A new toy has arrived from Africa! An authentic sjambok made of hippo hide…. eek – not surprisingly it came with a little “opened for inspection” love letter from customs – hehe – but they let it through – huzzah!
I have to say it’s rather strange – it looks like a piece of wood, but smells quite strong with a strange unidentifiable scent – rather like what I imagined Dragon’s Blood might smell like in the Diana Wynne Jones books… (sorry to anyone who’s not a children’s literature geek and has no idea what I’m talking about). I saw Mrs Birch the other day (we actually had a fabulous double session together) and we were both investigating it with fascination.
I’ve yet to try it out – I need a *really* heavy masochist I suspect (or perhaps just to be in the right mood to do some fast talking 😉 that often works) but it’s drawing my attention every time I pass by the shelf where I’ve placed it…