• Literary Pursuits

    2010 Reading Challenges

    I have decided to join a couple of reading challenges for 2010. Not that I need an excuse or motivation to read more. I don’t have any problems in that department! But I thought it would be an interesting way to keep track of what I read. I plan to update this post once a month throughout the year. The…

  • Literary Pursuits

    Vintage Boys and Girls Cookbook

    It’s been awhile since I’ve participated in Vintage Thingies Thursday, but I’ve been meaning for several weeks to share this cookbook from my childhood with you.I can’t remember where Mother got them, but we had this cookbook and a Betty Crocker’s Parties for Children book. I “inherited” the cookbook and it is falling apart. I haven’t seen the party book…

  • Literary Pursuits

    Little Dorrit

    To be honest, I had never heard of Dickens’ Little Dorrit until I saw an ad for the PBS mini-series that is currently running. (And I claim to be well-read! I know! I’m plum’ ashamed of myself!) But, the ad caught my eye and I even talked Lyle into trying it with me. We watched the first installment the other…

  • Literary Pursuits

    The Workbasket – April 1952

    Here we are in 1952 with plenty of handy “Ideas for the Bazaar, the Home, Gifts, Sparetime Money Makers, with Many Articles, Easily Made and Inexpensive, that find a Ready Sale.” How’s that for a tag line? And with plenty of capital letters, too!                             The first…

  • Literary Pursuits

    The Workbasket – January 1952

    It’s been awhile since I’ve done a Workbasket post… and I still have quite a few I haven’t share with you yet. I know you’re just so excited about that, aren’t you? This one is from January 1952, and as you can see, the cover was torn off. For some reason, this issue seemed to have more than its share…

  • Literary Pursuits

    The Workbasket – December 1951

    It’s been awhile since I shared a Workbasket with you, and I thought you might be needing some hokey gift ideas for Christmas… circa 1951. I loved the edgings on those towels, but all I can think of is having to iron them to keep them looking nice. Iron bath towels? Uh… no, thanks!I’m sure these are very sweet baby…

  • Literary Pursuits

    NaNoWriMo

    All my life I’ve dreamed of writing a novel. Not because I have this burning story that just begs to be told. I don’t. But mainly because I have read so many mediocre novels that someone somewhere thought worthy of publishing, and I think, “I could write a better story than that.” That, plus my mother fully believes that someday…

  • Literary Pursuits

    Junior Elf Books

    I love vintage books! Big surprise, huh? And because I always need more books, I couldn’t pass up this handful of “Junior Elf” books when I came across them at a garage sale this summer. You’ll probably have to click on the picture to enlarge it to see that the cover price on most of them is 15 cents! (One…

  • Literary Pursuits

    A Lost Art

    I think I’ll do something way retro this weekend… I received some cute monogrammed note cards recently as a gift, and they are such lovely fall colors that I’m tempted to jot off some handwritten notes to a few friends. Or would that just be terribly old-fashioned of me? Seriously, I love to get letters and little gifts in the…

  • Literary Pursuits

    Vintage Library Blessing

    Being the book hound I am, I couldn’t resist this quaint framed blessing when I came across it at a garage sale this summer:I just love the verbose pompous wording! “O God, the Lord of all knowledge, mercifully bestow thy blessing upon this library that it may be protected from fire and all other evils; grant that at times it…