An Anniversary Celebration: Farewell to Accounting - Enter Giraffe Entrepreneur!

We are all amazed that another whole year has passed and our anniversary celebrations are with us again for that wonderful day in April 2008, when I said farewell to accounting! Who would have predicted the nextent to which our lives were to change?

The photo above was taken as I received my lovely leaving gifts at Storey & Tawle, the Raffsburgh accountancy firm I had worked with for so long. (This link will take you to the original post). Oh the joys I have had looking through the lovely telescope - most especially gazing all those light years away to Planet Earth, and knowing that all my dear human bloggy-friends are there!


My first ever blog post was The Escape of a Giraffe Accountant, when I handed in my notice, and since then we haven't looked back! Our new family business Giraffe World Tours was born, we bought our bus, we moved house, we've had nexciting adventures, made lots of mistakes, had lots of fun, grown closer as a family. And we're always moving on to the neckst step of the way! Even when we don't know what it is ...


If I have one nexhortation for you, dear human bloggy-friends, it is this: Stick your necks out for your dreams!

And now it's time to party!

(c) Ingrid Sylvestre - Artist, Designer, Illustrator, Party Caricaturist Durham North East England UK

A Forest Walk in Spring

Early this morning we looked nexcitedly out of the windows of Necky Knoll House to see if the sun was shining. Yes! It was perfect weather for our planned day out in the Forest, with a beautiful dawn light playing on the sides of the Knolls.



The morning mist still clung to the valleys, and as we drew near to the Forest it seemed to beckon mysteriously.



Littl' Nicky toddled on ahead. "Ooh, Daddy!" he nexclaimed, "Flowers!"


Further into the Forest, we caught a glimpse of some flying girigglies, who performed a Spring dance while Nexi and Necky Becky watched, spellbound.



There were woodland creatures everywhere! A long wrigglie paused for me to take his photo as he scuttled nexuberantly among the leaves and mosses.



We saw beautiful little mounds of giraffe moss on some old stone walling, back lit by the sun to look like miniature citadels.


Everywhere we noticed signs of the coming Spring - each twig studded with buds bursting into life!


In the shadows of the trees grew the lovely little Giranthus flowers, shining like miniature lanterns.


And the sweet Viola giraffata greeted us shyly with bowed heads.



As our children ran ahead of us along the path, Maureen and I recalled happy memories of days spent in this beautiful place, and looked forward to many more.

(c) Ingrid Sylvestre - Artist, Illustrator, Landscape Painter, Writer, Sylvan Muse, Interpretive Panels, Durham North East England UK

Double the Neck in 2011!

Greetings from Camelopardalis Constellation and Happy New Year to all our dear friends on planet Earth!

With two giraffe-necks in it, 2011 promises to be a nexuberant year. Stick your necks out for your dreams, and love your planet!

We are back at Necky Knoll House after a wonderful holiday at the tree house, and have been celebrating by singing our family song, 'With Our Necks Entwined'. No doubt you will be able to identify all our voices - do join in with us, and if you can find a secret portal to our world, you are most welcome at our party!

Happy Holidays to all our Friends!

Happy Holidays to all our dear human bloggy-friends from the Neckmann family in Giraffe World, Camelopardalis Constellation!

The family were so eager to see the lovely little tree-house where I took refuge when lost in the snow, that we decided to spend our Midwinter Holiday here!

We took neckloads of festive food, with enough to share with any of the tree-giraffes who may be around. It's quite full in the little house with all our duvets on the floor, but it's gloriously snug and fun.

Have a lovely holiday, and stick your necks out for your dreams!

Which way neckst?

For days and days I stayed in the warm little tree-house refuge, watching for a lessening of the snow, and reading. Oh the cosiness and comfort of roasted nut casseroles and winter fruit loaf, but how I missed my family! I hoped they were reading this blog, so they wouldn't be too worried about me.

One magenta-hued afternoon the snow seemed to have stopped, and I stood outside on a branch and surveyed the landscape below. It was time to set off to find my way home ...


I walked long across snow-covered hills and valleys, craning my neck to see what lay ahead. All was well until I reached a frozen river that opened out to a large lake. All ice-covered and daunting to a giraffe with a tendency to clumsiness! But where else could I go?

Tentatively I stepped forward on to the ice. As I slithered and swayed, I caught sight of what looked like a strange sea monster in the distance. Crash! Distracted, I landed flat on the ice, and quickly crawled my way back to the shore.



A terrific sound of cracking ice followed, and I was startled to see the ice moving up rather than down! As I gazed in consternation, imagine my surprise when heard a merry voice raised in song: 'Gurgle, gurgle, gurgle!' From beneath the ice rose the familiar and oh-so-welcome shape of Necktune's Chariot, with Captain Gurgle grinning at the helm! Behind him the dear faces of my family beamed and I heard Necky Becky shrieking 'Dad, Dad!' Maureen stood in the doorway and held out her hand.


What celebration on the way home! The non-stop party we've had since arriving back at Necky Knoll House!

Thank you dear tree giraffes for your cosy refuge. And thank you to Blogger, for it was from seeing my posts and photos that Captain Gurgle was able to work out my whereabouts!

Lost - and safe - in a Tree!

What a night I had! Yesterday I was lost in the snow, wandering round and round in the mountains with no idea where I was going. It was such a comfort, having my Intergalactic mobile phone, and being able to communicate with my human bloggy and twitter friends! But I had no means of contacting my fellow giraffes to find my whereabouts.

I suddenly had the idea of climbing a tree. As a magnificent sunset shone all around me, I surveyed the landscape.

Nothing recognisable. Tired and weary, I was turning to climb down, when I saw a small green doorway. Beyond the open doors was a lovely little room, with food, a warm cosy bed, and even some books. Oh bliss, oh safety! I had found one of the resting-houses created by our rambling tree-giraffes!



'Thank you', I sighed. I climbed gratefully into bed, and drifted off to sleep.

The Snow is getting deeper!

We've been drinking so much hot chocolate that we've already gone through the supply I brought the other day! I'm walking to the village again to get some more.

It's such a beautiful sunny winter's day ...

The snow seems to be getting deeper. I can't quite see where I'm heading - hope I'm going the right way!

UPDATE!

A big THANK YOU to Solitary Walker, for his comment warning me I was heading for a ravine!

Now I've got to work out where I am and how to get to Neckelchester village and back home to Necky Knoll House!