October's cottage living room...

It was a beautiful day in New England today as the sun made a triumphant return after the weekend's first mini snowfall... October has visited the living room in the form of "lamp bandit" in the window, "Ratty" in the birdcage, and a cottage pumpkin on the c0ffee table.

(click any photos to enlarge)

While Spotty lounged on the sofa, I 'tweaked' a bit more...


I decided that the big vase of roses on top of the pie safe was just too much in between the lamps. I love the vintage mirror that we attached to the top of the pie safe, and the roses blocked too much of it...


There... I think this is better. It's less cluttered and shows off more of the mirror, which in turn opens up the room...


The vase of roses has been replaced by a small green music box that plays Evergreen... ("Love, soft as an easy chair"... I love the lyrics to that song!).


One of my shabby stuffed pumpkins from Ronda's Tempting Textiles sits in the tray on the trunk...


...atop a small sampling of the many Halloween and/or spooky books I read to the girls when they were little (are they really both in their twenties now??? Talk about spooky!)

Wishing you all happy October memories-in-the-making!!!

Donna

A little brass "book" bird,...

... bought during a day trip to Connecticut, looks right at home on the stack of books I also purchased that same day.


Last month I took Courtney to Connecticut for a weekend visit with a college friend. After dropping her off, Amanda and I set out to find a few junktique shops before heading home.


How lucky we were to find Blueberry Hill Antiques in Old Saybrook, CT! That's where I found my little brass bird (marked down to $1.50) and the majority of the books I bought. Most of them were from the FIFTY CENTS PER BOOK ROOM (actually, it might have been 25 cents - at least that's what Amanda remembers! I meant to post about this trip over a month ago, but with all that has happened I just haven't had time. Scary that in a month's time I can't remember if they were 25 or 50 cents!) I'm not sure if we hit a special sale or if those low prices are ongoing in that room, but we had a blast looking through the shelves of books!


This is my favorite - Little Miss Joy by Emma Marshall. It was originally published in 1892, but for the life of me I cannot find the copyright date in my edition. In doing a little on-line research I discovered that copyrights were not required prior to 1900, so I'm guessing this was printed some time in the 1800's...


I love it when the used books I purchase have inscriptions (everyone had beautiful penmanship back then!)... This faint pencil inscription reads, "Agnes Paulson, A Merry Xmas + Happy New Year. Your Aunt."


A pressed clover marks pages 94/95. Is that as far as Agnes got? Or does it mark a favorite passage, I wonder? The other books I purchased were One Jump Ahead, c1956; Lovely is the Lee, c 1945; The Cardinal's Snuff Box, c 1900; and My Friend Flicka, c1941 (that was one of my favorite TV shows from the 60's... yes, I was a complete horse nut)...


And look at these yummy children's books I found! The Lord's Prayer (copyright 1940), Hello, Joe (copyright 1961), and Through the Picture Frame (copyright 1944). "Nutty Sam" is the squirrel's name in Hello, Joe! (I think he lives in my yard now!)

And just look at this illustration from the Lord's Prayer book where the little boy is offering Sammy a peanut.... isn't it the sweetest?

One Jump Ahead, a book about horses by Pat Smythe, belonged to "Mimi Spencer" at one time, and here is the inscription in her book, dated June 1958, fifty-one years prior to me purchasing it.

I'll share some photos of Blueberry Hill Antiques in an upcoming post. It's an adorable shop and if I ever find myself back in Old Saybrook, CT, I'll definitely be popping in again (as well as another shop, Saybrook Recycled Furniture, Etcetera, that we didn't get to spend nearly enough time in before heading home!)...

Have a great week, everyone!

Donna

Books that go bump in the night...

Not literally, of course, but I do love the girls' old spooky and/or Halloween books!

So I pulled them out of the bookcase today, browsed through them, and reminisced a bit...


Some of them were bought through the school (I think I used to get more excited about the Scholastic or Troll order forms coming home than the girls did!)...


Or sometimes we'd find a favorite at the library and then purchase a copy for ourselves. (Exception: The Legend of Sleepy Hollow with the incredible Will Moses illustrations was a more recent purchase - for me!)


These all bring back such great memories of reading to the girls, either curled up on the couch or hunkered down under the covers in bed...


And then they grew up and had sleepovers and read stories to each other and their friends from books like these!! Whoooooooo!!!! Anyhow, since it is Halloween month, and since I do love children's books, I thought I'd share some of our favorites with you... I hope you all have a frightfully fun time reading some of your own favorites!

Donna

Remembering Tasha Tudor...

One of my favorite children's book illustrators, Tasha Tudor, passed away last week at the age of 92, surrounded by her family...


These are just a few of the Tasha Tudor books that we have... I collect "The Night Before Christmas" books and hers are the most beautifully illustrated ones...


And I feel so lucky to own a signed copy of her Corgiville Christmas...


Her detailed illustrations capture the beauty of New England (she made her home in Vermont), and I never tire of looking through her books. I used to get as (or more) excited as my girls when we'd get a new stack of beautifully illustrated children's books from the library when they were little, or when we'd purchase a new children's book for our own bookshelves.


I truly believe that children's books are as much for adults as they are for children.

So thank you, Tasha, for the countless hours of enjoyment that I/we have gotten, and will continue to get, from your books.

If you click on her name in the first sentence, it will take you to her website where you can read a little Tasha Tudor biography or purchase her books, cards, prints, etc. I believe it is maintained by her family. Happy reading....

Update: As mentioned in some of the comments, Tasha Tudor was more than just an author and illustrator... she was a fascinating woman, to say the least. There are countless books about her as well as by her. I also remember watching a documentary about her life, her gardening, her animals, her dollhouse... I believe it was on PBS years ago. It was fascinating (maybe the same one you referred to, Jill)... I just found this "Pathways to the Past" article on Tasha Tudor that you may enjoy if you'd like to know even a bit more about her.

Donna