The beginning

Here are a few facts about the origins of The Great Boll, and the beginning of the story about a quite famous hedgehog plushie.

She's originally from China, but remembers little from her time there. She was sent to a toy store in Bergen, Norway, where she was picked up by a nice guy as a Christmas present for his girlfriend (me!). This was in 2004. Therefore her birthday is 24th of December, and she's 5 years old.

The girlfriend immediately fell in love with her new hedgie and named her Bolla Hedgehog (Bolla'n/Bollan for short), and the plushie followed her everywhere. Sadly there are very few pictures of Bollan from the first year of her life, but here is one, where she's sitting on a shelf with some of her friends:

In 2005 she traveled to London, but unfortunately there are no pictures documenting her visit :( She stayed in the hotel most of the time, so there wouldn't be much to take photos of anyway.

In the summer of 2006 she began showing up in pictures more and more, demanding we'd make her look pretty. Here she has borrowed my grandmother's summer hat:

Spring 2007 she went on a five-month trip to Egypt, where she totally ruled as Pharaoh of the Two Lands! But that's another story for another time :) Here's a picture to enjoy while you wait, of her posing with the head of Ramses II in Luxor: