Sunday Story - The Prince & the White Cat

The Prince & the White Cat

Some time ago I included this illustration in a post called Wonderful Weddings.  I think these lovely paintings are the work of Jose Ortiz and as with all my 'Sunday Stories' originally appeared in Once Upon a Time magazine.  After posting a series of selected illustrations on different topics I received a request to include the full stories. This is one of my favourites.

I'm still using a borrowed laptop (my son's) as I've confirmed my own PC problem is not recoverable.  The last automatic windows update wiped out my ethernet adaptor. It seems I'm not the only person this has happened to.  If you are lucky you can roll back the change, but in some cases like mine the adaptor is destroyed completely




To get the laptop working again I'd have to reload the operating system, but as it is almost 5 years old I'm taking it as a sign I need a new one.  The only reason I'm hesitating before buying one is that Windows 8 seems to have a few problems and a new release is due to come out later this year.  I'd like to wait until that happens but my family want me to have my own laptop again so I may have to get one sooner rather than later!

Here is the story:
 

Taken from Once Upon a Time children's magazine. Issue #141 dated 23 October 1971


Through a glass - lightly

My husband thinks this photo is a bit daft but I find it quite effective.  I'm always the one with the camera taking photos of everyone else.  I never have any photos taken of me (I'm not vain but I'm a natural historian and recorder of the progression of time. In a way this blog is an attempt to catalogue my memories.).  When I saw how well this door was reflecting the scene outside I decided to take a self portrait.  I like the slightly indistinct results - its almost like a painting. 

The garden has been glorious now winter has finally released its grip.  These flowers are finished now but I loved them when they were in full spate and looked like a waterfall of blossoms.  Now the briar rose has taken over so it is still an equally colourful corner.  

When the flowers grow in such profusion its lovely to be able to bring a little bit of the garden inside.  I always think of my mom when I do this.   She loved arranging flowers and filling her home with them.

Meet Clarissa

I hope my friends in the blogging community will forgive me if I post something today but don't visit anyone in return. My PC will still not connect to the internet.  I've tried everything I can think of without success.  I'm borrowing my son's little netbook to do this - but have promised I will use if for just the time it takes to put up this post and not hog it completely!

The inspiration for Clarrisa

 This is the first of three paper dolls I am hoping to make based on the beautiful illustrations by Janet & Anne Grahame Johnstone.  I've decided to give my dolls names and chose Clarissa for this one.

  

 

The illustrations I've based her outfits on are all show here.  They are all taken from two books I've had since childhood - A Gift Book of Nursery Rhymes and A Gift Book of Enchanting Fairy Tales both illustrated by Janet & Anne Graham Johnstone.

Clarissa was my first submission to OPDAG (The Original Paper Doll Artists Guild).  The theme was Babies and Children.   At first I wasn't sure if it was OK to post dolls sent to OPDAG in my blog, but then I noticed Miss Missy had posted her lovely Heidi Fairy Tale Doll - one of my favourites from that issue of the magazine - so I felt it would be fine for me to do the same.

  

This is the version of the doll I submitted.  I realised afterwards it is a bit of a learning curve.  Because it was winter and just before Christmas I decided to experiment and use more wintery seasonal colours.  My sister and husband liked the finished effect, but I think for OPDAG it was a mistake and I should have stuck with the lighter more traditional colours like the alternate version shown at the start of this post.  In the magazine my dolls are allocated a quarter af an A4 page, so reduced down in size the darker colours meant a lot of the detail is lost.  

Still it was exciting seeing something I sent in printed in the issue!

If you want to colour in your own version here is the original pencil sketch.  (I actually always prefer the pencil drawings.) You will have to add tags to one of the dresses - apologies for that and I hadn't added the hat at the time I scanned it.

Maybe I should hold my own colouring competition with a prize for the best entry!
 

For this issue of the magazine members were also invited to send in outfits for a 'dress a doll' theme.  This one was called 'Dress the Kids'.  I sent in a selection of outfits for two of the dolls provided.  I won't be able to include the dolls here but you can see one of them on the cover of the magazine at the OPDAG Paper Doll Studio site.  Apparently there was an enormous response and although about 150 outfits were included in the magazine none of mine made the cut.  These are my dresses - I decided I'd put them up on my blog anyway as I was quite happy with them even though they were not selected. 
  

Putting a post together on this tiny little PC has been more tricky than I thought!  Hopefully I'll have something more permanent sorted out soon so I can get back to life in bloggyland properly.  I'm really missing the interaction with everyone!




 

Out of Service . . . .

A couple of days ago my laptop decided to go on the blink and it will no longer connect to the internet (I think it must be worn out like me!)  I'm not sure what the problem is.  I can see my service provider but the router no longer works.  I don't know if it can be fixed or how easy it will be to do that.  At the moment its just a step too far for me as I just don't have the reserves for the unexpected.  I'm borrowing my son's netbook but its only for 'emergencies' so no more blogging or other internet activities for me.

So its another unanticipated break.

My health will probably thank me.
But I will miss your company!!

Retro & Vintage Inspired Corner of my Home Linky

My Favourite Corner

Today I'm welcoming you into my home - its not the sort of post I would usually put together, but I decided it might be fun to join in a link-up (its my first!). This one is hosted by the lovely and ever stylish Kylie at Lucy Violet Vintage. 
Kylie hails from Perth in Western Australia and if you are not already a regular visitor of her blog please pop in an pay her a visit - you won't be disappointed.

Kylie is co-hosting the linky with Donna from Hung up on Retro. 
This is the first time I've had a chance to see Donna's blog and it was also a real treat. 

The idea of this link-up is to share some pics of our favourite vintage/retro inspired spaces in our homes.  At first I wasn't sure if I qualified - if my home is at all retro it is by accident rather than design.  Most of my possessions originally belonged to my mother or grandmother.  I surround myself with them because of the memories they hold and jumble up the good, bad and indifferent as their value to me has no correlation with any monetary worth.

The little tables (like the one with the vase of roses at the top) were made by my grandfather.  The tablecloth in the foreground of the photo above was embroidered many years ago by a relative - it has been lovingly and carefully patched over time - you can see the patches shining through in the sunlight.

I chose to photograph this vase as I knew Kylie would like it - and it was one of my mother's favourites.  I feel her presence with me whenever I walk past and look at it.  My father on the other hand hated it.  I can remember him saying that the colour always reminded him of the sign outside a police station.

I've included this second vase because I thought the colours and design fitted in quite well with the vintage / retro theme - although I think it is a bit older than the period we are celebrating here.  It comes from Gouda in Holland.

I've always loved this set - its quite a well known one called Gossamer by Royal Albert but my mom always called them her Harlequin cups.  They fascinated me when I was a child.  Today I'd never use them but keep them carefully put away in my china cabinet.

The last of my 'treasures' I thought I'd show you is this coffee set.  It was given to my grandmother as a present from my grandfather to celebrate my mother's birth in 1930.







This room is the original part of the house and started out as a forge 300 or so years ago.  (When it comes to retro and vintage I'm REALLY retro!)  I love it because it is full of character, solidly built and has this funny little staircase up the side that leads to what must have originally been a loft but is now a study.    

The only unusual thing about this room is that it is the first one I've inhabited that faces away from the hearth and fireplace.  (I couldn't take a pic of the hearth I liked - they were either too dark and blurry or the flash bounced off the mirror above it.)  Because we can't see the clock on the mantelpiece anymore we stuck the little cheap clock above the brass tray on the wall.

As all my blog friends already know we have only been in this house since March.  I'm still moving everything around to get the right balance.  The paintings in particular have all changed places since we first came here and I took the earlier pic of the room.

The pictures in the photo below are copies I painted many years ago of illustrations by two of my favourite artists.  The one on the left is taken from a Sleeping Beauty illustration by Maraja.  The painting on the right is based on one by Kay Nielsen although I changed it a bit by putting the girl next to the tree in the foreground.  The medieval looking picture in the second photo at the beginning of this post is a tapestry I made in 1980 from a small illustration in a Disney book of Sleeping Beauty.  When I went to buy the tapestry canvas and discovered how cheap blank canvas was at the time I got a bit carried away and bought a really BIG piece.      

Eagle eyed South Africans will have noticed the potjie pot (a three-legged cast iron pot).  Its used to make potjiekos - a type of stew cooked over an open fire.  There is an art to doing it well (my husband is the only expert in our house) and the results are delicious.

When we first moved into the house at the end of winter I posted some photos of the garden here (In the Realm of Faerie).  Now the garden is finally coming to life, the magnolia is in full bloom and the trees are soft and green.

In the earlier post I also included a pic of the river at the bottom of the garden.  Next to the river are the foundations of a long gone building and this big millstone.  My son calls it the Irish Round Table.

We are only supposed to post our link-ups on Saturday but because Kylie is in Australia and it will be Saturday there much earlier than here I've decided to publish mine tonight.  I think that matches the time requirement a little bit better.

Hope you enjoyed your short visit with me!

Bill Woggon - 1960's Family Values

I had two quite tough and tiring days to end the working week so didn't think I would be putting out a post this weekend and then two corresponding things happened to change my mind.  First my dear friend Barbara from the fabulous March House Books Blog gave me the Very Inspiring Blogger Award.  Thanks so much Barbara - if I can manage it I will put together the prerequisite acceptance post although I have to admit I am becoming more and more aware of my limitations!  Then yesterday I noticed that Terence (Agman) from Aviator had dedicated a post to my last offering of the Nadir Quinto Star Maidens. (I had a fabulous response to that post ans would  like to thank everyone for your wonderful comments.)  Terence's words: 'If you've ever wondered? where children go when they dream visit this post'  kind of blew me away - if I had to put into words what I was trying to achieve with these posts, describing them as 'the place where children go when they dream' would be the highest accolade I could aspire to.

This week I'm not featuring a fairytale or particularly colourful post, but for a while I've been wanting to do the second of three offerings on the Bill Woggon Story of the Ballet Coloring Book  (first posted in January). I know a few people besides myself have very fond memories of this book (I hope Georgia comes back to find me again - I'm sorry it has taken me longer than expected to include these extra pages.)  I would have been a contemporary of these two little girls at the time the book was published and as I was a big fan of ballet I identified with them entirely.

Today though what I want to post is not the ballet aspect of the book but the family at the core of the story.  Those of us from the era will recognise the lifestyle it contains immediately and like me, I'm sure, will find it equally delightful.

'Mommy' is the quintessential 1960's home-maker.  She is beautiful and feminine, always immaculately dressed (with high heels and jewellery) and perfectly coiffed.  Mommy prepares tasty meals for her family, the table is artfully set and her home filled with flowers.  In the next post I'm planning from this book you will see she is also able to whip up a sparkling array of ballet costumes for her two girls without breaking a sweat.
 
  

'Daddy' is clean cut and handsome.  He is the breadwinner of the family.  Every day Daddy disappears to that strange and mysterious world called 'the office'.  Daddy is the decision maker of the family and everything must be deferred to him (although to my eyes now he looks impossibly young!).

The womenfolk of the family are however not above some clever feminine manipulation to ensure that Daddy makes the correct decision.

The family is rounded off with Fiddle Diddle the dog.  When I bought the book I knew it was used and not in perfect condition but was so happy to have finally found a copy I have no complaints.  Some of the pictures are coloured in and a few pages are missing.  Amongst them are Fiddle Diddle's antics at the ballet class so unfortunately I will not be able to include any of those.

This last picture is the one that produced the biggest reaction from me.  When Daddy gets home he is brought his pipe and slippers to relax after a hard day at work.  Here he is happily smoking away indoors with a daughter on each knee.  As a child I would have found this completely normal and not given it a second thought!

The Story of the Ballet, illustrated by Bill Woggon. Costume design by Cassie Bill. Published by Saalfield 1963/64.










Recently I've been mentioning how much my new extended commute eats into my day, leaving me with little time to pack in everything else I have to try to do outside of working and travelling - and as a result I'm feeling quite tired.  It is a bit of a conundrum though because the commute itself is through beautiful scenery and I often think to myself that many people spend a lot of money to experience just once what I get to see it all its changing moods every day.

It takes about half an hour to get me to the station and on to the train and twenty minutes to walk to my office when I get to town but everything in-between is by train.  I suppose I could spend the time more constructively if I bought a tablet or more portable laptop or even a book to read.  But for the moment I am still enjoying the landscape as it glides past and to be honest I value the downtime.  I suffered a nearly fatal dose of encephalitis when I was a teenager leaving me prone to migraines and my eyes extremely light sensitive.  Working in IT and staring at a monitor all day was probably not the wisest career choice!  So this chance to sit and do nothing is often quite appreciated, especially in the mornings when the train is empty before we reach the commuter belt.  (Coming home I've had to work out a strategy of juggling two different types of trains to have the best option of getting a seat!)

As Shakespeare so eloquently said 'had we both world enough and time'!

Leaving Rathdrum station

I took a few photographs to show my husband and son some of the parts of the trip I enjoy the most and thought I would also share them with my blog friends.

We start off through fairy forests and lovely farmland.

Then after Wicklow Town we hug the coast almost the whole way into town.

 

Bray Head

Bray Head (Between Bray and Greystones)

I was quite lucky to get the next photo as I don't usually have my camera with me and on this particular day a sailing ship just happened to be there as we went past.  They were moving and we we moving and I wasn't sure if we would get close enough before they disappeared around the corner (and we went into the tunnel) but I just managed to snap this shot.

Killiney Bay

Iarnród Éireann have recently introduced a new fleet of commuter trains that are very smart and it feels more like you are in a plane than a train.  There are glamorous sounding announcements first in Irish and then English throughout the journey.  The older trains are not as smart but they are possibly more comfortable and seem bigger.  

The 'station' at Kilcoole is quite unique - it is just a single platform on the beach!  (There is a car park but no station building.)

Sunrise at Kilcoole

The Star Maidens - Nadir Quinto

I was originally going to post another entry on the Bill Woggon colouring book I featured at the beginning of the year as I've always had three posts in mind for it.  But somehow I felt I needed something with a bit more colour in my life today - and this lovely story seemed just the ticket.  The illustrations are by Nadir Quinto - one of my favourite artists and someone who has featured in my blog on more that one occasion before. 

I love everything about these illustrations.  The richness of the colours, the subject matter, and the way just looking at them makes my spirit soar into the heavens where it can dance in that vast spangled expanse alongside these fairies and prancing winged horses.

Last week I was feeling very tired, demoralised and pretty glum in general.  I'd like to say a big thank you to everyone who left a comment and to those of you I know visit regularly even if you don't always say anything.  I've mentioned before that blogging has surprised me by being such a two way street.  I always hoped my posts would bring enjoyment and delight to the lives of others in the same way that these illustrations have given such joy and pleasure to mine.  I never expected to find my own life enriched in return so much by the people I've met in the process.  I may not have managed to garner hundreds of followers but I've realised that each and every one of you is far more important to me than a thousand voiceless faces - so for that I'd like to thank you all for the wealth of friendship you've brought to my world.

This is another instance where I've had to split my scans into two images because I can only cope with A4 size and the original pages are much larger.  I've tried to do these so that both the illustrations and the text are included.  I may have cut a little bit off on the edges but I hope I've still managed to keep a workable balance.

This story originally appeared in 'Once Upon a Time' magazine. 

Issues 79 to 82

Published weekly between 15 August 1970 and 5 September 1970

To those of you whose blogs I normally visit - thanks again for being so understanding if I don't pop around as often as I used to.  I've found because of my new extended commute (coupled with a demanding work environment) I tend to run out of steam as the week progresses - each day gets progressively worse and by Thursday I'm capable of doing virtually nothing by the time I get home.  Its almost more than I can do to get up on Friday morning but at least then I have the knowledge that on Saturday I don't have to make a 5am start.  Its amazing how well the weekend manages to revive my energy and spirits - but then treadmill continues and its back to the same old routine on Monday again!