I just love vintage Ladybird Books!!

They are an extra special treat when they arrive by post at breakfast time!

The reading scheme books contain some of my favourite artwork. Reproductions of the pictures are available now but nothing beats original books. I have a wide range of vintage Ladybird available in the shop as well as a 'behind the scenes' store for topping up stock. I also run a 'finder's book' and try to track down favourites for customers. However, I generally avoid the expensive, rare, collectable ones simply because it will do This'n'That's reputation a power of no good to have those high prices attached to our books ... hope you see what I mean:)

There's similarly, simple, nostalgic artwork in the Learning With Mother series which, I am happy to say, are still favourites with young Mums who visit the shop. I always try to keep a wider spot amidst the clutter for buggy parking to give Mum a few free minutes to browse.

Interesting to see the 1969 advice to teachers in "Teaching Reading" with key words, guidance on teaching phonics, the use of big pictures and sentence cards ....... need I say more?

Somewhere, tucked away, I have a copy of the reader which I was taught with in the 1950's and what do you know!!...... even that had similar advice ......

Is this the start of a soapbox rant I hear you say ... could be but I will resist. Suffice to say that I retired from thirty four years of teaching a few years back and opened the shop.

An interesting twist! Children's stories were far less protective in the heyday of the Ladybird books. Here, at the end of "The Sly Fox and The Little Red Hen" the fox and his mother were killed by being scalded to death with boiling water. Not very fluffy as tales for the young go but were little lives blighted? I think not!

PS Watch this blog for information/pics. re Ladybird tins, pencil/make-up cases, notebooks, coasters, mugs, trays .....all of which are sold in This'n'That.

Sneak Preview for bloggers!

Not sure if it will be used for a tag or a giveaway card yet but I sat down at the computer to do boring stuff and ended up posting blogs (not at all boring to do!) and playing with Photoshop.

Contrasting views on lawns ...

My approach to our garden (since I became so busy with the shop) is to leave most of it alone and to let nature take its course. This is in complete opposition to my husband's style which is that of the grim reaper! In fact one year for Christmas I had a polo shirt specially embroidered for him with a picture of the 'old man' with the scythe encircled by the words GRIM REAPER GARDEN SERVICES ... it has had little wear.
Anyway, back to my style ... as portrayed below... (our lawn). It should be awarded a set aside grant ... see the 'rare' buttercup surrounded by daisies and in need of peace and quiet to flourish!!
PS Less than an hour later the mowing began!

Growing lad!

As we watched young (he's four) Leo pottering amongst the daisies my husband remarked how much slimmer and trimmer Leo looked now that he was out and about on his paws more what with Spring and warmer days etc.


As Leo reached his bird watching seat (why bother with a hide?!) ... I looked at him carefully and was unable to see the weight loss ... in fact he reminds me of the Ronald Searle cat pics. What do you think?
PS Leo takes himself VERY seriously and so we had to go indoors to laugh:) :)

This boy still enjoys his ornithology .. and thankfully cannot get into our hedge which we have secretly lined with green mesh to Leo-proof the nests!

and now for ... the garden ...

Yes, she is quite armless! She certainly does not have the artistic merit of the pieces from Dartington Hall gardens featured in earlier blogs. However, we have been trying to improve her looks. I decided that a mossy bikini might be good (for her that it!) and so we painted a layer of yoghurt onto her in the shape of a bra. (We had been reliably informed that this would greatly speed up the growth of moss! Not so, Leya (our cat featured in an earlier blog) loves yoghurt and licked it all off and so this modest amount (or should I say immodest!!) of moss is the best which we could manage for her in three years of effort. She should be well clad by mid 21st century at this rate.

The nearest that Leo can get to looking like the lions on the wildlife programme.

Introducing my other little lion, Leya, Leo's sister.

Like Leo, Leya is a ragdoll cat. Unlike him, she hasn't a care in the world about how she looks and will come into the house wearing bits of hedge and wildlife (not fleas - just stuff from the garden!). Leo preens a lot and has a reputation for being a bit of a dandy. Leya looks just as she did as a fluffy, tufty kitten ... just larger!
She doesn't like cameras and almost always looks away from them.

AT LAST!

Visitors to This'n'That' will know all too well how much I use my plastic Scrabble pieces in the shop. I also sell pieces for all sorts of purposes. One customer chose her dog's name in Scrabble to go over his kennel door; another purchased 'marry me' for Valentine's Day (outcome unknown!).
However, I have only ever had odds and ends of wooden tiles ... and now I have a whole set and the world is my lobster, oyster ...whatever!

SUNDAY TROVE!

We set off to search for vases and jugs but returned with games and books!! ... nice ones though:)

Another witty title for the 'schooldays' collection!