The Animals of Enid Blyton's Dorset by Viv Endecott

[Boatbuilder]

But they're less than half-price for 72 on Amazon, Courtenay.

[Courtenay]

Thanks for the tip, John — kind of you to go looking — but that's still more than I can afford to spend or can bring myself to spend when I KNOW I've got a perfectly good and hardly used set somewhere in either Inverloch or Melbourne!!!

(Also, I see those are Derwent Procolour — I haven't used that type before and I'm not sure how they compare to Derwent Artists, which is the sort I'm used to. The Artists pencils have a really nice texture that you can do soft shading and blending with, but that also gives a very bold, opaque colour if you press harder. I'm guessing the Procolour might have a harder lead. If there's anyone out there who knows more than I do about Derwent pencil types, I'd be happy to hear. )

[Rob Houghton]

I have a tin of Derwent Artists pencils - always have been the best for blending etc. I got mine on Amazon last year - can't remember the price, but its a tin of 24.

[Courtenay]

I could stretch to affording 24, but why buy 24 when you know you already have 72 somewhere... (I do still have a set of 36 Derwent Artists that I got when I was much younger — I found that when I was last at my parents' house — but it doesn't have nearly as many shades of each colour, particularly brown, which of course is useful when you're colouring in nature scenes.)

[Boatbuilder]

Then surely it would be cheaper to buy the 72 rather than paying for an air ticket to Australia to hunt for them?

[Courtenay]

It would, but I'll be going back to Australia some time next year anyway (twice, actually, for different family reasons), so...

[Boatbuilder]

….and if you don't find them then, what next?

Isn't £63 just a drop in the ocean, compared to the price of not one but TWO return flights anyway? And you'd be able to colour away to your heart's content.

[Courtenay]

Do you get a commission for every box of Derwents they sell, mate?? Seriously — £63 is not a drop in the ocean for me at the moment, when it's for something I don't actually need and can live without. Besides, as I already said, those aren't the type of pencil I usually use and would prefer to have...

[Boatbuilder]

[Anita Bensoussane]

My daughter liked The Animals of Enid Blyton's Dorset when she was young. I can hardly believe it was published back in 2002! I bought it when it came out and it doesn't seem that long ago!