quite a few of my designs this year, Peter Rabbit, Pingu and Scooby Doo for example, nostalgically hark back to the past.
Looking ahead now to January, the opening lines of the Christmas Carol ‘In the bleak mid winter’ sum up how a lot of people feel about this coming month. What is happening in our world, all the pain and suffering, is bleak too.
But in the midst of all of this hurt, there is still hope, if we look for it.
Whilst I was researching Bagpuss, I came across this charity - Hospices of Hope and in support, I purchased a number of their Bagpuss pins. I will be including one of these as a gift,
with any future Bagpuss hat orders.
Hope is what we all need in the coming year. In the darkness of night, there are always stars that shine brightly, even if all we can see for a time are clouds.
Whatever your hopes and dreams are for 2024, may I wish you a very Happy and peaceful New Year.
Annie xx
