My parents sent me a realistic ceramic model of a Chocolate Labrador. Not quite as beautiful as our boy, but physically very similar. They have similar models for all the dogs they've had in the last 20 or so years (10 breeds, at a guess), but I hadn't guessed even as I opened the box that this would be one of our type. It made me a bit sad because one of the things about them is they remind you of the dog long after it's gone, which, touch wood, is a long way off for our 2.5 year old nutjob. This was the funniest present as well because said nutjob went mental when he saw it. I think he must be able to read it as a tiny dog shape as he was desperate to lick it and get at it. Maybe he even identified it as one of his own clan, it's hard to know what his response was. He once went mad barking at a blow up Dalmatian my sent brought home.
I was also thrilled to get this:
I hadn't heard of Lise De La Salle, but she is still only 19 and has some 4 CDs to her name and an impressive tally of concerts behind her. She comes from Cherbourg in Normandy - spitting distance from where I grew up. Lovely recording, very impressive playing. Includes double-sided CD/DVD with a programme about her. The Mozart includes 'Ah, vous dirai-je, Maman' themes and variation, which is where Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star comes from (I'd forgotten Mozart wrote it). Prokofiev includes 6 pieces from Rome and Juliet, including a fabulously dramatic Montagues and Capulets.
