This is the story of an old country house and how it grew young again, and of the family that has grown with it during the last thirty years. Built in 1843 in the Worthington Valley of Maryland, Thornhill Farm was a sorry derelict when Dee Hardie and her husband first saw it. Today it is sometimes featured in Dee's monthly column for House Beautiful. Its presence and character have molded the Hardies, even as they have molded Thornhill into something far more than a house surrounded by land. "Hollyhocks, Lambs and Other Passions" shows how a house can embrace a family's joy and provide shelter in sorrow. It tells of the ups and downs of raising four children and forty sheep, of the importance of celebrating everything from christenings to Christmas, of stenciling pineapples on the dining room floor and keeping a piano in the kitchen, of digging a rose garden and painting hollyhocks on the barn wall, of Tom Hardie's Sunday cooking, and tea parties for small grandchildren. Dee's determination to keep- and make- traditions runs throughout the book. Dee Hardie herself is the heart of Thornhill Farm. The absolute passion she brings to everything she does, the grace and care with which she lives her life, her infectious delight in the world around her, have made her accounts of Thornhill memorable. With her commitment to living life deliberately, she slows us down, for a time, in a world that moves at breakneck speed.
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Editorial Reviews
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"Eloquently portrays a seemingly idyllic existence in which events like a child's birthday party, planning a rose garden, reupholstering the furniture, and picking raspberries become exquisite adventures." -- New York Times Book Review
"A book for everyone who enjoys warm, delightful and inspiring writing." -- Baltimore Sun
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5.0 out of 5 stars
Dee Hardie predates Martha Stewart.,
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This review is from: Hollyhocks, Lambs and Other Passions (Hardcover)
I read this book twenty years ago, and enjoyed rereading this summer. Sent my cherished 1st edition to a friend and needed to replace it. This is a heartfelt share by the author of her love and nurture of an old Maryland farmhouse, and the four children she raised in it. Delightful. She had Martha Stewart beat way back in the day~ Highly recommend.
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Inside This Book
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First Sentence:
As we came to the rise of the hill, we saw the house, a house that seemed to have been forgotten, a country remnant, a house with a past, but certainly no presence. Read the first page Key Phrases - Capitalized Phrases (CAPs): (learn more)
Thornhill Farm, Saint John, Mary Sue, New Orleans, Madame Hardy, New York, James Beard, New England, Mary Jane, Saint Bernards, Sunday School, Rosa Mundi, Aunt Alice, Dolly Sisters, Pumpkin Hill, Edith Wharton, Queen Elizabeth, World War, Christmas Eve, George Washington, Nantucket Lightship, Saint Thomas, San Francisco, Simone Beck, Chesapeake Bay New!
Concordance | Text Stats Browse Sample Pages:
Front Cover | First Pages | Index | Back Cover | Surprise Me!
As we came to the rise of the hill, we saw the house, a house that seemed to have been forgotten, a country remnant, a house with a past, but certainly no presence. Read the first page Key Phrases - Capitalized Phrases (CAPs): (learn more)
Thornhill Farm, Saint John, Mary Sue, New Orleans, Madame Hardy, New York, James Beard, New England, Mary Jane, Saint Bernards, Sunday School, Rosa Mundi, Aunt Alice, Dolly Sisters, Pumpkin Hill, Edith Wharton, Queen Elizabeth, World War, Christmas Eve, George Washington, Nantucket Lightship, Saint Thomas, San Francisco, Simone Beck, Chesapeake Bay New!
Concordance | Text Stats Browse Sample Pages:
Front Cover | First Pages | Index | Back Cover | Surprise Me!
Citations (learn more)
This book cites 10
books:
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1
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cites this book:
- The Age of Innocence (Modern Library Classics) by Edith Wharton on page 31
- The Age of Innocence (Bloom's Modern Critical Interpretations) by Edith Wharton on page 31
- The Age of Innocence (Dodo Press) by Edith Wharton on page 31
- Brideshead Revisited by Evelyn Waugh on page 205
- The Age of Innocence by Edith Wharton on page 31
See all 10 books this book cites
- Martha Stewart's Gardening: Month by Month by Martha Stewart in Back Matter
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