Maison Lucille*

Freda wonders what I might wear with my new leather jacket.

This has been exercising me somewhat

as there appears to be nothing suitable in my wardrobe.

I decided to design my own collection.

In this endeavour I have been marvellously assisted by Megan

of the Scent of Water,

You Tube,

and a pile of discarded magazines.

Voilà Spring /Summer 2015.

*Maison Lucile

Christmas in the Spring

 A three hour transformation took place in my kitchen today.

The team - Art Director, Stylist, Photographer and Publisher

brought nearly everything they needed

(that tea pot got lucky)

to create an impression of a bright spring day in the country

on an exceptionally dull December one in town.

As far as I could tell,

all that was going to remain of the original location,

was a hazy impression of a 'country' garden in the background.

Even the table top was theirs,

carefully selected from a backgrounds rack

in a props warehouse.

Who knew?

The cake, though scrumptious looking,

was deemed to be a little too messy,

so I stepped forward with an offer of knives

to tidy it up.

Later someone found a plate of macarons in my fridge

and decided that they would be just perfect

for the Waitrose version of the advertisement.

Bunting was called for but later abandoned as 

too much in the way of the copy that had to be added later.

I believe this is one of the selected shots,

possibly destined for Sainsbury's or Tesco magazines

as I can't see any macarons in it.

Disappointingly no flowers or cakes were left behind.

I am not familiar with this author

so I have looked her up for you.

Now I can bring in the Christmas tree.

On food

Wet garlic on granite.

Lettuce on granite.

French Breakfast radishes on granite.

Elizabeth David on dressing a salad

House and Garden May 1953.

Six parts (not three) good olive oil to red wine vinegar.

Can you believe that that picture is not contemporary?

I'm going to make you a star

I have just discovered origami -

the perfect activity for getting in the flow

while simultaneously transforming a pile

of magazines into Christmas decorations.

And it keeps my hands out of the Kettles* crisp bag.

I used these instructions.

*Still no freebies.

If You Are Subject To Brain Fag

Headaches

Insomnia

Nervous Exhaustion

Rheumatism

Anaemia

Stomach trouble

Kidney trouble

Acidosis

Heart Diseases

Chilblains

Eczema

Debility

Skin Diseases

After the most weakening Winter on record,

are you feeling generally run down?

If only we could all benefit from Soovy Health broth.

We could be fit and ready for Spring

by taking a delicious cup daily.

The impressive list of 15 vegetables has given me an idea.

Carrot, tomato, barley, pimento, spinach

garlic, watercress, orange, chilli, Irish moss,

(may have to ask Mise to send)

 onion, parsley, celery leaves, okra.

We can all make our own Savoury Soovy.

Let me know when you've tried it.

From Housewife 1940

Light play

 A dramatic backlit day.

A day for seeing ghosts

 and banishing them with candles.

Sixteen new candles for the shop, made from 

posh yogurt pots covered with 
old Ordnance survey maps and

dustjackets from vintage travel books.

Even the parakeets were silenced.

The passport photo

As another birthday fast approaches

so too does the ten year passport renewal.

They wouldn't let me wear a jaunty hat,
present my good side,

smile, 

or prop my double chin 
on a diverting yellow-gloved hand.

Bananas it is then.


United Fruit Company advertisement
from Reader's Digest April 1954.

Short shelf life

I hope I sold a few of these today.

I've just had to buy a new washing machine.

Bringing the spring indoors

In war-time more than any other time we need

the brightness of flowers around us,

especially spring flowers with their promise of

new hope and new life.

No doubt you are not content to buy an odd bunch of flowers 

and stick them haphazardly around the room.

(Perish the thought!)

What an opportunity spring flowers give us

of finding new arrangements that enchant the eye 

and cheer the spirit.

Get four or five common brown oven-ware dishes,

(Bother - I only have the superior sort)

fill them with stones and completely

cover them with freshly picked moss.

These make the foundations which you can use

time after time.

(This is fortunate as our lawn is entirely moss now.)

Each is like a round green cushion which

you can embroider with different colour flowers

like some beautiful piece of stitchery.

one can be patterned with purple and yellow crocus,

another with scillas or chionodoxa,

another with primroses and violets.

Over the top of some of your cushions

gently arch a spray of catkins.

A narrow drift of spring flowers

along the top of a sideboard or bookcase

is another novelty.

Begin with a fairly large open vase

holding branches of blackthorn, catkins

and sturdy outdoor daffodils.

Graduate this to four of five shallow dishes

containing shorter stemmed flowers like

hyacinths, or pheasant eye narcissus;

thence to polyanthus and other small blooms.

( I would like to use the word thence more often.)

A basket of flowers for the dinner or

luncheon table is a refreshing idea.

Stack a plain wicker basket with mimosa, anemones,

a bit of early lilac and a few short headed tulips.

Never be afraid to try out different flowers and shrubs together.
It's fashionable to mix them.

Tulips and flowering-currant are lovely together

in a plain pottery jar;

pink prunus with palm in a ginger-jar.

A round bowl is lovely massed with lilies of the valley

or white violets with a posy of purple violets in the centre.

Grape hyacinths are beautifully set off by a surround

of cabbage leaves. Yes - cabbage leaves!

Their blue green is perfect with the flowers.

Daffodils and their foliage look superb

in a copper urn with the spout facing the wall.

Pewter and zinc are just right for the dancing daffodils too.

That Victorian silver cake basket your mother gave you -

(an oversight on my mother's part I'm sure)

it makes a lovely centre-piece for the dining room table

crammed with tiny spring flowers, edged,

if you wish, with a prim lace d'oyley!

There is more, but I think this is plenty to be going on with.

The full article may be found in the April 1940 issue of

Available at all good stationers.
Get thee thence.

Brought to Life

Leafing through my albums I found this old magazine cover

featuring the Queen's visit to Ireland in July 1953.

By the miracle that is the www

I was able to watch 'shy little Catherine Irwin' presenting her bouquet

here at 01.27.41.


If you happen to be more curious about Philip Harben's
summer menus, you can find him here and here.

The fun bit

Paul has finished painting the bedroom, 

so now I can turn my attention to furnishing it.

I need look no further than my 1940 copy

of Housewife magazine for inspiration.

Gay colours in chintz bedspread and curtains glow against the

neutral coloured background created by plain waxed furniture,

fawn carpet and cream walls.

The curtains are made from a novel, tufted fabric 

called Rathkelle (from Old Bleach), consisting of 

charming blue tufts like little bows on linen-coloured ground.

The bedspread has a broad panel of gaily-coloured washable

glazed chintz from Sandersons, mostly in pinks and blues

and the chintz motif is repeated 

in the lampshades each side of the bed. 

The pale blue of the curtains is echoed in 
the pale linen cover of the easy chair 
and the rugs either side of the bed are a soft pink.

(Amanpuri in original chintz from Sanderson) 

I haven't found the tufted fabric yet except for 

somewhere in the deep recesses of my memory.

The tiresome touches of time

All is not lost.

I bring you this double chin remedy from 

The Family Weekend Book by Beryl Irving 1941.

Take a deep breath and incline the neck forwards.

Exhale, relax neck muscles,

and drop head on chest.

Take a deep breath, lift head,

stiffening neck muscles,

and drop head backwards.

Take a deep breath, stiffen neck muscles

and incline head sideways to the left.

Breathe out, lift head,

and repeat to the right.

These exercises, taken in conjunction with 

the use of a good reducing cream, patted in,

followed by an astringent lotion, and,

if you really mean to go at it wholeheartedly,

a chinstrap worn at night,

should work wonders. 

I don't believe Audrey Hepburn

ever needed a chin strap

but she appears to be wearing one anyway.

It's out there

We shall just keep looking

and smiling bravely.

Raspberry ripple

Wall's ice cream came in family bricks,

served at home as a special pudding after Sunday lunch.

We became pretty adept at cutting it into equal fifths.

I liked Neapolitan, three segments of 

strawberry,vanilla and chocolate flavour,

habitually referred to by my grandma as Metropolitan.

But my favourite was Raspberry Ripple.

So I can never look at a Rosa mundi

without it conjuring up the memory

of roast beef, lamb and pork

in strict weekly rotation,

each with its proper accompaniment -

mustard, mint sauce, apple sauce. 

An odd fusion lodged deep in the little grey cells, 

adjacent to similarly vivid childhood memories associated with 

mimosa, vanilla sugar, raffia, Plasticine and Lily of the Valley.

And if anyone could find me a plastic troll and a Pez machine to sniff,

I'd be ten again.

Getting it right

In my collection of books on modern manners

I have one called  Etiquette for Everyone

by Arthur Groom, published 1946.

I have often wondered about the original purchasers

and what it was they were hoping to find guidance about.

This one offers clues by way of pencil underlinings

and it seems that correct modes of dress 
were of the most pressing concern.

When in the country a woman should endeavour to wear tweeds as much as possible. Above all, the woman in the country should try to steer clear of the temptation to 'startle the natives'. 

If she dons her fox furs, her saucy hat with the cheeky veil, 

her high heeled shoes, her sheerest silk stockings, and that ultra smart afternoon frock she bought in town, then she must not be hurt or surprised if the country folk turn to look at her - and to laugh!

Right

Wrong

At the sea it is in the worst possible taste for a girl to wear very abbreviated shorts except when on the beach itself. The best plan is to have a button-on linen skirt she can put on quickly for walking along the front, on the pier, or for shopping trips into town. For bathing- well I don't care WHAT the designers of so-called
 bathing costumes for women turn out,
 there is nothing nicer, neater or 
more suitable for swimming than the ordinary, 
regulation woollen swim-suit as worn by 

professional and good amateur swimmers.

Right

Wrong.

So, so wrong.