Friday 27 June 2014

Just A Perfect Day

Please listen to the music – it goes with the pictures.

A perfect day in June - 

a walk in the park, 






books, 



and lunch in a country pub 

with
Terry and I spent our perfect day at the beautiful Stourhead Estate in Wiltshire. We enjoyed a delicious lunch at the Spread Eagle Inn and a perusal of the books on offer at the Memorial Hall. The Spread Eagle Inn and Memorial Hall are both situated on the estate which also features a Palladian mansion and world-famous landscape lake & garden.

Our wedding day 44 years ago today - how young we look!


So that was our perfect day – how would you spend yours?

Thursday 19 June 2014

Book of the Week: Mabel Lucie Attwell Going to Bed Tales

This week's book of the week is a beautifully illustrated bedtime story book by Mabel Lucie Attwell.

An anthology of stories and rhymes beginning with Bunty and the Little Boos;

"It was the Green Umbrella's doing really, for if it had not suddenly turned inside out and flown away over the sea, Carrying Bunty, Mops and Queen Elizabeth the doll with it, they would never have found the Little Boos. That's quite certain!

The Brown Rabbit helped a little, for if it hadn't called "Stop!" just when it did, they might have flown on and on, and there is no knowing what might have happened. I do know they were all very relieved when - bump, bumpty-bump - they were on firm land once more.

After they picked themselves up they saw a little mouse hurrying along. "Oh, please!" cried Bunty politely, "are we going right? We have lost our way." "Yes, straight on" said the mouse hurrying away. What an unhelpful person thought Bunty.  As Bunty and her friends were tired, they climbed on to a comfortable tree to rest, but hardly were they seated when a squeaky voice asked for their tickets. "What tickets?" cried Bunty. "Tickets for the Little Boos concert tonight," said the voice, "and if you haven't any, you must come along with me to the king."

Bunty meets a Boo-Boo

The stories about the Boo-Boos are adorable but there are many others to choose from and poems too;

Ready for the rain;

It was such a sunny day,
when I set out on my way,
and the sky was a clear, bright blue.
But when the sky turned black,
I's my brolly and a mac,
Or I'd surely have been soaked right through!

Cheer Up!

Please don't be sad! Oh, do cheer up!
And smile again, says Patch the pup.
You're making me feel dismal too.
It's time we both stopped being blue.


Us Three

There's Timmy who's older and going to be tall,
and me in the middle, and baby who's small,
we share out our toys and we don't fight at all,
it's ever such fun when there's three!

But whenever we're planning a prank or a game,
whenever there's mischief they say I'm to blame,
whatever the trouble it's always the same,
the one in the middle is me!

This is one of my favourite illustrations it accompanies a story called The Gentle Dragon
This is Emily with her doll, Candy Mae and the very sad dragon.


 Mabel Lucie Attwell's Going to Bed Tales is now sold, thank you for your interest.


If you would like to read previous Mabel Lucie Attwell posts please click on the following links 


Something else I've fallen in love with this week 

Each has a cut-out on the back cover. 

I'm itching to cut them out - but of course, I won't! 

I was over at the Always Crave Cute Blog the other day where the lovely Diane was talking about clouds.  Her “I spy in the sky a Puppy Dog up High” post reminded me of something I saw just a few days ago. The following pictures are as they came out of the camera other than a touch of clarity to bring out the details.

This is how the cloud looked when I first noticed it, 


Then as it drifted away, 


it began to turn over and ended up looking like this. 


I like to think it was a visit from my Guardian Angel but what do you think?

Wherever you go
Whatever you do
May your Guardian Angel
Watch over you.

Wednesday 11 June 2014

Ladybird books; Series 536 Nature


I've been busy cataloguing a collection of vintage Ladybird books. It takes me ages to list each one because I find myself caught up in the illustrations and fascinated by the text. It’s not unusual for an hour to pass with nothing achieved!   I’m not complaining as they are delightful little books and the ones from series 536 (nature) are some of my favourites. Introduced in the 1950s by Douglas Keen they are a range of thoroughly researched educational titles, commissioned from specialist authors and illustrators, including C.F.Tunniclffe and Frank Hampson.




The Ladybird Book of British Wild Flowers. Now sold, thank you for your interest. 


Series 536 The Ladybird Book of Trees. Now sold, thank you for your interest.




The painting above is by Johnina Hamilton or Ena as she prefers to be called. Ena is a very talented artist and really what could be nicer than a bunch of flowers painted by a friend. I've always loved the picture and was delighted when Ena gave it to me. 

Series 536 The Ladybird Book of British Wild Animals. Now sold, thank you for your interest.


There are 25 books in the nature series. For those of you wishing to collect the full set, the titles to look out for are;

British birds and their nests
A second book of birds and their nests
A Third Book of British Birds and their Nests 
British Wild Flowers
The Ladybird Book of Pets 
British Wild Animals 
What to look for in winter 
Garden Flowers 
What to look for in summer 
What to look for in autumn 
What to look for in spring 
Weather 
Trees 
The Seashore and Seashore Life 
The Night Sky 
Butterflies, Moths and other insects 
The Story of our Rocks and Minerals 
Pond Life 
Your Body 
Garden Birds 
Sea and Estuary Birds 
Heath and Woodland Birds 
Pond and River Birds 
Birds of Prey 
Birds of Northern Britain and Northern Europe 

This one is not part of series 536, but it's such a sweet book I wanted to share it with you...

Series 497 Ned the Lonely Donkey. Now sold, thank you for your interest.

When I had my closing down sale Ladybird books were some of the first things to go, it just goes to show how popular they are.

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Did you know we each have a flower sign?

I was born on August 26th so that makes me a Morning Glory! Want to check out your flower sign?  Head over to Whats-your-sign.com


Morning Glory August 22 - September 22
Morning glory zodiac flower signs are thoughtful and reflective. You tend to think and plan first before you take any action. You are organized and very observant. You have a natural eye for detail, and can be very analytical. You love to help people, and often use your organization skills to help others who struggle in "getting their act together." You bloom beautifully right where you are planted, and you have a neat way of making things right and tidy. People come to you for guidance and healing. 



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The hand-painted ribbon for Lilly’s doll arrived (see previous post here) so I must get the parcel ready to send to Australia. I also found a couple of 'Lilly' books, so they will be going in the box


along with a few things for Zoe;


That's all for now. Happy Wednesday!

Saturday 7 June 2014

Mayhem at March House Books by S. P. Moss

Without further ado, I’d like to announce the results of what I’ve called Mayhem at March House Books, the competition to find another title for a Billy and Grandpop adventure.

I had plenty of ideas to choose from – I feel as if I’ve been around the world in terrific titles! A big thank you to everyone who entered.

Before I get to the winner, I’d like to give a “mention in dispatches” to the two top runners-up (in alphabetical order):

Betrayed in the Baltics
Rumblings in Russia

Well done to Darlene and Lindsay for those.

And now for the winner – drum roll –

Scrimmage in Singapore

I love the word “scrimmage” which has associations with “scrum” and “skirmish”. And Singapore? I’ve never been, but my dad spent some time there many moons ago with the RAF.

So, Claudine, jolly good show! You win a copy of Trouble in Teutonia. Please send an email to bother@burmeon.com and let me know your address.

Many of the other ideas have been tucked away for future inspiration so thank you all. It’s been a lot of fun having a guest spot and I’ve started looking at some of your varied and intriguing blogs and websites.

And, most of all, a big thank you to Barbara for having me!


Toodle pip for now.


Thanks so much Susan and to everyone who entered and very many congratulations to Claudine.