Wednesday, April 13, 2011

things forgotten and things found



for those of us of a
certain
er hm mmm
age
we of course remember these


growing up

and I don't know about other countries
but living in England as a child
I remember all the tales of garden fairies too

each garden had an area where the fairies lived
usually at the bottom of the garden
:)
and your imagination could run rampant
wild and free

rather like one of  those typically English gardens
that just overflow
with untidy
 full to the brim beds
of all types of plants
the sheds at the bottom of the garden
the hedges and bushes
where the spider's webs
"grow"
the "silk" used to fashion all sorts of imaginary things
and of course
the adorable little characters of
one
Beatrix Potter

!!!


but this morning while browsing
here and there
I came across an author I have never heard of
or seen
 and I want to know why
!!!!!!!

how can I have lived my whole life and not known




as a child I was very shy
and rather withdrawn sometimes
and these
sorts of books used to fascinate me
all the detail in each illustration
I loved to draw too and used to try so hard to copy the style
but of course I never came close
I have always loved little tiny things
I myself have never been a little tiny thing

was always the tallest in the class
been 5'7" since I was 12

so maybe it's a case of opposites attracting

at school I used to get into trouble for writing so small
the teachers had trouble seeing what I wrote
and would tell me to just write bigger
or was I trying to make them blind
no, I just liked writing as small as possible
I could read it!!!!!

and until I met my last art teacher at my last school
I always felt
weird
but she actually encouraged the
smallness
she actually complimented my tiny penmanship
she used to show the class the little tiny things I drew and it was nice to be appreciated
and I thank her
now
should have then.... but who does the right thing at the right time
not moi....
so now maybe I can understand this obsession with tiny things coming back into my
view,
so to speak
I spent a lot of yesterday making a tiny little dress for you know who
(promised not to cross the two... but it's hard not to every once in a while... especially when that's what I've been doing!!!)

and it brought back memories of sitting in my room
 in Windsor sewing things from bits and pieces that I have no idea where I got them from
and I wonder why I ever stopped
but life does that
....


I remember very clearly
...

 when the Beatles arrived in our midst
 and the mods and rockers trend started
 and Carnaby Street
 and the mini skirts and go go boots hit the shops
and the angled hair cuts

wow am I showing my age
but I was only just a teenager!!!!!

there that made me feel better!!!
...
I made
 from some red with white polka dots material
a very up to date Carnaby St style hat
from scratch
that had a brim made with a cardboard liner
and I wore it proudly for ages
until I had to wash it
 and
the cardboard fell apart!!!

I'll tell you about the collection of tights I used to have
that I wore when I went to
"college"
sometime
........

sorry, this is another of those
posts about nothing much
but that's what I've been doing this morning
reminiscing and wondering why

I didn't know about
Racey Helps

but I do now
so I'm off to see if  I can find a book
or a postcard
or a poster
and sit a stare at all those little teeny tiny details I love so much
and feel so glad I found him

don'cha love the
WWW
?








8 comments:

  1. Very pretty pictures! No fairies in my childhood gardens though. Sounds like an English thing... Although many English things turn up in Sweden too, maybe I'm too young! Like the feeling of that, since my son made me feel prehistoric last night... :) They found a box with my childhood treasures, and he was amazed when he found an electronic game or two - "Wow!!! DID you have that technique THEN?? " he exclaimed with honest surprise...

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  2. I remember the Flower Fairies! It reminds me of the Cottingley fairies photo hoohaa in the early 1900's where two young girls took those fake photos of the "fairies" in their garden. Lovely photos though even if they were fake!

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  3. You don't have to be a certain age to remember the flower fairies! They were part of my childhood too:)
    I hear you on not being a tiny thing...I hit six foot not long after I turned 12. Was so glad when the boys started to catch up at the end of high school!

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  4. Don't apologise! I enjoyed your 'post about not very much'. I din't know about Racey Helping either, though the pictures look very familiar. I'm sure I had a little wooden jigsaw... just didn't know the pictures were his... and there were fairies at the bottom of the garden!... and gnomes and elves and pixies! Mia S

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  5. Ummm, I know I'm a pedant, but I think we should correct the authors' names, even though one of them is definitely six feet under and wouldn't care at this point. Racey Helps and Beatrix Potter like seeing their names properly written out, just like I do.
    Jeroge

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  6. I didn't know the name of racey helping, but these lovely illustrations ring a bell... I grew up with such books, and they're part of the (too) sensitive person I am today ! the world needs more of people like your Art teacher ! I grew up with people around me always pointing out what I didn't do the right way... it took me a long way to find any self confidence after that... and I was also the tallest in my class until Senior High School (there it felt better)
    so... I have a nosy question: hw tall are you NOW ? just so I know if I beat you or not ?! ;)

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  7. asanti sana Jeroge.....I did actually spell Beatrix properly, but in my rush to post....I let the spell check have its way.....the Helping...didn't see it....so be a pendant....please!!!

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  8. What lovely memories you have of fairies. I didn't have those dreams as a child. I was a shy person myself and always kept myself busy with things no one else cared about much. Like pouring salt on a slug & watching it shivel up & oozing....yuk! I built a tree house in the front yard with my dad's lumber even though I was afraid of heights. Did alot of swinging from that old oak tree. I could even touch the roof with my feet while swinging :') I guess I was a bit of a dare devil in my young age.

    Such memories, yes?

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