Wood

We were watching a TV programme recently which featured a fisherman whose name was Barry Munday. It wasn't a joke but even so we both laughed a lot. Ever since then our fish has been called Barry.

Even though Barry is made of wood he is very cleverly articulated so that when he is picked up his body behaves like a real fish. He flops around in your hands as if he's just been plucked from the river.

We found him in a shop in Fremantle when we went to Western Australia to visit Mollymay earlier this year. It's such a lovely object to pick up and hold that we couldn't resist buying it. It is made of Jarrah or Swan River Mahogany (eucalyptus marginata). I'm sure My brother-in-law could tell you much more about the tree and maybe even about the fish as he has one just like it. I bet he hasn't given his a name though.