Thank You Note

I once read: "Accepting gifts (whether those are flowers or compliments) graciously, is an art". Thinking about this made me realize, I am not very good at it. When somebody makes a compliments about something I wear, the "Oh, it was on sale the other day" and the "It's already very old... I have had it for a long time" escape my mouth before I know it. Or when somebody gives me a gift, I almost automatically say: "My goodness, you shouldn't t have done that!" While someone who masters the art would say: "Thank you, that is very thoughtful of you!" or: "How did you know those are my favorite flowers?" What has all this to do with hippos? A lot! Last Christmas my family and I were spoiled rotten. We received so many wonderful gifts, beautifully wrapped, with personal notes and one more special than the other. It left us speechless... definitely nothing to do with being gracious.... but I will try to graciously share all those gifts with the rest of the world. As there were so many Hippo-Gifts, I have material enough for many future posts. The first (and my favorite) is this lovely figurine (hippo trinket box), even the box it came in was very pretty! Fortunately, I have the chance of practicing the art of Graciously Accepting here on my Blog :-).

Dear Sheila and John, you have made last Christmas truly unforgettable. On behalf of all of us, thank you so much for your friendship, for your time and effort to find all those wonderful gifts and for sending everything all the way to this side of the world. Heaven must be missing two angels!

Bubbles

Bubbles is a Hippo-Stapler. Not my first one but my second. My first Hippo-Stapler is a green one, made of plastic, looking more like a bath / beach toy than a stapler... and most importantly, it does not look nearly as cute as my second. I will show it someday, as it is a "First"... but decided to share Bubbles first. Staplers are stationary items.... not immediately associated with "cute". I'd never seen a cute stapler... not to mention a cute Hippo-Stapler! The details are really amazing. On top of that, I have a weakness for "sleeping hippos". I am wondering what she is dreaming about, that makes her smile like this :-). Dear Ruth, thank you for this lovely present, my absolute favorite of all those wonderful gifts you gave me. I thought about calling her Ruth, but then remembered your stories about "Bubbles". That name suits her much better and still reminds me of you! I hope I will have the privilege of meeting the real "Bubbles" one day, as I believe she is a Huge-Hippo-Heap of fun... with or without her costume ;-).

Poffertje

My first and only Hippo-Pillow is called Poffertje. A "poffertje" is a traditional Dutch batter treat. It looks a bit like a very small fluffy pancake. I have no idea why my daughters named this lilac colored Hippo-Pillow that because it has no resemblance to this Dutch-mini-pancake at all. It was the first thing they screamed when they saw it, or more precisely... before they confiscated it. Then I wondered: is it normal for a grownup to negotiate with children about a Hippo-Pillow? I heard myself say: "NO! it stays on MY bed" and "YES, you can play with it, but keep it clean!" and "NO! you can't take it to school". Never expected that a Hippo-Pillow would be the reason to question my sanity....  Better not to think about that too much :-). As this pillow is ultra soft, it is a very popular hippo item in the house, also with the not-so-much-hippo-lovers.... Don't you just love the enormous smile on her face? Dear Debo, thank you so much for this lovely present. It was wonderful to meet you in Denver last year. Have to think about you every time I see Poffertje.... before I forget: she says "Hi" to you!

Sjoerd and James

In the area where we live you can find a lot of "Bronze Art Shops". Are you looking for a huge fountain with mermaids and a dangerously looking Triton, a larger than life sized Adonis or a massive Mountain Gorilla? No problem, this is the place to come to. One day, I saw in the window of one of those shops a tiny hippo. I immediately went inside. The shop owner smiled at me, and said: "Oh, you like hippo! I have more!" More? And before I knew it, she had managed to bring 2 large hippos out from under some tables. A green one, and a bronze colored one. She told me she had a huge one once... but "Mama" already sold, long time ago! Now only have 2 babies!" Since any green baby looks suspicious to me... I bought the bronze colored one, and named it Sjoerd ("oe" pronounce like "oo") because that name sounds cool in Dutch. Sjoerd is one of the larger hippos I own. As you can see, he is about the same size as a (fat) cat. The name of the cat is James (nicknames: Mr. James, Fat Cat and Carpet Cat). He likes to sit next to Sjoerd (who wouldn't sit next to a hippo?), but often runs away as soon as he sees me and the camera.... I have a million blurry shots, a few clear ones; the only thing is that James looks like he is being tortured. Not suitable for a "view to all" Blog. But a few days ago, I think James was in a good mood... or I was more patient.... finally... please meet the boys!! Don't they make a cute couple?

Hippo with Hippo-Hat

I found this cute looking Hippo-Girl-Plushy and the hat in different shops at Sampeng Lane, a very famous street in the heart of Chinatown in Bangkok. It is one of the largest Chinatowns of the world. Here, you can get everything you can (and can't) imagine. The majority of the shops are wholesale shops. You can buy one or two items but it is much more expensive. As I was admiring the hat and wondering whether or not I should buy it, the lady of the shop sneaked up behind me... "You like? Have many! You buy how many dozen?" I told her I did not know yet. She turned around and while walking away she said "Good quality! Very cheap cheap! You buy many many dozen, I give you good price!" I thought the hat was cute (and very soft), but I was definitely not planning to buy many dozens of them. I told her I would only buy one. She gave me the "You-Are-Not-A-Nice-Customer-Look", but as a very seasoned Chinatown-Shopper, that did not bother me ;-). At home, we all had fun with it, but as we are living in the tropics... after a few minutes any hat will melt and boil your brain. Ms. Plushy believes it only looks good on her anyway.... and refuses to take it off!!