I always thought this set was from 'The Aristocats' movie, but now I'm not so sure. From memory the villain of the piece is a human butler and I know the names of the two main characters are Duchess and Thomas O'Malley. Here the story seems different and the initials carved into the tree are wrong.
Unfortunately I don't have the cover of the book, but I was clever enough to keep the diagrams showing how each of the scenes is set up. I'm also amazed that I still have every single piece of this set - all carefully packed away in a box.
I can date the set exactly to 1970 (coincidentally the same year 'The Aristocats' film was released). My parents divorced that year and my Mom, sister and I left our home in Cape Town and travelled by train to Durban where we moved in with my grandmother. The trip took 2 days as the train went inland first and did not follow the coastline. To keep me occupied my Mom gave me this set and I can remember I couldn't wait for the journey to start so I could punch it out.
There are four scenes and the complete set follows:
Scene 1 - In the Country .
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| In the Country |
Scene 2 - Sidewalk Cafe
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| Sidewalk Cafe |
Scene 3 - Madame Rubens-Chatte's Salon
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| Madame Rubens-Chatte's Salon |
Scene 4 - Happy Ending
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| Happy Ending |
Instruction Diagrams
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| Instruction Diagrams |
Snapped in Dublin
I love the hangings baskets that are put up all over Dublin in the summer. These are next to the Stephen's Green Shopping Centre at the top of Grafton Street - I walk past them every day on my way to work and during lunch-time. I only photographed the last few in the row - I was more interested in trying to get pictures without people in them than getting all the flowers in the shot!
