The surprise is in the post...

It is so exciting when friends find bits of stuff that they know I will love and they encourage my weird collecting habits by picking them up for me. A few weeks ago I had one such unexpected gift in the post. I recognised the handwriting as that of my old college friend, Fiona, who I rarely see now as she lives way down south. Her note said that she'd been cleaning the house, found the enclosed and decided to send it to me. 

Inside the folded paper, with its warning to open carefully, was this butterfly and extra wing. One antenna had broken off but other than that it survived the journey intact. What a privilege to see all the detail, colours and textures of this delicate little creature close up.

And as if that wasn't enough, this week I got another parcel from Fi, somewhat bulkier than the previous one but very light. Inside was a note saying how exciting it had been to find this on a walk along the beach recently. Wrapped within lots of paper packaging was this beautiful bird skull. I just love the delicate sculptural quality of it.