The Platinum Ticket by David Beynon

The Platinum Ticket by David Beynon
Shortlisted for The Terry Pratchett Anywhere But Here, Anywhen But Now First Novel Prize

Thursday 4 July 2013

Travelling Gnomes

I love gnomes.  I have for years.

The fault belongs to Rien Poortoliet and Wil Huygen.

Who are Rien Poortoliet and Wil Huygen? you may ask and I wouldn't blame you a bit.  They were a pair of Dutchmen who created these:


Since reading these books as a teenager, I've had a special place in my heart for well-made gnomes.  There are a couple of beat-up gnomes hidden in our garden and I have my two office gnomes that keep me company while I'm writing.  Imagine my delight when we were visiting Rockwood Conservation Area on the weekend and saw this:


Right under the front gate was a person of Gnomish persuasion.  He had a tag:


And on the other side was his name:


So an adventure, huh?

We had originally gone to Rockwood for a swim but a sign warned us of high bacteria.  I grew up eating rotten raw chicken from stagnant mud puddles but when it's your kids sometimes it's best to err on the side of caution.  So off we went to Guelph Lake Conservation area to swim with Gnomeo along for the ride.


Gnomeo seemed to enjoy the water of Guelph Lake, but insisted on staying on the floatie.  Then he joined me for a snack.



When we got back to our house, I introduced him to Rocky, the little fella who guards my office garden:


And showed him the Smartcar.  He seemed to like it (especially the colour).


Last night we went to a performance of The Three Musketeers at the Festival Theatre in Stratford.  Gnomeo told me he'd never been to live theatre, so we took him along.



We'll be returning Gnomeo to his home in Rockwood soon so that another family can show him a good time.

I'm gonna miss that silly little gnome...