The photo is this saying on the door of a Broom closet in Herald Square (New York).

–Mama Lisa

Towards the end of WWI two cousins, young girls, took photos with fairies they said they had met.  Later they admitted they faked the photos.   Yet many people at the time believed they were real, including the author of the Sherlock Holmes stores, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle!

The fairies came to be called the "Cottingley Fairies".  They appear in a series of five photographs taken by the two cousins, Elsie Wright and Frances Griffiths (photo at the right) who were living in Cottingley, England. The 1st two were taken in 1917, when Elsie was 16 years old and Frances was 10.

The cousins used to go to the stream at the end of their garden.  Frances would often fall in the stream and come home wet.  Finally, one time her mother asked her why she came back wet all the time.  Frances claimed she was talking to the fairies.  To back up Frances’ story, her older cousin Elsie took out her father’s camera and created the first photo of Frances with the fairies (the 1st photo at top).

A month later they photographed the 2nd photo of Elsie with a  Gnome, shown below.

Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, author of the Sherlock Holmes detective stories, was amazed by these 2 photos and took them to be evidence of the supernatural. His wife had died in 1906 and his son, his brother, his two nephews and two brothers-in-law had all died in the years around WWI.  He desperately wanted to believe in supernatural spirits and life after death. 

Doyle wrote about and published the two photos in The Strand Magazine in 1920.  He told the world they were real.  Some people believed they were and some didn’t.

Doyle was able to procure a camera for the girls to take more photos.  They took the next three photos.  Francis and the Leaping Fairy…

Fairy Offering Posy Flowers to Elsie…

And the last photo, Fairies and Their Sun-Bath…

Doyle also wrote a book called, "The Coming of the Fairies" (1922) giving his arguments why he thought the photos were real. 

Doyle died in 1930.  Yet for years after his death the girls continued to claim the photos were real. 

In 1982, Geoffrey Crawley, editor of the British Journal of Photography decided to do a scientific study to see if the photos were real.  He determined that the camera the girls said they used to take the photo couldn’t have produced a picture with that quality.  From that it was determined that the image wasn’t the original print.  On the negative plate, he found evidence that the picture was manipulated.

Finally in 1983, after Crowley published his findings, the cousins admitted the photos had been faked. 

They said they created them after being teased by the adults about claiming to see fairies. Here’s what they did: Elsie copied an illustration of fairies (see below) onto cardboard from a book called Princess Mary’s Gift Book (1914). She added wings to the fairies.  Then she cut out the figures and stood them up in the grass with hatpins to take Frances’ picture with them.  The idea was that the adults would have to stop teasing them about fairies after seeing the photo.

The girls couldn’t believe people actually believed they were real.  Perhaps people wanted to believe they were real. 

Once Sir Arthur Conan Doyle put his support behind the photos, the cousins felt they couldn’t debunk the story. 

Here you can see part of an interview of the cousins about the pictures….

Even though the cousins admitted the photos were fake, Frances still believed there were fairies at the bottom of the garden near the stream.

Photography was new in those days so it was harder to prove fake photography.  If people want to believe something, I guess they’ll find ways to justify it.  It’s just so amazing that two girls were able to fool so many people, including the supposedly analytical creator of Sherlock Holmes!

PS Perhaps the girls were influenced by the poem called Fairies by Rose Fyleman.

Here’s a cool poem called The Wicked Zebra by Frank Roe Batchelder with an mp3 recording…

MP3 Recording of The Wicked Zebra

The Wicked Zebra

The zebra always seems malicious,
He kicks and bites ‘most all the time;
I fear that he’s not only vicious,
But guilty of some dreadful crime.

The mere suggestion makes me falter
In writing of this wicked brute;
Although he has escaped the halter,
He wears for life a convict’s suit.

Photos:  Taken by Mama Lisa at the Bronx Zoo in New York

How to create land art:

1,  Use stones and dead wood to create nice shadows in the sun.

2. Make a "snail tree" using branches and rocks.

3. Outline someone’s shadow with stones or wood (or both) and then spray water inside the outline to enhance it.

4.  Throw dust in the air and take photos.

5.  Pile up stones to create sculptures.

This last one makes me think of people going on a procession….

[Interestingly, I've been seeing more and more rock sculptures like these on my nature walks here in New York. –Mama Lisa]

6.  Build a giant bird’s nest.

7.  Build a bridge made out of sticks over a bush.

What great ideas! 

I like the impermanence of these projects…  teaching kids the value of living in the moment… to simply enjoy the process and experience.

Many thanks to Monique Palomares for sharing these nature art projects and photos with us.  Monique works with me on the French and Spanish versions of Mama Lisa’s World.

According to Wikipedia, “The flowering shoots of pussy willow are used both in Europe and America for spring religious decoration on Palm Sunday, as a replacement for palm branches, which do not grow that far north… Sometimes, on Palm Sunday they will bless both palms and pussy willows in church. The branches will often be preserved throughout the year.”

Thanks for sharing Maria!  -Mama Lisa

Jingle sticks are inexpensive and fun to make!  All you need is an unsharpened pencil, small bells and pipe cleaners.  Now you can easily create an instrument (which can double as a pencil or eraser for kids).

Here’s how to make your jingle stick…

1.  String a large bell in the center of a pipe cleaner.

2. Next place the bell on the top of the pencil and fold the pipe cleaner down along the sides of the pencil.  

*Note:  For younger kids you may want to put the bell on the bottom of the pencil so they don’t get stuck with the pencil.  Then they can use the jingle stick as an eraser.  My daughter’s older and wanted to be able to use the pencil, so we put the bell at the top of the pencil over the eraser.

3.  Take a second pipe cleaner and wrap it around the top of the first pipe cleaner, right below the bell. 

You can work with your child to get this started, if needed, to help hold the bell in place. 

Three hands are better than one! 

4.  Once that pipe cleaner is wrapped around the pencil, add another pipe cleaner.  You can string on a bell or two to that pipe cleaner as you make your way down the pencil. 

5.  Keep adding pipe cleaners with some bells until you’ve fully covered the initial pipe cleaner.  Make sure you tuck in the ends of each pipe cleaner as you go along so the pointy ends aren’t sticking out.

Now you have your very own jingle stick to play and shake while singing songs like Jingle Bells!

Many thanks to Daria for sharing this fun idea!  Daria is a childrens performer.  You can listen to some of her songs here.

Enjoy!

Mama Lisa

Santa Lucia (St. Lucy) was born in Syracuse, Sicily around 283 and died in 303 AD. The myth is that her parents wanted her to marry a certain man, but she didn’t want to get married. She wanted to devote her life to helping the poor. In protest against the marriage, she poked out her eyes and put them on a platter and sent them to the man. The legend is that her eyes were miraculously restored by God.

It’s said that Saint Lucia blinded herself on the shortest, darkest day of the year, which is the Winter Solstice. Under the old Julian calendar, that day was December 13th. That’s how St. Lucia’s day came to be celebrated on the 13th. After the Winter Solstice the days get longer. So St. Lucia is a celebration in part of the coming lengthening of the days.

Here’s what Gian Carlo wrote:

"About the celebration of Santa Lucia in Italy, it’s different from place to place.

Here in Lombardy, the province of Bergamo, Santa Lucia gives gifts to children. In the past, when I was a child, on the night between the 13th and 14th of December, people, to preserve their eyes, used to touch their eyelids with water that, during that holy night, turned into holy water. I also remember that, at that time, the children put on the window sill some food for the little donkey of Santa Lucia. Now this tradition survives in another Lombard province, Brescia, where the food for the donkey is yellow meal and milk.

Ciao from Italy."  -Gian Carlo

Gian Carlo also shared the Italian song Santa Lucia.  (Check it it out at the link.)

Thanks for sharing your photos Gian Carlo, the song and for telling us about Santa Lucia in your region of Italy.

Happy Santa Lucia!

Mama Lisa

We peeled them, sliced them and ate ‘em.  Even my 10 year old liked them.  So if you see these gems, pick ‘em up and eat ‘em!

You’re never too old or young to try new things!  Yum! Yum!

"Maybe a face lift would help?" –Ray Lee

Check out a bunch of poems, songs and rhymes about Halloween.

Mama Lisa

It could be fun to show this pic to a child and have them create a story about it.  What is this place?  What happens there?  Who lives or works there?

You can see more of Valerie’s Photos on Flickr.

Enjoy!

Mama Lisa

Here’s a photo of Fruit vendors in the floating village on Ha long Bay.

Thanks to Purabi Khisa Tandra for sharing these photos!

Mama Lisa

This fantastic photo was taken in Jamaa el Fna Square in Morocco by Monique Palomares on a visit to the city of Marrakech last year.  The square looks like a market, but it’s actually filled with outdoor restaurants.  The tall tower in the background, with the light on top, is the Koutoubia Mosque.

The name of the square means Mosque Courtyard according to Wikipedia.  But they say the name could also be interpreted as "The Mosque at the End of the World", which is what the BBC called it.  I think that name suits the photo above!

Monique wrote, "I also took a photo just after sunset (below) with the Koutoubia Mosque in the background and Djemaa El Fna square on the foreground.  I took it from the Argana café.  They make delicious "orange-vanille" there, which is two balls of vanilla ice-cream in a tall juice glass with fresh orange juice and sweetened whipped cream."

Below is a close-up of the Koutoubia Mosque that can be seen in the background of both photos above.  The mosque dates back to the 12th century. 

Many thanks to Monique Palomares for sharing these photos from Morocco.  Monique works with me on the Spanish and French versions of Mama Lisa’s World.

UPDATE: We just learned that the Argana Café was the victim of a bombing attack in April 2011.  Our hearts go out to the victims.

Photo of Speckled Eggs

We saw these wonderful marbled eggs at a restaurant we went to today.  The lady said she used a paint brush. 

Last week we went Geocaching with my daughter and two of her friends.  Geocaching is a high-tech treasure hunt.   You look for hidden containers, called geocaches with the help of a GPS device.  In our case, we used an iPhone to find the treasure.

On our search, we passed the knotted tree in the photo above.  My daughter’s friend said, "I have a theory about trees like that.  I think that they eat people walking by them at night and that’s what the humps are."

I asked if she could record her theory for me today.  Here’s what she said…

Story about How Trees Eat People

Thanks for sharing Sarina!

Mama Lisa

My pup all covered in snow! -New York Suburbs

Andrew Sullivan from The Daily Dish has been posting photos his readers took out their windows from locals around the world on his blog. He made a book of the photos, which you can view in its entirety below.

I think this is a wonderful idea and wanted to mention that I’d be happy to post photos of where you live on Mama Lisa’s World Blog.

Enjoy!

Mama Lisa

Yesterday I went ice skating in Rockefeller Center, below the famous Christmas Tree in New York City.  My daughter and I were there for a birthday party. 

While skating, we heard news on the rink that some guy went down on his knees on the ice and proposed to his lady below the Christmas tree.  When I looked over I saw them hugging and kissing… how romantic!

Other places I’ve heard of guys proposing in Manhattan are the top of the Empire State Building and on horse and buggy rides through Central Park.

Of course, if you were in Paris, the place to propose would be the Eiffel Tower!

Viva la romance!

Mama Lisa

P.S. Feel free to share in the comments below:

-Romantic proposals you’ve heard of or experienced!
-Popular locals around the world for proposing marriage.

Rockefeller Center, December 2010

My parents recently shared this article from a newspaper showing 10 of my relatives who were in World War II.  My grandmother and grandfather held a welcome home party for them after the war.  My grandparents are the couple in the far right (front).  My grandfather didn’t go to the war because he worked in a vital industry.  He was a foreman for the Railroad. 

It’s wonderful to unearth lost bits of the family history.

Chalk Drawing of a Pumpkin by Lila