Friday 2 April 2010

Alice, Jerry, Janet, John and a small giveaway !


A few days ago I welcomed Alice and Jerry to my house!

New pupils ?

Oh no!

Characters in a book?

Yes...

all the way from the good old USA!


Having searched for one of these books for ages, I've finally got my hands on one.



Take a look and you will see something very similar in these book covers.
***
The Alice and Jerry books were actually a very successful American reading scheme for children, which James Mackenzie Wood, a director of British publisher James Nisbet, encountered in 1946.
His wife, Rona Munro, a teacher, produced her own version, which were published in 1949.
Enter..
JANET AND JOHN
***
Janet and John books became hugely popular and influential in the teaching of schoolchildren throughout the 1950s and 1960s.





Janet and John were portrayed as average English children, living a typical middle-class life, and the books consisted of stories that progressively incorporated key words needed in the development of reading skills.

And...

The stories were illustrated by Florence and Margaret Hoopes...the very same illustrators as for the Alice and Jerry books!

However...

By the 1970s, Janet and John’s straightforward and simple world was seen as being hopelessly outdated and the books fell out of favour...

BUT...
Have remained as icons with those who grew up with them.


So...for my giveaway...just comment saying which reading scheme/books helped you learn to read.


;-)

Tuesday 30 March 2010

Fab man ..yeah yeah yeah! ;-)



On Saturday, whilst in Bath, I was in a lovely shop called Rossiters.
If you know where CK is then Rossiters is almost opposite and well worth a visit...loads of Bridgewater China amongst other wonderful things
I'd almost finished browsing when I came across the cards and wrapping papers... and there it was...a lone piece of paper.
They probably had more ... this one was more than likely out of place but I grabbed it anyway.
I liked it and it gave me an idea of sorts.

Two weeks ago, I took myself on a jolly to Etsy!
Well, actually, I go there daily but on this occasion I bought something out of the blue.
I love 30s/40s/ 50s fabric but I stumbled across these vintage 60s pieces.
Oooh...flower power...fab man!!
I rather like these too. They arrived the other day and I put them aside.

That's a lie..I played with them on the floor...like you do!


And then I played some more.



And the colours seemed to go together quite well!

All will be revealed in a day or so as I now have to go and do my 'real ' job!
;-)

Sunday 28 March 2010

It is a truth universally acknowledged, that a single man in possession of a good fortune must be in want of a wife.

Fine words from a fine book...
And here are two such men!! ;-)
*******
Yesterday, we hopped on the train for a pre planned 'jolly' to Bath.
We travelled in comfort and we travelled with some jolly fine company too!
Here are two of us in the photo above, discussing the merits of Jane Austen!
(One of them dislikes her work, one does not! ;- )

As soon as we stepped off the train , we said goodbye to Nich and Tris and we made straight for Sally Lunns and... Sally Lunn's Buns!
We had a wonderful coffee time with the very lovely Michele of Cowboys and Custard blog/Original Vintage & Handmade Fair fame!)
I think we could've talked til the cows came home!
But we only had until 6pm to pack in what we could.
Saying our goodbyes at Poultney Bridge, we made our way to this bookshop, via a flea market!
Now, this is a bookshop which looks nothing from the outside..but when I walked inside..WOW!
It was well worth a visit...so much so that I returned to it later on in the day!

Having found the new Apple store, which was newly opened an hour or so beforehand, (and giving Mr S his little bit of time in 'heaven'), we then
grabbed some lunch and a pint before heading to The Royal Crescent and a little row of shops nearby.


One of the highlights of the day was a visit to the Jane Austen Centre.
http://www.janeausten.co.uk/


We sat and listened to a very good talk about Jane, her life and her family.



And then we were left to take ourselves around the displays.

I decided not to take my camera and so all of my pics were taken on my iphone and not quite as sharp as I would have hoped...but passable!








***
Back to 2010...!
As I passed by, I noticed that Jack Wills shop had some lovely displays
We rather liked this hacking jacket.

I was, of course, itching to get to 'you know where'!
Dear Mr S deposited me here for about 20+ minutes...
for my little bit of time in 'heaven'!


I didn't buy very much in CK...some packets of seeds , a birthday card,
some kitchen cloths, two packs of tissues..that was it!!

The necklace, I found in Rossiters, a fabulous shop almost opposite CK.
The book, 'Emma' , I purchased at the Jane Austen Centre.
I also found one piece of very lovely wrapping paper...I'll keep that until next time!

Soon it was back to catch the train ..and the great grand Jane Austen debate
continued!
Oh and Nich...you can borrow my book whenever you feel like giving Jane another go!!!
;-)


I hope you all had a great weekend!
We did!
;-)