Flowers & Arbors & Bears, Oh My! (Awards, too!)

Look at this happy face that greeted us during our visit to western Massachusetts!

What a delightful time Amanda and I had at the Berkshire Flower Co. in Pittsfield, Massachusetts.

Just look at all of the the beautiful flowers and rustic twig furniture!


Oh, I think this bench would look FABULOUS in my garden!!! Amanda convinced me it wouldn't fit in the back of the van (I think she inherited those genes from her father!)...


What's this? Why, it appears that the woodland creatures from behind the flower shop have come out to welcome us to western Massachusetts! They posed so pretty in front of this white gazebo, which would also look spectacular in my backyard!!


I am torn between the white iron pieces and the natural twiggy pieces. Isn't this arbor sweet? I can just picture it with morning glories or a moonflower vine climbing up the sides...


Amanda made friends with this little fox... I'd love to introduce him to the Foxy Loxy garden statue that lives in our backyard.


Doesn't Bambi look sweet in front of the geraniums?


And look who howled a big "Welcome to the Berkshires!" for us!


Hey, I think I've seen these two guys in my own backyard!!


Awwww, this litte guy reminded me of my own Mr. B... It's hard to believe that each piece is carved from a single tree trunk... I am in awe of the creativity and talent of the wood carver...

Here's Mama bear and Baby bear... Where could Papa bear be?


"Here I am!!!" And look at that "Papa Bear pose" he got into so we could take his picture! He hopes that you'll stop by to see him and all of his friends if you're ever in the Pittsfield, MA area!

"Tag - I'm it!" I've been tagged to list 7 little known facts about myself by Deborah of Pictures, Pots, and Pens. Deborah covers a wonderful variety of topics on her blog and she takes the most beautiful photographs (such as her recent post where she included incredible closeups of flowers, many of them being visited by busy bees!!)... Thank you, Deborah! Okay, not too long ago I listed 7 things, so I'll try to come up with 7 more!

1) My favorite times of day are dusk and dawn (although being a night owl, I don't catch the dawn as often as I'd like).
2) The older I get, the more I dislike the L-O-N-G snowy New England winters. I wouldn't mind if winter only lasted a month or so, but it seems to go on and on forever...
3) That being said, without the winter, I probably wouldn't appreciate spring as much as I do, and spring is definitely my favorite season!
4) I often include potato chips as one of the ingredients when I make sandwiches. Not on the side, mind you, but inside the sandwich.
5) I never get tired of "I Love Lucy" reruns.
6) If I'm flipping through channels and come across "Under the Tuscan Sun" or "You've Got Mail," I don't go any further. Some people have comfort foods. I have comfort movies.
7) Last summer I bought a GPS unit for my car and immediately after hearing "her" voice named her Delilah (after the Plain White T's song that was a mega-hit at around the same time I bought the GPS - I love that song!!).

And now on to the awards!!!!

Alaura at Cottage Rose was kind enough to pass along this Arte y Pico award to me! Thank you, Alaura!! Be sure to visit Cottage Rose for tons of inspiration... Alaura's blog is full of home projects and before & after photos - so many great ideas!

The guidelines for giving and receiving this award are as follows: 1. Pick 5 blogs that you feel are deserving of the award. 2. Each award has to have the name of the author and also a link to his/her blog to be visited by everyone. 3. Each award winner has to show the award and put the name of the link to the blog that gave it to him/her. 4. The award winner and the one who has given the prize has to show the link of 'Arte y Pico' so that everyone knows the origin of this award. 5. Show these rules on the award page


Kady from Life on Bonnie Lane has presented me with this lovely award!! Thank you, Kady!! Kady is the kind of blogger who I would love to have as a next door neighbor as she would brighten up the whole neighborhood with her smile and sunny disposition!!

Thank you all for your awards and the game of tag! I’m passing along the awards to all the wonderful blogs in my sidebar – you all deserve it!!! And I’m opening up the game of tag to anyone who reads this and would like to post 7 things about themselves on their own blog!! If you decide to do that, you can just leave a comment here so others can visit your blog and learn 7 things about you!!

Donna

The Greylock Cottage

When my daughter and I headed out to western MA for a bit of girl fun, one of the first towns we visited was Lee, MA. It has the most adorable Main Street...

...which is where I spotted this beautiful shop, The Greylock Cottage at 51 Main Street...


Just look at these cottage chairs.... I love the one with the flowers!


Look what I spotted as soon as we stepped inside... Now that's my kind of birdcage and stand! It looks like it could have come straight from my Nana's house!


There were so many beautiful vintage speads - lots of chenille, fringe, ruffles, and lace....


What a sweet cannister set, just perfect for a cottage decor!


Just look at the beautiful fringed spread and crocheted pillowcase on this antique bed...


We drove around a bit more and found a junktique store which ended up being more "junk" than "tique," but I did like this little red and white kitchen display..


Yellow House Books at 252 Main St. in Great Barrington was a wonderful shop to spend some time in! The entire Main Street of Great Barrington, and the little side streets, were full of wonderful shops and eateries... I definitely want to head back there sometime...

I have a few more places to share with you in a future post... The Berkshires ... such a lovely area to spend some time exploring....

Donna

Children's books...

There is no substitute for books in the life of a child.

~ Mary Ellen Chase, 1952

Just look at these treasures I found at Bearly Read books the other day!!

Little Bird (copyright 1964; by Catherine Stahlmann/illustrator Irma Wilde) is so sweet - a little "Junior Elf Book" about a baby bird who discovers everyday joys - he likes greeting the sun best, then eating best, then taking a bath best, then flying best (etc, etc), and then just being a baby bird best!
Wildflowers (copyright 1932; by Jane Harvey/illustrator Irving Lawson) is filled with the prettiest paintings and descriptions of a wide variety of flowers.
Mick The Disobedient Puppy (copyright ~1956; by Noel Barr/illustrator P.B. Hickling) is one of a series of Ladybird books. This book is so beautifully illustrated. The story and illustrations tell of a rambunctious little black poodle and how he went from being thought of as naughty to being thought of as quite the hero!


How could I pass up this 1956 copy of Romper Room Do Bees - A Book of Manners (by Nancy Claster/illustrator Eleanor Dart). After all, I grew up with Miss Jean and always tried to be a Do Bee!
Or this 1961 My Flower Book (by Dorothy Thompson Landis/illustrator Elizabeth Webbe)...The illustrations are just adorable - cottage gardens for sure!

The "Romper Room Manners" book belonged to a little boy named "Bobby D" and this is pretty much the only page that was marked up in the book... a chart where "Mother" could check off if you were a "Do Bee" for specific days and chores. It appears that Bobby D. wanted no part of that chart. I certainly don't think scribbling and coloring over that chart in bright purple crayon made him a "Don't Bee" though.... I prefer to think of him as very creative, and I'm quite certain his mom probably thought so, too!

Now this is a perfect example of a book that makes me go weak in the knees... The Horse That Takes The Milk Around (copyright 1946; by Helen Sterling/illustrator Marjorie Hartwell)...

It is in SUCH good shape except for the normal wear and tear of years and years of being treasured and loved, both for the sweet story and the exceptional illustrations...


This is the back cover of the book... Just look at that mama kitty and her babies following that milk truck on its rounds... This book is done in verse & rhyme, and it follows the milkman and his horse as they get up in the middle of the night to start their deliveries, and ends the next morning when they finally arrive back at the barn...


Just look at that sweet little cottage with its flowerbeds and white picket fence... I just want to move right into this book and live happily ever after! (see what these books do to me??)


And I had to share a few more illustrations from Mick the Disobedient Puppy because they are just so beautiful!


Just look at those robin's egg blue walls, that white painted dresser/mirror, and that peachy pink spread... Even though this book is from the early 50's, it's the same colors that so many of us decorate with today! (Although I have to say that the mom and dad are hardly a representation of what hubby and I look like at bedtime!)


This is "the old lady" who came to tea one day, and who didn't particularly care for dogs. It's so true, how animals will make a beeline right to the people who fear them or don't care for them!! I personally think they're always trying to win them over!


Now this is not an old book at all, but it is by one of my favorite author/illustrators, Tomie dePaola. Nana Upstairs & Nana Downstairs (text copyright 1973; illustration copyright 1998) is absolutely the sweetest story about Tomie's real life nana and great nana... It's in brand new condition, hardcover, dust jacket and it's a signed 1st edition - for only $6!!
My oldest daughter LOVED Tomie's books when she was little. We read them all the time. She wrote to him when she was in elementary school, and she received back the loveliest hand-written note from him along with a signed photograph. I had always loved him/his books before that, but I totally loved him with a mom's heart from that day on (and that's strong love!) because it made her feel so special that he wrote back to her! (Which I'm sure had no bearing on the fact that she majored in illustration and minored in literature...) [... or did it?]


Yes, used children's books tug at my heartstrings in so many ways... the wonderful stories, the illustrations that make me want to live within the pages... and, as you see above, the sweet inscriptions or scrawled names that are so often found on the inside cover pages. I often wonder how these books got separated from their owners...

The Horse That Takes the Milk Around has an inscription that reads: To "Denny" from "Mummy" and Daddy - Easter 1947...

My Flower Book is inscribed: To Kristen from Grammy 1971... It is scrawled in such childlike penmanship that it makes me wonder if Kristen herself wrote it so she would always remember that her Grammy gave it to her, and when...

The name Adam is written in beautiful penmanship on the top corner of Little Bird. I think Adam's mom probably wrote his name in this lovely little book... Perhaps he reminded her of Little Bird, so excited about the simple joys of ordinary days...

And look at Bobby D., who so carefully centered and wrote his name in the "This Little Golden Book belongs to" section on the inside cover of his Romper Room Do Bees - A Book of Manners... See, he was definitely a Do Bee!

So Denny, Kristen, Adam, and Bobby D... rest assured that your childhood books have found a new home where they will be loved and treasured, just as you loved and treasured them so many years ago...

Books, to the reading child, are so much more than books -- they are dreams and knowledge, they are a future, and a past.

~ Esther Meynell (1940)

Donna