A fanciful house: Enid Blyton

I do love a house with rounded eaves. So charming! This particular one is called "Old Thatch" and is found in Bourne End, Buckinghamshire in England. It was once home to Enid Blyton, early 20th century British children's author, and her husband.

I remember reading Blyton's 'Famous Five' stories as a child and envisaging the young sleuths traipsing across the lush, rolling countryside, hiding in thickets and getting lost in large houses. But even then I never imagined a house quite like 'Old Thatch'.

Would it be easier to dream up wonderful imaginary characters in such a marvellous setting? Or is it the very lack of a fanciful environment that stirs one's imagination to action? Like those white-wall experiments in which the brain's need for stimulation impels it to hallucinate. I believe mine would frolic in the land of possibility either way.

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Source: MilborneOne. Wikipedia: Enid Blyton (Creative Commons)

Ornaments

On a mid-winter's walk I came upon this whimsical scene: someone had decorated their front yard tree with over-sized ornaments.

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Thank you to those who go out of their way to create a little magic for the rest of us!

The Christmas Wishes Project, 2011

I had a lot of fun researching my response to Miss Cathie's original post, in which she beckons us to join in the festive indulgences of the season as we also take time to reflect on the deeper meaning.

Most of my wishes of late have been for things that are befitting a lifelong dreams wishlist, some of which can not be bought at all. So it was refreshing to revel in a little (I use the word loosely!) online window shopping. This list was compiled with a dose of fancifulness—my real list is much more modest, heavy on the gift cards and largely unspoken.

But should a secret Santa wish to surprise me…

1. - Vintage Trinket Box: the lady in this ornate example lifts off as the lid!
2. - The Complete Stories of Sherlock Holmes: with gilt edging and original Strand illustrations
3. - Black, Full-length Winter Coat: preferably with front placket though I like this one too!
4. - Adobe Creative Suite 5.5
5. - Bicycle: sit-up-and-beg style with rear pannier
6. - Oxford Latin Dictionary: this new one comes out in 2012. Special pre-order??
7. - Mirror: with ornate leaf border design
8. - Cute little house: after all I need someplace to put numbers 1 through 7!
   To see more cute houses, please visit AmericanVintageHome on Flickr.

Wishing that everyone gets a little closer to their dreams this Christmas!

my faery poster :)

This divine poster of faeries hangs on my bedroom wall. It is a collage of sorts, comprising two months from an old faery-themed calendar. Would that my picture frame were larger—and that my wallspace more generous—I would have had all the faeries about me in suspended animation! But I dare not complain, for these two prints are a treat. Soothing from afar and upon close inspection there are a myriad of details to tickle the imagination.

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The uppermost painting is The Night Fairies by Hans Zatzka;
and the second is Les Fées (scène tirée de Shakespeare) by Paul Gustave Doré.

Bloglovin: Blog organiser

There are so many blogs to keep track of! Some of them I check often, some now and then; most less than I mean to. I bookmark many of them, but that does not always mean I keep up to date.

So I am trying out Bloglovin, a tidy little website that provides a handy way to keep everything organised. It allows you to show off your own blog(s) and/or keep tabs on what's new with the blogs you like to follow.

You can follow my blog with Bloglovin. Here's to all the bloggers!