Thursday, March 31, 2016

Betty MacDonald and a very special letter

Farndale Daffodils


Betty MacDonald in the living room at Vashon on the cover of The Saturday Evening Post.
Betty MacDonald fan club fans,

Betty MacDonald mentioned her favourite flower in several letters and in one of her books.

We asked you to tell us Betty MacDonald's favourite flower and many of you sent us the most beautiful photos. 

Thanks a million! 

Betty MacDonald fan club birthday card contest was really a great idea and very popular.

We got so many very creative and colourful birthday cards from all over the world.

The winner who sent the best and most original birthday card will be Honor guest of the next International Betty MacDonald fan club event.  

You'll be able to read the winners' names in Betty MacDonald fan club newsletter April.

There will be a Betty MacDonald fan club birthday DVD with many very special birthday cards by Betty MacDonald's family and friends.

You'll be able to see wonderful cards for Betty MacDonald with very touching messages for example by her daughter Joan MacDonald Keil or her good friend Monica Sone.  

There will be a Betty MacDonald fan club birthday event DVD available.

We'll have several International Betty MacDonald fan club events  in 2016.

Join us in voting for your favourite city, please. 

I adore King Ludwig's  dream castle.

Wolfgang Hampel's  Vita Magica guest was a very famous TV lady, author and singer and she is our new Betty MacDonald fan club honor member.

I guess Betty MacDonald fan club honor member Mr. Tigerli  adores our new Betty MacDonald fan club honor member. 

I adore her too because author and TV moderator Tatjana Geßler is a very beautiful, charming and intelligent lady. 

Tatjana Geßler's books are outstanding. I've read several of them. 

Mr. Tigerli is back and we enjoy his new adventures very much.

Are you hungry? 

Let's have breakfast at the bookstore with Brad and Nick. 

Enjoy Betty MacDonald's very beautiful Vashon Island, please.

I adore this possible ESC winner  song 2016. 

Take care,

Walter


Don't miss this very special book, please.








Vita Magica
Betty MacDonald fan club

Betty MacDonald forum  

Wolfgang Hampel - Wikipedia ( English ) 

Wolfgang Hampel - Wikipedia ( English ) - The Egg and I 

Wolfgang Hampel - Wikipedia ( German )

Vashon Island - 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 groups 

Betty MacDonald fan club organizer Linde Lund  











Rita Knobel Ulrich - Islam in Germany - a very interesting ZDF  ( 2nd German Television ) documentary with English subtitles 

A Letter To Betty MacDonald

image

Dear Betty MacDonald,

I am called a Newage Dreamer.

Your Mrs. Piggle-Wiggle series are great. 

They are so funny that I once was about to fall off my chair.

Mrs. Piggle-Wiggle’s Magic is my favourite till now.

Please write more funny books for us children, if possible.

In Mrs. Piggle-Wiggle’s Magic, I liked the chapter, The Thought-You-Saiders cure the most. 

Like the part they said,”Marilyn’s mother said Marilyn fell off her coaster and hurt her head, and they thought she said, Marilyn fell in the toaster and was burnt up dead.” It was so funny.

The other chapter I liked a lot was, The Never-Want-To-Go-To-Schoolers Cure.

 I liked the time were Jody kept on tricking his mother, and his mother acted so dumply.
The other chapters were good, but not as funny as the others.

Your first book was also funny. Mrs. Piggle-Wiggle the book that she told stories to teach people good lessons, was terrific for the first book of the series.

Betty MacDonald how nice it would be if you read this letter from me to you.

 
Best regards,

A Newage Dreamer





Video Germany vs Italy 4-1 Highlights 2016 Friendly Goals Kroos Gotze El Shaarawy

By Soccer Blog | Mar 29, 2016
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Germany vs Italy 2016 (Germany-Italia VIDEO BELOW)
Final score and result:- Germany vs Italy 4-1 (Kroos, Gotze, Hector, Ozil pen/El Shaarawy)
Allianz Arena, Munich- 29 March, 2016- 19.45 UK KO- 29/3/16- Wednesday
Germany register their first win over Italy since 1995 as they beat the Azzurri 4-1 in Munich
Condensed hls, 4:05 duration, Portuguese commentary, Vidme
English commentary, goals, 5:52 duration, Vidme
Extended highlights, 10:26 duration, English commentary, FB

Italian commentary, 4:03 duration, Vimeo
Germany v Italy 1-0 (Kroos goal vs Italy 24′)
Germany-Italy 2-0 (Gotze goal vs Italy 45′)
Germany vs Italy 3-0 (Hector goal vs Italy 59′)
Germany vs Italy 4-0 (Ozil penalty goal vs Italy 75′)
Germany vs Italy 4-1 (El Shaarawy goal vs Germany 82′)

Germany vs Italy 2016 friendly attendance:- 62,653 (Referee- Drachta)

Betty MacDonald, Dorita Hess and a tragedy

Bildergebnis für mysterious lady

Betty MacDonald in the living room at Vashon on the cover of The Saturday Evening Post.



Betty MacDonald fan club fans,


we got oustanding feedback because of excellent Betty MacDonald fan club newsletter March with so many fascinating info.

Betty MacDonald fan club newsletter April includes new oustanding info on Betty MacDonald's very mysterious and strange lady Dorita Hess. 

 
If you are interested in joining this Betty MacDonald and Dorita Hess project  you are welcome.
Send a message to our contact address, please and you'll hear from Lars, Mats,  James, Britta and the other members of this very successful Betty MacDonald fan club research team. 
Great Betty MacDonald fan club news!


We are going to publish some new Betty MacDonald fan club interviews  by Betty MacDonald fan club founder Wolfgang Hampel.

Wolfgang Hampel and Betty MacDonald fan club research team are working on an updated Betty MacDonald biography. 

Good luck dear Wolfgang Hampel and team!


Betty MacDonald fan club honor member Mr. Tigerli will be back soon with some more huge surprises for his fans in 5 continents.


Don't miss a new  breakfast with Brad and Nick at the bookstore, please.
I already got ESC fever.


April will be a very interesting month for Betty MacDonald fan club ESC fans from all over the world.


We are looking for the Betty MacDonald fan club ESC winner 2016.


You can win two tickets for ESC Grand Final 2016 in Stockholm.


 
More info are coming soon.



I adore Roger Cicero!
It's a tragedy. 

Yours, 
Michael




Don't miss this very special book, please.








Vita Magica
Betty MacDonald fan club

Betty MacDonald forum  

Wolfgang Hampel - Wikipedia ( English ) 

Wolfgang Hampel - Wikipedia ( English ) - The Egg and I 

Wolfgang Hampel - Wikipedia ( German )

Vashon Island - 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 groups 

Betty MacDonald fan club organizer Linde Lund  












Rita Knobel Ulrich - Islam in Germany - a very interesting ZDF  ( 2nd German Television ) documentary with English subtitles 


ath: HOME » NEWS
In the footsteps of Betty MacDonald: New owners take on rural life with Egg and I Farm
Click here to zoom...

Phil Vogelzang takes down cattle fencing on the Chimacum farm where "The Egg and I" author Betty MacDonald lived in the 1920s. Vogelzang purchased the property with three family members in mid-March from Pat and Jess Bondurant, who raised beef cattle. -- Photo by Jennifer Jackson/Peninsula Daily News

By Jennifer Jackson, Peninsula Daily News
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CHIMACUM — If you had asked Phil Vogelzang a year ago if he'd ever heard of Betty MacDonald, he'd have said no.

Ma and Pa Kettle?

Rings a faint bell, he would have answered.

So when Vogelzang, 49, saw a listing for a 20-acre farm for sale on Egg and I Road, he had no clue where the name came from.

"I thought, 'That's a funny name for a road," he said.

Vogelzang is now a lot more familiar with Betty MacDonald, having purchased, along with family members, the farm where the author of The Egg and I lived in the late 1920s.

The new owners have named their purchase the Egg and I Farm after the book, and in some ways, are following in the footsteps of its former owner.

Today (March 26) is the anniversary of the birth of MacDonald, author of The Egg and I and the Mrs. Piggle-Wiggle books.

The daughter of a mining engineer, she was born Anne Elizabeth Campbell Bard on March 26, 1908, in Boulder, Colo.

After graduating from Roosevelt High School in Seattle, she moved with her mother to the Chimacum Valley after her father died.

In 1927, she married Robert Heskett with whom she had two children. They divorced in 1935, and she married Donald C. MacDonald in 1942.

The couple moved to Vashon Island, and starting with The Egg and I, published in 1945, MacDonald wrote three other books based on her life, plus the Mrs. Piggle-Wiggle series for children.

She died of cancer in Seattle in 1958 at age of 49.

Flash forward 50 years to 2008 and the new owners of the homestead that inspired MacDonald to write The Egg and I.

"We're rank beginners," Vogelzang said of farming. "We have no experience."

Located on a ridge between Beaver Valley and Center Road, the farm was a homestead with 40 acres when 19-year-old Betty Bard married Heskett.

Heskett's dream — to become the egg czar of Puget Sound — crashed and burned along with the marriage, an experience his ex-wife turned to humorous account in a novel 20 years later.

The goal of the new owners — Vogelzang and spouse, Katy McCoy, her sister, Melinda McCoy and husband, Peter — is less grandiose.

They want to grow as much of their own food as possible.

They're thinking vegetable gardens, fruit trees, maybe even a cow.

And of course, chickens.

"Certainly eggs and chickens will be in the mix," Vogelzang said.

The house that Betty lived in is long gone, but Egg and I fans continued to knock on the door of Jess and Pat Bondurant, the farm's former owners who lived there 32 years.

The book is especially popular in Europe — Germany has the largest Betty MacDonald fan club in the world — and Pat Bondurant has had phone calls from Heidelberg, inviting her and her husband to fly over and help celebrate the author's birthday.

Last fall, BBC Radio 4 sent a program staff member from England to Chimacum to tape interviews with Pat Bondurant and longtime Chimacum residents, Aldena Bishop and George Huntingford.

Family members moving
Members of the family who has purchased the farm will move there this summer, when Peter Walchenbach. a special education teacher at Ocosta High School, finishes the school year.

He'll be moving with his wife, Melinda McCoy, daughter Flora, 7, and son Oscar, 5.

Vogelzang, a radiologist, and wife, Katy, a physician-turned-artist, plan to come over from Seattle as much as possible, he said.

"Peter and I have been looking for property where we can farm on a small scale," Vogelzang said.

"It's sort of our dream."

Vogelzang said he never considered that their "quiet little parcel in the country" would have a theme other than local, sustainable food production.

But since learning that the farm had a literary history, he has been learning more about Betty MacDonald, and he has been thinking about ways to work with the heritage she left.

"Peter and Melinda are the kind of people who will embrace it, and welcome people," he said.

MacDonald connections
Vogelzang was also surprised to find a connection between MacDonald and his wife's family.

Both lived in Laurelhurst, a Seattle neighborhood where the McCoy family settled.

And on his side of the family, who are Dutch, he does have some agricultural background — he comes from a long line of pig farmers, he said.

The son of a Dutch Christian Reform minister, he spent his high school years in Sheldon, Iowa, where he did menial labor on farms, mostly with livestock.

While Vogelzang has not seen "The Egg and I" movie yet, he has read the book with an eye to what kind of vegetables and fruits the family grew in the 1920s.

"If you read what they produced on the farm, it's quite remarkable," he said.

"If they can do it, we can do it."

Vogelzang said that, in the end, the farm is a legacy for his niece and nephew, who he hopes will get involved in 4-H, as well as take an active role in the farm's operation.

In the meantime, he and the adults plan to enjoy the peace and quiet, the fresh food and the sense of accomplishment that comes from growing your own food.

In other words, they plan to find the peace and happiness that eluded Betty MacDonald when she came to the farm as a young wife with no idea of what she was getting into.

"We've thought it out," Vogelzang said, "and we plan to be here a lot longer than Betty."

The legacy of The Egg and I on East Jefferson County extends beyond the homestead in Chimacum into the Victorian storefronts of Port Townsend 12 miles north.

Last modified: March 25. 2008 9:00PM


Football


Germany bounced back from defeat by England on Saturday to beat Italy for the first time in almost 21 years. The world champions avoided a third straight loss as Toni Kroos opened the scoring before reported Liverpool target Mario Gotze doubled the lead.
Left-back Jonas Hector, another rumoured Liverpool option, then scored a header with a Mesut Ozil penalty making it 4-0 with 15 minutes left.
Stephan El Shaarawy grabbed a late consolation for Antonio Conte's team.

Wednesday, March 30, 2016

Betty MacDonald and very exciting times


Daffodil Flower

Betty MacDonald in the living room at Vashon on the cover of The Saturday Evening Post.



Betty MacDonald fan club fans,
Betty MacDonald fan club newsletter March is available.
It's really such a very interesting one describing all the fascinating Betty MacDonald fan club events in March.

Anita, Eartha Kitt II and  Betty MacDonald fan club research team are working on a new Betty MacDonald exhibit.

If you are interested in joining this Betty MacDonald fan club project you are welcome.
 
Several Betty MacDonald fan club fans shared very interesting details and info regarding Betty MacDonald's fascinating experiences in Hollywood.

 

Thanks a million!

We are going to publish some new Betty MacDonald fan club interviews  by Betty MacDonald fan club founder Wolfgang Hampel who is working on an updated Betty MacDonald biography. 


Good luck dear Wolfgang Hampel!


Betty MacDonald fan club honor member Mr. Tigerli is a great guy and we can't wait to read his further adventures.

My family and friends adore Traci Tyne Hilton's books very much.

We are very happy that she is Betty MacDonald fan club honor member.


Betty MacDonald fan club fans from all over the world like Linde Lund's interview with Traci Tyne Hilton very much. 


Don't miss a new  breakfast with Brad and Nick at the bookstore, please.
April will be a very interesting month for Betty MacDonald fa club ESC fans from all over the world.
We are looking for the Betty MacDonald fan club ESC winner 2016.
You can win two tickets for ESC Grand Final 2016 in Stockholm.
More info are coming soon.
Roger Cicero was one of my favourite singers too. 

I really cried when I heard the very sad news.  
Yours,
Greta


Don't miss this very special book, please.






Vita Magica
Betty MacDonald fan club

Betty MacDonald forum  

Wolfgang Hampel - Wikipedia ( English ) 

Wolfgang Hampel - Wikipedia ( English ) - The Egg and I 

Wolfgang Hampel - Wikipedia ( German )

Vashon Island - 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 groups 

Betty MacDonald fan club organizer Linde Lund  











Rita Knobel Ulrich - Islam in Germany - a very interesting ZDF  ( 2nd German Television ) documentary with English subtitles 



Betty MacDonald fan club fans, 

Betty MacDonald fan club organizer Linde Lund interviewed author Traci Tyne Hilton who is a huge Betty MacDonald fan.

Many greetings to Traci Tyne Hilton and Betty MacDonald fan club fans around the world.

Lena


Betty MacDonald fan  club interview with author Traci Tyne Hilton 


Copyright 2014/2016 by Traci Tyne Hilton & Linde Lund
                 

        All rights reserved




I can find several interviews with you. Which two ones do you prefer?





Here are two recent interviews. The second one is a "character interview" with the characters from my newest book, which is kind of fun.













 





This is a picture of me on my tenth wedding anniversary at The Betty MacDonald Farm on Vashon. My sweet husband planned our weekend away, but didn't realize that I actually wanted to STAY at the farm! But he did drive me there to see it before we went home, though. I'm pretty little in the picture, but if you look closely, you can see me by the door to the barn.





Which book by Betty MacDonald did you read first?




My mom gave me her copy of The Egg and I when I was about 11. It was my first taste of Betty Macdonald, but I was definitely hooked! I read it at least once a year until I was in my twenties and finally got around to finding the rest of her work at my library...and then collecting reprints.





What do you like most in Betty MacDonald's books?




I love her over the top humor paired with her brutally honest representation of life. 





Is there anything you dislike in Betty MacDonald's books?




One could call her portrayal of the Native Americans of the Pacific Northwest in the Egg and I racist, but she was a woman of her time, and the things she writes about, such as alcoholism, are not untrue. They are just reported with that brutal honesty that she also uses for her white neighbors--no one is safe from her sharp pen. So, it makes me a little uncomfortable to read, but at the same time, I think it is real (from her perspective at least, and her perspective is valid,) and I don't dislike it, if that makes sense.





Did you ever read Betty MacDonald's books for children for example The Mrs. Piggle-Wiggle series and  Nancy and Plum?


Oh yes! I wish I had had them as kids, but I have been reading them to my kids which is even better! My sister in law bought me Nancy and Plum several years back, and I love it. I don't know why it's not a classic on par with the Secret Garden or the Little Princess! But...even better than Nancy and Plum are the Piggle Wiggle books. They crack my kids up, and were the first chapter books that my girls really devoured. They crack me up, too!





What is your favourite book by Betty MacDonald?





It is still The Egg and I. It's a book that formed so much of my opinion on fiction and held such an important part of my growing up--I don't think anything could beat it. My husband and I call snobby activities "The Theatah and the Dahnce" and I've been known to say "I itch, so I scratch, so what?" 





Did Betty MacDonald influence you as author?




Absolutely. Though I write mysteries I want them to be funny, and I hold Betty MacDonald's work up as a standard for humor.





What do you think is the reason Betty MacDonald is beloved all over the world?



Betty's work gives us a glimpse into a world that we would have never known without her. Both life in the Olympic Mountains and on Vashon are so different from regular town and city life. I think readers love to escape, and the more remote the location, the more different the people we get to meet, the more we love the work! Betty's books help us all escape to a time that is getting farther and farther away, and a place that doesn't even exist anymore, but even when it did, it was unexpected, hilarious, and stunningly beautiful.





Dearest Traci I hope I don't bore with so many questions.

I wasn't a bit bored! Betty MacDonald is definitely my favorite author and I loved having a chance to talk about her work and why I love it so much!





As I already mentioned there are several Betty MacDonald fan club fans who enjoy your books very much.




That people who love Betty MacDonald also like my books is almost unbelievable to me, and really is a dream come true, as an author. When I was a young girl, curled up with her work, escaping to that remote egg farm, I never dreamed that someday people who loved her, would also enjoy what I had to say.



Dearest Traci thanks a million for this wonderful interview.
Lots of love to you and your family.

Lots of love to you, as well! Thank you.




Traci


 


Betty MacDonald Fan Club proudly presents:

The amazing, very witty, charming, intelligent story written by our brilliant Betty MacDonald Fan Club Honor Member - artist and writer Letizia Mancino.

WHEN YOU DREAM, DREAM BIG

Copyright 2011/2016 by Letizia Mancino
All rights reserved
Translated by D. Tsiaprakas

Betty, I love you! Your books „Anybody can do anything“ and „Onions in the Stew“ are really outstanding! I take them into my hand, and at a stone's throw I am right away in America ! Columbus and the egg: The great discovery!

Your bestseller „The Egg and I“ the greatest discovery. And you and I! I know America: It's true what you are writing: That's America: Absolutely right! No, even to the least detail! The landscape and the passion: Do you know the country where pistols blossom? Brava, Betty, you are describing the Americans vividly, genuinely, insufferably, brushed upon paper. If I like to read your works? To read doesn't even express it! I can even hear and see everything: Nature, culture, subculture.

America has almost remained unchanged! O those cool Americans! Calculating, stockmarket, Wall Street, the financial crisis (even back in 1930), the gamblers, the bankruptcy of companies! The swarming of dodgers and cheaters. People left without money. Dispair und hunger! A terrible „Worst Case“ (when I knew but little English I thought it is sausage with cheese).

Still how impressive is the ability to adaptone self of the Americans: They know how to enjoy life, acrobats of survival! In the twinkle of an eye they achieved to adapt themselves and effect the work of pioneers: In the morning you are a cleaningwoman, in the evening a brothel woman! No problem!

„The insufficient, here it's becoming an event; The indescribable, here it's done;“ Mary Bard Jensen, your sister, was the treasure trove of procuring work: My word, what a power woman with unlimited imagination! She has recommended you everywhere: Betty can do everything, also write novels! Go ahead, sister, hurry up! The editor wants to see your manuscripts! Up to that point you had not written a single line! Wow! And if still everything goes wrong? No problem: When you dream, dream big!

Just look, you have become famous.The Egg and I You know that, Betty? I'll slip into „The Egg and I“ and come and be your guest! I want to get to know your chickens. I hate chickens! I'm a chickens slave from North America! O Betty, without these damned animals, no chance of you becoming famous! „The Egg and I“ you would never have written! How many readers you have made happy!

Your book is so amusing! Your witty fine (almost nasty) remarks about your family members and roundabout neighbours made me laugh so much! You have been born into a special family: Comfort was not desired: I can't but be amazed: What did your father say to your mother? After tomorrow I am going to work elsewhere: Thousands of miles away...He sent her a telegram: LEAVING FOR TWO YEARS ON THURSDAY FOR MEXICO CITY STOP GET READY IF YOU WANT TO COME ALONG – That was on Monday. Mother wired back: SHALL BE READY, and so she was.That's America! Improvisation, change, adventure. You show no weakness: Let's go! Your descriptions, Betty, about the tremendous happenings in nature have deeply frightened me.

Continent America, I'm terrified by you! I feel so small and threatened like a tiny fly before an enormous flyswatter! Your novel is very many-sided! The reader may use it even as a cook book! „The Egg and I“ starts straight away with a recipe: „Next to the wisdom that lamb meat doesn't taste good unless it has been roasted with garlic“. Do you enjoy the American food?

O Betty, it's too fatty for me and I hate garlic! (Betty is presently cooking lunch for Bob. She's continually talking to „STOVE“: STOVE is Bob's rival; in the beginning I thought it was being himself). She turns round and says: Well, so no garlic for you. No lamb either, Betty. I don't eat any meat! I'd actually prefer only fried eggs. Betty, let me make them myself. Then you try it!

Blow! „STOVE“ out of order! I don't succeed in turning it on! Damned! It's got more of a mind of its own than „STOVE“ of my friend, Hilde Domin! Bob's coming! He must eat directly! „Men eat anything, the swines! Says your grandmother Gammy“. Is it true? Do you like my chickens? Bob asked me without introducing himself. Yes, Bob (rude) I love them! I'm vegetarian. Do you want to clean the henhouse with me tomorrow? A, you're always getting up so early at four o'clock! Bob, that's not a job for me! He looked at me disdainfully! A Roman cissy! You need a reeducation at once! Help, Bob's attacking me! I rather change the novel immediately and move to the „Island“! 


We adore Roger Cicero very much. An oustanding singer!

http://bettymacdonaldfanclub.blogspot.de/…/betty-macdonald-…
Germany lost one of his Jazz singers. Roger Cicero passed away after a sudden stroke. We remember him with one of his best songs: Frauen regieren die Welt.
R.I.P Roger Cicero . Jazz Singer passed away @ age 45

Roger Cicero performs How Come U Don't Call Me Anymore, with…
youtube.com