Period Piece

As LP Hartley so famously put it: "The past is a foreign country: they do things differently there".

When I set out to write a book about my two mothers ( my German birthmother and the English one who brought me up)  I never quite realized how much research it would entail.

circa 1912, 1954,1983

Here is Betty who appears in the story as Ruth. Then Elizabeth, the 'fortunate child' of the title, who appears as Jane, last Claudia (Julia in the book).

Here is Betty in the garden of her grandparents' house in England 

-- a privileged child circa 1915.

Garden of the architectural museum, Wroclaw. photo: Elizabeth Wix 1999

My research took me to Wroclaw in Poland, a city which had once been Breslau and a part of Germany until after the Second World War .

How busy the square is --the photo probably taken at the turn of the last century. The older parts of city have been beautifully restored after being almost entirely destroyed in 1945.

Breslau circa 1904

My story is about England and Germany, mothers and daughters, 

families, and a little about Europe's sad history.

This is Mall House in Faversham, Kent, called Fairleigh Lodge in the book,

 where some of the story takes place.

The drawing room of Mall House about 1952 --a house I only dimly remember. To me it is a quintessentially English house. Note the Victorian water colors, the loose covers, the flowers and the family photos in pride of place on the mantelpiece.

The book A Fortunate Child is now available as a download on iTunes here. or as real world book here. In both cases you can read the first thirty pages free  --by which time you will have some idea if you will enjoy reading the whole thing.

Novel News and Facebookly Fun

Having had the pleasure of "chatting" with you folks for almost five years now, come September, I know you are not only a creative bunch, but you have a sense of humor. So while I know this won't be everyone's cup of tea here-- and yes, I will get to the teacups and other thrifty goodies for you good folks later in the week-- I did want to mention my humorous space fantasy novel There Goes the Galaxy will be out soon, and it now has a Facebook page you can "like" to find out more.

The Facebook page is here: http://www.facebook.com/ThereGoestheGalaxy

I'll be getting the proof of the book in my hot little hands this week, which means if everything looks good, the print version of the book will be out in the next week or two. YAY!!

The book will come in a Kindle version, too; though I'm learning that my storytelling abilities are far stronger than my technical ones. So that conversion is still in-process.

Anyway, just wanted to loop you folks in. I've wanted to write books every since I was 11 years old and had read every Nancy Drew I could get my hands on. So this represents a huge thrill for me-- almost as exciting as a thrifted lamp. :)

Wishing you all a lovely first week o' September,

Jenn

Novel News and Facebookly Fun

Having had the pleasure of "chatting" with you folks for almost five years now, come September, I know you are not only a creative bunch, but you have a sense of humor. So while I know this won't be everyone's cup of tea here-- and yes, I will get to the teacups and other thrifty goodies for you good folks later in the week-- I did want to mention my humorous space fantasy novel There Goes the Galaxy will be out soon, and it now has a Facebook page you can "like" to find out more.

The Facebook page is here: http://www.facebook.com/ThereGoestheGalaxy

I'll be getting the proof of the book in my hot little hands this week, which means if everything looks good, the print version of the book will be out in the next week or two. YAY!!

The book will come in a Kindle version, too; though I'm learning that my storytelling abilities are far stronger than my technical ones. So that conversion is still in-process.

Anyway, just wanted to loop you folks in. I've wanted to write books every since I was 11 years old and had read every Nancy Drew I could get my hands on. So this represents a huge thrill for me-- almost as exciting as a thrifted lamp. :)

Wishing you all a lovely first week o' September,

Jenn

Beach/Reading

I rarely read anything at the beach,

but spend most of the time looking at the water.

Yesterday a lifeguard paddled his canoe.

However, some book suggestions:

Non fiction:

Virginia Nicholson's fascinating Singled Out --about the generation of   "surplus" women after the First World War. Splendidly informative and grippingly readable.

 Just Kids Patti Smith's memoir of Robert Mapplethorpe and the 1970's, brilliantly evocative of the era in both good and bad ways. Brings it all back.

Hints of mortality on the shoreline.

New Fiction:

The Last Storytellers: Tales from the Heart of Morocco Richard Hamilton's elegant retelling of traditional tales told by the vanishing storytellers of Marrakesh. Not new stories exactly but recently published. Grimm's fairy tales meet A Thousand and One Nights!

A.M Homes: This Book will Save Your Life. Set in Los Angeles and addressing contemporary angst etc. Funny, sad, quirky and sharp.

Tried and True:

Thomas Hardy's Far From the Madding Crowd. I've only just read it for the first time.

Vanished England in a capsule. What weather! Such rustics.

Charles Dickens'A Christmas Carol. In view of current American politics, I rather like Scrooge saying, "Are there no workhouses?" and suggesting that the poor die and reduce the surplus population.......

After the beach, lunch at the Shipwreck Diner in Northport.

What a bizarre lunch....quiche, fruit, homefries, a pickle.

Oh well, now I needn't eat for a week.

I look forward to hearing what you're reading.

 Weaver of Grass has some super suggestions as do the people who

have commented on her post.

Treasure Box Wednesday on Sunday: Time Travel in Blogging

Since I will be heading down to Florida on our usual Treasure Box Wednesday post day, in order to bring my Dad up north with me, I figured I'd make Wednesday come early this week. When ya run a blog, you can do that sort of thing, you know-- make days shift around like dominoes-- and then hope it won't confuse the heck out of the nice people who stop by regularly.

My favorite treasure of this week was this pretty hand-tinted Victorian photograph on glass from We Miss Back When in Apollo, PA...

I had my eye on it a while, and at $8, I finally caved and show them the money.

At the Goodwill in Monroeville, I got this handy-dandy book on British kings and queens...
Now when I have questions about ol' "King Elthered the Unready," "Queen Ethelfleda the Somewhat Snippish" or "King Ferdinand the Impetuous," I'll be able to look 'em up and learn something.

At the same Goodwill, I bagged me a few CDs, too--
And speaking of bagged...
I already had this particular item, but every day I think what a bargain it was. :)

I hope to have a post for you next Sunday. With Dad sick, things are kind of up in the air for me right now, but I don't want to leave you folks with nothing in your blogly goody bags, either. So I'll do my best to keep things rolling.

Treasure Box Wednesday on Sunday: Time Travel in Blogging

Since I will be heading down to Florida on our usual Treasure Box Wednesday post day, in order to bring my Dad up north with me, I figured I'd make Wednesday come early this week. When ya run a blog, you can do that sort of thing, you know-- make days shift around like dominoes-- and then hope it won't confuse the heck out of the nice people who stop by regularly.

My favorite treasure of this week was this pretty hand-tinted Victorian photograph on glass from We Miss Back When in Apollo, PA...

I had my eye on it a while, and at $8, I finally caved and show them the money.

At the Goodwill in Monroeville, I got this handy-dandy book on British kings and queens...
Now when I have questions about ol' "King Elthered the Unready," "Queen Ethelfleda the Somewhat Snippish" or "King Ferdinand the Impetuous," I'll be able to look 'em up and learn something.

At the same Goodwill, I bagged me a few CDs, too--
And speaking of bagged...
I already had this particular item, but every day I think what a bargain it was. :)

I hope to have a post for you next Sunday. With Dad sick, things are kind of up in the air for me right now, but I don't want to leave you folks with nothing in your blogly goody bags, either. So I'll do my best to keep things rolling.

Treasure Box Wednesday: Deco Delights, Hollywood Hearthrobs and More

Riiiing! Rinnnnggggg!
"Hello, who's calling, please?"
"It's Lady Luck. And do I have some secondhand goodies for you!"

That's how I felt on Saturday after spending the day journeying down Route 30 in the direction of Ligonier and Latrobe. I ended up going to a few places I don't go regularly-- like Rossi's Pop-up Flea Market in North Versailles. And I'm really glad I gave it the time, because it turned out to be one nifty thrifty day.

I'll start with my favorite item, simply because I'm so excited to share it with you all. It's an art deco styled push-button phone I found at the L&L Fleatique in Adamsburg...

Note, it's not trimmed in red-- no, that's just the reflection of my sofa through its crystal-look rim! How cute is that?

Now, I know obviously there were not push-button phones during the 30s and 40s. But I instantly loved the shape, the incredibly art deco feel to it. Why, it's deco right now to the font of the numbers...

Another Fleatique find seems to have leapt right out of the time machine from my childhood. Great for storing small, otherwise scattered office supplies, it also called to mind my lengthy crush on ol' Doctor Jones...
You don't see many metal character-printed lunchboxes these days, and if you do, they're either all rusted out or the vendor knows its collectible and is asking a small fortune. At $8, I really couldn't say no.

I also picked up a copy of the book Chocolat-- the original text the delightful off-beat movie was drawn from.
At Rossi's Pop-up Flea Market, then, I found a Cape Cod Avon plate for one of my friends who collects it...
...And a fourth moonstone Anchor Hocking dinner plate for me!...
Now I can do a full table setting for four. Given how challenging it can be to find certain pieces of this stuff, I'm pleased I was able to track down this one.

And that pretty much puts the receiver down on today's Treasure Box.

If you missed Sunday's little humor post on "The Crotchtastic World of Retro Knitting" (trust me, that title will make sense once you see it), click here.

And otherwise, perhaps I'll see you this coming Sunday for our next post!

Treasure Box Wednesday: Deco Delights, Hollywood Hearthrobs and More

Riiiing! Rinnnnggggg!
"Hello, who's calling, please?"
"It's Lady Luck. And do I have some secondhand goodies for you!"

That's how I felt on Saturday after spending the day journeying down Route 30 in the direction of Ligonier and Latrobe. I ended up going to a few places I don't go regularly-- like Rossi's Pop-up Flea Market in North Versailles. And I'm really glad I gave it the time, because it turned out to be one nifty thrifty day.

I'll start with my favorite item, simply because I'm so excited to share it with you all. It's an art deco styled push-button phone I found at the L&L Fleatique in Adamsburg...

Note, it's not trimmed in red-- no, that's just the reflection of my sofa through its crystal-look rim! How cute is that?

Now, I know obviously there were not push-button phones during the 30s and 40s. But I instantly loved the shape, the incredibly art deco feel to it. Why, it's deco right now to the font of the numbers...

Another Fleatique find seems to have leapt right out of the time machine from my childhood. Great for storing small, otherwise scattered office supplies, it also called to mind my lengthy crush on ol' Doctor Jones...
You don't see many metal character-printed lunchboxes these days, and if you do, they're either all rusted out or the vendor knows its collectible and is asking a small fortune. At $8, I really couldn't say no.

I also picked up a copy of the book Chocolat-- the original text the delightful off-beat movie was drawn from.
At Rossi's Pop-up Flea Market, then, I found a Cape Cod Avon plate for one of my friends who collects it...
...And a fourth moonstone Anchor Hocking dinner plate for me!...
Now I can do a full table setting for four. Given how challenging it can be to find certain pieces of this stuff, I'm pleased I was able to track down this one.

And that pretty much puts the receiver down on today's Treasure Box.

If you missed Sunday's little humor post on "The Crotchtastic World of Retro Knitting" (trust me, that title will make sense once you see it), click here.

And otherwise, perhaps I'll see you this coming Sunday for our next post!

Lists of Books

The other day the estimable Bee posted a wonderful book list. It made me think I wanted to write a list too. This should have been fun, instead it consumed a greater part of my walking-the-dog-time when I didn't have a pencil handy. I was glad  Bee's bookshelf was messy; I think the shelves of those greedy for books often are. I have omitted most books she mentions.

Herewith a short selection of books that popped into my mind

 highbrow and lowbrow all tumbled together.

Historical Stuff

Nightmare Abbey by Thomas Love Peacock

I, Claudius by Robert Graves

Pillars of the Earth by Ken Follett

Slaughter House Five by Kurt Vonnegut

Austerlitz by W.G Sebald

Good Read Women Writers

Behind the Scenes at the Museum by Kate Atkinson

Frost in May by Antonia White

Once in a House on Fire by Andrea Ashworth

The Balkan Trilogy by Olivia Manning

This Book Will Save Your Life by A.M.Homes

Famous Books I have Not Managed to Read

(either tried and gave up or didn't get to yet....)

As I Lay Dying by William Faulkner

Moby Dick by Herman Mellville

Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance by Robert Pirsig

Ulysses by James Joyce

Thus Spake Zarathustra by Friedrich Nietzsche

Trashy Books that Were Wonderful

Princess Daisy by Judith Krantz

The Valley of the Dolls by Jacqueline Susann

Sorrell and Son by Warwick Deeping

The Other Side of Midnight by Sidney Sheldon

People Who Know How to Write Short Stories

M.R. James

Sir Arthur Conan Doyle

Katherine Mansfield

Books to Make You Laugh

The Diary of a Nobody by George and Wheedon Grossmith

Naked by David Sedaris

Stephen Leacock

Three Men in a Boat by Jerome K. Jerome

One Pair of Feet by Monica Dickens

Books I Loved as a Child

The Singing Tree by Kate Seredy

Half Magic by Edward Eagar

The Black Riders by Violet Needham

Five Children and It by E.Nesbit

The Bell Family by Noel Streatfield

This is quite long enough for a blog post.

Please write and tell me what you would have added.....

Treasure Box Wednesday: This and That

Saturday proved to be a beautiful day here in the 'Burgh-- balmy breezes and bright clear skies-- so it seemed like the right time to make a little jaunt to the Bellevue/Avalon section of the town.

Also, given the spring construction that's popped up-- and major thoroughfare's closed left and right-- it was about the only place I could go without being trapped in orange barrels and cones!

So let me show you one of my favorite things from this week... this lovely tin portrait plate I found at the Ohio River Boulevard antique mall.


And at 40% off, too! Now how lucky is that?

At the Red White and Blue, I found this excellent pink depression glass sandwich server...


I guess I better get cracking and make some nice crisp cucumber sandwiches with the crusts cut off, huh?

I love the detail on this handle... I've zoomed in so you can take a closer look at that, if you'd like...


I also found a milk glass bowl-- quite ornate!-- for the lady I know who collects milk glass. I'd already gotten her a huge batch of it for Christmas... But I liked this bowl so much, I couldn't resist.


I hope she'll like it, too!

And, and of course, you already are probably familiar with this animated figural clock, from Sunday's post...


And lastly, I thrifted a couple of books.

You know, interestingly this week, was how much fun people seemed to be having thrifting. At the Red, White & Blue in Bellevue, a group of 20-something gals were there having the time of their lives-- laughing, trying stuff on, chatting to everyone.

One of them had found some flamboyant pink sparkly shoes and she was bubbling over, saying she simply couldn't resist them-- it was like being a kid again playing dress-up.

And I got to thinking that that's one of the best things about thrifting-- you get out of it what you bring into it. So if you're looking for something to educate... to entertain... to inspire... or just to comfort like when you were a kid... you really can find it there.

All you have to do is look!

• If you'd care to check out Sunday's post on animated 40s clocks, click here.

And iff'n not? Perhaps you'll pop by Sunday for a brand new, not even previously-worn post?