Annie.

I am so sad to tell you that wonderful miniaturist Annie Willis has died.

She had a miniatures business for so many years assisted by her husband Lee in which the main component of the miniatures was undoubtedly patience.  She made animals, birds and mostly domestic pets with real fur and feathers.  Lee produced the shapes and Annie sat with the patience of Job and glued on each hair of the fur individually.  I have owned a Siamese cat with casually crossed paws of Annie’s for many years.  It’s never got further than my real mantelpiece because if I put it in a dolls’ house I won’t see it every day.

One of Annie’s most popular lines was half a cat going out of, or coming into, a cat door.  I don’t know how many half cats she sold in her career but I’d bet on hundreds, at least.

As I have Australian rellies now, we often talked of her home land, and miniatures and animals and everything else.  Once I stopped interviewing her we never stopped talking.

I don’t think Annie truly recovered from Lee’s death, even though she carried on making the animals on her own. She had to, just to keep up with the orders.

So the order book is finally closed.

Great miniaturist, good friend, beautiful soul.

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Auld Lang Syne and then some.