March 28th was the birthday of my grandma so each year I share something she made that I still have.

I have no idea if this was a peculiarly British thing, I suspect it was, but does anyone remember Rod Hull and Emu? Back in the 1970’s and into the 80’s Rod Hull was a comedian who had this puppet called Emu who randomly attacked people. Emu was very popular and my nan, Ellen, made one for her grandchildren to play with.

My Aunt kept Emu and he resurfaced when they moved house recently. I can admire my nan’s handwork but I cannot say I have lots of very fond feeling for this puppet. My main memories are of my brother channelling his inner Rod Hull and attacking me randomly with it. I guess the truth is probably that I did just as much attacking with it but that’s not how I remember it!!

Here’s a quick pic of our youngest modelling the Emu puppet, I’m not entirely sure why he’s wearing his dressing gown but you get the idea of how Emu works.

His face is very expressive.

My Nan Ellen had such a good sense of fun. I think something a little bit silly and funny like Emu really appealed to her, she certainly made a good job of making this toy version for us to play with.

So today I’m remembering Ellen and her wonderful sewing skills.

You can see other ideas and makes that were the inspiration for Sum of their Stories here.