midsummer eve ...

A beautiful painting entitled Midsummer Eve by Edward Robert Hughes c1908

Although the solstice is traditionally known as 'midsummer', we often think of it as the first 'official' day of summer. There is a certain irony to this, as after the solstice the days begin to get shorter. In a sense, the solstice is the beginning of the end of summer!

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do you believe in fairies ...

I would like you to meet 'Amy in the pale pink dress' and 'Wine in the dark pink dress'. These two lovely fairies were made by my very talented sister-in-law Stella, and I was given these accompanied by other goodies for Christmas, along with the message that their hairdos reminded her and my niece of Amy Winehouse. Now you see where I got their names from!

There has been talk of fairies in two other blogs I have visited recently, first Lucy Bloom was blessed with the power of a thrift fairy, who has been hovering close to Marlborough in Wiltshire, and Shadows and Clouds who recently revisited a local haunt from her childhood, where she believed fairies may have been taking up residence. Do visit both of these blogs, who knows that special fairy dust might just settle over you?

I have always been captivated by fairies and I wonder when this fascination would have started. Maybe from my early years of having been visited by the tooth fairy, can't remember what she would have left, possible an old penny, thruppence or even sixpence?

by Cicely Mary Barker ... her first book Flower Fairies of the Spring was published in 1923 bringing her international acclaim, and her many beautifully illustrated books which followed have become classics with children and adults alike.

Click on Flower Fairies to visit the official website, for lots of fairy fun.

I recently discovered that Cicely Mary Barker first found inspiration for her Flower Fairies Journal whilst staying in Storrington in West Sussex, a village we know very well, as J and his family were brought up and still live there to this day. Click on Flower Fairy Journal for a more in-depth account.

by Ida Rentoul Outhwaite ... was the first children's book illustrator in Australia to have her work printed in lavish full-colour editions and to establish an international career. She was hailed as one of the most significant new illustrators in England post World War One. She wrote and illustrated more than sixty children's books, most of which were published by Angus & Robertson in Australia and A & C Black in the United Kingdom.

Ida's exquisite watercolours and fine pen and ink drawings have recently enjoyed a widespread revival of interest.

christmas classics ...

Raymond Briggs' unique characterisation of Father Christmas is based on his father - "Father Christmas and the milkman both have wretched jobs: working in the cold, wet and dark."



"People often ask about the technique in (The Snowman) - it is done entirely with pencil crayons, with no line in pen or pencil and no washes of ink or watercolour."

"In Fungus the Bogeyman I wanted to show the petty nastiness of life - slime and snot and spit and dandruff, all this awful stuff which is slightly funny because it detracts from human dignity and our pretensions."

The Worthing branch of retail chain British Bookshops Sussex Stationers, in Montague Street, is supporting Chestnut Tree House children's hospice's competition. The task is to design a Christmas card for the hospice, which is based near Arundel and is the only children's hospice in Sussex.

Raymond Briggs, illustrator of The Snowman, will be choosing the winners of each age group. The winning designs will be transformed into Christmas cards which the hospice will sell next year. Last year's winners, along with an exclusive design donated by Mr Briggs, will appear in the shops at the end of this month.

For more on Raymond Briggs click on this link.

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two of my loves ...

May your flowers be even better than the pictures on the packets!

Now you know where my love for gardening and Mabel Lucie Attwell comes from. My interest in Mabel Lucie Attwell postcards started with my granny, a few years before she died she had to move into a home, and whilst we were sorting through her photographs I came across this postcard. It was the first time I had come across Mabel Lucie Attwell, and I thought it was just so sweet and was in raptures, anyway not surprisingly I ended up taking it home with me; a little boy holding a packet of seeds, surrounded by flowerpots.

This card was produced in 1936 by Valentine of Dundee, and is postmarked 24 June 1937, addressed to my grandparents. There friend Molly was having a lovely holiday in Margate.

Kath from Beeswax has dedicated a garden theme MLA card on her blog to me, how kind is that!