This is...my favourite book - and 123 meme

Firstly, continuing the This is... meme this week (theme brought to you by Dees from Daisy in LaLa Land). This is supposed to be my favourite book. I'm sorry, I just couldn't do it. Asking for a favourite book is like asking for a favourite song - honestly, it depends on the day, on my mood, etc etc. I really did try to narrow it down, but this is the best I could do.

I imagined that I had to get on a plane right now, and could only take three books from my bookshelves - so what would I pick? First, I grabbed this one - because I'm in that kind of mood today:

The Oxford Book of English Verse 1250-1918. Chosen and Edited by Sir Arthur Quiller-Couch. I've no idea where this book came from. I know it once belonged to my mum and she let me take it with me when I moved out of home. But only because she'd never opened it before, and I'm sure it came to her from someone else. Maybe a grandparent? I'll have to ask. Anyway, I spent much of my Uni days pouring over this book - lost in the romantic imagery of poets such as Keats, Wordsworth, Coleridge, Blake. I have so many poems bookmarked in this book, and I lost an hour this morning going back through them. In fact, I enjoyed flipping through this book again so much, that I've decided to start doing a Monday's Verse on this blog. And I will post a favourite poem (not just from this book - I have many!!!) each Monday. Not sure for how long - until I get bored of it I guess. So for now, here's my favourite from this book:

Leisure

What is this life if, full of care,
We have no time to stand and stare? -

No time to stand beneath the boughs
And stare as long as sheep or cows:

No time to see, when woods we pass,
Where squirrels hide their nuts in grass:

No time to see, in broad daylight,
Streams full of stars, like skies at night:

No time to turn at Beauty's glance,
And watch her feet, how they can dance:

No time to wait till her mouth can
Enrich that smile her eyes began?

A poor life this if, full of care,
We have no time to stand and stare.

- William Henry Davies

I know poetry isn't everyone's cup of tea, so for those who are starting to nod off, here is another book that I would have to take on that plane with me.


Actually, I could have grabbed any Tom Robbins book - I've read them all more than once. But today I would feel like reading this one. Skinny Legs and All - here's a bit of the blurb:

...An Arab and a Jew open a restaurant together across the street from the United Nations...It sounds like the beginning of an ethnic joke, but it's the axis around which spins Tom Robin's gutsy, fun-loving, and alarmingly provocative new novel, in which a bean can philosophises, a dessert spoon mystifies, a young waitress takes on the New York art world, and a rowdy redneck welder discovers the lost god of Palestine - while the illusions that obscure humanity's view of the true universe fall away, one by one, like Salome's veils...

It's a great read. Trust me. Read it!

And lastly, I would also take a very recently read novel - Eucalyptus by Murray Bail.


I read this book for Book Club, but I really rushed through to get it read on time. And it was a bit like scoffing a very fine meal. I want to go back and savour it. It is written like a fable, although set in a one-horse town in New South Wales it brings the fable into the bush which gives it a unique flavour. This is a book to read not only for its story, but for its stories within the story - and for its meanings within those stories. Which are all too easily missed when trying to rush through the narrative. It is a gentle read, and I started out quite non-plussed about it - but the aftertaste has lingered, and I keep finding its subtle magic swirling around in my mind, whispering to me to come back to it.

And on a not entirely different note - I have been tagged by the wonderfully literary Paula from Great Stories, for a 123 meme (if ever you need inspiration for reading suggestions or book reviews, please head on over to visit Paula - I've had many a great book recommendation from her). Anyway, I figured what better place to do it than in this post about books. So here's the deal.

1. Pick up the nearest book.
2. Open to page 123
3. Find the fifth sentence.
4. Post the next three sentences.
5. Tag five people, and acknowledge who tagged you.

It's an interesting meme, to find out if three sentences can convey a writer's style, or the feel of a novel. So the nearest book to me is actually none of the above three, but the book I have just finished reading (for Book Club again).


Water for Elephants. By Sara Gruen. And here they are:

The voices drop. There's a shuffling, and someone shushing someone. "What is it?" calls August.

Hmmmm, not sure if the above is really telling much about this novel - but I do recommend it for an absolutely absorbing read, with a cracker of an ending. And after all this, I really don't know who to tag, so I think this time I will leave it open. If anyone would like to take part in this easy literary meme, please do, and leave me a comment so I can come and check it out :)

Happy Monday everyone, and happy reading :)

Day Seven: Vintage Children's Illustrations

I've saved the best 'till last.

Once again, not one of my own books from my childhood, but one much more precious. This one was my Dad's.


It was his all time favourite book as a child, and the only one that is still around.

Written on the inside cover is:

"Happy Birthday Colin, with love from Nana & Pop. April 19 / 1957"

And next to this is my dad's name, with his address '38 Webb Street, Altona'. I wonder if there is still a house at this address? Any Melbournites from the west of Melbourne reading this???


Anyway, the book is called Stories of 1001 nights, and is a hard cover with thick brown pages, and illustrations that look as though they were painted in watercolour and pen right onto the page. The book is published by Mulder & Zoon, N.V. Amsterdam, and does not state the illustrator. However, the illustrator himself/herself has signed their name on almost every illustration anyway. It is Truus Vinger. I have no idea what nationality this name is. Any ideas anyone?


So this is my most precious children's book, not because it contains my favourite illustrations, but because it was my dad's.


Thanks so much Pip for such a wonderful meme. I have enjoyed both discovering new and gorgeous books and illustrators, and also my own trip down memory lane. Posting every day has been quite hard, but I've really enjoyed the experience.

Happy Easter everyone
xxx

Day Six: Vintage Children's Illustrations

OK, so this was not actually one of my books from my childhood - but it was my brother's. And my son LOVES this one.


I'm sure there is no-one who doesn't know this book - The Little Engine That Could. Retold (??? not sure what this means - is there a different original version out there?) by Watty Piper, and illustrated by George & Doris Hauman. This copy was a tenth printing, in 1978.


I never really got into the pictures in this book - but after photographing them, I started finding details in the illustrations that really appealed to me. Like the little girl's dress on the cover (I know, again with the clothes!), and the monkey on the train in the second photo. And the tree with the weird pineapple things in it that looks like a pretend tree stuck to the ground (weird!!!).


So there you go. Lee will be so happy that I have done a 'train' post. Don't forget to check out Meet Me at Mikes to see everyone else's vintage children's illustrations (thanks Pip for a great meme!)

And now I'm off for a 'child-free' dinner with my husband. Yay!!! And for the first time in almost two years we will have a child free night ALL NIGHT!!!! - yep, both kids are staying with Grandma tonight. Luckily she is only five minutes up the road so we will be there bright and early (and refreshed after sleeping through the night with NO interruptions!!!!) for an Easter Egg hunt.

Hope the Easter Bunny is kind to you all :P

Bec
xxx

Day Five: Vintage Children's illustrations

Sooooooo busy


Busy busy busy....


Good busy, but....you know....busy....


Deans New Gift Book of Nursery Rhymes, illustrated by Janet & Anne Grahame Johnstone.


A cherished favourite. For obvious reasons :) See Meet Me at Mikes for more gorgeous vintage children's illustrations.

Now, back to being busy....

Day four: Vintage Children's Illustrations

Wow, this blogging every day thing is HARD!!! Lucky it's only for a week (or my house would be in a shambles!!!).

Continuing the meme run by Pip from Meet Me at Mikes, here is another cracker from my childhood. Oh how I loved this one!


It is a story that came with a little record, with beautiful music from the opera "Hansel and Gretel" by Engelbert Humperdinck! If only I had a record player!!!!! Anyway, the story is put out by Walt Disney Productions, and I'm afraid I have no author or illustrator for you. But how could I resist showing these pictures.


I'm starting to see a bit of a theme to the kids of illustrations I am drawn to (excuse the pun!) - simple bright retro looking illustrations, with beautiful clothes a must! I also don't know when this was published, but it does say it was copyrighted in 1967. Given that I received it when I was very young I think I can safely say it is VERY pre-1980!!!

Day Three: Vintage Children's Illustrations

Busy day today, so here's a quick one. My Big Christmas Book, by Hayden McAllister. Illustrations are not credited, which is a shame as I really love them and would love to know who created them.


So many pictures in this book would make gorgeous cards.


I can't find a publishing date on this book, but I'm guessing it would date somewhere in the 70s. If anyone has any ideas about the pictures, I'd love to hear them! All I know is the name of the author, and that this edition was produced for Peter Haddock Limited by Asset Publishing limited. And that it was printed in Czechoslovakia.


I wish I could dress like these kids below. Love their style!


Have a great day everyone!

Oops, just editing this to add that in my rush out the door this morning I forgot to add that you can find more gorgeous illustrations on Pip's List, on the Meet Me at Mikes blog. xxx

Day Two: Vintage Children's Illustrations

Day two of Pip's Week of Children's Vintage Illustrations meme.

I read this to my son last night. Another book from my childhood. Unfortunately the last page at the back was ripped out (I'm blaming my brother - he always sabotaged my books :P) and we didn't realise until we got to the end. Whoops. So I had to make it up!!!


But the illustrations are gorgeous.



The book is called A Dragon in a Wagon (and other strange sights), and is a Little Golden Book. Written by Janette Rainwater, illustrations by John Martin Gilbert. Published in 1966. I love what the little boy is wearing on the cover. Shorts, long sleeved shirt (with decorative stitching), a belt and a tie (that's a bit too short). Gotta love it!!!

Day One: Vintage Children's Illustrations

I'm joining in on the new meme by Pip from Meet Me at Mikes - A Week of Vintage Children's Book Illustration. Seeing as though my sister and I had just finished going through my mum's old trunk full of our childhood books - yep, she'd kept them all!! - I could hardly not join in. I had so much fun pointing out all the gorgeous illustrations to my sister (who to her credit refrained from rolling her eyes at me as she picked out her own - less old - books from the stash). I mean really, look at the picture above, how gorgeous is the detail on the dress!

So anyway, if you're guessing that my take on this meme will be "Vintage Children's Illustrations From Books That I Read BEFORE They Became Vintage"....then uh, yeah. You guessed right. Hope you don't mind. It's hard to resist such a happy walk down memory lane....

Now I must admit I do not know who is and is not famous in the children's illustration circles. I just know what I like. And so many of my childhood books I loved as much for their pictures as their stories. This one I really love. I remember so vividly the feeling of wonder I had as a child reading this book.



The book is one of the Rand McNally Junior Elf books, called Humpty Dumpty and Other Mother Goose Rhymes, with illustrations by Mary Jane Chase. Published in 1952.

There are many two-toned illustrations in it, which left me a little nonplussed as a girl, but I have a bit more of an appreciation of them now - although they still don't hold the magic of the full-coloured pictures. So anyway, these are just a sample of my favourites from this book.

This is...my collection!

So in my last post I mentioned there may be a little more to come on buttons...so brace yourself! This week's 'This is...' theme is 'My Collection', so this is where I display my (possibly unhealthy) obsessions. And of course, was it ever going to be anything other than buttons?

I'm sure my meagre collection is nothing compared to many more seasoned crafters, but I love it all the same, and it seems to be growing very rapidly. And I must say, it is not really a new obsession. As a child, I loved nothing better than sitting up at the table with my Grandma's button tin and sorting them by size, then by colour, then by pattern. Because of these happy memories, I love everything about buttons. I love the way it feels to scoop your hand through a big pile of them, the chinking sound they make against each other, and the different tactile intricicies of the patterns on individual buttons...ok, so enough about buttons already. I love 'em. You get it. Moving on now...


These are only a very small portion of my very old classic novels/poems collection (it was too dark downstairs to photograph them there, and they were too heavy and cumbersome to cart all of them upstairs into the light). When I was at Uni I would scour the Op Shops in Melbourne (Caulfield South always had the best ones, in my opinion) for old classics (I was studying literature as part of a BA at the time, so very into poetry and wearing black!!!). Again, my love for these books goes deeper than just thinking they are kinda cool. I love the musty smell of old books, the heavy feel of thick yellowed paper (and some of these books have gold edging on each page!!!!) the warm soft feel of the binding. And that's not even starting on the jewels found inside these books - which is one thing in particular I love about books in general. It doesn't matter how old and tattered a book is, the story itself is as gleaming and new as the day it was written. I love that!!!!! And does my love of collecting books end there?....oh no folks, it doesn't....


So I guess everyone kinda knows about my obsession with Enid Blyton books by now. Again this is just a small selection of my actual collection. At various times in my life I wanted to be: a fairy, a child who found fairies, the naughtiest girl in the school, and George (from famous five). Of course, I also wanted to own a magic wishing chair and find a magic faraway tree....actually I still want that....

So there you go. This is not actually the sum total of my collections....I could have added vintage crockery, science fiction books (in fact, I could have just gone with a general book collection, as our bookshelves are heaving with the entire works of many authors from Tom Robbins to Isaac Asimov - Matt is also a bit of a book collector). But I think this selection probably says the most about me. And as for the beginnings of new collections/obsessions...well let's just say I'm developing an unhealthy interest in aprons, brooches and soft toys....and leave it at that.

Oh, and while we're on the topic of aprons (hello segue!!) I have put an apron into the Tie One On challenge (run by Amy from Angry Chicken), and the Flickr Gallery is now up. I feel like a bit of a newbie having my apron posted next to so many fine sewers (such as Meg from Montessori By Hand - her apron is so gorgeous I just had to go and order the pattern!). But I have decided that this year is the year of the LEAP for me. Which means just jumping in the deep end and having a go. So that's what I've done. Anyway, here is the apron I submitted (the theme was 'Polka Dots').





I strongly suggest checking out the Tie One On gallery to see everyone else's submissions. There are some real works of art there. But be careful....like me, you may find yourself tempted to start a new collection....

Sock it to me!

This fantastic present (Sock and Glove by Miyako Kanamori) arrived in the mail this week - a birthday present from a lovely friend in Melbourne. So of course I ended up at Op Shops this week on a sock buying spree! So far I have only made one little character.



Lee has named her 'Elsie'. I think she will need some new friends soon. So many to choose from...




I am dying to find a pink glove so I can make the pig....but in the meantime, maybe a patch-eyed dog!

I have also finally gotten around to making something to add to my Etsy Shop (after setting it all up I suddenly lost interest in making bags for a while, and became all obsessed with making clothes, clothes and more clothes).



Anyway, this one is called the Dame Washalot shoulder bag (has anyone guessed the theme to my bag names yet? So far, no-one has said anything, so maybe it's just me who gets it, and everyone else just thinks I'm plain weird...).

I have also finally made myself a new bag, cause hey, what's the point of being a bag-maker unless you can make yourself a new one to play with every once in a while!



Admittedly, this bag was originally going into the shop....but how could I part with these gorgeous buttons...(yes I know, the button fixation again....get ready, as I think there may be more to come on this topic...ahem...stayed tuned - or don't, if you're really sick of me and my buttons :))

Birthday bliss...

Do birthdays get any better than this?



I don't usually like putting up proper pics of myself, but this was such a happy occasion, and I think I look as happy as I felt in this picture. Had a big family birthday lunch. Mum made vanilla and chocolate profiterole cake...oh my..it was amazing!!!


With toffee drizzled all over it!!!!!


I was given some amazingly thoughtful presents from everyone. Above is some vintage japanese fabric (this is just a portion of the stash) from Matt's family. From a very cool shop in Richmond (Melbourne, Australia) called Zigusagu.



Matt ordered a custom-made knitwit bangle from Liana Kabel (to fit my teeny wrists). I can't tell you how much I love this! Matt also said that Liana was so very friendly and easy to deal with, and that she made and shipped the bracelet the same day that he ordered it, and he received it the next day. How good is that!



Presents from Lee and Kate included these two books that have been on my wish list for quite some time. Apparently Matt suffered a lot of embarrassment searching for The Gentle Art of Domesticity by Jane Brocket (of Yarnstorm), which is no-where near as 'anti-feminist' as it sounds. In fact it is really the opposite, and is just interesting and intelligent musings about how there is as much art, creativity and intelligence to be found in domestic arts (such as knitting, cooking, gardening etc), as there are in the corporate world. But when Matt asked the 19 year old salesgirl for this title (and mentioned it was for his wife) he said she looked at him with such horror and revulsion, like he was some guy who wanted to force his wife into some 1950s 'barefoot in the kitchen' way of living (or like he was John Howard...well, kinda same thing really :P). But being the lovely boy he is, he gritted his teeth, smiled, and waited patiently, bearing the daggers while he waited for the girl to look it up...he he he...what a guy!



Had to show the back of this book - I mean, how can I ever resist a book that celebrates the beauty and goodness of buttons?

Anyway, Matt had no such embarrassing problems with buying Cool Hunting Green, (although he was a bit disappointed that this book was sitting, easily accessible, on the bookstore shelf, so there was no way to regain his 'cred' by asking for it). Cool Hunting Green, compiled by Dave Evans, is a book featuring all sorts of recycled, repurposed and renewable objects, and includes a website for each so you can find out more info, or even buy the stuff. Some very cool things in this book.



Like these little bobby pin flower rosettes made with reclaimed cashmere and a vintage bead centre. I think I may have to visit Remnant Clothing to pick up a couple of these.



And how amazing is this chandelier made of BiC pen rolls! Check out Enpieza for more details.



And lastly, do you recognise this one? Yep, Liana Kabel has lots of her work featured in this book, and Matt and I were both amazed to see the bracelet in this book was EXACTLY the same as the one made for me. Another one of those nice synchronous things!

Thank-you to everyone for your wonderful company, and ever so thoughtful gifts. I've been a very lucky girl indeed!