Good morning! Welcome to "Morning Musings".

Musings: to meditate, think, contemplate, deliberate, ponder, reflect, ruminate, reverie, daydream, introspection, dream, preoccupation, brood, cogitate.

Monday, May 19, 2014

Whimsy


Whimsy:  Playfully quaint or fanciful behavior


Cicely Mary Barker "Lavender Fairy"
Cicely Mary Barker was born in Surrey, England in 1895.  She was frail as a child and suffered from epilepsy.  Her father, an artist himself, encouraged her artistic talent.  At first she took a correspondence course in art and later when her epilepsy abated she attended the Croydon School of Art.  When she was 17 her father died, financially strapping the family.   She was already selling her art for greeting cards and eventually to magazines and books to help the family's finances.  By the time she was 27, in 1923, she was able to sell her illustrations and poems to a publisher.  Her first book, Flower Fairies of the Spring, was published.

Here is a glossary of some of the fairies....
Click to enlarge
Fairies were very popular after the long, destructive years of the first world war.  People were ripe to be taken away from the real world into fantasy.  The popular Peter Pan had been around since 1906 and even Queen Mary helped popularize fairies by sending fairy postcards to friends.  Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's 1922 The Coming of the Fairies, which included photographs of the Cottingley Fairies, helped to keep people interested in fairies.  Cicley's eight Flower Fairy books were very popular and are still in print today.  There was a delightful movie made about the Cottingley Fairies on 1997.  I've included the trailer at the end of this post.
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I remember believing in the tooth fairy and the Easter Bunny, and, of course, Santa Claus.  I don't remember when I found out the truth or whether or not I was disillusioned when I did.....maybe I was and that's why I blocked out the memory!  The make-believe that I remember best is playing house and being a mommy to my dolls.  And since I grew up to do exactly that, I have to believe in fairy tales! 

I'd love to hear what your make-believe was as a child and did any of them come true?  ☺

If Cicely Mary Barker interests you be sure to explore the Flower Fairies™ Website for some delightful activities for children and information about Cicely Mary Barker (click on the Grown Ups button).

You can find the story I wrote in 2002 about a Forest Fairy here:  Leona Belle--Forest Fairy Dream-Keeper

If you enjoy Celtic music, check out this preview of Old Celtic & Nordic Ballads about Elfs, Fairies, Trolls, Dwarfs, Dragons, Mermaids.  Another, full-length ballad, is The Elfin Knight.

And NOW for what you've all been waiting for....the winner of Fairyopolis!  I decided to let the faeries in the Enchanted Forest pick the winner this time, so I sent Sarah out with the basket of names (with tiny scones in the bottom of the basket).  She approached Faerie Land very early this morning.....
....and left the basket at the door....

When she returned later in the morning the scones were gone and a name had been drawn....
She also found a little note from one of the faeries....

This is who the faerie chose....

Congratulations, Sharon Calvert!  Send me your mailing address and I'll have Fairyopolis on to you right away.  You can find my e-mail address link in my Profile or send me a private Facebook message.

A side note:  In rereading Fairyopolis I discovered the little stone bench is held up by Dwarfs, not Gnomes because it's Dwarfs who turn to stone if they come above ground during daylight hours.  I suspect we won't be troubled with Dwarfs in the future during daylight hours at least.  The bench should be a reminder to all who venture above ground at night to get safely back under before dawn!

Lastly, if you haven't had your fill of faeries yet check out the movie trailer for Fairytale:  A True Story....
                                

20 comments:

  1. YAY! What a delightful surprise to discover that Leona Belle favored ME to be the winner of your giveaway!!! I had 'borrowed' one of your photos from your previous post - the one of the hedgehog beside the fairy door - and have been enjoying it every day as my computer background screen. It has been serving as inspiration for my own fairy garden ideas; and now to see my name in the basket outside that door ... what good fortune! Thank you so much for making my day.

    Sharon in Alabama

    Sharon in Alabama

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    1. Sharon, I'm delighted that the faerie chose you! I think you and your grandchildren will love reading through the book to discover all its little secrets.

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  2. Congratulation to Sharon! I too have always loved the illustrations of Cicely Mary Barker and still have a few of the books that my mother was given as birthday presents in the 1920's. Thank you for all those great links too! Sarah x

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    1. How wonderful, Sarah, that you have original copies of Cicely's books! If I ever get to Britain I will be spending most of my time perusing used book shops for children's book. I collect many illustrated children's books and the hunt is part of the thrill.

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  3. How could you NOT love Cecily and her magical works? I so enjoy everything she created. If you also like Beatrix Potter please do stop by and search my postings on our various trips to her home, garden, and favorite fishing and picnic spot near Hilltop.

    All joys to you,

    Sharon

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    1. Yes, I do love Beatrix Potter. I love your photos and narrative about Hilltop Farm and the quote by Ms. Potter about faeries. Britain is a magical place--a wonderful place in which to stir the imagination of so many creative people! I have not visited because I, too, could be tempted to move there--I don't think I could come back here and be content!

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  4. Congratulations to Sharon! Cathy, I will be reading all about Cecily and her books. I must admit I don't know about her. That's what is fun about coming here. I've always had quite an imagination and have passed that to my children and now to my grandchildren. What fun it is to play in the world of make believe. I don't think I'll ever grow up! ♥

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    1. I agree! There is a part of us that should never "grow up". I think that is why we have children--to keep us connected to our own inner child.

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  5. You aren't the only one to post about fairies today. What a wonderful post and I will be back to read it all more thoroughly. How did I miss that movie?

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    1. I missed the movie when it came out, too. Found the VCR video in a yardsale several years ago. Who else did a post on faeries?

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  6. So fun and informative, Cathy. Thank you for the touch of whimsy. One of the logs from our felled trees has a funny niche in it and I am now looking for the right sized occupant. I'll post when I find who wants to live there!

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    1. What fun! I'm always on the lookout for more nooks and crannies to put faerie doors. I look forward to your post!

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  7. Congratulations Sharon! And thank you Cathy for all the imaginative fairy things to check out. I had never heard of the Cicely Barker books before. I was the only one of my siblings who was much of a reader and had an aunt who always gave me books for Christmases and birthdays - but I got a lot of series like Trixie Belden and Nancy Drew. Also a lot of classics like Black Beauty and My Friend Flicka and The Secret Garden - those kind. I think whatever was popular in the stores in the 50s and 60s. But when I started college, and then teaching - I became very interested in the illustrations on children's literature, and I'll be looking for some of these in the future. Cicely's illustrations could define the word "whimsy" that's for sure. I bet little Olivia will love them. OK, you take care and have a great week!

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    1. I will have to do a post sometime on all the illustrators of the children's books I collect. There is a particular style I am particularly drawn to. I did not have many books growing up so did not discover picture books until I was a mother myself! I'd take my boys to the library every week before they started school and chose the picture books I wanted to read to them. :-) It was wonderful!

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    2. I'll never forget my first visit to the library. I wasn't even four yet because I remember my mom was pregnant with my middle sister at the time. She brought me and my two little brothers and it was a VERY hot August day. I can still remember how good the coolness of the library felt. But when I saw all those books - seemingly millions - and all down at my level when I could get at them - well, it was better than Santa Claus and ice cream put together!

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    3. Janet, that trip to the library really must have made an impression on you to have remembered it at such a young age. Perhaps that's when the seeds were planted for you to become a teacher!

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    4. You could definitely be right about that, Cath. I hope you'll post soon about the children's illustrators you collect - I'd LOVE to see that. Before I could read, it was always the pictures that grabbed me first when it came to books. And "Captain Kangaroo" - I always wanted to get the books the Captain read to us on his morning program. After college I bought hardcover copies of those books [if I could get them] of "Make Way for Ducklings," "Mike Mulligan and His Steam Shovel," "The Little Red Lighthouse and the Great Gray Bridge," "The Snowy Day" etc etc. The books you read as a child are SO special.

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    5. I hope to get to it soon. Meanwhile, you might like this post I did on children's books 2 years ago: http://cathy-morningmusings.blogspot.com/2012/05/bunnies-and-books.html

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  8. I am visiting your post from the suggestion of Dotsie (aka Podso) who knows I love fairies too. They were my childhood passion and I feel you have to believe to make them real :-)
    My collection of fairy books is not large but I do have The Flower Fairies by Cicely Mary Barker and two of my figurines in an outdoor garden are fairies from her book.
    There are a number of fairies throughout the house too, the good ones residing in the buffet.
    Your little door is sweet and it's nice to meet another woman with a whimsical side to her.

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    1. Nice to meet you Judith. Thank you for visiting and leaving a comment. I've been collecting faerie books for a few years with the hope of having a granddaughter to share them with and my wish came true last month! I visited your blog and saw the delightful activity you shared with your granddaughter. And I love the figurines in your post today in the first photo. I'm always on the lookout for just the right faerie door or figurine to put in my Enchanted Forest.

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