Wednesday, September 30, 2015

Eva Vargas and new letters by Betty MacDonald

 

Eva Vargas - and Betty MacDonald fan club fans,

we got two new letters by Betty MacDonald and Mary Bard Jensen and share them in Betty MacDonald fan club newsletter October.  

Join our current Betty MacDonald fan club contest, please. 

If you know the persons in our photo send us a mail. 
 

Deadline: today -  September 30, 2015  

You can win very interesting Betty MacDonald fan club items.
 




I'm a huge Ingrid Noll fan.

I've read several of Ingrid Noll's books. She is very gifted and a great story teller.

Happy birthday Ingrid Noll.

Wolfgang Hampel's birthday poem for Ingrid Noll is as excellent as his Betty MacDonald and Ma and Pa Kettle biography and the Betty MacDonald Interviews.

Gwen Grant is a beloved writer. 


I was reading her Private! Keep Out! with several of my grandchildren and their friends. 

We had tons of fun and laughed and laughed and laughed. 

We'll never forget it. 

Thanks a Million dear Gwen Grant!

Eartha and i are working on Betty MacDonald's favourite books and authors. 


We are going to publish some very interesting documents we got during our Betty MacDonald research regarding this very important subject.

Now very wise Eartha looks at me and seems to say: Anita stop typing, please. 


You are always writing very long mails. Don't bore your readers too much.

Eartha is so bright and she is right. I will stop now.


Betty MacDonald fan club honor member Mr. Tigerli  and our 'Italian Betty MacDonald' - Betty MacDonald fan club honor member author and artist Letizia Mancino belong to the most popular Betty MacDonald fan club teams in our history.

Their many devoted fans are fond of Mr. Tigerli's golden memories.

Letizia Mancino's  magical Betty MacDonald Gallery  is a special gift for our Betty MacDonald fan club fans.

Let's have a new breakfast with Brad and Nick.

I adore Betty MacDonald's very beautiful Vashon Island.


Now very wise Eartha looks at me and seems to say: Anita stop typing, please. 

You are always writing very long mails. Don't bore your readers too much.

Eartha is so bright and she is right. I will stop now.



Wishing you a perfect Wednesday,

 


Anita and Eartha


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Wolfgang Hampel - Wikipedia ( English ) 

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Wolfgang Hampel - Monica Sone - Wikipedia ( English )

Wolfgang Hampel - Ma and Pa Kettle - Wikipedia ( English ) 

Wolfgang Hampel - Ma and Pa Kettle - Wikipedia ( French )

Wolfgang Hampel in Florida State University 

Betty MacDonald fan club founder Wolfgang Hampel 

Betty MacDonald fan club interviews on CD/DVD
 
 

Betty MacDonald fan club items 

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Betty MacDonald fan club organizer Linde Lund


                       Mr. Tigerli's memories



Copyright 2015 by Letizia Mancino

Translated by Mary Holmes

All rights reseverd 




My birthday! 



I, Mr. Tigerli, can hardly save myself from being submerged in red roses!  Oh dear, a loving cat has his problems.

Surrounded by a sea of flowers!

Mind you I’ve earned it. I have risked so much for love in my life!

I have become famous because of being such a great lover.  I am a Casanova cat.

 Am I exaggerating?  Are there not cats more famous than me, artists who paint or play the piano?



That may be so, but they are “nobodies” in the art of loving!

Look in the internet under “Erotica Felina”! You will see that my name immediately appears on the screen.

People boarding their plane in Singapore have found me at once on Google.

I am a world famous cat.

Oh no, I don’t loose my head over female cats. But women! I love women.  Yes only women. These wonderful creatures give me everything! Not only affection, good conversation and food.



I was four months old when I discovered my partiality for women.

One time I was cavorting on the bed with Roswitha, my first love – although it was strictly forbidden to get onto the bed – when under the woolen blanket I suddenly felt a wonderful soft plump area! Roswitha’s tummy! I was running backwards and forwards across it when suddenly a shot of adrenalin rushed through my cat brain. At an early age I became a slave to love!



But it was Roswitha’s foot that surprised me with my first erotic feelings. She had unknowingly stretched it out of the bed under the pressure of my four paws and for the first time I saw the naked foot of a woman. Five small tempting little sausages attracted my attention. How delicately the points moved. They were more attractive to look at than the mice in the fresh grass. I miaowed to them “I’m going to bite you”!



I understand men who kiss the feet of women so ardently.



I immediately lost my head and my innocence.



Now I began to nibble at these five little porkies.

Roswitha continued to sleep and sighed softly. Encouraged I licked her whole foot. Roswitha laughed sweetly and delightfully in her sleep.



Within eight months I was familiar with her leg.



I love beautiful legs. Without hair, without ticks or other insects. They have such a wonderful perfume. I could lick women’s legs without any saliva. Wonderful!   A refined lover begins with delicate movements, not by taking the female creation by storm. Only goats climb on the back of their females without paying a single compliment. You know, Betty, that a Casanova doesn’t come straight to the point!



Roswitha, I love you Oh, my first love! I felt so good in your bed. I lay at your feet in the night. But after two intimate years deeply in love with your feet, your husband came home. His field service away from home was over, and sadly my home service with you too.

“Get out of my bed”, he shouted. It’s not right to treat a loving cat so rudely, even when men have the right to be jealous of us. We are after all superior to them. We are supple and seductively beautiful until old age. We are not rude or, even worse, drunkards! A woman can spend romantic hours stroking us or even sleep with us in her bed and still believe in platonic love, which is hardly possible for them with a man. Women never become pregnant with us and this has advantages. Casanova was the inventor of the condom. We are the condom.



I was thrown out. Are men all so brutal, Betty? The bedroom door was locked. But I was still allowed to live in the house: three sofas in the living room, a bed in the guest bedroom, and an old divan in the cellar were available for me. Roswitha could come to these. But I was appalled!



Mr. Brummi avoided my dirty looks. Since then I have not befriended men, to say nothing of cats!

Without Roswitha’s feet I had to eke out a miserable existence in the house. And she complained that her feet were cold.



The husband however was obdurate. He tried, without success, to take my place: to stroke Roswitha’s feet, to rub them, to tickle them! But Roswitha’s five little white toes remained in the bed as motionless as if rigor mortis had set in.

There were no more giggles. The doctor recommended an evening foot-bath. To think that I should be replaced by a herbal bath! How outrageous!



Should I have scratched at the bedroom door every night? I am a proud cat! I would rather look around! She wouldn’t have heard me anyway. The husband snores as loudly as a vacuum cleaner on the point of collapse. Should I have dropped five dead mice in front of the door? But I don’t bring her these presents any more. If you love me, I thought, get divorced!



“Darling” I hear her say to her husband, “Couldn’t you snore more quietly?”



I comforted myself with her socks. The dirty ones, naturally. There were a few flakes from her skin that I swallowed with joy. Some men even sniff underwear. Idiotic love. That’s going too far for me. I, Mr Tigerli, don’t do that because I am an aesthetic cat. Gradually I’d had enough of the socks. Should I look for a new woman? The thought of being unfaithful came to me quite suddenly.



The nights in my basket passed peacefully  - and also the nights in Roswitha’s bed. Cold feet and migraines are two passion killers. The husband was sullen. She never suffered with me. I laughed - even if cats can’t laugh – behind my beard and knew that she had remained faithful.  I didn’t. I found the young servant in the house very fascinating. Her legs were not so beautiful as Roswitha’s , but the risks were low. The young woman was a Russian, temperamental, pretty and I liked her. Infidelity was for me a triviality.



“Oh, Mr. Tigerli”, cried Putziputzi  (that was her pet name. I’ll say no more, she had two brothers) “why are you licking me so tenderly?”

I could have answered. “You are my second choice. I am missing Roswitha’s feet.” But I wrapped myself round her leg, as all loving cats do.



She gave an even louder cry and ran away! I was perplexed!

I had no idea that genuine love-play begins with “No, no, I’d rather not, please don’t”.



I still had a lot to learn. Then I thought: Quick , Tigerli, follow Putziputzi and sing her a song! After that wonderful days followed: I showered her soft thighs with delicate little love-bites. It was intoxicating!



We constantly changed the spot we chose for our love-making. On Mondays and Fridays we lay on the three sofas, on Tuesday on the bed in the guest room, but most of the time we spent together in the cellar. She was crazy! Is this sex,

I asked myself. What man can make a woman so happy?



Putziputzi was soon dismissed from her job.



I have no great opinion of husbands and I must admit I have good reasons for this. But that their wives should react with such jealousy was for me an insoluble puzzle.



It wasn’t long before I was lying in bed with Roswitha again.

The husband had probably seen that the loss of a servant can have serious consequences. Now it was his job to vacuum the whole house: from the cellar to the attic. Roswitha assured him this would only be for a short transitional period, until she had found a replacement for Putziputzi.



“Yes, yes!  But the replacement must be ugly and unattractive and she should only work in the house and she must not play with Tigerli”, he answered.



“Yes, yes! I agree”, answered Roswitha, “and it would be wise if you would allow Tigerli to sleep in the bed with me again”.



The husband willingly gave his consent.

He nodded his agreement and it was clear that he saw me in a new light.

I was no longer a competitor.

What the heck, he thought! The guy was sleeping in my bed with my wife when I was away anyway!



So thanks to the vacuum-cleaner I was able to continue my love-affair with my first love Roswitha.





******************************************
       


                      Who is Mr. Tigerli?                             




Tuesday, September 29, 2015

Eva Vargas, Betty MacDonald and a very special birthday

 

Eva Vargas - and Betty MacDonald fan club fans,

i'm a huge Betty MacDonald -, Ingrid Noll -  and Wolfgang Hampel fan.

Happy 80th birthday dearest Ingrid Noll.

Author Ingrid Noll got many fans all over the World. 

Wolfgang Hampel's next Vita Magica will be on September 29, 2015. 


Wolfgang Hampel wrote a new very special birthday poem  and is going to honor unique Ingrid Noll in Vita Magica.

Wolfgang Hampel, Betty MacDonald Memorial Award winning journalist and author of  Betty MacDonald Biography, was on radio with Germany's "Queen of Crime", Ingrid Noll. 

Both are very witty and interesting personalities. 

Betty MacDonald would have loved Ingrid Noll's really fascinating books. In case you are interested in the radio show, let us know, please.

Ingrid Noll has written several novels, including Head Count, Hell hath no Fury and The Pharmacist, as well as one television drama, Bommels Billigflüge. 


Several of her novels have been subsequently adapted as films, including Die Apothekerin, which was released in the United States as The Pharmacist and was nominated for the German Film Award in Gold for outstanding feature film. 

She has published her first novel-debut in the age of 55 years, which got became great success. Today she is one of the most German appreciated female authors.

We got Wolfgang Hampel's permission to share his very special Ingrid Noll birthday poem with you. 


Ingrid Noll was delighted and said she never got such a wonderful and witty birthday poem.

Ingrid Noll birthday poem

Copyright 2010/2015 by Wolfgang Hampel
All rights reserved


Ohne Krimi geht die Mimi nie in's Bett,
das ist wirklich schön und nett,
doch ist es tausend Mal so toll,
geht man in's Bett mit einer Noll.
Ob Hahn ist tot,
ob Röslein rot
und Häupter meiner Lieben,
man ist auf einmal ganz hellwach
und muß den Schlaf verschieben.
Man spürt den kalten Abendhauch
und Apothekerinnen auch,
die nähern sich uns Stich für Stich.
Das ist das richt'ge Gift für mich.
Witwen, Rabenbrüder, Sekretärin
führen manches so im Sinn.
Stets Ladylike ist Ingrid Noll,
die Handlung spannend, immer toll,
welche Fäden sie auch spinnt,
nie d'runter ist ein Kuckuckskind,
hintergründig gut verschlungen
sattelfest in Falschen Zungen.
Das neu'ste, ich wußt' es sofort,
wieder spitze! Ehrenwort!
Ich muß jetzt eines sagen ehrlich.
Als Noll'scher Zwerg lebst Du gefährlich.
Wie konnte man ihn so beglücken?
Der Arme hat 'n Dolch im Rücken.
Wir wünschen Glück und Sonnenschein,
ein langes Leben, niemals Pein,
daß Ihnen fällt stets etwas ein.
Ich bin ein Pascha, doch kein Schwein.

Take care,

Ute


Vita Magica

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Betty MacDonald forum  

Wolfgang Hampel - Wikipedia ( English ) 

Wolfgang Hampel - Wikipedia ( German )

Wolfgang Hampel - Monica Sone - Wikipedia ( English )

Wolfgang Hampel - Ma and Pa Kettle - Wikipedia ( English ) 

Wolfgang Hampel - Ma and Pa Kettle - Wikipedia ( French )

Wolfgang Hampel in Florida State University 

Betty MacDonald fan club founder Wolfgang Hampel 

Betty MacDonald fan club interviews on CD/DVD
 
 

Betty MacDonald fan club items 

Betty MacDonald fan club items  - comments

Betty MacDonald fan club - The Stove and I 

Betty MacDonald fan club organizer Linde Lund


Monday, September 28, 2015

Eva Vargas and Betty MacDonald in Hollywood


<p>Time Out of Mind (1947) - avec Betty et Don MacDonald et Phyllis Calvert</p>

Betty and Don MacDonald in Hollywood


Eva Vargas - and Betty MacDonald fan club fans,


join our current Betty MacDonald fan club contest, please. 

If you know the persons in our photo send us a mail. 

Deadline: September 30, 2015  

You can win very interesting Betty MacDonald fan club items.
 


Betty MacDonald fan club newsletter October  includes the updated Betty MacDonald fan club essays ' Betty MacDonald in Hollywood' and  ' Betty MacDonald and Dorita Hess '. 


There is also an article about Betty MacDonald fan club letter collection.

We are looking for signed or dedicated first editions in great condition with dust jackets by Betty MacDonald and Mary Bard Jensen for our fans.


Wolfgang Hampel's next Vita Magica will be on September 29, 2015. 

New Betty MacDonald documentary will be very interesting with many interviews never published before.


Betty MacDonald Memorial Award Winner Wolfgang Hampel  and Betty MacDonald fan club research team are working on an updated Betty MacDonald biography and new Betty MacDonald documentary.

Dearest new Betty MacDonald fan club fans you'll receive a very important message by Betty MacDonald fan club event team.

This message includes a very nice Betty MacDonald fan club surprise and many info on our current Betty MacDonald fan club projects.

Join one of our Betty MacDonald fan club research teams, please. 

Thanks a million in advance for your outstanding support.

Betty MacDonald fan club honor member Mr. Tigerli  and our 'Italian Betty MacDonald' - Betty MacDonald fan club honor member author and artist Letizia Mancino belong to the most popular Betty MacDonald fan club teams in our history.

Their many devoted fans are fond of Mr. Tigerli's golden memories.

Letizia Mancino's  magical Betty MacDonald Gallery  is a special gift for our Betty MacDonald fan club fans.

Let's have a new breakfast with Brad and Nick.

I adore Betty MacDonald's very beautiful Vashon Island.


Have a nice Monday,

Carina

Vita Magica

Betty MacDonald fan club

Betty MacDonald forum  

Wolfgang Hampel - Wikipedia ( English ) 

Wolfgang Hampel - Wikipedia ( German )

Wolfgang Hampel - Monica Sone - Wikipedia ( English )

Wolfgang Hampel - Ma and Pa Kettle - Wikipedia ( English ) 

Wolfgang Hampel - Ma and Pa Kettle - Wikipedia ( French )

Wolfgang Hampel in Florida State University 

Betty MacDonald fan club founder Wolfgang Hampel 

Betty MacDonald fan club interviews on CD/DVD
 
 

Betty MacDonald fan club items 

Betty MacDonald fan club items  - comments

Betty MacDonald fan club - The Stove and I 

Betty MacDonald fan club organizer Linde Lund




Sunday, September 27, 2015

Eva Vargas and Betty MacDonald in paradise

Ein lyrisches Portrait von Hilde Domin

Eva Vargas - and Betty MacDonald fan club fans, 

let's talk about great writers and poets Letizia Mancino, Hilde Domin and Betty MacDonald.

Betty MacDonald fan Club honor member, artist and writer Letizia Mancino shares her delightful story THE SECOND PARADISE. 


Betty MacDonald fan club honor member Mary Holmes did such a great job in translating THE SECOND PARADISE.

Thanks a million dearest Mary.

We are really very grateful.
 
I'm one of Letizia Maninco's many devoted fans.

Letizia Mancino sent this connecting piece to " The Second Paradise".

DEFIANT AS A COCK

Copyright 2011/2015 by Letizia Mancino

translated by Mary Holmes 

All rights reserved

That was how my friend Hilde Domin was, dear Betty! You would have liked her so much. She had also been in America. At that time you were a famous author but she was still unknown.

-Did she love cats like you do?

-Yes Betty, she sure did!! Otherwise how do you think she could have been a friend of mine?

-Oh Letizia, don’t boast! Hilde was famous!

-It’s all the same to me, Betty, whether a person is famous or not but that person must love animals

-Why was she as defiant as a cock?

-Well Betty, she was simply so!

-Like a pregnant woman in my “Egg and I”?

-No not so! Betty, Hilde was a whole farm!

- A farm, how was that?

- No Betty, Hilde was more! Almost a zoo! Even more. She was all the animals in the world!

-You loved her very much.

-As I love all animals. 


You Betty, if I had known you, I would have loved you exactly so because you loved animals.

-But as defiant as a cock from my Bob-farm!

-Yes and no! (Hilde really loved this double form of answer). Listen Betty , I’ll tell you a story about how Hilde was. You would certainly have loved her.
I’ll call my story “The Second Paradise”.

THE SECOND PARADISE

Copyright 2011/2015 by Letizia Mancino

translated by Mary Holmes
 

All rights reserved


The Lord God, one day, met Adam in Paradise and saw him lying under a palm.

And God spoke to him: Adam, my son, are you happy, are you content with Paradise ?

Adam answered: Oh Lord, it is wonderful!

And God said: But I will create a second Paradise and give you a wife.

Adam answered: Oh Lord, that is wonderful!

And God said: I will create the wife according to your wishes.

And Adam stood under the palm and thought hard.

And God said: Adam, are you ready?

Adam answered: My wife should be as lively as a bird but she should not fly. She should swim like a goldfish but not be a fish….. She should be as playful as a cat but not catch mice….. She should be as busy as an ant but not so small.

And God said: So shall she be: Like a bird, a goldfish, a cat, an ant…

Adam answered: Oh Lord, that is wonderful, but she should be as faithful as a dog.

And God asked: Adam, have you finished?

Oh Lord, cried Adam. She should also be as delightful and gentle as a lamb and as defiant as a cock!

….She should be as curious as a monkey and as pampered as a lapdog.

And God said: So shall she be.

And Adam said: My wife should be as courageous as a lion and as headstrong as a goat…

And God said: So, like a bird, a goldfish, a cat, an ant, a dog, a lamb, a cock, a monkey, a lapdog, a lion, a goat… and slowly and surely he wished to begin creating…

But Adam stretched himself under the palm and called:

Lord, Lord, she should be as adaptable as a chameleon but not creep on four feet.

She should have sparkling eyes like, like… real diamonds. She should be as fiery as a volcano

But … she should have crystal-clear thoughts like a mountain spring.

God, the Almighty, was speechless…

And Adam spoke: Also she should be as quick as lightening…

And God said: Man, have you finished????

No, said Adam! She should be as strong as a horse, as long living as an elephant but as light as a butterfly!

God found Adam’s thoughts were good and said: So, bird, goldfish, cat, ant, dog, lamb, cock, monkey, lapdog, lion, goat, chameleon, genuine diamonds, volcano, mountain spring, lightening, horse, elephant…. butterfly…

God wished at last to begin creating her…

Lord, called Adam… she should be as stable as steel, but as sweet as three graceful women in one…

And God asked: Should she also be a poet?

Yes, called Adam from under the palm…

And God said: Adam have you finished?

Lord, I wish that, in the second Paradise I shall be one and doubled:

So God according to Adams last words created:

HILDE PALM DOMIN

 

Very best wishes


Letizia Mancino


Letizia Mancino is an outstanding writer and artist.


I know you will enjoy this very charming and witty story the same way I did!
 
Thanks a Million, dear Letiza Mancino! You made my day!

As you know I'm very interested in pets and excellent literature.

Betty MacDonald Fan Club founder Wolfgang Hampel is working on a Eva Vargas biography. I'd love to know: Did Eva Vargas like pets and cats? 


Letizia Mancino is part of Wolfgang Hampel's new project 'Vita Magica'. 


We got so many requests from fans from all over the world and have great info for you. 

Wolfgang Hampel's stories and satirical poems will be published in several languages for his many fans from all over the world.  

Enjoy a sunny Sunday,

Yours,

Greta 


Vita Magica

Betty MacDonald fan club

Betty MacDonald forum  

Wolfgang Hampel - Wikipedia ( English ) 

Wolfgang Hampel - Wikipedia ( German )

Wolfgang Hampel - Monica Sone - Wikipedia ( English )

Wolfgang Hampel - Ma and Pa Kettle - Wikipedia ( English ) 

Wolfgang Hampel - Ma and Pa Kettle - Wikipedia ( French )

Wolfgang Hampel in Florida State University 

Betty MacDonald fan club founder Wolfgang Hampel 

Betty MacDonald fan club interviews on CD/DVD
 
 

Betty MacDonald fan club items 

Betty MacDonald fan club items  - comments

Betty MacDonald fan club - The Stove and I 

Betty MacDonald fan club organizer Linde Lund  


Friday, September 25, 2015

Eva Vargas and Betty MacDonald's favourite books





















Eva Vargas - and Betty MacDonald fan club fans,


I'm writing a Betty MacDonald Fan Club story about Betty MacDonald's favourite books and writers. 

I'd need your support. 

Thank you so much. 

Write to my email account, please. ( see Betty MacDonald Fan Club Newsletter Page 1 )

I'm sure Betty MacDonald would like Ingrid Noll's and Gwen Grant's books. 


Both are wonderful writers.

We hope you'll enjoy the reviews of books by Gwen Grant. 


Betty MacDonald Fan Club honor member Gwen Grant belongs to my favourite writers.

It's such a joy to read her unique books.



Have a very nice Saturday,


Gerti 

Vita Magica

Betty MacDonald fan club

Betty MacDonald forum  

Wolfgang Hampel - Wikipedia ( English ) 

Wolfgang Hampel - Wikipedia ( German )

Wolfgang Hampel - Monica Sone - Wikipedia ( English )

Wolfgang Hampel - Ma and Pa Kettle - Wikipedia ( English ) 

Wolfgang Hampel - Ma and Pa Kettle - Wikipedia ( French )

Wolfgang Hampel in Florida State University 

Betty MacDonald fan club founder Wolfgang Hampel 

Betty MacDonald fan club interviews on CD/DVD
 
 

Betty MacDonald fan club items 

Betty MacDonald fan club items  - comments

Betty MacDonald fan club - The Stove and I 

Betty MacDonald fan club organizer Linde Lund 





PRIVATE-KEEP OUT

Review from JUNIOR BOOKSHELF

'Publishers speak of books which will make you want to both laugh and cry, for once this one really does. Gwen Grant's completely authentic recreation of her native North Nottinghamshire speech, thought and humour, unifies the everyday events of a year in the life of a girl, the youngest of five, growing up in the poor area of a market town with a colliery nearby. The pathos comes unsought in the hardships of family life on a low income and the frustrations of the youngest trying to assert her identity in constant clashes with her older brothers and sisters, and the parents who must discipline her. The reader senses the underlying bond of affection which ties together the family, even the older members who attempt to break away into adulthood.
PRIVATE-KEEP OUT is what the heroine writes on her box of treasures, including this book, written on clean paper bought for her by her mother at a jumble sale for three pence and therefore not to be wasted. The characters are bursting with life, cheerfulness and a sense of humour constantly breaks through, and there is compassionate understanding of the adults, the chorus of the neighbours and above all, the narrator herself, dogged, naive, accident prone and delightful. Children will enjoy the escapades of this female William but it is the adults who will see the significance of the picture painted and appreciate the minute observation which makes adventures out of little.

PRIVATE-KEEP OUT

Review from PRIMARY HISTORY 16

'Gwen Grant's PRIVATE-KEEP OUT is the story of a high spirited girl, the youngest of six children, growing up in the Midlands just after the war. First published in 1978, the book is well worth seeking out - not solely because its plot centres around the device of the author's diary. However, if you are looking for a counterpoint to ADRIAN MOLE, ANNE FRANK or SAMUEL PEPYS, look no further than this. KNOCK AND WAIT sees the return of the heroine of PRIVATE-KEEP OUT, this time sent off to hospital in the first days of the NHS. Again the text is simple and appealing and will be well within the compass of many upper KS2 pupils.'


KNOCK AND WAIT
Review from JUNIOR BOOKSHELF

A second book about the heroine of the author's previous story 'Private-Keep Out.' The child (whose Christian name the reader never knows as the book is told in the first person), is sent away from her home in a Nottinghamshire mining village to an open-air school in Kent for a year. This is the chronicle of her life there. It is never dull, often hilarious, and at times moving. The 'Dreadful child' as the autocratic Sister Sweet calls her is obstinate, prickly, accident-prone - and devastatingly homesick. Golda, her Jewish friend, her enemies Beryl 'Bighead' and Doreen 'the Death Watch Beetle' kind Nurse Pretty, are all there for the reader to meet. But it is her family - 'our Joe', 'our Lucy and Rose', 'our Mam', and 'our Prince', (her dearly loved dog), who are most real to her and for whom she longs.
A delightful book, genuine and heartfelt, ungrammatical, but the authentic voice of a child who speaks for all children condemned to stay away from home and fearing they are no longer loved.

*****

ENEMIES ARE DANGEROUS
Review from SCHOOL LIBRARIAN

Two ordinary boys have extraordinary adventures in a deserted quarry. They come across ruthless criminals engaged not only in cockfighting but also in stealing priceless emeralds. They fall down precipices, encounter a savage dog, escape, get kidnapped, escape again and finally go home to their parents. It is very exciting - chiefly because the fear the boys feel in the face of these violent dangers is simply and intensely clear. The reader is pulled very closely into the experience of hiding from a large man bent on evil, or of not having the energy to run fast enough, or the strength to keep a foothold on the quarry face. All our worst nightmares are here but interspersed with considerable humour and wisdom, which allow us at the end to know the characters and foibles of the criminals as well as those of the heroes.'

*****

THE WALLOPING STICK WAR
Review THE JUNIOR BOOKSHELF

The Superchamp Book series adds Gwen Grant's lively tale to a growing list. The book is pocket-sized and well garnished with colour illustrations by Kate Aldous. In 66 pages the author relates the adventures of Kenneth Grey who goes with his Grandad on a camping expedition to escape the grime and grimness of living on a grotty housing estate. It is not long before Mincer Muggs and his gang of juvenile punks appear in all their nastiness. Aggro rules, and it takes Grandad's 'walnut walloping stick' to win the day.
The writing is direct and licks along at a fast rate of knots. Characterisation is easily achieved on the page and overall there is a real feel of the streets about the story. The potential violence is realised without excess while the final come-uppance means that all works out in the end.
A pacy, exciting read for readers gaining in self-confidence.

Thursday, September 24, 2015

Eva Vargas and Betty MacDonald fan club honor member Darsie Beck


Darsie obediently got up, took the sugar bowl and went out to the kitchen. After a long long time he came back to the breakfast table with a plate of cinnamon rolls.
"What are these for?" his father said. "And where is the sugar?"
"Sugar?" said Darsie. "What about sugar?"
"I told you to fill the sugar bowl," said Mrs. Burbank.
"Oh," said Darsie, "I thought you said, 'Get the cinnamon roll.'"
from Mrs. Piggle-Wiggle's Magic by Betty MacDonald


  Darsie Beck

Eva Vargas - and Betty MacDonald fan club fans,

we are so grateful and happy because of having such outstanding Betty MacDonald Fan Club Honour Members.
Darsie Beck is Alison Bard Burnett' s son, Betty MacDonald's and Mary Bard Jensen's nephew.

It's not a surprise at all that Darsie Beck's Auntie Betty MacDonald was crazy about him. 


You only have to read Darsie Beck's childhood memories on Vashon Island, published on Betty MacDonald Fan Club Website.

What a gifted personality! 

An outstanding writer and artist! 

After you' ve read Darsie Beck's book you know what really important in life is. 

Thank you so much, dear Darsie Beck! 

Betty MacDonald got a very good taste. 



Wolfgang Hampel's next Vita Magica will be on September 29, 2015. 

New Betty MacDonald documentary will be very interesting with many interviews never published before.

Join our current Betty MacDonald fan club contest, please. If you know the persons in our photo send us a mail. 

Deadline: September 30, 2015  

You can win very interesting Betty MacDonald fan club items.
 


Enjoy Brad's daily dose, please. 

It's simply great.

Mr. Tigerli - our unique Betty MacDonald fan club honor member - is eventually back.


We are delighted. 

Betty MacDonald's very beautiful Vashon Island can be very exiting.


Yours,

Francesca 


Vita Magica

Betty MacDonald fan club

Betty MacDonald forum  

Wolfgang Hampel - Wikipedia ( English ) 

Wolfgang Hampel - Wikipedia ( German )

Wolfgang Hampel - Monica Sone - Wikipedia ( English )

Wolfgang Hampel - Ma and Pa Kettle - Wikipedia ( English ) 

Wolfgang Hampel - Ma and Pa Kettle - Wikipedia ( French )

Wolfgang Hampel in Florida State University 

Betty MacDonald fan club founder Wolfgang Hampel 

Betty MacDonald fan club interviews on CD/DVD
 
 

Betty MacDonald fan club items 

Betty MacDonald fan club items  - comments

Betty MacDonald fan club - The Stove and I 

Betty MacDonald fan club organizer Linde Lund 

 

Artist and author Darsie Beck gave us the permission to share a special gift with you, his childhood memories of Vashon Island.

It's beautifully written and a real treasure.


Childhood memories of Vashon Island 1943-53

Copyright by Darsie Beck
All rights reserved

I've always been fascinated by the ferry boats that serve the island and Olympic Peninsula communities of Puget Sound. I feel particularly fortunate to have spent my first ten years and the last thirty years here on Vashon Island and the in between years living in water front homes near the Fauntleroy ferry dock and on the north end of Mercer Island near the old ferry landing that once served that island community.

I have many fond memories of the ferry boats but one in particular remains as clear to me today as when it occurred many years ago.

At the time I was born, my parents lived with my grandparents in a small house on Judkins street just east of 23rd, a few blocks south of the Lake Washington floating bridge tunnels. This area, at the time, was the northern most end of what was called, "Garlic Gulch", the original Italian community in Seattle. With a new baby in the house things got pretty crowded and before long my parents moved to Vashon Island where they purchased their first home on the bluff above Dolphin Point on the north end of the island. My mother's sister Betty MacDonald, her husband Don and her two daughters Anne and Joan had moved to the island a couple years before prompting my parents to follow their lead to this island community.

In the 1940's as now, we reached the island by ferry boat. I can't tell you what that first ferry ride was like in the fall of 1943 or which boat we rode on but I do know, the boats were privately operated by Puget Sound Navigation (PSN), doing business as the Black Ball Line.
Black Ball provided service between Vashon Island, Harper (on the Olympic Peninsula) and Fauntleroy (West Seattle). During the 1940's the wooden ferries Vashon and Kehloken and the steel electric Quinault saw regular service on this run. The Quinault carried 100 cars compared to the 45 car capacity of the smaller wooden ferries and was considered a super ferry at the time. Most of the ferries flying the Black Ball burgee were former San Francisco Bay boats purchased by PSN after the completion of the Golden Gate and Bay Bridges.

In early 1948, a proposed rate increase by PSN resulted in Vashon Island suspending its service contract with Black Ball. Undeterred by Vashon's action, Black Ball continued service between Harper and Fauntleroy and to Vashon on an "as needed only" basis. With the help of sympathetic state and local government agencies Vashon began developing its own ferry service utilizing former Lake Washington and Tacoma boats out of service since the opening of the Lake Washington floating bridge and the Tacoma Narrows bridge. The Lincoln, Washington, City of Tacoma and Crosline became the backbone of the new fleet.

My first ferry boat recollection is from the summer of 1948. I was five years old, my mother was pregnant with my sister, and we were sitting in the family car on the Vashon ferry dock on a very foggy July morning waiting for the boat to Fauntleroy to take my mother to the hospital.
The fog had created a stillness over the dock broken every few minutes by the sounding of fog horns and the occasional car driving on and off the wood planked ferry dock. Soon I heard the sound of an approaching ferry, its engines reversing, its prop wash splashing noisily between the pilings, the shrill screech of the ferries wood side rails rubbing against creosote dolphins and apron wing walls as the boat nudged itself into the slip. Chains clattered as deck hands removed car barriers in preparation of off loading. I don't remember which of the old ferries landed at the Vashon dock that foggy morning but I do remember, once our car was loaded onto the boat, sitting on the car deck, looking out the port into the fog when suddenly out of the mist a large ferry appeared. Its propellers furiously reversing, deck hands and passengers on both boats bracing for an impending collision. My eyes grew big and my body grew tense as the huge ferry cleared the fog revealing her black hull, white superstructure and the black ball painted near the top of her red stack. It was the Quinault, Puget Sound's first super ferry heading directly for our boat. The prop wash of the huge ferry was buffeting the side of our boat, causing it to rock back and forth in its slip. The Quinault was now within a car's length of our boat when its forward motion finally came to rest and her reversing action began to move the boat out of harms way. As stealthy as she had appeared, she now disappeared back into the fog sending a collective and audible sigh of relief through passengers and crew of both boats.

The Quinault, now considered a medium sized boat compared to today's super ferries, still ply's the waters of Puget Sound and still holds a place in my childhood memories as the most enormous boat ever seen by a five year old.


Wednesday, September 23, 2015

Eva Vargas and a colourful house on Vashon Island

Pictures of Heidelberg's photo.

Eva Vargas - and Betty MacDonald fan club fans,


my favourite town for next International Betty MacDonald fan club conference is Heidelberg. 

 

To me Heidelberg is the one of the most beautiful cities of the world. 


Yes, I lost my heart in Heidelberg.

Betty MacDonald fan club founder Wolfgang Hampel and Betty MacDonald fan club research team are going to share very interesting info on new Betty MacDonald fan club projects in Betty MacDonald fan club newsletter October.


Wolfgang Hampel's next Vita Magica will be on September 29, 2015. 

New Betty MacDonald documentary will be very interesting with many interviews never published before.

Join our current Betty MacDonald fan club contest, please. If you know the persons in our photo send us a mail. 

Deadline: September 30, 2015  

You can win very interesting Betty MacDonald fan club items.
 


Enjoy Brad's daily dose, please. 


It's simply great.

Mr. Tigerli - our unique Betty MacDonald fan club honor member - is eventually back.


We are so happy that our darling shares his golden memories.

Thanks a million for this very witty autobiography written by Betty MacDonald fan club honor member, artist and writer Letizia Mancino and translated by Betty MacDonald fan club honor member Mary Holmes.

Mr. Tigerli obviously knows what's most important in life. 


I love women.  Yes only women. These wonderful creatures give me everything! Not only affection, good conversation and food.


I really adore Mr. Tigerli! 

We should forget these very strange politicans.

Let's try to be optimistic in life but sometimes it seems to be very difficult to believe in a positive future.



I'd like to move to Vashon Island.

It's  so beautiful. 


Yours,

Anna 


Vita Magica

Betty MacDonald fan club

Betty MacDonald forum  

Wolfgang Hampel - Wikipedia ( English ) 

Wolfgang Hampel - Wikipedia ( German )

Wolfgang Hampel - Monica Sone - Wikipedia ( English )

Wolfgang Hampel - Ma and Pa Kettle - Wikipedia ( English ) 

Wolfgang Hampel - Ma and Pa Kettle - Wikipedia ( French )

Wolfgang Hampel in Florida State University 

Betty MacDonald fan club founder Wolfgang Hampel 

Betty MacDonald fan club interviews on CD/DVD
 
 

Betty MacDonald fan club items 

Betty MacDonald fan club items  - comments

Betty MacDonald fan club - The Stove and I 

Betty MacDonald fan club organizer Linde Lund 



                                Mr. Tigerli's memories

Copyright 2015 by Letizia Mancino
Translated by Mary Holmes
All rights reseverd 



My birthday! 

I, Mr. Tigerli, can hardly save myself from being submerged in red roses!  Oh dear, a loving cat has his problems.

Surrounded by a sea of flowers!

Mind you I’ve earned it. I have risked so much for love in my life!

I have become famous because of being such a great lover.  I am a Casanova cat.

 Am I exaggerating?  Are there not cats more famous than me, artists who paint or play the piano?



That may be so, but they are “nobodies” in the art of loving!

Look in the internet under “Erotica Felina”! You will see that my name immediately appears on the screen.

People boarding their plane in Singapore have found me at once on Google.

I am a world famous cat.

Oh no, I don’t loose my head over female cats. But women! I love women.  Yes only women. These wonderful creatures give me everything! Not only affection, good conversation and food.



I was four months old when I discovered my partiality for women.

One time I was cavorting on the bed with Roswitha, my first love – although it was strictly forbidden to get onto the bed – when under the woolen blanket I suddenly felt a wonderful soft plump area! Roswitha’s tummy! I was running backwards and forwards across it when suddenly a shot of adrenalin rushed through my cat brain. At an early age I became a slave to love!



But it was Roswitha’s foot that surprised me with my first erotic feelings. She had unknowingly stretched it out of the bed under the pressure of my four paws and for the first time I saw the naked foot of a woman. Five small tempting little sausages attracted my attention. How delicately the points moved. They were more attractive to look at than the mice in the fresh grass. I miaowed to them “I’m going to bite you”!



I understand men who kiss the feet of women so ardently.



I immediately lost my head and my innocence.



Now I began to nibble at these five little porkies.

Roswitha continued to sleep and sighed softly. Encouraged I licked her whole foot. Roswitha laughed sweetly and delightfully in her sleep.



Within eight months I was familiar with her leg.



I love beautiful legs. Without hair, without ticks or other insects. They have such a wonderful perfume. I could lick women’s legs without any saliva. Wonderful!   A refined lover begins with delicate movements, not by taking the female creation by storm. Only goats climb on the back of their females without paying a single compliment. You know, Betty, that a Casanova doesn’t come straight to the point!



Roswitha, I love you Oh, my first love! I felt so good in your bed. I lay at your feet in the night. But after two intimate years deeply in love with your feet, your husband came home. His field service away from home was over, and sadly my home service with you too.

“Get out of my bed”, he shouted. It’s not right to treat a loving cat so rudely, even when men have the right to be jealous of us. We are after all superior to them. We are supple and seductively beautiful until old age. We are not rude or, even worse, drunkards! A woman can spend romantic hours stroking us or even sleep with us in her bed and still believe in platonic love, which is hardly possible for them with a man. Women never become pregnant with us and this has advantages. Casanova was the inventor of the condom. We are the condom.



I was thrown out. Are men all so brutal, Betty? The bedroom door was locked. But I was still allowed to live in the house: three sofas in the living room, a bed in the guest bedroom, and an old divan in the cellar were available for me. Roswitha could come to these. But I was appalled!



Mr. Brummi avoided my dirty looks. Since then I have not befriended men, to say nothing of cats!

Without Roswitha’s feet I had to eke out a miserable existence in the house. And she complained that her feet were cold.



The husband however was obdurate. He tried, without success, to take my place: to stroke Roswitha’s feet, to rub them, to tickle them! But Roswitha’s five little white toes remained in the bed as motionless as if rigor mortis had set in.

There were no more giggles. The doctor recommended an evening foot-bath. To think that I should be replaced by a herbal bath! How outrageous!



Should I have scratched at the bedroom door every night? I am a proud cat! I would rather look around! She wouldn’t have heard me anyway. The husband snores as loudly as a vacuum cleaner on the point of collapse. Should I have dropped five dead mice in front of the door? But I don’t bring her these presents any more. If you love me, I thought, get divorced!



“Darling” I hear her say to her husband, “Couldn’t you snore more quietly?”



I comforted myself with her socks. The dirty ones, naturally. There were a few flakes from her skin that I swallowed with joy. Some men even sniff underwear. Idiotic love. That’s going too far for me. I, Mr Tigerli, don’t do that because I am an aesthetic cat. Gradually I’d had enough of the socks. Should I look for a new woman? The thought of being unfaithful came to me quite suddenly.



The nights in my basket passed peacefully  - and also the nights in Roswitha’s bed. Cold feet and migraines are two passion killers. The husband was sullen. She never suffered with me. I laughed - even if cats can’t laugh – behind my beard and knew that she had remained faithful.  I didn’t. I found the young servant in the house very fascinating. Her legs were not so beautiful as Roswitha’s , but the risks were low. The young woman was a Russian, temperamental, pretty and I liked her. Infidelity was for me a triviality.



“Oh, Mr. Tigerli”, cried Putziputzi  (that was her pet name. I’ll say no more, she had two brothers) “why are you licking me so tenderly?”

I could have answered. “You are my second choice. I am missing Roswitha’s feet.” But I wrapped myself round her leg, as all loving cats do.



She gave an even louder cry and ran away! I was perplexed!

I had no idea that genuine love-play begins with “No, no, I’d rather not, please don’t”.



I still had a lot to learn. Then I thought: Quick , Tigerli, follow Putziputzi and sing her a song! After that wonderful days followed: I showered her soft thighs with delicate little love-bites. It was intoxicating!



We constantly changed the spot we chose for our love-making. On Mondays and Fridays we lay on the three sofas, on Tuesday on the bed in the guest room, but most of the time we spent together in the cellar. She was crazy! Is this sex,

I asked myself. What man can make a woman so happy?



Putziputzi was soon dismissed from her job.



I have no great opinion of husbands and I must admit I have good reasons for this. But that their wives should react with such jealousy was for me an insoluble puzzle.



It wasn’t long before I was lying in bed with Roswitha again.

The husband had probably seen that the loss of a servant can have serious consequences. Now it was his job to vacuum the whole house: from the cellar to the attic. Roswitha assured him this would only be for a short transitional period, until she had found a replacement for Putziputzi.



“Yes, yes!  But the replacement must be ugly and unattractive and she should only work in the house and she must not play with Tigerli”, he answered.



“Yes, yes! I agree”, answered Roswitha, “and it would be wise if you would allow Tigerli to sleep in the bed with me again”.



The husband willingly gave his consent.

He nodded his agreement and it was clear that he saw me in a new light.

I was no longer a competitor.

What the heck, he thought! The guy was sleeping in my bed with my wife when I was away anyway!



So thanks to the vacuum-cleaner I was able to continue my love-affair with my first love Roswitha.



******************************************
       


                      Who is Mr. Tigerli?