The Secret Garden

The Secret Garden is one of my favorite books of all time. My first introduction to it was the book illustrated by Tasha Tudor, which remains my favorite edition - although I surely wouldn't mind having a first edition to add to my collection of Frances Hodgson Burnett tomes:
I love the book so much that I wanted to collect other volumes by other illustrators, as well - like this one published in 1949 with illustrations by Nora S. Unwin:
And when Graham Rust came out with his version, it was so beautiful that I felt I "needed" it, as well:
I thoroughly enjoy the film versions of the story, too. My favorite is this one from 1949 with the wonderful Margaret O'Brien:
And since I'm such a die-hard fan, I had to have copies of the "remakes". This one from Hallmark is from 1992:
Warner Brothers, from 1993:
I can't quite even explain why I bought this one (1994). I don't even like the IDEA of animating this story. I've never watched it, and I doubt I will. I guess it was just my quest for all versions (which I have not yet accomplished, by the way):
Lastly, I have the Original Broadway Cast Album from the musical:
We actually did go see the musical stage version when they were in Sacramento. I really didn't enjoy it very much. We had bad seats, and I was not familiar with the score at the time. We could not tell what they were singing (the lyrics) at all, which made for a less-than-enjoyable experience. I'm not interested in seeing it again, either. I'll stick with my classic book, and the film versions. Those, I can enjoy over and over again.

Calico

Calico, calico - another of my favorite fabric patterns. I like it in all colors! But I admit to being partial to red and yellow:
Bright green is pretty, too:
And I like these stuffed ornaments I found at a thrift store:
The red below is a napkin, the pink is a remnant - I will always buy a pretty calico remnant from a thrift store!
Adorable - a red pig and a calico cat in yellow, to make with McCall's pattern #2187. You could probably find it on eBay:
And here's another Calico Cat (with the Gingham Dog!), from a 1973 Seventeen magazine:
More calico - even seam binding. The red is a huge valance that as free at a thrift store:
If you don't want cute animals, then I suppose you could make this funky angel or stuffed eggs. I don't think I want to.
But, oh, I DO like these dresses in calico jersey from a 1970 Seventeen Magazine. Both from "Charlie's Girls":
My friend Debbie had a red and yellow calico dress back in 1971:
And I had a yellow one! (I LOVED it- and I think I wore it until it fell apart!)
And I can tell you I wouldn't have minded owning this pretty ensemble from Jennifer Dale back then! (From 1970,also)
Three years later, in 1973 - Better Homes and Gardens had these patterns you could send for (from Burda Patterns of Germany), so that you could dress your little girl in calico, as well.
And calico is STILL popular, isn't it? Well, even if it isn't, I still love it anyway.

What's Penny Wearing? #20

Oh, let me count the ways that I love this gorgeous vintage paisley maxi-dress that Penny has on today!!

I'm sad to say: it is not mine. It belongs to Tina.

In a bright and beautiful phantasmagoric spectrum of paisley loveliness, with it's tiered skirt, it calls my name....
(softly)...."Heidi, Heidi, keep me 'borrowed' and take me out, please....somewhere wonderful, please.....have fun wearing me, please...... I deserve to be seen, appreciated, and admired....."

Did you hear it, too??

Plants I Know and Love: #2 Hollyhocks

Good morning. Gold Country Sis Tina here, running a bit late. I am blaming my computer since it is old, slow and I only have dial up. But better late than never as they say...

This blog is about my Hollyhocks. I love them. They are easy to grow, tall, beautiful. I grow them every year. They are perennials, so they give off a great display of flowers for two years and then they die back, but that is okay, because they have put out so many seeds during their short life that they have fathered many more little plants to take their place

The plant above is a "volunteer" hollyhock which came up in the middle of my compost bin in my orchard. It is a red single old fashioned hollyhock and is unbelievably beautiful. This past summer was it's last year and I got hundreds of seeds from it. There are also all kinds of little baby volunteer plants coming up around where it grew that I will transplant to other places when I get the chance (i.e. recuperate from my surgery!) But they will grow happily where they are until then, because they are hardy little buggers.

This is a closeup of my lovely compost heap volunteer.

One more shot because it was so lovely and I appreciated it so much. The only problem with it was I didn't get to use my compost for two years because it was growing smack dab in the middle of the whole bin.

In front of my house I have grown several lovely kinds of Hollyhocks. I tend to like the old fashioned single types the best, but I have grown the doubles and also the shorter type, if I like the colors.

Above is a lovely double Hollyhock. It is one of the shorter variety.

The dark hollyhock shown above was one of the prettiest I've grown. I saved seeds from it but haven't been able to recreate the same color yet.

These yellow/white hollyhocks were quite showy. They also were very prolific with seeds.

Unfortunately for me, and the hollyhocks, deer love to eat them. At my house, they like to wait until there is a beautiful display of flowers that I want to show off to my neighbors and friends. Then they come in on an early morning and eat every last one of them, except the ones they can't reach. But they also pull them down and eat them if they can. They also like to wait until the seeds are just ready for me to harvest and then eat all the seeds.

These hollyhocks tried hard to be out of reach of the deer, but they too were eaten not long after I took this photo.

This beautiful pink single is trying to grow behind a fence but the deer stick their heads right in and have a snack. They can stretch a long way, and they really like to eat hollyhocks!

In spite of the deer, the hollyhocks and I keep trying and some years we get a great display. Sometimes I only have a couple of plants that survive, and other times I have a wonderful display for at least a few weeks. This year was not a good year for the hollyhocks. It was a great year for the deer.

This red single old fashioned hollyhock was lucky because it was far enough behind the fence to survive.

Next year I will try again, and I keep hoping for a fence around the house so that I can have a nice flower garden that isn't just grown for deer fodder. I have a lot of little volunteer plants waiting for my convalescence to end so that I can transplant them around the house and yard. I am looking forward a great display in 2010.

Then And Now #54 Diamond Walnuts

Diamond Walnuts from California today. Mmmm - the brownies look good in this advertisement from 1954:
And so do the candies here, from 1955:
Brown Sugar chews, from 1956 - YUM:

Combine the Diamond Walnuts with Toll House Morsels, and make "Kookie Brittle" - or just make traditional Toll House cookies!
I like their ads, it's nice to include recipes, don't you think?

And below, Diamond Walnuts and pecans "Now" - as in "these are in my baking cupboard right now":

Ready for some holiday baking!

Disneyland Records

I'm sharing a few of my Disney records with you today. "We're the Mousketeers, and we want to say hello..."
I don't think any of the Mousketeers will be at Disneyland today, but I will! We're on our way this morning - Lori, my friend Debbie, and me. I don't suppose we will see Spin and Marty, either...
And I will forever miss my beloved Carousel of Progress, with one of my favorite Sherman Brothers tunes "There's a great big, beautiful tomorrow, shining at the end of every day.." (I'm glad they still have it at WDW, though!)
But we WILL get to ride "Alice in Wonderland", and the "Mad Tea Party"!
And I am REALLY looking forward to the "It's A Small World" holiday overlay, and the beautiful colorful lights on it at night:

"There's a great big, beautiful tomorrow, just a dream away!"

Thrifted Wearables

It sure is a lot more fun to shop for clothes now that I can fit in to smaller sizes. And finding nice things at reasonable (or cheap!) prices makes it even better! First up, a nice Woolrich shirt in a nice autumnal print, a pretty leaf pin (on the blouse) and some brown suede boot/shoes that I LOVE. I just saw a very similar pair in the September issue of Real Simple magazine - the same brand as mine, Aerosoles, for $89. My price? $1.99!:
You may or may not like my Granny Square vest/jacket - that's okay with me - I like it, and I'm the one who will be wearing it!
I found a nice Liz Claiborne Ultrasuede (?) shirt/jacket in a pretty butterscotch color, and a green turtleneck:

I didn't have anything with an animal print but now I do! A pretty blouse:
And I found a nice scarf, a "pearl" necklace, and some black boots, too! The boots were $1.99, also.
And another nice shirt, a floral print in great colors for fall:

I'm loving adding my latest "thrifted wearables" to my wardrobe.
(I have found pants, as well - but I cannot get Penny to model them! She insists on wearing only skirts and dresses.)