Tuesday, April 29, 2008

Cambridge is overrun with millions of babies, baby ducklings that is. They are so cute! You see these precious little fur balls all over the college lawns, which I find extremely funny. Perhaps I should explain. All of the college lawns are mowed to perfection. They look like golf course putting greens. It seems as though every time I walk through Kings College the grounds are being mowed yet again (I walk through the college almost every day). I have discovered that the pattern in the grass is also important. There are signs everywhere on the lawn edges warning you not to even THINK about setting one toe on the grass. As I walked through the college the other day there were three mother ducks with their ducklings (each mom had about eleven ducklings) romping around on the grass. Several people stopped because the baby ducklings were just such fun to watch. I think every kind of baby is cute…well, maybe not baby snakes.

Posted by Mary at 09:48 AM CST

Sunday, April 27, 2008

Yesterday we went to visit Waddesdon Manor. It is one of the few National Trust houses, which is relatively close by, that we had never seen. As we drove through the countryside it was beautiful to see all the intense yellow fields of oilseed rape (I still can’t get used to that-is that even the right way to say it?). Once you arrive at Waddesdon, there is still quite a drive to the house. As you wind around the hill leading to the house, a peek through the trees makes you aware that the views from the top will be worth the drive alone. The shear size of Waddesdon is awesome. It is a massive French chateau style manor house. It was built in the Victorian era and as you can see, it shows. We took an audio tour of the house, which was very informative. Waddesdon is filled to the brim with beautiful French paneling, exquisite porcelain in every possible form, unbelievable 18th century silver, and fabulous paintings. I loved seeing Gainsborough’s “The Pink Boy.” I think if bumper stickers had been around during the first Lord Rothschild’s lifetime, he should have had one made that reads, “I’d rather be in France.” While you could overdose on all the things that each room contained that was of value (no wonder he didn’t like kids), I found myself intrigued by the button collection, the watercolors of various china patterns, and the 18th century trade cards. I think Lord Rothschild would have found me a disappointing guest.

Posted by Mary at 01:39 PM CST

Friday, April 25, 2008

I am a huge fan of Jane Austen. When you visit some of The National Trust country houses you can almost picture what society must have been like at that time. My favorite all time movie is the A&E version of Pride and Prejudice. In fact, my girls and I watched it so much that finally one of our six video tapes broke!
The pains that everyone went through to be introduced into proper society was remarkable. I wonder what Jane Austen would have thought of the internet? It is still somewhat strange to me even though I use it all the time. Our “introductions” now are clickable links to other web sites.
Well, I am about to add those same types of links to my web site, but I also think that some introductions are necessary. I have mentioned to you my gardening friend, but she is not ready to be introduced as she is still sorting out things on her web site. However, there is someone else that I would like for you to meet. She is Nancy Abigail, a Chicago children’s photographer. Her work is fresh and unique. She has an uncanny way of capturing the moment with children. Be sure to view her portfolio which is at the bottom of the page. I think you will enjoy her web site:
www.nancyabigail.com
She also happens to be my daughter! I would love to introduce my two other amazing children, but unfortunately they are not part of the web site “society.”

Posted by Mary at 08:20 AM CST

Wednesday, April 23, 2008

Around this time of year many of the fields in our area turn a bright shade of yellow. Since I have admitted in the past that I am, sadly, a “city slicker,” I have no idea what this crop is that is growing in the fields very near to where we live. For all I know it could be the most common crop grown everywhere around the world. After some investigation, I discovered that it is called rapeseed, or oilseed rape. (Don’t ask me, I am just reporting what I read.) Apparently, it does dominate the countryside in the British Isles although it is grown in other places such as Germany and Canada. In some counties in England this crop covers up to one tenth of the farmland. When it first comes up it is just an ordinary green plant, then within a matter of days the entire field turns bright yellow. It’s beautiful!
Rapeseed is a member of the cabbage and turnip family and the edible variety, which is the oilseed rape, is used to make cooking oil.
It is a sign that spring is here. I love the signs of spring!

Posted by Mary at 06:31 AM CST

Monday, April 21, 2008

I feel a real artistic kindred spirit to William Morris (1834-1896). He loved the medieval period and early English Gothic style, as do I. In 1859 Morris had Philip Webb design a new house for he and his wife. Red House, as it was known, launched Morris into a career that became a stylistic movement. As he was trying to fill his new house with carpets, furniture, and other pleasing aesthetic things, he couldn’t find anything he liked so he created them, or had them created! The result of this need and frustration was the birth of a small firm with several friends including Philip Webb. The company produced the quality hand crafted items that Morris felt was so important in the decoration of a house. The wallpapers and fabrics that William Morris created are true works of art to me. His work was based on his study of the natural world and also previous historic interpretations.
His passion and commitment to excellent design has made his designs distinct and enduring. While he and those in his firm were influenced by historic periods, his interpretation of that style is completely unique. It is known today as the Arts and Crafts movement, but I think of it as William Morris style.

Posted by Mary at 07:20 AM CST

Saturday, April 19, 2008

My oven here in Cambridge and I don’t communicate very well. I really don’t understand it. I am able to use it, but just barely. I often have to pull out the manual to make sure I got the temperature right, and I turned on the oven I actually put the food in. My oven is pretty ordinary, but then there are the Aga cookers. I just love the way they look. The picture to the right is a 19th century English farmhouse kitchen. The stove is probably the forerunner to the British Aga. I have always thought it would be wonderful to have a huge country kitchen with the massive Aga cooker inside a brick fireplace in the kitchen, similar in size to the one pictured. In fact, I bought a magazine yesterday (Period Ideas) that has an article on Agas. After reading the article, I did a google search to find out more. What I discovered was a culture devoted to this cooker. They are true groupies! There are so many websites devoted to it. The one I found most interesting was Aga Central. Their website is:
www.agacentral.com/index.html
One of my favorite questions that was asked in their section FAQ is, “The Aga cooker has no temperature adjustments. How do I cook?” (And I thought I had problems!)
The answer was that you needed to figure out which plate was for boiling and which one was for simmering, and then there was the option of controlling the temperature by placing your pan slightly off the hotplate. For the oven temperature adjustments, you could put large pans of very cold water on the hot plates and that would gradually reduce the temperature in the ovens. Wow! It’s unbelievably involved…so why do I still want one?

Posted by Mary at 09:06 AM CST

Thursday, April 17, 2008

John Constable, a famous British 19th century landscape painter, captures the English countryside so well. I love his work. This is one of his paintings done in the early 1800s.
Our oldest daughter has been visiting us this past week. Several times during her visit we walked out on the country footpath to the neighboring village of Grantchester to have lunch, or tea. The countryside in this painting is not unlike the meadows we walked through. Yesterday as we were walking back, we noticed a large bird flapping his wings furiously, but staying in a “holding pattern.” It looked so strange so we stopped to watch. After a few seconds he made a nosedive straight down. It was a hawk. We continued to watch him as we walked along the footpath. He did a lot more wing flapping and nose-diving. He was great entertainment, but I am not sure he found anything to eat while we were watching.

Posted by Mary at 11:36 AM CST

Tuesday, April 15, 2008

These are two sketches from one of John Days FIFTY scrapbooks. I absolutely love them! Mr. Day (1824 -1888) was a well-known orchid grower who had nearly three thousand detailed drawings and watercolors of tropical orchids. The Victorian society was fascinated with the stories of journeys to far off places to collect these exotic flowers. The orchid hunters, as they were called, overcame many dangers and challenges to bring these specimens back. How did I discover these amazing drawings? Well they are in a book, entitled, A Very Victorian Passion. The Orchid Paintings of John Day. You can read more about the book at this site:

www.orchidsbooks.com/book.asp?id=823

Maybe we can incite another orchidmania!

Posted by Mary at 07:22 AM CST

Friday, April 11, 2008

Last night we hosted a 50th surprise party for a good friend that lives in Cambridge. We had such a good time. My husband had to try and trick our friend into coming over so that he would not suspect anything. As usual, a very simple plan went wrong. Our friend’s wife ended up going to plan "B" so we could get him over here for his surprise party. (Oh what a tangled web we weave…!). I thought about it later and wondered “why” it is that surprises are so important to everyone. If you can actually pull off a surprise, it is so wonderful because you are doing something that you know will please the one that you want to surprise.

There are amazing surprises we encounter in other ways too. Years ago when my husband and I drove to Blickling Hall in East Anglia the drive to the hall was lovely, but the land in our area is, for the most part, flat. You are not driving over hills and being surprised by incredible vistas. As we continued to drive toward Blickling, I thought what could be out here that could really “wow” me? Then came the surprise. It was the first country house estate we had ever visited. I was shocked when I saw it coming into view. It was so beautiful and unexpected.

The National Trust owns Blickling Hall. It owns many properties. We usually join the National Trust when we’re here so we can have access to all the properties for free. My husband considers it money well spent because it keeps me out of the antique shops!
Their website is:
www.nationaltrust.org.uk

Posted by Mary at 08:26 PM CST

Thursday, April 10, 2008

I finally saw Miss Potter. It is truly wonderful. I highly recommend it. The movie portrayed Beatrix Potter as having definite ideas about the way she wanted the colors to appear in her books. Her style, down to the size she wanted for the books, made her unique. I love the fact that even now she is one of the best selling children’s authors in the world. Colors alone can define a particular style (or an artist) and make them identifiable. Interestingly, monochromatic colors in design have remained classic in style for centuries, like the one pictured above.
I have been studying Italian Majolica from the 16th century. They used either a particular blue and white (see small picture to the right), or blue and white and just a few other colors, but never red, only a reddish orange. At least, I haven’t found anything using red. I really like the fact that one of the identifying marks of this majolica is the color combination. I am just not sure though I could leave the color red out of my color scheme on a regular basis. I love red!

Posted by Mary at 05:58 AM CST

Monday, April 7, 2008

This past weekend was The Grand National. It is an amazing four-mile horse race that I have always enjoyed watching. It doesn’t seem as predictable as the American horse races. The course itself looks grueling with numerous hurdles, but then other things can occur. For example, if a horse loses its jockey due to a fall, it just keeps going. Sometimes that can really cause problems to the other horses and jockeys during the race. While it is a fun race to watch, yesterday when my neighbor and I were walking our usual route on a country footpath, we saw a rider dressed in some kind of uniform riding around a makeshift course with hurdles at various points. I imagine the horse belonged to the incredible country house that we can see at a distance. There is something so spectacular about watching a beautiful horse riding in the magnificent countryside. It was lovely, a simple pleasure. We stopped and watched and Lisa and I don’t usually stop for anything!

Posted by Mary at 06:34 AM CST

Saturday, April 5, 2008

Some of you have been puzzled about when I am going to resume doing mail orders. Well, officially I will begin sending out mail orders in mid August of this year when I am back at home, but we will be home for two weeks at the beginning of June so if you would like for me to mail you something then, I can. Right now I have a list of orders to send out while I am briefly at home. If you would like to have an order sent out in June, feel free to order “by mail.” I will send out only those orders I have on the list by the last week of May. If you have any questions, please email me.

Posted by Mary at 06:57 AM CST

Thursday, April 3, 2008

I think I might be the last person on the planet to know about Etsy.com, but if you are in the dark as I was, let me tell you about it. It is a wonderful site that has all things handmade. Frankly, I have never been very partial to felt until I saw the wonderful brooches made out of felt on this site. You must go have a look. It is a fun place to visit. The web address is:

www.etsy.com

Speaking of handmade, I did teach the three sisters next door (10, 8, and 6) how to stitch. I was amazed at how well they all did…even the six year old! BUT, I did change something.
Several years ago when I taught three other sisters to stitch they were 14, 12, and 7. I taught them on linen and it was no problem. This time, although I had already bought a remnant of 27 count linen, I began to think that it would just end up being frustrating for the younger girls and not at all fun. I went back to the store and bought the first piece of Aida cloth I have ever bought. Since we had been to the museum to see the samplers, they knew that girls two hundred and fifty years ago DID stitch on linen. I explained that after they mastered the art of reading the pattern and being able to follow it, we’d switch to linen. I made a very simple design for each of them. They were able to accomplish so much in such a short time that I feel as though, for their ages, it was the way to go...AND the main thing is they had fun stitching!

Posted by Mary at 09:45 AM CST

Tuesday, April 1, 2008

My family has always been big on jokes. We love to give gag gifts at Christmas…the tackier the better. One year my mother gave me plastic roses that light up when you plug them in. They take the prize for the best/worst gag gift I ever got, sorry kids. She also took them back after Christmas so she could regift it.
Anyway, I thought since it IS April Fool‘s Day I would email our kids (and my mother) and tell them that we have found this beautiful English country house (pictured above) that was an incredible bargain and we’re moving. The problem is they might believe us and get upset, so I decided to post it here instead. I do love all the thatched roof cottages here! If this beautiful cottage was ACTUALLY for sale, I could be real tempted!

Posted by Mary at 06:48 AM CST