These principles can be applied to almost any profession. Henry Miller had it all figured out, didn't he? I so admire discipline and a good work ethic. No multi tasking allowed.
Showing posts with label Books. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Books. Show all posts
Monday, March 12, 2012
Saturday, March 10, 2012
The real story behind 'Keep Calm and Carry On' poster
Watch this very enjoyable short film that tells the true story behind the 'Keep Calm and Carry On' poster discovered by the proprietors of an old book shop in England. I downloaded their [free] Keep Calm App to my iPhone and love it. I can't wait to play around with it. I am such a child. Click here if you are unable to watch this video on my blog. I promise you are going to like it ! ! !
Tuesday, March 6, 2012
Traveling with Your Books
For the person who has everything, a traveling library case by Louis Vuitton. See more legendary trunks here.
Wednesday, February 22, 2012
A Wonderful Cottage
This would have been the perfect house for me to grow up in because I could have been inside and outside at the same time reading in that attic window.
Sunday, February 12, 2012
Meet The REAL Jane Austen
I know that many of you reading this are fans so prepare to be amazed - as this portrait is said to be a recently discovered portrait of Jane Austen. I'm going to let Mary Jenkins from Wales tell you the rest of this fascinating story.
Read the Jane Austen scholar's story here as reported in The Guardian. She owns this portrait.
Read the Jane Austen scholar's story here as reported in The Guardian. She owns this portrait.
Tuesday, February 7, 2012
UK Celebrates Charles Dickens' 200th Birthday
He wrote about life in the modern city, with its lawyers and criminals, bankers and urchins, dreamers and clerks. He created characters still known to millions — Ebeneezer Scrooge and Tiny Tim, Pip and Miss Havisham, Fagin and Oliver Twist. And it made him a star, mobbed by fans on both sides of the Atlantic.
His Bookplate
Prince Charles and his wife Camilla, Duchess of Cornwall, joined Archbishop of Canterbury Rowan Williams, actor Ralph Fiennes, a host of dignitaries and scores of Dickens' descendants at a memorial service Tuesday (2/7/12) in London. Prince Charles placed a wreath on Dickens' grave in Westminster Abbey's Poet's corner.
Monday, February 6, 2012
Vintage Bookmobile from Chicago Public Library
One of the joys of my childhood was the bookmobile! The other was the ice cream truck.
Friday, February 3, 2012
Monday, January 30, 2012
Ex-libris with Swans Circa 1907
From A collection of book plate designs by Louis Rhead, Boston, 1907. via
Wednesday, January 25, 2012
Friday, January 20, 2012
Four-and-Twenty Blackbirds
click photo to enlarge
This iPhone photo snapped from my third floor window doesn't even begin to show the number of blackbirds flying into the woods. What a sight to behold at my cottage this afternoon. Blackbird pie is not on tonight's menu.
click photo to enlarge
This happy family appears to be thrilled to see such a pie on their dinner table. Here is another Randolph Caldecott drawing from one of my antiquarian books illustrating the nursery rhyme Sing A Song for Sixpence.
Thursday, January 19, 2012
Cottage Bungalow Circa 1923
I love this tiny cottage with a front porch and an upstairs sleeping porch. I want the plan book too!
This house and plan were shown in the 1923 plan book, The Books of a Thousand Homes. It featured 500 small house plans. Most of them really were small by today's standards. This one reflects the post WWI movement away from the horizontally oriented Craftsman-style to the more modern and very romantic aesthetic of the 1920s. This particular plan was by Olsen & Urbain, Architects.
The Books of a Thousand Homes: 500 Small House Plans edited by Henry Atterbury Smith.
via ©American Vintage Home on Flickr
via ©American Vintage Home on Flickr
Tuesday, January 10, 2012
Recreating Print Rooms
Print rooms were popular in 18th and 19th century England where they served as charming exhibit rooms for prints.
An unusual way for those returning from grand tours abroad to display a sort of souvenir album of visited landmarks, print rooms often featured engravings of favored classical ruins and city scenes.
I photographed these two print rooms from one of my design books: Decorating with Paper by Donna Land and Lucretia Robertson. They were created by English artist Nicola Wingate Saul. What a fun way to display old prints and engravings.
I photographed these two print rooms from one of my design books: Decorating with Paper by Donna Land and Lucretia Robertson. They were created by English artist Nicola Wingate Saul. What a fun way to display old prints and engravings.
Wonderful Wall of Books
I love books and I love cubbies so this bookcase wall really caught my eye. I'm not at all comfortable with an open fire surrounded by all that wood though. Something like that would send the building/fire inspectors into orbit around here. via
Friday, January 6, 2012
Please Use A Bookmark
Folded over pages in books are another of my pet peeves.
WPA poster showing a boy ironing down the page of a book. Chicago, WPA art project circa 1936-40. Artist: Arlington Gregg. From the collection of The Library of Congress via
Thursday, January 5, 2012
Cleaning Frenzy
I don't know about you, but I'm feeling an intense cleaning frenzy coming on. I never did get a good job done before Christmas because of Piggy, the little white French bulldog that was my houseguest through the New Year. I pinned a site this morning with 25 DIY Green Cleaning Recipes for the Whole House. Now mind you, I said I could feel it coming on but it hasn't actually started yet. I photographed this pic from one of my books entitled Spring Cleaning, the spirit of keeping home by Monica Nassif. I'm off to do some marketing first remembering to take my own canvas totes with me. I need to pay some bills too. Life really is getting back to normal, isn't it?
Tuesday, January 3, 2012
Wonderland Fungus
This fungus is getting curiouser and curiouser. I wonder if it's one that Alice ate? I'm certainly not going to taste it to find out. It's been growing on a tree at the edge of my woods for quite a long time and is a perfect subject for iPhone photos.
Saturday, December 31, 2011
Tuesday, December 27, 2011
Cranberry and Chocolate Squares
Made for each other -- that's the contrasting flavors of tangy-sharp cranberries and sweet chocolate.
DIY Self-Rising Flour: In a one cup measure, place 1-1/2 tsp baking powder and 1/2 tsp salt, then fill to top with flour. Mix well and store in an airtight container if not used right away.
You probably have all of these ingredients on hand right now. Don't these look delicious? I was too lazy to type everything so I just photographed the recipe from my book:
COOKIES irresistible biscuits, brownies and bars by Hilaire Walden published by Hermes House in 2002
