The Crocodile in the Bedroom

Moral of the Fable: 

Without a doubt, there is such a thing as too much order.

Three pages from one of my books.

FABLES

Written and Illustrated by

ARNOLD LOBEL

1980

My plan is to post one fable until I have shown you the entire book.

xo

Rabbit Rabbit -- Hello February

The phrase rabbit rabbit is a long-held superstition thought to bring about good luck. But it's not to be uttered just any old random day. If you say it on the first day of the month, before any other words come out of your mouth, then luck will be coming your way.

I have always loved this rabbit pattern in navy blue designed by William Morris in 1882.  I have seen the wallpaper but never the fabric. The pattern was a tribute to the Uncle Remus books, first published in 1881, and a favourite of the Morris family.

Earliest Published Nursery Rhymes Book c.1744

Mary Cooper, whose two-volume Tommy Thumb's Pretty Song Book (1744) is the first known nursery rhyme collection, featuring early versions of well-known classics like ‘Bah, bah, a black sheep’, ‘Hickory dickory dock’, ‘London Bridge is falling down’ and ‘Sing a song of sixpence’.

The History of Little Goody Two-Shoes (1765) has a good claim to be called the first children’s novel. It tells the story of a poor orphan, Margery, who makes a career for herself as a teacher before, like a less glamorous Cinderella (with no fairy godmother, balls to attend, or glass slipper), she marries the local landowner whom she has impressed by her honesty, hard work and good sense.

Isn't this a much better story than Cinderella?

Click to enlarge the images found in a great article 

ORIGINS OF CHILDREN'S LITERATURE 

in the archives of The British Library

Enjoy.

xo

Carrots and Turnips are Fine

From the Jane Johnson's personal Manuscript Nursery Library

(c. 1740-1759) at Indiana University. All 438 items are hand drawn and colored for her son as teaching items. I love this one and wish I could see all the others.

click to enlarge

Photo Source

Bookshelves / Library in My Spare Room

These are all of my reference books in my dressing room. That's what I call my extra bedroom because it has a closet. I sleep in the back room that has an identical custom bookcase scaled down for the smaller space. I added both when renovating my cottage. On these shelves I have reference books on antiques, architectural reference books, gardening, birds, New Jersey. Many are broken down into categories like antique furniture, antique silver, antique houses, antique prints, etc. and many DIY books. I need to get in this room and rearrange a bit and return some books I pulled out so the remaining ones are currently leaning. You can never have too many books, can you? Have a great Sunday. xo

New Rooms for Old Homes / Great Book

This is another favorite coffee table book that is in my collection and is currently off the shelf and at hand. 

NEW ROOMS FOR OLD HOUSES

Beautiful Additions for the Traditional Home

by Frank Shirley

Published by THE TAUNTON PRESS

"Inspiration for Hands-On Living"

All of the books by this publisher are wonderful.

Back cover. Mine has the dustjacket. 

The hardcover binding is plain.

Retail $40. My used copy from local bookshop $15.
Gold Seal on front dustjacket from

NATIONAL TRUST FOR HISTORIC PRESERVATION

I did not know the term "monitors", did you? Such an interesting architectural detail for raising the roof and getting more light into a room without adding a skylight.

The pleasing addition is on the far right. Note slight color change in roofing material.

Have a great weekend. By now you know how to order used books, right?

xo

More about Monitors and Cupolas. Unknown left a comment about a monitor barn in Shelburne, Vermont. I couldn't find it but found a 1903 barn in Richmond, Vermont that was moved and beautifully restored with the monitor spanning the entire roof ridge and a cupola too! It's fabulous as is the article by KNOBB HILL JOINERY Preserving New England's architectural legacy for future generations with photographs of the entire process.

Read the article and see the amazing photos HERE. 
The barn is home to the Vermont Youth Conservation Corps.

Isn't this barn beautiful? Everything old is new again.
xo

The Winter Garden / Great Book

What I'm reading now. One of my favorite gardening books.

THE WINTER GARDEN

Structure, planting and romance in the garden in winter.

Eluned Price

Photographs by Clive Nichols

Author's dedication:

In memory of my beloved parents

Corinne and Justin Price

who taught me how to look

CONTENTS

Introduction

Structure in the Winter Garden

Planting in the Winter Garden

Romance in the Winter Garden

The Plant Directory

Index

Mine is a hardcover first edition published in 1996 with the destjacket. It's a large, beautiful book that is still available used. 

Search for it HERE and fill out form yourself. 

Search for used hardcover editions HERE with title and "hardcover" requested in search parameters.

xo

Birds and Yesterday's Snow.

Tufted Titmouse?

Black-Capped Chickadee

I think this is the Tufted Titmouse again.

Jd commented with a correction.  This a NUTHATCH.

Thanks, Jd.

The snow had just started when I took these photos yesterday and we got a couple of inches that required no shoveling at all. It changed to rain and everything melted overnight. It was fun to watch knowing it wouldn't last.

The clouds are lifting and the sun is coming out. 

This was my sky earlier this morning.

Have a great day.

xo

Porch with Window Box and Bench

This addition is very sweet, isn't it? It seems very roomy because there is no enclosure across the front as it's only a couple of steps off the ground. I love the bench near the front door and if this little window box were mine I would fill it with herbs for the kitchen. photo source

Stay safe if winter storms dump lots of snow your way. My area is expecting less that an inch but lots of heavy rain and wind later in the day and all night. Wind scares me the most.

weather update

Downy Woodpecker before the snow.

Here is a link for a documentary on PBS about Woodpeckers. Get an intimate look at what makes woodpeckers so special. Explore their unique abilities and intimate stories from around the world. Narrated by Paul Giamatti. 

WOODPECKERS THE HOLE STORY

It snowed furiously for a while and I got about an inch and then it got warmer and turned to rain. The temperature will keep getting warmer and will rise to 52° by 2am. Such strange weather. It's beautiful and the perfect amount of snow. 

xo

Shredding Marathon in my Attic Office

This animated live photo is set on LOOP. I filled up one bag last week and am working on a second one. Let me know if you find this annoying. It wasn't very effective on the BOUNCE setting.

I am taking this bag to our DIY recycling center in case we get snow tomorrow. I got this blue denim bag ages ago and it's perfect for shredding. I have rigged up my shredder on its side so it feeds directly into this container via a paper shoot. I do this every year in January. As you can see, I am not paperless yet. I still like a paper version of my bills, even if I have to print them myself. Have a great Tuesday. xo

Red Cardinal Monday

Mr. Cardinal this morning in my front garden enjoying his perch under the bird feeder in a softly-falling rain. His mate is with him but I can never get them together in one photo.

You can see the falling raindrops in this animated photo.

Enjoy your Monday.

ONE MORE added at 4:00 in the afternoon.

This one shows a chickadee at the feeder, 

the cardinal on the cement ball, 

and a ground feeder. 

xo

View My Blog with a WHITE BACKGROUND

Click HERE to view my blog with a White Background

I added this feature to my computer view in the sidebar.

The white background shows automatically if you are viewing my blog on a mobile device with a small screen.

If you are viewing my blog on a computer and find my gray background hard on your eyes you can change it to a white background. I have had my blog since 2008 and I like my original design to this day but have had a complaint about the gray background.😢

Now you have a choice.

GRAY background here with sidebar.

WHITE background here with no sidebar.

xo

ONLINE: Audubon Guide to North American Birds

Pileated Woodpecker

I am so excited to find this!

I put a shortcut on my desktop

Audubon Guide to North American Birds

Click on the link above and scroll down until you find the bird you want to know more about.

Here is what you see when you click on AMERICAN ROBIN

I hope you love it as much as I do. 

xo

You're welcome!

Watercolor Over Pencil Drawing Beatrix Potter

Drawing of the kitchen at Spout House (Far Sawrey): background study for The tale of Pigling Bland (1913), watercolour over pencil, by Beatrix Potter, probably 1910. Victoria & Albert Museum I love that she used real interiors as backgrounds in her stories. xo