the great beastie scandal

a good many weeks before xmas i stumbled upon the dog of my dreams.

this is a tin dog beastie from emily at kuber.
it was love at first sight. and it was deep.
emily's tin creatures just really do it for me. the simple, abstracted shapes are beautifully crafted from the painted tin roof of her chook shed. how gorgeous is that? and how gorgeous are these?

I bought two beasties a few weeks before xmas. a dog and a bobcat. a couple of days before xmas they still hadn't arrived, but that was okay because they were MINE all MINE, not gifts for anyone. so i went away for a week.
when i came back i came home to a wide open letter box, a letter box that needs a key to open it. there was a bill and flyers inside but nothing else. I felt sick. it was now 3 weeks since emily had posted the beasties and not a beastie or postal collection note in sight. my deduction? well, a letterbox beastie thief, of course! i was outraged, i was sickened, and then finally i was very depressed, particularly as the weeks went on and i was without my little creatures that i'd been so anticipating. I emailed emily with my sad tale. A pox on that beastie thief! I ranted. I was also beginning to think that maybe it was partly my fault, maybe i hadn't quite locked my post box properly and it had actually flung open in my absence. could i have made it any easier for a letterbox thief! or was the bag poking out of the slot in the most irresistible manner, taunting that lurking letterbox thief? Who knows for sure?
emily offered to send me one more for free, just unbelievably generous, but i couldn't let her do it, why should she have to be out of pocket because of a poxy beastie thief! no way.
this week a dog beastie arrived in the mail. it's little bag fitted perfectly into my LOCKED letterbox. i squealed when i opened it. I don't normally squeal. i wanted to cry. for the beauty of the small, perfect object i'd received, for the genorosity and thoughtfulness of the artist.
and then.... a day later .... friday ..
i get a postal collection note ... a FINAL NOTICE ...
what???? could it be????? i've never had a final notice collection note ever because the minute i get a collection note in the post i'm up at the post office collecting.
final notice?? surely not??
and here's another deduction.
I leave home for a xmas break without locking my post box properly.
a postal note for the beasties is left in my letterbox.
the lid flies open, a gust of wind carries the postal note away.
two beasties have been waiting to be taken home from the post office since the end of december.
could it be??? really???
i'm hardly allowing myself to believe it.
i wont' know till monday morning when i tear up to the post office, crack of dawn, hoping beyond hope.