Buster the Postal Museum Cat – you’ve been framed!

Following a month of fun and frolics, Buster is preparing to hang up his GPO hat and make way for a new Head Mouser at The Postal Museum. But wait … is that the doorbell he can hear ringing yet again? The excitement is not quite over.

Another special delivery arrived this morning. To our supermog’s surprise, his portrait has been painted by none other than his favourite children’s illustrator. Yes, Buster and his antics have been immortalised! Will we ever hear the end of it?

Oh, what a picture! This brilliant watercolour by Amanda Pike captures just how much our elderly feline has enjoyed his role. More bruiser than glamour puss, he was overwhelmed when he was finally chosen. (The appointment followed two previous failed cat-pplications, one of which involved eating his own cardboard uniform.) But he has risen to the task, lapped up the glory and made the most of every mewment.

Amanda was already acquainted with Buster. Earlier this year, he posed as a model for her sketches of Odin, Nan’s familiar in The Mirror of Pharos. She’s the extraordinary artist responsible for the book cover and illustrations on this website, along with many other stunning creations, such as the illustrations for the picture book  Not This Turkey. (You can see more of her work here.)

It has been a busy month. Buster is more than ready to hand over the baton and enjoy a proper vacat-tion. He has taken his duties very seriously, using the ‘blockbuster stare’ to stop all wayward mice in their tracks. Being a litter-ary sort of puss, no actual deaths were involved. Instead he has tried to follow the example of the celebrated Gumbie cat in T S Eliot’s poem and the Post Office’s own Tibs the Great, who set the critters to work.

His mogshot will go on the Museum’s wall of fame next year. But first, there are other Head Mousers to be chosen. If you have a cat who might follow in his pawprints, hurry over to The Postal Museum website for details.

Buster Gut, you are a legend. You did your duty. You even made it into the newspapers. And now you have well and truly been framed!

Cutting from the Cambridge News, November 24, 2017

 

Other Buster stories:
Red Letter Day for Buster – new Postal Museum Cat
Vacatsy – Postal Museum Puss
Buster’s Page – writing a blockbuster