Great Movie to Watch (FREE)

I woke up early this morning and watched this movie on my laptop from ShoutFactoryTV and it was simply wonderful. It is a free service with ads but this movie only had one at the beginning. I cannot figure out how to stream to my TV on my Chromecast but luckily my laptop has a good screen for viewing movies. Use the link provided below to go directly to this movie.

A HANDFUL OF DUST

All of the actors we know and love from Britain were so young!

https://www.shoutfactorytv.com/a-handful-of-dust/5c05ad3def995e14a6012272

Enjoy. xo

Portrait of Young Queen Elizabeth I

Queen Elizabeth I, painted between 1558 and 1562 during the first four years of her reign, when the queen was in her mid to late twenties. This portrait just sold at auction for $158,661. Read more about the painting's history here. The Tudor period occurred between 1485 and 1603 in England and Wales and includes the Elizabethan period during the reign of Elizabeth I until 1603. I love it, don't you?

Albatross Love and Divorce + A Green Cat

Read more about these birds HERE.

Both photos above were found in a terrific article in

THE GUARDIAN: The Week in Wildlife -- In Pictures.

https://www.theguardian.com/environment/gallery/2021/nov/26/the-week-in-wildlife-in-pictures 

It features animals all over the world and is a good read. Enjoy and have a great weekend. xo

♡Things I Like This Morning♡

This tilework is simple and simply elegant.

I really adore this wallpaper.

I love old country roads and this is a great one.

I hope you all had a wonderful Thanksgiving yesterday and are still enjoying the aftermath. I woke up to rain today but it's already clearing and promises to be a nice day with no Black Friday shopping for me. I heard on the news this week that this is going to be a mild winter and I hope it's true after what I went through last year. Enjoy the long weekend and safe trips back home for all who are traveling. All photos found on Tumblr. xo

H A P P Y 🦃 T H A N K S G I V I N G

This is my annual post for Thanksgiving

made from a scan from my favorite antiquarian book, 

"The Royal Book of Crests"

The font is Elizabethan Script 

I lost it when my 

Windows PC crashed ages ago. 

This font is called
Jacques  Francois Shadow

it's a free download from Google
Let me know if it's garbled and I will replace it with another universally recognized font.

🐾Missy's Last Evening Walk🐾

Missy and I walked to the way back yesterdat at 4:00 to beat the darkness of a 4:35 sundown. I had to turn on the lights in the front and the floodlights in the back for our bedtime walk. I am always to walk very far from the house because of all the bear🐻sightings I read about in local alerts. She's going home today and so this is her goodbye post.🐾🐾

I must have jiggled the camera while holding the leash and the camera at the same time. Her right rear leg looks very odd but I don't have another shot of her looking back. She lives close by so I get to see her often and she's always glad when I pop in. I have a lot to do today after she goes home, mostly housework. I don't miss the dog hair associated with dog ownership so a dogsitter I shall remain.

🐱STUFFED CATS: Free Sewing Pattern and Tutorial🐱

These cute Happy Cats look pretty easy and you have over a month until Christmas to whip up a few. Pattern is in several sizes and it's a free download from Ann Wood Handmade.

https://www.annwoodhandmade.com/happy-cats-a-free-sewing-pattern/

You should start with the large one because turning and stuffing will be easier. It could be a cat toy too for your favorite feline and you could fill it with catnip. Fill with sand and it could be a pincushion. You could just draw the features with a sharpie if you use an unprinted fabric.

She has many other free patterns to download below:

https://www.annwoodhandmade.com/free-patterns-and-resources/

Happy sewing.

You're welcome☺️

xo

Beautiful White Clapboard House in Fall

The carpet of fallen leaves enhances the beauty of this New England colonial home. I love the stark simplicity of the windows with no shutters. via

A Curious Dog in Mother Goose Rhymes

Missy hasn't been doing any of these strange things. I thought this dog looked like her breed though. So far, we are having a quiet Sunday morning after a chilly brisk walk. She's patiently awaiting her breakfast but isn't begging. 

Just waiting.

See more of these delightful woodcuts of this dog doing funny things when the owner goes out to get him something.

click here.

Have a great Sunday. xo

🏸Tennis Poster: EMMA by Jane Austen🏸

This put a big smile on my face this morning. Isn't it clever? I love the brilliant idea of using tennis star Emma Raducanu's image juxtaposed on the movie poster for EMMA. Image found here. 

It really is the perfect match, isn't it?

 Missy had another event free night and was eager to go outside when I got up at 7:30. It was a chilly 22° so cold weather is back. It didn't seem very cold later and I was able to mow the way back. It was actually quite pleasant!

Enjoy your weekend. xo

🐾 Missy's Back 🐾

Missy was dropped off yesterday morning and she is always a welcome guest. I will have her until Monday or Tuesday. This time I didn't set up my crate or use her own. I have complete trust in her since she is so familiar with my house and we are on a regular schedule for walks. She still goes straight to her bed in the kitchen in front of the radiator after we come in from a walk. That's where her crate is usually set up. She also loves this blue bed I always set up in the living room in front of the TV and that's where she slept last night. 

I left her alone in the house yesterday afternoon for hours on end. It turned out to be nearly 70° and a perfect day for mowing over the leaves. I was so happy and got everything mowed except the farthest piece in the way back. I am fairly sure there will be another temperate day soon for mowing that patch, fingers crossed. Have a great weekend. xo

Wonderful Interior Details in A Children's Book published in 1900

A delightful wood engraving by Hans Tegner. Denmark. 1853-1932. It appeared in a book of fairy tales and stories by Hans Christian Andersen published in 1900 in the collection of The New York Public Library. It seems so sophisticated for a children's book and could easily be in one of today's Interior Design magazines or coffee table books. The room's decor is timeless. An adult reading to a child would have enjoyed this artwork and the idea of the story is perfectly illustrated for a child to enjoy and understand too! I love it, don't you? 

Photo source here.

UPDATE: I JUST DISCOVERED A LINK FOR THE ACTUAL BOOK OF FAIRY TALES AND STORIES BY HANS CHRISTIAN ANDERSEN PUBLISHED IN 1900. IT HAS BEEN DIGITIZED BY THE NEW YORK PUBLIC LIBRARY. 

There are 524 pages. 

Who knows what else you will discover!

ENJOY! xo

https://archive.org/details/fairytalesstorie00ande/page/n19/mode/2up 

🐰The Rabbit's Dream🐰 Drawing Circa 1895-99 by Beatrix Potter

©Victoria & Albert Museum

Beatrix Potter’s drawing

“the Rabbit's Dream” one of four drawn over 4 years

He dreams BIG, doesn't he?

In the collection of Victoria and Albert Museum

"Beatrix Potter (1866-1943) is one of the world's best-loved children's authors and illustrators. She wrote the majority of the twenty-three Original Peter Rabbit Books between 1901 and 1913. The Tale of Peter Rabbit (Frederick Warne, 1902) is her most famous and best-loved tale. This is one of four known versions of ‘The Rabbit’s Dream’, all dating from 1895 to 1899. The rabbit shown here – thought to be Potter's pet rabbit, Peter Piper – sleeps in the No. 4 bedroom at Camfield Place. Potter slept in this room when visiting her grandparents before they died, and made a detailed pen and ink drawing of the room. Framing the central rabbit are numerous drawings of him sleeping in different positions, reflecting the many studies of her pets Potter made."

I love learning the history behind her artwork and this one is very special. I love knowing she slept in this very room in her grandparents' house. Her drawing below is also in the Beatrix Potter collection housed in London at The Victoria and Albert Museum. I found it on Google Images. There is a new exhibit opening February 22, 2022 to celebrate her life. Beatrix Potter, Drawn to Nature. Be sure to mark your calendar and visit virtually. I'll try to remind you.

©Victoria and Albert Museum

Isn't this the most charming bedroom ever? I wonder if her grandparents' house was preserved? If so, there should be a sign: "Beatrix slept here." Sweet Dreams! xo

🐓Indoor Dining🐥

This photo made me smile. I guess the cook threw down the kitchen scraps and let the chicks and their mom enjoy some indoor dining. via

❤️Vintage Spools of Sewing Thread❤️

I have a huge stash of vintage sewing thread on old wooden spools and I am always rummaging in the containers trying to find the perfect color for a mending project and I am almost always successful. via

Built-in Cupboards and Drawers❤️

It would be fun to organize these cupboards but it would be a shame to close the doors and hide all of your beautiful things, wouldn't it? via

Great Before and After Renovation

This is so fabulous, isn't it?

I do love a great Before & After photo.

I found this cottage on Instagram

Christian Daw Design

Enjoy this larger photo and the weekend. xo

🐾 Dog Breeds That No Longer Exist 🐾

It's a dreary Friday here at my cottage. I spent the first two hours in a webinar for continuing education credits for my real estate license. The sun is supposed to come out later this afternoon and maybe I will rake some wet leaves.

I enjoyed reading this BBC fascinating article about dog breeds that time forgot. See link below:

https://www.bbc.com/future/article/20211105-the-bizarre-dog-breeds-time-forgot

Listen to a 7 minute segment on NPR about Turn Spit Dogs. There is an illustration too:

https://www.npr.org/sections/thesalt/2014/05/13/311127237/turnspit-dogs-the-rise-and-fall-of-the-vernepator-cur

🐾🐾Enjoy🐾🐾

Have a great weekend.

Historic Lodge in England

The Lodge, Greys Court, Henley-on-Thames, Oxfordshire, England via National Trust https://www.nationaltrust.org.uk/

HISTORY OF THE FAMILIES WHO OWNED GREYS COURT

https://www.nationaltrust.org.uk/greys-court/features/the-families-of-greys-court

This is a good read with photos♡

Enjoy. xo

🐾Two Lovely Paintings of Dogs🐾

Yes, please. 

I love the dog paintings and the chair too.

photo source