Up: [[Life]] Created: 2023-03-29 Bob Homme popped into my mind early this morning. He was better known as The Friendly Giant. I never met him, but I used to get calls for him. He lived in Grafton and his number was right above mine in the phone book. The woman in the lighting store assumed I was his daughter and was disappointed to learn otherwise. I loved [[The Friendly Giant]] tv show when I was a child. What do I remember of it? The song Early One Morning played on the recorder by the Friendly Giant. The scene with the miniature rocking chair and armchairs in front of a miniature fire and how the giant’s finger would set the chair rocking. The giant’s big boot and his voice saying “Look up — waaay up” until we got to his face. His face was gentle, everything about the show was gentle and soothing. I remember the two puppets — Rusty the rooster who lived in a book bag on the Giant’s castle wall, and Jerome the giraffe who would look through the window of the castle. There’s lots I don’t remember so I’ve done some research I’ve never known where my love of miniatures came from, but realize it’s quite likely from The Friendly Giant. The show certainly explains my love of puppets, long before the advent of Sesame Street. Rusty the Rooster and Jerome the Giraffe were friends. The Friendly Giant actually looped through my life a number of times. In addition to loving the show and being thrilled that Bob Homme was a neighbour, I did a puppetry unit with my students once and took them to a puppetry museum in Toronto where we saw Rusty, Jerome, and the miniature stage set which apparently was never changed over the entire 3000 episodes. And then I did a weekend puppet making course with my oldest friend, Kim. (Kim and I met when our mothers were in the hospital giving birth to us a day apart.) It was led by Nina Keogh, a puppeteer who first appeared on Homme’s show when she was 11 years old. I’d love to say that this puppet was entirely my creation, but Nina gave me a LOT of help. #Photo ![[Puppet Making with Nina Keogh.webp]]