“In three words I can sum up everything I've learned about life: It Goes On.”
Robert Frost

Tuesday, March 26, 2013

Rainbow Colored Eggs . . .

This time of year here in the north, we are craving color! This darling book called "Happy Easter", by Kurt Wiese will fill your craving and then some.  I found this book at an estate sale last year.  It is in sorry shape, but the illustrations within are still bright and beautiful.  Most of us have colored eggs before and the results were much as in the image below, pretty, but nothing too extraordinary.




The magic of a good children's book, is that anything can happen. The writer/illustrator may come up with anything they desire.  I feel that the end of the story was probably dreamed up first, and then the author went back and filled in his story to fit his illustrations.

Kurt Wiese (1887-1974), wrote/illustrated over twenty children's books and illustrated another three hundred some for other authors. He was born in Germany and eventually ended up in the USA.





This book cover  was really dirty and as I scrubbed on it, most of the color came off, it is now a dull yellow. This is a library book and had been treated poorly and bore all of the marks, and stamps of the library.  Eventually 'Discard' had been stamped all over it and it was taken out of circulation. This book was published in 1952, this book was the fourth printing. The book is not good enough for resale, but I am very happy to have it in my collection.

For other bloggers out there, you may have noticed that Picasa now links directly to GooglePlus, supposedly there is no limit on photo storage (if you use GooglePlus). I had been downsizing my images, but now Google actually wants the photos to be larger. If you click on the pictures, you will see them in a much larger size.





The delightful story is of Mrs. Rabbit sending out her youngsters to find some eggs to color.  Apparently it is the job of rabbits to color and hide eggs in local people's gardens for Easter.


  Off her children went in search of eggs.






They came upon Mrs. Hen, who finally parted with her eggs.
Mrs. Hen was disappointed that her eggs would not hatch despite her sitting on them for weeks.
















The rabbit children hauled all the eggs back to Mrs. Rabbit who started the preparations for dying the eggs.  They all where painting and coloring the eggs when they started hearing these crackling noises.









Then look what happened!! The eggs popped open and these rainbow colored chicks hopped out!















 It had a happy ending for Mrs. Hen, her chicks all returned in brightly colored feathers. Sadly no Easter eggs that year.







Just these darling little chicks!



Have an Egg-ceptional day!



Saturday, March 23, 2013

Time for Spring Cuteness . . .

Push aside those gray skies and watch the sun stream through the windows. This is the time of year for new life to begin. Time for some cute baby animals this spring! Here are a few I've gathered from around the web and from my own files, I think they all are extremely cute! So ignore those piles of snow (my northern friends) and take a little break.

Let the cuteness begin!

































Wednesday, March 20, 2013

Oh Spring! Where art thou?

The first day of spring is one thing, and the first
spring day is another.  The difference between them is
sometimes as great as a month.

Henry Van Dyke (1852–1933)
 



I am really trying to get into the spring spirit here, but it has been very difficult! In my imagination this is what spring looks like......








This is what we actually have.......




As you see, I have been amusing myself with a new spring header and cleaner look for my blog.
I will continue to add springtime images here and there to try and perk up my winter-worn senses.

What is the one thing that signals to you 
that spring is really here?




Sunday, March 17, 2013

The Fairy Gardens

While we wait for spring's arrival, I want to share some of the whimsical fairy gardens that I visited a few weeks ago.  I didn't have to go too far to find a whole different world full of  tiny, little fairy delights.

Tonkadale Greenhouse


This presentation took place at the Minnesota Landscape Arboretum and the gardens were created by the Tonkadale Greenhouse.  I think they did a magnificent job putting these little vignettes together. I can only imagine how much fun that must have been!  I picked a few of my favorite images and put together this little glimpse into the world of the fairies, gnomes and sprites.  They are all around, in the trees, under the leaves, spreading magic with their tiny fairy wands.








They had a few nice books on display featuring our favorite fairies and artists, like Cicely Barker.




Below are some of my favorite images and a few more that I could not fit into the video. Check out the charming cottages, furniture and accessories.  I'm a bit envious of some of their darling homes!















This little fairy is in the orchard picking apples.










Who knew cute little gnomes lived in the desert!












An Asian themed fairy house.









Fairies also roast marshmallows!





































The beautiful interior of the Arboretum's main hall.



Are you feeling inspired to create your own fairy garden? I can hardly wait!




Wednesday, March 13, 2013

Finding Fairies by Marjorie Barrows

Just a little preview of what is to come in the next few days! 
Enjoy this little poem by Marjorie Barrows from the Poems for Boys and Girls book.



Illustrated by Lois Maloy
click to see a larger version



Friday, March 8, 2013

Fairy Tales and The Bon Ami Chick . . .

I came across this very unusual little booklet in a batch of old cookbooks. It is one of those peculiar things that just grabs your attention because it is so different. It is quite old, the booklet was printed in 1926.

The Chick That Never Grew Up by George W. Davey was published in 1926 by the Bon Ami Corporation. It is a clever fairytale that explains how Bon Ami cleanser and the little chick came together. 



This is the story of Princess Bon Ami (pronounced Bon Amee). The Princess gave her Bunny Nation a task. They were to find the 'Household's Greatest Friend', a product that would clean without scratching. Below are a few excerpts of text I pulled from the booklet. I quite enjoyed the lyrical quality of the rhymes and the lovely illustrations.















"So Bunny Bright and Bunny White
Set forth that very day,
They traveled both by day and night,
Till they were far away,
And when they reached the rainbow's end
They found the 'Household's greatest Friend'."





"Now as they traveled, homeward bound
A Chick they chanced to meet.
They said "Good morning, Little Chick."
The little Chick said "Tweet."
Said they, "You've never scratched, we'll bet."
The Chick replied, "No, never yet."





Said Bunny Bright,"O, Little Chick,
I can most plainly see
That you must come right back with us
To Princess Bon Ami;
This magic cleaner will not scratch
So you and it are just a match!"





Then to the little Chick she said:
"Drink from this golden cup
And you shall always be a chick
And nevermore grow up;
And everywhere the world shall see
A little chick with Bon Ami."





Then said the Princess Bon Ami,
"This cleaner is so fine
That I will name it 'Bon Ami'
And thus will make it mine.
And this wee chick shall always be
The sign and seal of Bon Ami."





And now you know the story of Bon Ami and the Little Chick.