Two little kittens they lost their mittens, and they began to cry

“Oh mother dear see here, see here, our mittens we have lost!”

“What, lost your mittens? You naughty kittens, then you shall have no pie!”

Nursery rhymes are curious things. The ones you learn as a child hang around, unchallenged for the rest of your life. You just have to hope that the randomness of them is basically benign (seems unlikely though – why are unattended children tumbling into ditches? or large eggs thrown off high walls? What is wrong with these people?).

But this kitten rhyme was one I came upon as an adult, singing it to my own children, and I always bumped on the mother’s reaction. Fair enough, the kittens should have taken more care, but she does come across as a little harsh. Her response is the kind of thing you say to your children when nobody’s around, but that you would clean up if you were aware that someone was listening, or, say, writing a rhyme about your parenting style.

Anyhow – firstly, the kittens do get their pie when their mittens are found, so, all’s well that ends well, and secondly, now that I have started knitting my own mittens (I was told they were much warmer than gloves that separate out the fingers. I didn’t believe it, but it’s totally true), I completely understand what the mother was going through. Not getting pie would be the least of their worries, if anyone in my family lost one of my mittens. And of course they won’t, because a) I’m not stupid enough to let anyone get their hands on them, and b) none of them is uncool enough to want my hand-knitted mittens, the cold-fingered fools. But the point remains that the mother’s response was completely commensurate with the kittens’ crime.

At the same time, aren’t the kittens sweet!

So sweet!

Even in silhouette, they’re not bad.

I love this shot – very Miss Haversham – the kittens trailing through the cobwebs, No? perhaps that’s just me. How about this one?

Back to work:

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And finally the little kittens search for their missing background. They chose a beautiful flowered Liberty print.

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PS this is what I mean