Frankie - August 2014

Frankie - August 2014

Frankie is twenty months old now and full of life. He sleeps well at night – if Pats the Cat doesn’t disturb him – she woke him at 5:00 this morning! Mornings are usually busy times and he has a nap in the afternoon. Well, that’s the theory. Often he experiences a resurgence of energy when he goes to bed and spends the time he should be sleeping practising his songs and words, talking to his toys, shrieking with laughter and romping up and down his cot. How do we know this? Apart from the noise (!) we have a camera focused on him and thus we can see when he has divested himself of his nappy and can rush upstairs to remedy matters. He now has ‘going to bed’ trousers which he has not yet managed to take off though he watches closely when he is dressed in them to see if he can work out the magic formula!

He has great fun with his little cousin Isla (our great-granddaughter) who is four months younger than him. They don’t see each other very often – Isla lives quite a long way away and when they do meet they don’t exactly play together, rather alongside each other with their paths crossing, or more likely colliding! They both love music and dance with enormous energy. Bath time is entertaining for both of them, with the bath full of books and toys. 

Sometimes, Frankie needs a little distraction/relaxation and then he sits on my knee and watches Postman Pat or Thomas the Tank Engine. Postman Pat appears to be outstripping Thomas in the favourites stakes at present.

He had a haircut today. Can you see the difference in the ‘before’ and ‘after’ photos?

Before

After

ABC Wednesday T is for Thomas the Tank Engine

When Christopher Awdry was ill with measles in 1943, his father, the Reverend W. Awdry, created the original characters and stories in a series that would bring him fame. Wilbert Vere Awdry (1911 – 1997) was an English clergyman, a railway enthusiast and finally a children's author. He was active in railway preservation and built model railways which he exhibited at various venues around the country.
'The Three Railway Engines' was the first book in 'The Railway Series' but because of the war (WWII) it was not published until 1945. It introduced Edward the Blue Engine, Henry the Green Engine, Gordon the Big Engine and the Fat Director, Sir Topham Hatt, whose title was later changed to the Fat Controller after the railways were nationalised.

The illustrations for the first edition were by William Middleton but Rev. Awdry thought them lacking fine detail and too much like toys.

Subsequent editions were reillustrated by C. Reginald Dalby.

Both images courtesy of Wikia

 Thomas made his first appearance in 1946 in 'Thomas the Tank Engine.' He was a tank locomotive or tank engine – a steam locomotive carrying his own fuel and water instead of pulling a tender containing them. Tank locomotives evolved around 1840 and were used for shunting and short distance tasks.

In 'Thomas and Gordon' Thomas was described as 'a fussy little engine, always pulling coaches about . . . He was a cheeky little engine, too.' The little blue locomotive dreamt of more glamorous tasks and eventually, after rescuing James, he was given his own branch line.

Thomas gained enormous recognition through the UK television series and spawned a variety of merchandise. He was easily the most popular of the engines among children. Rev. Awdry wrote twenty-six of the books in 'The Railway Series' books and his son, Christopher, wrote the last fifteen.
The YouTube clip shows the opening sequence from the television series.


Thank you to Denise Nesbitt and her Tried and Trusted Team whose members organise and host this weekly meme. To see more Ts please click here.