Canary Love! 2014, Jane Lee McCracken
I don’t normally write two posts in one day, but the cutest, ironical thing just happened. I was busy hand sewing a miniature canary with a transfer of my drawing ‘Wolf the Canary’ as a representation of a cuckoo clock, to put inside a commission of ‘The Wolf’s House’. Lily was on the floor sleeping. I went to get the iron so that I could give the canary a last wee press before adding it to the house. However the canary was nowhere to be seen! I searched high and low for some considerable time – perhaps it had flown out the window! Then I spied a piece of yellow silk under Lily’s paw. Now Lily loves toys it has to be said – Dino Baby being the latest addition to her collection, flown all the way from the set of Breaking Bad, apparently high on crystal meth with those eyes!
Dino Baby – the eyes, the eyes! 2014, Jane Lee McCracken
However it never crossed my mind that Lily would have delicately picked the tiny canary up in her mouth (my Sherlock Holmes powers of elementary deduction cleverly worked that out! Ok, maybe the canary was slightly damp!) to give it a cuddle! Too small to prop between her paws, she was hugging it with one paw!
I managed to prize her latest conquest from under her paw to check it wasn’t damaged! She looked so sad I popped it next to her one last time. Sorry Lily, this one’s not for you!
And the irony…Wolf the Canary symbolises the misinterpretation of wolves through fairy tales and the media – Lily could have destroyed the canary with ease but she tenderly looked after it!
Jane Lee McCracken, Artist 
They do love their toys, certain ones more than others. Ollie still has a tiny penguin, his first ever toy, two years ago. It is a bit battered, but he has never destroyed it.
Best wishes, Pete.
Yes, isn’t it funny, some more than others – Ollie is gorgeous! Is he a Shar Pei? Lily has a penguin too or should I say a Penguin’s foot – she didn’t used to be as gentle as Ollie!! Thankfully for the canary’s sake she’s grown more caring towards her toys as she’s older now! Best wishes, Jane
He is 3/4 Shar Pei, with a bit of Chocolate Lab in there somewhere. Not a pure breed, or pedigree, but Shar Pei in all but ‘recognition’. He’s a good boy though, so well-behaved and gentle. x
He’s lovely! Perhaps the mix of chocolate lab makes him so gentle – they have such a nice nature – he’s very chocolatey in colour too! Here’s to man’s best friend, aren’t we lucky to have them in our lives! Jane