The Wind In The Willows

vintage cover

The Wind in the Willows was first published in 1908 by Kenneth Grahame, a retired banker.  He wrote these stories for his son. The plot goes something like this:  a group of animal friends, Rat, Mole, and Badger, attempt to help their out-of-control friend Toad to his senses and give up his wild indulgences.  Toad first has a pension for horse and carriage then he discovers motor cars ext. all while Toad Hall is in jeopardy and a band of weasels move in. Toad finally learns his lesson after everything is straightened out.  Rather moralistic, however, it is highly evocative of the English countryside and this is why I like it. What could be better than a toad living in a great manor house anyway? I don't know what made me think of these stories after all these years, but I might read the book to my son if he likes.

available on Amazon here

This claymation version of The Wind in the Willows is the movie I grew up watching.  I remember thinking that it was odd.  So odd I loved it.  There are many other versions as well, including a live action movie (1996) but I watched a few minutes of it and found it rather too strange and lacking in charm.

All these lovely images make me want to go on a picnic.  It is Spring after all. 

via the gardian

via the telegraph

via the culture concept circle

via cellar door books


via design diary

cherrycolored

via a brit in tennessee

Wind in the Willows hotel in Glossop, UK via 

As an English major I could write a good deal on the literary merits of the book, but I won't.  If you are interested, I found a site: here  It is a critique of an edition of The Wind in the Willows edited by Seth Lerer.  It is fully worth your while if you are into annotations.  I am!

Now How About That Picnic?

via pinterest

I am craving a picnic.   We have the wind here, not that it is required or even wanted, now we just need the lake and the willows!

Beatrix Potter

 

Helen Beatrix Potter at 15 years old with her spaniel, Spot.

A collection of all the little Beatrix Potter books.

Did you know that Beatrix Potter was initially interested in science, particularly mycology (the study of fungus and spores)?  I didn't either.  It stands to reason that Potter's accurate portrayal of the natural world stems from such a passion, many Victorians loved nature and were fascinated with the observations of botany and zoology.  She not only was interested in mycology, she actually studied fungi under the microscope and proposed a theory on re-generation.  She submitted a paper, "On the Germination of the Spores of the Agaricineae," to the Linnean Society in 1897.  Because she was a woman she was not allowed to personally present her paper and she eventually withdrew it because she found that one of her samples was contaminated.  Even so, her paper was not handled correctly and was probably destroyed.  A few of her spore and fungi paintings have been donated to the Perth Museum and Art Gallery (Scotland) by Charles McIntosh, the scholar who initially helped Potter in her study of naturalism.  The Linnean Society apologized to Potter (posthumously) for their mis handling of her research.  

An art journal page of Potters

As a child, Beatrix Potter was well read in the classics such as "Aesop's Fables," The Pilgrim's Progress as well as Han's Christian Anderson's, Luis Carroll's, and Charles Kingsley's, stories.  She began to illustrate her own version of stories including: Cinderella, Sleeping Beauty, and Little Red Riding hood (among others) but instead of using the traditional characters, she used her own pets and creatures she studied as models for the stories, thus setting in motion her unique style that is obvious in her original tales.  

Beatrix Potter planned to buy Hill Top farm, in Lancashire (Cumbria) in the English Lake district, to be used as a holiday home with her future husband Norman Warne (her publisher), who sadly died before they could be married.  Potter went ahead and bought Hill Top and eventually married William Heelis (a country lawyer) and bought up and managed 16 farms with property extending over 4,000 acres which she left to The National Trust after her death in 1943.

At Hill Top

I wish I could thank Ms. Potter for her contributions to art, science and preservation.  She is so apart of our culture, and for good reason.  

Beatrix Potter: Inspiration For All:

How amazing and precious is this Peter Rabbit inspired nursery?

sweet little tins

Amazing Beatrix Potter mobile.

I think I need these little hair pins for Gwenna.

Lovely little pendant. 

These would make the perfect baby shower gift. Set of burp clothes on etsy.com

Easter:

For pretty Easter treats.

Statement making wreath

Pastry images

via pinterest