A Photograph Can Speak a Thousand Silent Words and Maybe Even Keep a Secret and a Mystery

If becoming a little slower in thinking is all I have to worry about with getting old, then I'm okay with that : )

 It wasn't until the morning after I had posted the old photograph on ~ line that I realized just how unique it was, to me that is. I had not seen the photograph more than a couple of time since it's existence. During its course since its development It had exchanged hands and continents and hands again when my parents divorced and it wasn't until a few months ago that it resurfaced and made its way back to its original keeper, me.

There is something charmingly nostalgic about a photograph of a child no matter its origin of generation. Its qualities of purity, innocence and quietude it conveys holds fast its observer and becomes their little treasure for whatever correlation it may have to their life that tugged at their heart. This particular photograph is my little treasure not only because it’s of me when I was a kid but because it dates to an important time in my life. A time that changed my world as I had known it, forever.

I had loved Italy with all my heart, my family, my grandfather and grandmother, my aunts and uncles especially my uncles who imparted their love of motorcycles unto me In their lovable ways they always gave me rides but sometimes there was a fee attached, steal some cigarettes from your mom and you can ride with me and so I did. While my mom would be sleeping after a night shift at the hospital I would sneak into her bedroom and steal her cigarettes, give them to whoever was offering the ride be it uncle Mario, uncle Miche, uncle Titti, uncle Bruno, didn't matter who, I was getting what I wanted, a motorcycle ride by the sea.

It was this picture that was responsible for tempering with my beautiful idyllic life in Italy.
I was asking my dad in America to send for us, little that I knew how different life would be. After all I was just 4 years old and I basically listened to the adults with promises of a long red convertible, fur coat and a house in the country.


When the day had come to leave Italy for good and fly to Canada I cried uncontrollably. I remember it so clearly. I didn't want to go anymore. It wasn't America and there be no more motorcycle rides with my uncles. 
Anyway, that was a very, very long time ago but see how a picture can stir so many memories and speak a thousand silent words and maybe even keep a secret and a mystery.

To this day I have no idea why I was holding a Pigeon but I remember hearing a story that my uncles or one of my uncles liked shooting Pigeons for food; apparantly frying them in a pan was the preferred way of cooking them.
I sure hope I wasn't holding on to the chubby feathery little fella for someones meal.

 Dear Dad,
Hope you like the photograph.
Let us come to America soon.
Bye
Your Anna xxxxxx

 In 1961 a quiet communiqué written on the back of a photograph of a little girl holding a Pigeon in her arms was flown on a silver bird to the other side of the world carrying a message from a daughter in Italy to a father in America. She decided against sending the bird for the long voyage.

Years have passed since then. I met my French Canadian husband because of a motorcycle ride one night, that’s another story, got a Canada Goose jacket instead of a fur coat, bought a bungalow in the country (not far enough) and a Ford 150. The choice was right to make the enormous move and from time to time I do miss my place of birth and the family I left behind but Canada is now my home and will forever be.

Until later Anna

The Fairy Spider's Wardrobe

Guess what Lucy the Fairy Spider got for Christmas this year? 

Yes, her very own Wardrobe!

Lucy the Fairy Spider was so surprised on Christmas Eve to see her dream come true when she carefully unwrapped the beautifully packaged gift and discovered her one special wish for Christmas was standing there right in front of her; her very own Wardrobe!

It was even more beautiful than she had ever imagined. In the candle light of the Christmas tree the intricately designed web lacing that covered the Wardrobe shimmered and glistened like a thousand stars. 

There was no doubt in her mind from carefully examining the woodwork that it was done by a skilled craftsman who had meticulously created the beautiful armoire with love and a lot of their time and she was beyond happiness with the unique and original gift that was made just for her. Lucy thanked her uncle Ambrose for the wonderful surprise gift from the very bottom of her heart. She declared she would treasure it for always and it would become a family heirloom for centuries to come.

 In wonderment of her good fortune she had gone silent and only beamed with diamond eyes upon her splendid Wardrobe; she was sure she too had stepped into the magical land of Narnia!

The doorknob to the Wardrobe was the tiniest crystal flower.It had bamboo swirls and its shape was not in form like one might think but kind of lopsided. Whimsical was how she referred to it. A perfect shape for a Tangle Web Fairy Spider for their cobwebs are known to have quite a colourful collection of immesurable architectural designs.

But it wasn’t until she spied with her little eyes what the enchanted Wardrobe had hanging inside beyond its ornate door. With the loudest sigh she exclaimed, "Ooooh my, a Fairy Spider's Ballerina Dress, Ooh uncle!!! And she gave him the biggest hug.

She quickly took the Fairy Ballerina Dress out of the armoire and closely studied its design. It too, like the Wardrobe was beautifully made and uncanny how it mimicked a Spider’s web, maybe even her own web. It was of the finest organza fabric of a gorgeous soft grey color.

The bodice was made of embroidered fabric of little daisies touched in gilded gold. The flouncy skirt with waves running through its fiber had minute silver stars scattered about the layers and even trailed on the wispy silvery threads that hanged on the skirt and delicate spaghetti straps.

 The Fairy Ballerina Dress was resplendent in its froufrou, ostentatious and fanciful design.The wispy whimsical gown was a perfect fit for Lucy!
All that Lucy needed now was an invitation to a Fairy Spider’s Ballet Ball.

The Fairy Spider's Wardrobe with Ballerina Dress will be available to purchase in my Etsy shop very soon.

Until next time,

Annabelle

Jack Frost and the Faeries

" Deep within the winter forest among the snowdrift wide

You can find a magic place where all the fairies hide" 

~ Author unknown.....

Jack Frost and the Faeries ~ 

         Doesn't this snowman remind you of a very familiar snowy fellow from the movie" Jack Frost"? When I saw him in the shop he was among many others but each one of them had quite a different look to them. For me, he totally brought back Jack Frost!!! This was a gift I made for my dad for Christmas. 

Gifting is dangerous for me because I find I end up getting two of everything : )  But this gift  I most definitely want to replicate for my home so I'll keep my eyes open for another glass terrarium in this very same shape , kind of reminds me of the brown stone home you see in "A Christmas Carol”. Hopefully in time I'll come across one: ) Ooh , and I also forgot to buy some of those battery operated beautiful starry lights, imagine how magical! Need two packs please ; )

"Are those the magic fairy wands glistening on the tree

or only winter icicles that I see?" 

~ author unknown

No, I think they are tiny little dresses belonging to the Faeries that you see

 Twinkling on the starry tree.

Ballerina Daisy Fairy Tutu

Wool felt, vintage fabric daisies, tiniest of star sequins and German silver glitter

Ballerina Rose Fairy Tutu

Wool felt, silk rose, tiniest of star sequins and German silver glitter

Degas Ballerina Fairy Tutu with Crown

Tea dyed cotton lace, coffee filters, vintage bias tape also tea dyed, vintage fabric daisy, cotton thread

A little while back before Christmas, I decided I wanted to try sewing a few tiny Fairy dresses I had seen online. There are many YouTube videos and blogs that give tutorials; just Google miniature fairy dresses and you'll get quite a selection to choose from.

 I made my own design and didn't bother with the templates for the dresses since all of these were done by molding felt and shaping the lace by hand and later stiffing it with glue. I did however use a Barbi doll for a bodice form for the tiny Witch dress. I didn't post it here because the picture didn't turn out, the black is hard to photograph at night. I will post it later , hopefully with a better image.

If you would like to try making your own I have left you links to 2 very good tutorial sites and one beautiful Inspirational site on Etsy

Angela Holt 

~ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Io1cR5OR2vA

Kellie Reynolds 

~ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TxMFnZNv1co


Sue Griffiths ~ Messie Jessie on Etsy

The wall is silence, the grass is sleep,

Tall trees of peace their vigil keep,

And the Fairy of Dreams with moth-wings furled

Plays soft on her flute to the drowsy world.

~ Ida Rentoul Outhwaite

Until next time,

Annabelle

At A New Years Party : A Sharper Focus on A Christmas Carol

 

OCULUSEYE CHARLES DICKENS ~ Book Image by Nora Steele

OCULUSEYE CHARLES DICKENS ~ Book Image by Nora Steele

OCULUSEYE CHARLES DICKENS ~ Book Image by Nora Steele

OCULUSEYE CHARLES DICKENS ~ Book Image by Nora Steele

 Our kind of New Years Eve Party this year was a quiet one spent at home in front of our cozy Christmas hearth enjoying Chinese take out and watching a movie: “Chasing Liberty” while our two fellas were back at camp in Saskatchewan taking their turn working the Christmas Holiday.

When it comes to ringing in the New Year, I never make it past 10 p.m. and sleep isn’t the only reason for it. Since I was a kid I have disliked celebrating New Years Eve, not really sure exactly why.

It always makes me sad to see the old year fall below the new one on the digital clock knowing it will never return not that I would want another Groundhog Day : )

I know what you’re thinking; leaving the bad stuff behind is good, I know, right? 

Maybe it’s not knowing the future of the New Year and feeling vulnerable to it. Maybe because it marks another year over, another year older , another year closer to the numbers that keep track of time, my time, and our time together. But I don’t feel the same towards the old year, which now no longer keeps a calendar and has revealed all of its hidden secrets. 

There is no longer a need to be afraid of it.

So this New Years Eve I believe I changed for the better and kept my promise to all that I would celebrate the coming New Year with my daughter. I almost failed because at 10 p.m. I was sleeping 😴

…..but above all, it was what transpired on New Years Eve Day that really made me think of the coming New Year .

If one looks closely, very closely and listens, to have eyes to see and ears to hear, like Scrooge realized in the end to be quiet essential to one’s happy soul then without fail one will discover there are Treasures all around and for everyone. Treasures in Books and their stories, in works of art and in the background music of movies.

And so it was the music that brought me to write this post today but not from watching the movie but rather from listening to Rob Snow on the Lowell Green Christmas Special on CFRA in Ottawa last week when a caller asked him to play “Barbara Allen” from "A Christmas Carol". As I was listening to it I recalled the scene in my mind and just had to track it down for myself  so I could play it as much as I would like, unfortunately I couldn't find the song in its entirety but was able to find a good clip on Youtube. Not only was I lucky to find the song but happy to discover  how there is people out there just like me who also found it important to appreciate all of the different elements comprised in the movie “ A Christmas Carol” creating a beautiful masterful Piece of timeless art in film format. In my search for the song I stumbled upon  three sites.

First was Youtube with the song “Barbara Allen” uploaded byCompositorum.

It was here I first realized there were others who loved the same qualities of the film as I do:like these two kindred friend's  quotes below,

" That someone else made a point of selecting out this clip, simply because it is the segment where they sing "Barbara Allen", darn near restores my faith in humanity.  THANK YOU for this.  My family and I always considered this song and this sequence of the story to be an especially touching moment.  I am so happy to see so 

Few films are able to so strongly elicit so many emotions so completely.  I'm a 50 year old professional, but, at different times in the film, I feel empathy, anger, pity, guilt, bewilderment, wonderment, sadness, overwhelming joy to the point of true tears...  If you can sit through the entire film and not choke out a few tears, I'm astounded.  When the spirit of Christmas present answers scrooge's question about what resources the boy and girl clinging to the spirit have, and he answers "are there no prisons?...are there no workhouses?...I lose it." ~ drtwatman

Compositorum Courtesy of  Compositorum on Youtube

 

" If you don't have a tear in your eye at this moment from the movie, with this song as a background....surely you are not human! " ~ Robert Genis

Secondly, I came across a writer's site http://www.asharperfocus.com

 Norman. N Holland  who's essay on "A Christmas Carol" is truly the best I've read. His detailed comments to all of the essential elements to the movie were wonderful to read and totally agreed on his overall views of the film. 
Enjoyed it tremendously!
Please take a moment and do have a read. So happy to have found his site. I can learn a lot from him.

And Thirdly, Nora Steele's Etsy Store OCULUSEYE CHARLES DICKENS where the above pictures of "A Christmas Carol and The Cricket on the Hearth Book originate from. (I bought the book!!! Can't wait for it to arrive.)

I discovered Nora, a beautiful and gracious shop keeper with a heart and a kindred friend. We both chose to celebrate our New Years Eve with family , take out and a movie : ) She has one of the loveliest shops on Etsy and you can't miss it if you are like us and enjoy Charles Dickens!!!

A Christmas Carol ~ Scrooge is one of my favoured ghost stories of all time, such a beautiful classic. Ever since I landed in Canada when I was 7 years old I fell in love with England and Ghost Stories. By Happy Chance , Spiritual Intervention, a  Sad Scottish Ballad ~ "Barbara Allen" and Charles Dickens' "A Christmas Carol" I came across these fellow Kindred Friends and in keeping with the British Tradition of Ghost Stories at Christmas I thought it best to share with you "A Christmas Carol".

My New Year's Resolution: 

And I will keep this year truthful, positive, productive, healthy and safe as much as humanly possible. I will forgive and work on forgetting. Accept what is and let go of what can't be kept. I know it will make me a calmer person : ) And keep Love " above anything else"

Oooh, and thank you to the caller who called in to the Lowell Green Christmas Show~ Rob Snow on CFRA and planting the seed !

Happy New Year!

Below are the lyrics to "Barbara Allen"

In Scarlet Town, Where I was born

There was a fair maid dwellin'

Made every youth cry "Well-a-day"

For the love of Barbara Allen

'Twas in the merry month of May

When green buds were a swellin'

Sweet William came from the west country

And fell in love with Barbara Allen.

He courted her for seven long years

'Til his heart in him was failin'

And begged his love to marry him

But "No" said Barbara Allen.

Then on a somber autumn day

When all the leaves were fallin'

Sweet William on his deathbed lay

For the love of Barbara Allen.

He sent his servant to the town,

To the place where she was dwellin'

,

Sayin' "You must come to my master dear,

If your name be Barbara Allen."

"For death is printed on his face,

And o'er his heart is stealin'

Then haste away to comfort him

Oh lovely Barbara Allen."

So slowly, slowly she came up

And slowly she drew nigh him

And the only words to him did say

Were "Young man I think you're dyin'"

"Oh yes, I'm sick and very low

And death is o'er me dwellin',

But better, no better, I ever shall be

If I can't have Barbara Allen."

lowell

"You may be sick and very low,

And death be o'er you dwellin,

But better, no better you ever will be

For you can't have Barbara Allen...

Don't you remember in yonder town,

In yonder town a-drinking?

You gave a toast to the ladies round,

But you slighted Barbara Allen."

"Oh yes, I remember in yonder town

When we were in the tavern,

I gave a toast to the ladies 'round,

But gave my heart to Barbara Allen."

"If on your deathbed you do lie,

What needs the tale you're tellin'?

I cannot save you from your death.

Farewell," said Barbara Allen.

He turned his pale face to the wall,

As death was drawing nigh him.

"Adieu, adieu, to my friends all. 

Be kind to Barbara Allen."

As she went walking through the fields,

She heard the birds a-singin',

And as they sang, they seemed to say:

"Hard-hearted Barbara Allen!"

As she walked further through the fields

She heard the death-bells ringing,

And every note to her did say:

"Hard-hearted Barbara Allen!"

Her eyes looked east, her eyes looked west

She spied the corpse a-comin

"Lay down, lay down the corpse!" she said,

"That I may look upon him."

And as she looked upon his face,

She bursted out a-crying,

"Oh pick me up, and take me home,

For now I am a-dyin'."

"Oh mother, Oh mother, go make my bed,

Make it both long and narrow

Sweet William died for me today

And I shall die tomorrow."

"Oh father, oh father, go dig my grave

Dig it both long and narrow,

Sweet William died of love for me

And I shall die of sorrow."

"Hard-hearted creature, him to slight,

Who hath loved me so dearly -

Oh, that I'd been more kind to him

When he was live and near me.

She on her deathbed as she lay

Begged to be buried by him

And sore repented of the day

That she did e'er deny him.

Barbara Allen was buried in the old churchyard

And William they buried nigh her

Out of William's heart, there grew a rose

Out of Barbara Allen's, a briar. 

They grew and grew up the old church wall

'Til they could grow no higher, 

And there they formed a true love's knot - 

The rose wrapp'd round the briar.

A Christmas Note

" I will honour Christmas in my heart, and try to keep it all the year. I will live in the Past, the Present, and the Future. The Spirits of all Three shall strive within me. I will not shut out the lessons that they teach!" 

“And it was always said of him, that he knew how to keep Christmas well, if any man alive possessed the knowledge. May that be truly said of us, and all of us! And so, as Tiny Tim observed, God bless Us, Every One!” 

~ Charles Dickens, A Christmas Carol

and a "Happy Christmas to all, and to all a good-night!"