Of Worthy Advice and Bad Art

Book finds

While being a lovely sunny day, there is always time to pop into second-hand bookshops and dig up some treasures from dark and dusty shelves.

My recent finds include "The Practical Way to Keep Fit" (ha!) by Harry Roberts and "How to Write, Think and Speak Correctly" (I know what you're thinking, reader) by C.E.M. Joad.  Both are part of Odhams Press Ltd's quaint range of self-improvement books for the Everyman, probably from the 1920s and both have the same lovely endpapers. 

Knowing how to write, think and speak correctly is all very worthy (an' all that), but the guide to keeping fit is my favourite of the two, mainly for its illustrations.  The text is ponderous and preachy and reminds me of being trapped at a party by a perfectly lovely but deadly dull guest.  The illustrations, however, are a bit of a hoot.  They range in quality, staying on the dark side of mediocre for the most part, but some are really very bad!  Some have quite funny captions and others are just, well, inexplicable.

 

You're telling me it does!

Well, that's all very well for him!

 Not even trying.

When in Rome

Breezing along on a breeze

I have just released a new soap - When in Rome.  This wonderfully aromatic basil and spearmint scented soap will be fresh start to the day and put you in the mood for scooting around town with the wind in your hair!

Packed full of excellent quality oils including olive oil, olive pomace, shea oil, rice bran oil, meadowfoam seed oil and a dash of castor oil (for that silky skin feel!), When in Rome is a treat for the skin and the senses!

Sophisticated and youthful, When in Rome is all natural, hand crafted, vegan and contains no palm oil.  Now available in store!

Top photo: Detail from the cover of "The New Target Book for Girls".

A Glorious Day

Guess what I'm doing?

Well, I'm doing a few things, but this is one of them:

 

Otherwise, on this wonderfully sunny and springy public holiday, I'm making a new soap, a new perfume and listening to bossa nova while catching up with some reading.  Perfect, yes?!  I hope your day is as relaxing!

Space Age Fun

Flea market find 

I picked up these little paperback books a couple of weeks ago from a local flea market.  I can't say I'm a fan of science fiction, but I love the cover art on these numbers!

I think my favourite cover is the charming, almost domestic, scene of three guys fixing a spherical ship of some sort.  Love the leisurewear and how it looks like the type of illustration used in DIY home renovation magazines of the time - you've got the green lawn, the stepping stones, quite an idylic scene!   Great colours - even the aliens look cheerful!

Winter Long Weekend

We're having a lovely, sunny (off and on) long weekend and the garden is looking lovely.  The lawn is covered in golden leaves and the violets are in full bloom.  I have a bit of a crush on violets, but it's nothing to be alarmed about. 

Every June long weekend there is a large book-sale held in Norwood and I went this year non-nonchalantly thinking I'll buy nothing, but furtively ensuring I had sufficient cash in my pocket on the off-chance - you know what it's like.  Well, needless to say I came away with some beauties.  I love the cover of 'Try Nothing Twice' by Frank Clune (published 1946):

I also purchased a tatty old copy of the much sought-after 'Handbook of the Destructive Insects of Victoria' Part 1 by C. French (published 1890).  Have a look at the illustrations and endpapers montaged below:

And finally, an illustration from 'Modern Illustration, its method and present conditions' by Joseph Pennell (published 1898): 

Happy with my booty indeed!  The books, I mean.  And, to prove to you how lovely the garden is, here's a short harinezumi film taken from a worm's eye:

Jolly Hockeysticks

Some time ago, I was fortunate enough to come across a bunch of autograph books at a local market.  

The books date from between 1935 and 1941 and document a series of interstate trips taken by schoolgirls and their teachers.  I gather they were travelling to compete in sporting events.  Here, one girl has collected a photographic memento of her trip, collecting the photographs of her pals and escorts and filling the books with signatures, addresses and cute little notes.  It really is a lovely collection, you can sense the girls' excitement and this is sometimes displayed in the way they sit for their photographs.

I have my favourites, including one girl by the name of Elvey, who seems quite mischievous.  You can see her pulling a face in the montage below.  She is in most of the books and you get to see her grow.  By the later books, she is one of the 'trainers', proudly displaying her carefully curled hair.

Autumn Sunshine & Reading

After a grim weekend, it's nice to see some sunshine out on the last of the golden leaves in the garden.   Before settling down with a cup of tea, I thought about which book to flick through.  Here are my current thoughts:

Gone to Earth - Mary Webb
In Youth is Pleasure - Denton Welch
A Natural History of the Senses - Diane Ackerman
The Wind in the Willows - Kenneth Grahame
Lady into Fox - David Garnett
Raven's Brood - E.F. Benson
Lolly Willowes - Sylvia Townsend Warner

I'm sure the sun won't last, so make the most of it while we can, and then we can just face the music.  And dance!