Compostable Kate

Dad was witty and warm and very loving. He had a wonderful sense of humour, and a great sense of the ridiculous. Our Dad wasn't a conventional Dad. He was an artist, musician, hippy-type of Dad. This means that he didn't do the archetypal “Dad” stuff with us, but being incredibly inventive and creative, found other ways to influence, nurture and entertain us. Most of our memories of Dad revolve around his creativity and artistry. There was a flour tin which Dad had labelled with a cartoon of a daisy hauling itself up with a block and tackle—a self-raising flower. It might have taken a few of us a while to grasp the concept of puns, but we liked the picture. We always had the best fancy dress costumes, hand-made by Mum and Dad, with Dad coming up with innovative ways of adding minute details, such as olde-fashioned shoe buckles on our sensible lace-up shoes. Our birthday parties always featured make-your-own party hats, where we and our friends would get to cut out our h...