something especially spooky in the way of ghosts

"a ghost you couldn't see but could hear and feel was something especially spooky in the way of ghosts"

-L.M. Montgomery
Emily of New Moon

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Photograph by Ingrid A. Lobo.

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Created October 31, 2022.

Down in the Pastures by L.M. Montgomery

In July 1906, L.M. Montgomery published the poem "Down in the Pastures" in The Farm Journal, a journal devoted to the farm, orchard, garden, poultry and household economy. The journal's motto was "Practical not Fancy Farming."

Here is a digitized image of the poem scanned from microfilm available at Archive.org:



Here is the full text of the poem:

DOWN IN THE PASTURES
BY L. M. MONTGOMERY

Down in the pastures, remote and cool,

In the glow of a golden afternoon,

Where the calm-eyed cows by the birchen pool

Browse, and meandering breezes croon

Among the clover and daisies there,
In the wine-like sweetness of summer air,

I rambled to-day—no companionships

Of human creatures, no voice save the low
Leaf murmurs that wandered to and fro,

And the brook’s mysterious sibylline lips.

A bluebird, perched on a picket gray,

Sang a song that was blithe and free;

It looked askance as I passed that way,

Yet the shy thing seemed not afraid of me.

And each wild rose that opened there
Its virgin lips to the calm blue air

Among the bracken a welcome gave,

And I felt that everything, flower and bird,
By some subtle instinct of joy was stirred,

Such as mortals know not and vainly crave.

O, it was sweet on this summer day

To learn my kinship to those wild things,

To feel as unfettered and glad as they

And as if my spirit at least had wings,

To lay my heart against Nature’s own
Till the haunting music of each deep tone

Passed into my soul with a rapt release

From the pain and turmoil of outer life,
To forget the meaning of selfish strife

And learn the depth of primeval peace.

Reference:
Montgomery, L.M. (1906, July). Down in the Pastures. The Farm Journal. 30(7): 234. Retrieved from: https://archive.org/details/sim_farm-journal_1906-07_30_7/page/234/mode/2up

Created October 30, 2022.

There was an indefinable change over everything that meant autumn.

"There was an indefinable change over everything that meant autumn."

-L.M. Montgomery
Jane of Lantern Hill

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Photograph by Ingrid A. Lobo.

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Created October 26, 2022.

Drought by L.M. Montgomery

In August 1908, L.M. Montgomery published the poem "Drought" in The Farm Journal, a journal devoted to the farm, orchard, garden, poultry and household economy. The journal's motto was "Practical not Fancy Farming."

Here is a digitized image of the poem scanned from microfilm available at Archive.org:



Here is the full text of the poem:

DROUGHT
BY L. M. MONTGOMERY

So long it is since kindly rain

Fell on the thirsty meadow lands,

The birds forget their old refrain,

The trees uplift their pleading hands

To hard, bright skies that do not heed,

But arch above the valley dim

And touch the far hills’ burning rim

And care not for our mighty need.

Athwart the dusty highways’ glare

The wan white daisies drooping lean,

The roses faint in their despair

On pasture slopes no longer green.

The plaintive brooks have ceased to pray

Unfed by springs whose lips are dry,

And the dull evening in the sky

Shuts out the brazen edge of day.

Great Father, listen to our prayer,

And send on us Thy gracious rain

To hush the moan of our despair

And drown the memory of our pain.

Then all the hills to Thee will raise

A psalm of utter thankfulness,

Thy name each thirsty blossom bless,

And every meadow hymn Thy praise.


Reference:
Montgomery, L.M. (1908, August). Drought. The Farm Journal. 32(8): 298. Retrieved from: https://archive.org/details/sim_farm-journal_1908-08_32_8/page/n1/mode/2up

Created October 23, 2022.

The Light in Mother's Eyes by L.M. Montgomery

In January 1909, L.M. Montgomery published the poem "The Light in Mother's Eyes" about her mother Clara Woolner Macneill Montgomery in The Farm Journal, a journal devoted to the farm, orchard, garden, poultry and household economy. The journal's motto was "Practical not Fancy Farming."

Here is a digitized image of the poem scanned from microfilm available at Archive.org:


Here is the full text of the poem:

THE LIGHT IN MOTHER’S EYES
BY L. M. MONTGOMERY

Dear beacon of my childhood’s day,

The lodestar of my youth,

A mingled glow of tenderest love

And firm, unswerving truth,

I’ve wandered far o'er east and west,

’Neath many stranger skies,

But ne’er I’ve seen a fairer light

Than that in mother’s eyes.

In childhood when I crept to lay

My tired head on her knee,

How gently shone the mother-love

In those dear eyes on me;

And when in youth my eager feet

Roamed from her side afar,

Where’er I went that light divine

Was aye my guiding star.

In hours when all life’s sweetest buds

Burst into dewy bloom,

In hours when cherished hopes lay dead

In sorrow and in gloom;

In evening’s hush, or morning’s glow,

Or in the solemn night,

Those mother eyes still shed on me

Their calm, unchanging light.

Long since the patient hands I loved

Were folded in the clay,

And long have seemed the lonely years

Since mother went away;

But still I know she waits for me

In fields of Paradise,

And I shall reach them yet, led by

The light in mother’s eyes.

Reference:
Montgomery, L.M. (1909, January). The Light in Mother's Eyes. The Farm Journal. 33(1): 35. Retrieved from: https://archive.org/details/sim_farm-journal_1909-01_33_1/page/34/mode/2up

Created October 22, 2022.

Bob's Stories by L.M. Montgomery

In October 1910, L.M. Montgomery published the poem "Bob's Stories" in The Farm Journal, a journal devoted to the farm, orchard, garden, poultry and household economy. The journal's motto was "Practical not Fancy Farming."

Here is a digitized image of the poem scanned from microfilm available at Archive.org:


Here is the full text of the poem:

BOB’S STORIES
BY L. M. MONTGOMERY

The sky was a windy tent when he

His stories told,

Shot all through with mellow hues:

And vagrant winds went lowing free

Over fields all wet with nightly dews,

And the West was gold.

Tired from work and play were we

When the day was done;

Hanging around the old back door

To hear the wonderful yarns that he

On those dusky, breezy eves of yore

Unwearied spun.

Bob was never stuck, not he,

For a story to tell.

He made them all out of his own small head,

Fairies and dragons and witches; we

Were almost too scared to go to bed

When the darkness fell.

Enchanted castles and knights galore

And pirates bold,

Marvelous ventures on land and sea,—

The wilder it all might be the more

We liked it and listened breathlessly,

Till the tale was told.

Books were nothing to him, we thought,

Not half such fun

As to sit around with wide-opened eyes,

Our little every-day world forgot,

And listen with awed, delicious surprise

To the yarns he spun.

Bob since then to other ears

Has stories told;

Over the world has flown his fame.

Men and women with laughter and tears

Read the books that bear his name

In letters of gold.

But I’m ready to wager that never he

Sweeter praise has won

Than we gave unstintedly years ago,

When, a barefooted, dusty fraternity,

We listened, wide-eyed, in the sunset glow

To the yarns he spun

Reference:
Montgomery, L.M. (1910, October). Bob's Stories. The Farm Journal. 34(10): 466. Retrieved from: https://archive.org/details/sim_farm-journal_1910-10_34_10/page/466/mode/2up

Created October 13, 2022.

Night in the Country by L.M. Montgomery

In October 1904, L.M. Montgomery published the poem "Night in the Country" in The Farm Journal, a journal devoted to the farm, orchard, garden, poultry and household economy. The journal's motto was "Practical not Fancy Farming."

Here is a digitized image of the poem scanned from microfilm available at Archive.org:


Here is the full text of the poem:

NIGHT IN THE COUNTRY

In the city the night is gay,
Brighter, more feverish than the day;
Throngs unceasing pass through the glare,
Allured by pleasure or urged by care.

The noisy stir, the busy hum
Of unresting life is seldom dumb,
The benediction of midnight deep
Never may fall on the city’s sleep.

In the country the dusk, sweet night
Has the solemn calm of the infinite:
The dim, wide fields in silence lie
Under the arch of ebon sky.

The wind steals out of the quiet woods
To blow over dew-chrismed solitudes;
The hush of the hour is still and deep
In the pastures where the cattle sleep.

The kindly stars shine above the hills,
With balm and healing the night-time fills.
Here in the country one may rest
Like a child on its mother’s breast.

L. M. MONTGOMERY.

Reference:
Montgomery, L.M. (1904, October). Night in the Country. The Farm Journal. 28(10): 332. Retrieved from: https://archive.org/details/sim_farm-journal_1904-10_28_10/page/332/mode/2up

Created October 20, 2022.

Some things come by lightning flashes.

"Some things dawn on you slowly. Some things come by lightning flashes."

-L.M. Montgomery
The Blue Castle

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Photograph by Ingrid A. Lobo.

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Created October 19, 2022.

In Wheaten Meadows by L.M. Montgomery

In July 1908, L.M. Montgomery published the poem "In Wheaten Meadows" in The Farm Journal, a journal devoted to the farm, orchard, garden, poultry and household economy. The journal's motto was "Practical not Fancy Farming."

Here is a digitized image of the poem scanned from microfilm available at Archive.org:



Here is the full text of the poem:

IN WHEATEN MEADOWS
BY L. M. MONTGOMERY

There are winds that riot o’er meadows still,
Over slopes of harvest gold,
From the fir-set rim of an orient hill,
With a vibrant melody athrill,
And a music all untold.

There are shadows and ripples, uncharted

and fleet,

Where the fretted tassels sway;
The call of the bluebird is lyric-sweet,
And the crimson poppies among the wheat
Look up to the mellow day.

Widely the ministrant meadows lie,
Lavish of rapture and rest;
White are the clouds in the slumberous sky,
And elfin the voices that wander by
The grass-hid field-lark’s nest.

Perhaps o’er the shadowy hills afar,
Unresting souls may throng,
And there may tumult and strife and jar
And ignoble discord and struggle mar
Earth’s full-voiced, matchless song.

But here, where the silken poppies burn,
And the air is pure and sweet,
We may hark to the rhythm for which we yearn,
And many an ancient lesson learn
In the meadows among the wheat.


Reference:
Montgomery, L.M. (1908, July). In Wheaten Meadows. The Farm Journal. 32(7): 274. Retrieved from: https://archive.org/details/sim_farm-journal_1908-07_32_7/page/n1/mode/2up

Created October 18, 2022.

My Pictures by L.M. Montgomery

In May 1906, L.M. Montgomery published the poem "My Pictures" in The Farm Journal, a journal devoted to the farm, orchard, garden, poultry and household economy. The journal's motto was "Practical not Fancy Farming."

Here is a digitized image of the poem scanned from microfilm available at Archive.org:


Here is the full text of the poem:

MY PICTURES

My pictures? Why, yes; I will show them with gladness—
Their number is small, but each one is a gem;
And in shadow or sunshine they charm away sadness,
The world is forgotten while gazing at them.

They were painted, each one, by the hand of a master
Whose skill is unquestioned, whose brush is most true,
Whose colors are brighter, whose canvasses vaster
Than any, my friend, that are cherished by you.

See! There is a valley that’s dappled with shadow
And threaded with sunshine, in bosk and in dell;
Or here, if you like, is a green stretch of meadow
A-twinkle with daisies where buttercups dwell,

Here’s a garden of blossom, an orchard bloom-whitened,
And others beyond that I need not to name,
All seen at a glance when the summer has brightened
The scenes that I view from my own window frame.

L. M. MONTGOMERY


Reference:
Montgomery, L.M. (1906, May). My Pictures. The Farm Journal. 30(5): 161. Retrieved from: https://archive.org/details/sim_farm-journal_1906-05_30_5/mode/2up

Created October 17, 2022.

When Mother Tucked Us In by L.M. Montgomery

In January 1907, L.M. Montgomery published the poem "When Mother Tucked Us In" in The Farm Journal, a journal devoted to the farm, orchard, garden, poultry and household economy. The journal's motto was "Practical not Fancy Farming."

Here is a digitized image of the poem scanned from microfilm available at Archive.org:


Here is the full text of the poem:

WHEN MOTHER TUCKED US IN
BY L. M. MONTGOMERY

The sweetest memory of all,

Which time from us can never win,

Comes when the dusking shadows fall

And winds their nightly rune begin,—

The memory of those olden eves

When mother tucked us in.

Tired from our play, and glad to rest

When twilight brought its calm-eyed star,

And in its hush the yellow moon

Rose over purple hills afar

To shine on fields whose dewy peace

No dream of strife might mar.

And yet again we hear the croon

Of winds around the old low eaves

Of the brown house where we were born,

And in the murmuring poplar leaves,—

How sweet and subtle seems again

The spell remembrance weaves!

Upon us fell the gracious boon

Of childhood’s rest; we knew no care,

We only felt a gentle hand

Upon the tangles of our hair,

We only heard in that dim room

A mother’s tender prayer.

And now we walk the busy world

With all its maze of toil and sin,

But still a rescuing talisman

We bear our secret hearts within,—

The memory of those sacred hours

When mother tucked us in.

Reference:
Montgomery, L.M. (1907, January). When Mother Tucked Us In. The Farm Journal. 31(1): 18. Retrieved from: https://archive.org/details/sim_farm-journal_1907-01_31_1/page/18/mode/2up

Created October 16, 2022.

Dawn by L.M. Montgomery

In April 1911, L.M. Montgomery published the poem "Dawn" in The Farm Journal, a journal devoted to the farm, orchard, garden, poultry and household economy. The journal's motto was "Practical not Fancy Farming."

Here is a digitized image of the poem scanned from microfilm available at Archive.org:


Here is the full text of the poem:

DAWN
BY L. M. MONTGOMERY

There’s a silken fringe of light
On the ashen skirts of night,
And a fire-shot ruby rim
On the eastern hilltops dim,

And a rare,

Untainted air

Sweet from slopes all crystal dewed,
And many a clover solitude
Where night benedictions brood

At the dawn.

Hark! a burst of winged song
Floats the listening air along—
All the blithesome hush is stirred
By the rapture of a bird!

And the sky

Is clear and high

Over dells astar with flowers
Still begemmed with dewy showers,
Dreaming of the after hours

At the dawn.

Reference:
Montgomery, L.M. (1911, April). My Queen. The Farm Journal. 35(4): 244. Retrieved from: https://archive.org/details/sim_farm-journal_1911-04_35_4/page/244/mode/2up

Created October 15, 2022.

She was filled with youth's joy in mere existence.

"She was filled with youth's joy in mere existence."

-L.M. Montgomery
Emily's Quest

Read more quotes by L.M. Montgomery.

Image credit:
Photograph by Ingrid A. Lobo.

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Created October 13, 2022.

My Queen by L.M. Montgomery

In March 1907, L.M. Montgomery published the poem "My Queen" in The Farm Journal, a journal devoted to the farm, orchard, garden, poultry and household economy. The journal's motto was "Practical not Fancy Farming."

Here is a digitized image of the poem scanned from microfilm available at Archive.org:


Here is the full text of the poem:

MY QUEEN
BY L. M. MONTGOMERY

She rules a kingdom small and fair,
Her throne is a worn rocking-chair.
Most gracious and belov'd is she,
With all her subjects at her knee,
And never could a monarch view
Subjects more loyal and more true.

My little queen with holy eyes,
Her rule is tender, firm and wise:
Content and happiness are found
Within her tiny realm's bound,
And no gemmed circlet can compare
With her bright crown of sunny hair.

My little queen with gentle heart,
Within my life she reigns apart;
To make her earthly kingdom dear
And bring the breath of heaven near,
With wifely faith and mother care,
My lady of the rocking-chair.


Reference:
Montgomery, L.M. (1907, March). My Queen. The Farm Journal. 31(3): 166. Retrieved from: https://archive.org/details/sim_farm-journal_1907-03_31_3/page/166/mode/2up

Created October 13, 2022.

Milking Time by L.M. Montgomery

In May 1902, L.M. Montgomery published the poem "Milking Time" in The Farm Journal, a journal devoted to the farm, orchard, garden, poultry and household economy. The journal's motto was "Practical not Fancy Farming."

Here is a digitized image of the poem scanned from microfilm available at Archive.org:



Here is the full text of the poem:

MILKING TIME
BY L. M. MONTGOMERY

Dusking fields that are damp with dew,
Skies of crocus and rose and blue,
After-lights on the far hill rim,
Tremulous twilight in valleys dim,
Brooks atune with a limpid chime—
Down at the bars it is milking time.

Pale-hued clovers with creamy crowns,
Buttercups in their golden gowns,
Wind-blown pines at the pasture bars,
Pearl-white glimmer of early stars,
Breezes lilting a wordless rhyme—
Down in the fields it is milking time.

Brown-eyed lassie and sturdy lad,
Laughter and mirth of hearts made glad,
Loitering couples and lagging feet—
Never an hour of the day so sweet!
Youth and love in the summer's prime
Find each other at milking time.


Reference:
Montgomery, L.M. (1902, May). Milking Time. The Farm Journal. 26(5): 161. Retrieved from: https://archive.org/details/sim_farm-journal_1902-05_26_5/mode/2up

Created October 12, 2022.

Indian Summer by L.M. Montgomery

One hundred and twenty years ago, in October 1902, L.M. Montgomery published the poem "Indian Summer" in The Farm Journal, a journal devoted to the farm, orchard, garden, poultry and household economy. The journal's motto was "Practical not Fancy Farming."

L.M. Montgomery's poem was featured on the first page of the journal. Here is a digitized image of the poem scanned from microfilm available at Archive.org:



Here is the full text of the poem:

INDIAN SUMMER
BY L. M. MONTGOMERY

In the sun-warm valleys all sweet and low,
Shy, tender murmurs come and go

Among pale grasses; and far away

O’er the calm, blue rim of an upland still
And the peak of a far, light-smitten hill,

Wind-music drifts adown the day.

Perfect peace of a year fulfilled
Cometh now when the world is stilled

And, forgetting its turmoil of springtime days

And its later fever, takes its rest
In a golden completeness no storms molest

While the benediction of autumn stays.

Reference:
Montgomery, L.M. (1902, October). Indian Summer. The Farm Journal. 26(10): 305. Retrieved from: https://archive.org/details/sim_farm-journal_1902-10_26_10/mode/2up

Created October 11, 2022.

Anne of Green Gables Inspired Clothing in Simple Retro's 2022 Fall Winter Line

I came across this clothing store called Simple Retro a couple weeks ago while searching for Anne of Green Gables-style blouses and outfits. The shop features feminine, vintage-inspired, everyday retro clothing. Simple Retro has a base in NYC, and their clothing is made in China and mainly shipped around the world from there.

Soon after I found Simple Retro, they featured an Anne of Green Gables-inspired fall winter line for 2022. It seemed so serendipitous that I found the store when I did!

Has any reader ordered from them? If you have, what did you think of their clothing?

Created October 7, 2022.

The colour of home on an autumn dusk was an exquisite thing.

 
"The colour of home on an autumn dusk was an exquisite thing."

-L.M. Montgomery
Mistress Pat

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Image credit:
Photograph by Ingrid A. Lobo.

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Created October 6, 2022.

L.M. Montgomery Quote in Boden's October 2022 Catalog

This October morning, I turned the key of my mailbox and found a treat inside—a catalog from Boden, the British clothing store. I peaked inside, and on the first page was the following quote from Anne of Green Gables by L.M. Montgomery.

"I'm so glad I live in a world where there are Octobers"
-L.M. Montgomery

Seeing the quote made me smile. Way to win the heart (and maybe wallet) of this Anne of Green Gables fan, Boden!

Here's the cover of Boden's October Issue:



Boden carries a lot of clothing that I think a modern Anne Shirley might like to wear. I especially love their feminine blouses with lace and puffed sleeves. Do you think a modern Anne would wear any of them?

Created October 5, 2022.