Skios

Skios is a delightful farce written by Michael Frayn. It's set on the fictional Greek island of Skios, which is brimming with ancient temples, artifacts, whitewashed houses and blue skies.

 

The Fred Toppler Foundation is preparing for the highlight of its annual two week meeting: a lecture by the very distinguised Dr. Norman Wilfred. Nikki, Mrs. Toppler's assistant, is to meet Dr. Wilfred, a middle-aged gentleman with years of academia beneath his belt, at the island's small airport. However, the youngish Oliver Fox, with his floppy hair and delightful grin, is mistaken by Nikki as Dr. Wilfred. Of course, this isn't helped when Nikki asks Oliver Fox if he's Dr. Norman Wilfred to which he replies, "I cannot tell a lie.".

By the time Dr. Norman Wilfred exits the airport, there is one lone taxi. After trying to communicate with the taxi driver, Dr Wilfred allows himself to be driven to a villa he mistakes for the guest quarters of the Fred Toppler Foundation. This villa belongs to friends of Annuka, the girlfriend of Oliver Fox. Oliver had arranged to meet another girl there, Georgie, as Annuka had recently kicked Oliver out of her apartment. Georgie's boyfriend thinks she's in Switzerland with her old friend Nikki.

There is more mistaken identity, lost luggage, getting lost on pathways and general mayhem. I thought this was a fun book and a great read. I was disappointed in the ending. I thought it was too "out there", but then again, this is a farce, so maybe the ending does fit the book.



Linking up to Literary Friday at Art @ Home.

Bewitched ~ Barbie Time

This week I'm sharing one of  my character Barbie dolls: Samantha from Bewitched! 

She's still in her box. Any white specks are from the box's plastic front. Samantha's dressed in all black, with a splash of red on the flip side of her cape. She's definitely ready for a broom ride across the sky.

Bewitched was one of my favorite TV shows when I was a kid. It was just so cool the way Samantha twitched her nose and all kinds of stuff would happen. Probably like most kids who watched the show, I tried to move my nose the same way as Elizabeth Montgomery, but I never could master her twitch.

Here's the back of the box with a short history of the TV show.

Thank you for your visit!

Chinoiserie Silkstone ~ Barbie Time

 This beauty was my first Silkstone purchase. She's the Chinoiserie Red Moon, Fashion Model, Barbie.

 

She has long black hair, elegantly styled into a high ponytail. The Silkstone Fashion Model dolls were designed by Robert Best and inspired by the original 1959 Barbie. I love her sideways glance.

The outfit this Silkie is modeling is called "Black Enchantment". This has to be one of my favorite Barbie outfits. I love how the skirt poufs out. 

In this picture you can see the pink bow on the back of the dress. The outfit also came with pink gloves, a faux pearl bracelet and a compact (Barbie does not like a shiny nose!).

The living room wall is from Sindy's Scenesetter House.

 

Thanks so much for your visit!

Michelle

Stanley Tea Cup and Saucer

Today I'm sharing one of my favorite tea cup and saucer sets by Stanley.

The cup and saucer features a crisp white background, with lovely flowers, greenery and plaid. I feel like I should know the name of the flowers depicted on this china, but I just can't think of it right now.

I don't know if there's a "technical term" for this or not, but I love the swirled ribbing on the cup and saucer.

The plaid makes me think of Scotland. Bagpipes played, inside my head, the entire time I was taking pictures!

The back stamp reads Stanley, Fine Bone China, England, Est 1875.

Thanks for visiting me today!
Michelle


Linking up to:
Terri at Artful Affirmations for Tea Cup Tuesday
Sandi at Rose Chintz Cottage for Tea Time Tuesday

By Myself, Lauren Bacall

I recently read "By Myself", the autobiography of Lauren Bacall. This book was published in 1978 by Knopf. I was lucky enough to find it at one of my library's book sales for only a quarter. Our library has about a dozen book sales each year. The books come not only from the library shelves, but from people who donate books they no longer want or need.

This is a great book about Lauren Bacall's life, including both of her marriages (Humphrey Bogart and Jason Robards). It's a fast read as Ms. Bacall isn't into flowery words and long descriptions of how the sun set each day or how the smell of roses lingered in the air. She's straight to the point. When she "name-drops", she's very casual and matter-of-fact about it.

I really didn't know that much about Humphrey Bogart or her relationship with him until I read this book. Casablanca is one of my favorite films, so I really enjoyed reading about Bogart. Bacall's start in show business was as a model, which morphed into acting. Bogie was still married to his third wife when they started seeing each other. There's also a lot of drinking that goes on, but I guess that was standard for the time period. They were good friends with Spencer Tracey and Katharine Hepburn, whom Bacall calls Katie. Tracey and Hepburn visited Bogart every night, after his discharge from the hospital, until he died. Warning: The section that deals with his death is a tear jerker.

This picture made the cover of Harper's Bazaar. My fave of the two of them. This is a scan of the back cover, which looks like a poor quality picture since the book's so old.

Thanks for your visit today!
Michelle

Linking up to Art @ Home for Literary Friday.

Vintage Barbie ~ Barbie Time

This week I'm showing off one of my vintage dolls.

This Fashion Queen Barbie is a brunette with molded hair. She comes with three wigs: blonde, titian and brunette.

Here she is as a redhead. I found this yellow, handmade, dress on Ebay, some years ago. It fits Barbie perfectly.

Do blondes have more fun? Ask Barbie! Here she is, modeling her blonde, bubble-cut wig.

This pink dress is vintage and snaps in the back. I didn't realize how wrinkled it was until I saw these pics!

The backdrop for these pictures is one of the living room walls of the Sindy Scenesetter House.

Barbie wears her brunette wig. The "fur-trimmed" coat and gold dress are a Fashion Avenue set. I think it came out in the late 90's or early 00's.

The set came with ankle boots, but I switched them out for a pair of black heels.

Thanks for your visit!
Michelle

Kate Spade ~ Barbie Time

I love Barbie. I love collecting Barbie and all her fabulous clothes and accessories. So I decided to start sharing, the dolls in my collection, each week.

This week, I'm starting with my Kate Spade Barbie doll.

Kate Spade is a real life designer. She designs clothing and home accessories. The Barbie Collector website says that this doll is dressed in an outfit that reflects Kate's personal style.

Kate, the doll, is dressed in a floral print coat, which is belted at the waist.  It's almost a hot pink color with splashes of white, pale pink flowers and green leaves. My camera doesn't do the colors  justice. Beneath the coat is an ivory knit sweater and green shantung cigarette pants.-BCW

She carries a super-cute, wicker purse with green, "leather" trim.

Kate also carries this canvas tote bag, trimmed in green to match the purse. It's the perfect size to carry her adorable puppy with her, wherever she goes.

She wears green high heels, that slip right on.

Her jewelry is a necklace with matching earrings, gold and green in tone. And, she keeps her sunglasses, stylishly, on top of her head.

She hasn't been deboxed yet. I haven't decided if I will or not. Sometimes half the fun of collecting is the deboxing.

I hope you enjoyed Kate Spade, the Barbie doll this week.

Thanks for your visit!