Books for Little Princesses

It is some cruel form of torture that I can't read every children's book that passes before my eyes, but I try to get in a few every day.

The following are particularly good if you happen to have a little princess that likes to be read to. Follow the reading with a treat, such as tea time! I have a delicious recipe for you after the books.

Ruby shows us how royalty is sometimes closer than we think...

The Tiara Club books are just cute.

This is about the opportunities that come with making mistakes, if we have eyes to see them.

Turkey Tea Sandwiches

Cinnamon Raisin Bread
Honey Roasted Turkey
Cream Cheese
Baby Spinach
Fuji Apple slices

Layer the cream cheese, turkey, spinach leaves, and apple slices on the raisin bread. Serve with your favorite holiday tea and sugar cookies. So good!

I really want to play Princess Leia. Stick some big pastries on my head. Now that would be interesting.
Ewan Mc Gregor

The Potent Wizard

I am reading this book called A Natural History of the Senses by Diane Ackerman.

The truth of the matter is, there are a lot of things in the world one cannot experience firsthand. One of the great things about reading is that you can experience them vicariously. Depending on the skill of the writer, one can almost feel like they were there, smelling the same scents, taking in the same light.

In this excerpt, follow Ms. Ackerman into a realm where every butterfly is a king or a queen...

The Winter Palace of Monarchs
One Christmas, I traveled along the coast of California with the Los Angeles Museum's Monarch Project, locating and tagging great numbers of overwintering monarch butterflies. They prefer to winter in eucalyptus groves, which are deeply fragrant. The first time I stepped into one, and every time thereafter, they filled me with sudden tender memories of mentholated rub and childhood colds. First we reached high into the trees, where the butterflies hung in fluttering gold garlands, and caught a group of them with telescoping nets. Then we sat on the ground, which was densely covered with the South African ice plant, a type of succulent, and one of the very few plants that can tolerate the heavy oils that drop from the trees. The oils kept crawling insects away, too, and except for the occasional Pacific tree frog croaking like someone working the tumblers of a safe, ...the sunlit forests were serene, other-worldly, and immense with quiet.
Because of the eucalyptus vapor, I not only smelled the scent, I felt it in my nose and throat. The loudest noise was the occasional sound of a door creaking open, the sound of eucalyptus bark peeling off the trees and falling to the ground, where it would soon roll up like papyrus. Everywhere I looked there seemed to be proclamations left by some ancient scribe...
Later, she talks about the ability of scent to transport her to another place. She is in Manhattan, buying flowers for her hotel room, when she comes upon a tub of eucalyptus, still fresh and full of fragrance. She states:

Despite the noise of Third Avenue traffic, the drilling of the City Works Department, the dust blowing up off the streets and the clotted gray of the sky, I was instantly transported to a particularly beautiful eucalyptus grove near Santa Barbara. A cloud of butterflies few along a dried-up riverbed. I sat serenely on the ground, lifting yet another gold-and-black monarch butterfly from my net, carefully tagging it and tossing it back into the air...

Scent is one of those things that brings me back to the moment, when my mind is frazzled or I have been too busy trying to solve the mysteries of the universe. It reminds me to channel the wisdom of those ancient sages The Beatles, and let things be.

So yesterday I pulled out my humidifier and filled it with water and the liquid vapor that goes in it, even though I wasn't sick. And I turned it on and pretended I was in a grove of butterflies, watching the light slant through the trees, watching their wings catch the sun and throw it back. Also, I am glad I learned that bugs don't like the smell of eucalyptus, because I am really afraid of having bugs in my bedroom.



Our hearts exist between two hammers,
like the tongue between our teeth, in spite of which
the tongue remains always the bestower of praise
Rainer Maria Rilke

Featured Princess: Isolde

Long ago there lived an Irish princess named Isolde. She was the prize of her father, who used her to bring disharmony to the lands of Britain. Because of her beauty, many men fought over her. The King of Ireland knew the clans of Britain must not unite, or they would rise against his tyrannical reign.
Tristan was a great warrior from Britain whose parents had been killed by the Irish. He fell in battle when wounded with a sword edged with poison. The poison caused his heart to be paralyzed, and everyone thought he was dead. They sent him on a boat across the English channel, a king's farewell. But he was not dead.
Isolde found him on the Irish coast. She was a great healer and knew every herb on her land. At great risk, she cured him and brought him back to life.

All is well and nothing is wasted.
Sugar Ray

Ridiculous Shoes

Cinderella is proof that a pair of shoes can change your life.

Anonymous

My neighbor forgot to pay his internet bill this month, so I am here at Starbucks. They have wonderful chamomile tea. Its not that I mind terribly paying for Internet service, I would just rather buy...
Shoes!
I wore many pairs of shoes today, and I could write a story based just upon this smallest of details.
I made breakfast in my house shoes. Mine are cute, but Evie's in The Mummy are much cuter. My house shoes are delicate yet strong. For example, they make me feel feminine, but I can also smash a milk carton in them to be recycled. That is the test of a good shoe.
I wore my tennis shoes to ballet class. Mine are green stripy Steve Maddens. Tres chic, even for tennies.
Of course, it must be pink slippers for ballet class. I love mine, made by Sansha, but I must confess to some shoe envy. An Irish lady in my class had the prettiest satin ballet flats that tied up her legs. I wanted to steal them.


Time to change shoes for a hair appointment. I went in my green tennies and my tights. This is always a great conversation starter for everyone I bump into.
"Do you dance?"
"Why yes I do."
"Ooooh what kind?"
"Mostly ballet, but I have studied many forms."
Then they begin to tell me their life history and how they were put in dance as a child but really they excelled at volleyball.
Except the guy who cut my hair. He seemed to think I had missed my calling as an actress. "Because you play any role from 15 years old to much older." Hmmm... I think that is a compliment.
Then home where I put on my pretty gold shoes because... well, because my hair was done.
Then back to my tennies, because I have been trying to feed my bunnies spinach, but the picky things just want pellets even though the list of bunny greens I printed off the Internet fully includes spinach.
That brings us up to speed on my shoes.




High heels were invented by a woman who had been kissed on the forehead.
~Christopher Morley

Ballet Lessons

First arabesque is a celebration of life.
Full of flourish, it expresses joy and freedom.
One might note that the foot extended is the foot opposite the outstretched forward arm. If one was to change the leg, or the arm, the arabesque would no longer be in first, but second or third.

Incidentally, I was caught off guard and went to a restaurant in this outfit. It made for some interesting stares in my direction. Usually I consider this a positive sign, but in this case I do not think it was so.

Presence

Bunnies are a good example of presence. They just sit in their cage all day, except when they are out of course, but they have a very powerful presence.


Pepper snuggles a blanket my Granny made me. She loves nature, so she does not mind.

Theo likes when something- anything- is over his head.

Sunshine, in fact, bathed the entire afghan, and the play of warm, brilliant light in the pale-blue wool was in itself worth beholding.
J.D. Salinger

Presence is a soft cotton towel

or a beautiful princess smile

Persia says: Every Princess should let her presence shine.

Handsome princes full of fun- Austen T.

Something pretty and bright- Viva Shabby Chic

Smart Princes who now read chapter books- Price is reading King Solomon's Mines (with the help of his dad :) )

Playful Princesses who get right back up when they fall down- Lauren Kate and Maggie Roxanne

Just being together. Tiffany & Lane.

Palette

The greatest masterpieces were once only pigments on a palette.

Sometimes boys look nice in browns and greens, like Finn. This is not always true. Ryan, in High School Musical, looks wonderful in pink.

Even though this is the Princess Niche, we can certainly learn a few things from Princes.
Lynn looks stunning in bold, dark shades because of her skin tone and her artistic personality.



Persia the Reincarnated Kitty says: A Princess always knows her palette. Palette: A particular range, quality, or use of color.
Merriam-Webster
For example, I do not look good in dramatic, bold colors. Although I have dark eyes and hair, my skin is too fair.
Bella looks nice in soft, muted colors. This is fortunate, because she blends in well with the woods and the foliage.

Edward, of course, looks good in anything.

http://stylenews.peoplestylewatch.com/2009/08/11/twilight-barbie-dolls-are-here/

The photographer's palette [is] a thousand shades of gray.”

H. E. Clark quotes