Nursery Print Nostalgia

I had a nice long weekend which seemed to revive any spirits I might have lost. Some friends came from Michigan and we cruised the antique shops in Florence for a good part of one day. I found this lovely little nursery print of which the photo above is only a detail. Have tried to find the artist and cannot. I thought it was maybe Dutch as there are some windmills on the horizon and came across Henrietta Willebeek Le Mair whose work looks familiar but is not my illustrator. This has got to be 1940s or '50, don't you think? The little girl is waving her handkerchief at a woman down the shoreline a bit, there are many ducks and some water lilies. Maybe it is from some story of which I am ignorant. Help me out if you can, please!!!

The very cool part of this print was the internet journey I took in trying to discover my artist. There are whole sites devoted to nursery illustrators! Here is my favorite from yesterday.

Elf Doors and Snowstorms

Jerry presented me with several little elf doors, windows, and even a wee lantern for my Christmas gift. My daughter, Emily, came down to visit us over the holidays and she and I looked around for suitable tree homes. It was fun, I mean really fun! When we got back to the house we searched the internet for more of this type of thing. I think it's a cult. Could definitely use more of these whimsies in my life, who couldn't?

We are expecting a fabulous snow storm tomorrow into Monday! So very hopeful on several levels. First, southern Colorado is in severe drought. It's not extremely dangerous in terms of wild fires this time of year, but come spring and summer? The prospect is terrifying for me. Second, I love the snow and want to snowshoe - jeezo peezo - sometime this winter without having to travel to do so. Third, I want a snow day on Monday. And who wouldn't???