Monday 22 June 2009

Kristina and the Goose Egg

Kristina and I were supposed to be
walking to Petersham Nurseries for tea
but we got waylaid by a Farmers' Market.
There were some charming young men
on the artisan bakers stall
and so I spent a pleasant few moments
negotiating a half price loaf of spelt bread.

Arthur Rackham (1909)

Meanwhile, Kristina was distracted by
a stall selling goose eggs.
Should she buy one?
I didn't want to influence the decision
so I just said
"Go on, Kristina, you know you want to..."

Which is why Kristina carried a goose egg
all the way along the river path
to Petersham Nurseries
and all the way back.

Willy Planck (no date)

And everyone wanted to look at it:
the little girl with the curly hair
and the ladies at the till in the Nurseries
and the cyclist who nearly crashed
into the ice cream van on the towpath.

Jennie Harbour (1921)

It was like walking with a real-life
Little Goose Girl.

10 comments:

Alexis said...

Lovely, and fabulous pictures too!

Lynn said...

Taunting us with those magical Jennie Harbour pictures again, are you?

Kristina, if you're reading this, please do blog about what you ended up doing with that egg!

Ginnie said...

Sounds like a wonderful outing!

Ali said...

It looks so perfect in its little straw nest. I would have asked for a peek too.

Darlene said...

I can just picture it!

Ruth said...

A shiver runs down my spine
The severed head of a horse
nailed above an archway
is once again before my eyes
in faded watercolour

the story has gone
but the image remains

Jackie said...

Why does the story of the Goosegirl always fill me with a curiosity tinged with a creepiness. (Like all the real fairy stories) Is there soemthing about a horses head in it? Or is it just a bad memory from my infancy when a theatre group performed it for my class?
(OOh! The verification word is 'allysize'!)

Jackie said...

Oh! Me again. I really should read the other comments first.
Thank you Ruth!

blackbird said...

My daughter's favorite nickname is goosegirl and when she inherited my white station wagon- it was the goose egg.
Karen

Anonymous said...

The egg was very nice poached, thank you!