To Kill A Mockingbird
£6.34 GBP
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£12.68 GBP
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£41.24 GBP
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£12.69 GBP
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£60.27 GBP
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£6.34 GBP
Happy 50th Birthday To Kill A Mockingbird
Woolly Winter Thinking
It's that time of year - winter has started to circle and close in.
It's then I have to think about all of the customs and traditions that make me feel happy and content, to combat the start of winter ennui. I bring out the candles, fluffy rugs, and plan my Christmas present buying.
This year I have ordered most of my presents from Etsy. From customised 'keep calm and...' posters to necklaces, earrings, cufflinks and of course, books.
Etsy has also inspired me to start knitting - thick chunky knit scarves. The balls of wool and chunky needles look great in a big bamboo bowl. See above, my 2nd attempt at a scarf.
84 Charing Cross Road
If you haven't read this great book by Helene Hanff (true story) , do.
A well read, autodidactic (word of the day!) American lady who longs to visit Britain during the war years she develops an airmail friendship with a man (and his family) who worked in the iconic bookshop - Marks & Co, at 84 Charing Cross Road, London. Made into a film starring Anne Bancroft and Anthony Hopkins in the 80's.
Helene got her wish - eventually. This book was responsible for my searching out the works of 'Q' - Arthur Quiller Couch.
Below is my treasury pick on Etsy - this is where you pick pictures of items other people are selling to illustrate your theme.
Not for any reason, just to share the images.
£11.72 GBP
£7.81 GBP
£11.72 GBP
£81.37 GBP
£6.51 GBP
£35.80 GBP
£74.86 GBP
£1.20 GBP
£16.27 GBP
£12.37 GBP
£21.48 GBP
£5.21 GBP
£16.27 GBP
£23.43 GBP
£9.76 GBP
£5.21 GB
Keep Calm and Carry On - The Real Deal
The above oil painting is from a book, Women's Institute by Cicely McCall. The painting is entitled Evacuee Play centre. It shows children playing, and women taking care of the children in what looks like a village hall, decked out with gaily coloured bunting. The book is a snapshot of women's social history during WWII, a mothers story is one of the least published aspects of life during this period. It details the efforts women in the UK were making to support the war effort. Now I've been to Trafalgar Square and seen those metal Giants on their plinths - Generals, Colonels, Majors and Tommys. But I have never seen something erected to honour the women who took to the fields with shovels, took in other families children for years, set up communal village kitchens and foraged wool from hedgerows to knit socks and gloves for the troops. This book honours those women, it is their monument.Reading about the efforts of these doughty women made me wonder, we've bought the Keep Calm poster, but if we had to, could we carry on as well as the women who went before?
Click on the photo below to see the book;
Saturday Night
I watched Nigella Lawson's new show this week. In it she confessed that she no longer feels the need to be out gadding every Saturday night, whereas in the past a Saturday night spent at home was an apocalyptic event on a par with walking around the office with your dress tucked in your knickers.I have to say I agree with her. It's lovely to spend time with friends letting your hair down, it is also lovely to have the chance to stay in and relax. If I have the luxury of a weekend night at home, I will spend it with my comfy clothes on, a glass of wine and a guilty pleasure - usually tv (and in the Autumn it's always Strictly Come Dancing), but sometimes book, bath or blog.
Sunday morning will be a pleasant and relaxing affair, involving newspapers, good coffee and Desert Island Discs. Something to be savoured, instead of indulging a sleep deprived hangover. Cheers!
The book above is in my Etsy shop now;
http://www.etsy.com/shop/BeauBazaar
Once Upon A Time
There are blogs I read for pleasure and blogs I read for inspiration . Nestled in one of the inspiring blogs was a tip that twinkled and shone. It said, 'tell the story, everyone loves a story'. I thought how this could apply to me. I have a modest bookshop on Etsy so I thought I could share the provence of my purchases, as much as I know. The way I find my treasures is very diverse. The story of my lovely old HCA up there is almost too good to be true. For a couple of weeks each summer we decamp to a lovely little village in Cornwall. The houses are washed with colours from a child's paintbox, the skies are endless, the beaches are golden and the rain is always warm!
On the way to one of our favourite beaches we wind down narrow lanes garlanded with wild freesias, the dry stone lurking underneath. We pass a farm down one of these lanes, it has geese patrolling around the farmhouse, and a field of donkeys next door.
On this particular day, by the field gate, are a number of boxes. There is a note on top of the boxes, it says, 'help yourself to books - please make a donation for the donkey sanctuary'. I rifled through the first 2 boxes, and found a great deal of those old fashioned bodice ripper romances, well thumbed. But there, in the last box, I spy an interesting spine, then I get that tingling feeling down mine.. The donkey sanctuary felt my gratitude that day.
I will put the book in my shop on Friday, possibly with an Austrian cookbook with a beautiful cover and some really interesting recipes, or possibly the Mrs Beeton, but their stories will have to wait for another day.
http://www.etsy.com/shop/BeauBazaar
A Sunny September Sunday Morning
The last time I visited this car boot I resolved if I went back again I would take my camera. Here's the fruits (and veg!) of my (and others...) labours. I asked permission before taking each photo, some of the stall holders clearly thought I'd lost my mind.. You be the judge.
I was searching for literary treasure, and I found some. They will be posted onto my shop shortly;
http://www.etsy.com/shop/BeauBazaar
It's not Mothers Day but...
I found this dedication in a book, and it made me think about the influence of mothers on their children for a while. How much we as children absorb from our mothers. How much we influence our children and how much we later decide are not our views, but the thoughts of others we picked up along the way. A bit deep for a Monday morning I know.The books name is The Business of Life, the author E J Hardy certainly knew how to come up with a title, his previous publication was How To Be Happy Though Married!
If you would like to see the book check it out on;
http://www.etsy.com/shop/BeauBazaar
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