Inge

It is not uncommon once couples have children to add an adoring pet to the troop. A soft furry creature for everyone to cuddle and play with. And this makes sense because why shouldn't children get to choose their preferred species of siblings? Having a nomadic lifestyle makes pets much more difficult. There are rules, regulations, accommodation issues, and worst of all quarantines. But these hardships are not going to prevents us from adding to our troop. Luckily Jakob's pet of choice is pretty low maintenance: no walks, no feeding, no messes...just the hassles of travel. 

Curvy, sleek, full bodied voice, lulls children to sleep, de-stresses workaholics, tinkles in happiness when anyone pets it, doesn't need a seat on an airplane or any vaccinations - this pet's got it all. Please welcome our new blackwood guitar into the family! 

For 11 years Jakob has been talking about getting a guitar. The perfect guitar that is one with his fingers and has just the right sound. Every year I say why don't you go find that guitar. Every Christmas bonus Jakob says "now I can buy my guitar." And yet it just never happens. By chance Jakob walked into a guitar shop in Melbourne and fell in love. This was the one (except for me of course). And as a bonus it happened to be handcrafted in Cockatoo (near Melbourne) using native Tasmanian blackwood. So after much deliberating - well really 11 years of deliberating - we decided to take the plunge and give the girls a pet guitar. Of course we choose to do this an hour before our flight to Canberra.

Though the salesman nearly didn't open his shop early he was awfully glad he put down his cup of tea to unlock the door. As was Jakob. We have decided to name her Inge after his grandmother Ingelise. Ingelise wanted to support Jakob's love of music and so in passing gave him the means to get a piano one day. It is difficult to fit a piano in a suitcase so for now Inge will do. Really are there many things nicer than a man and his guitar?