A bunch of this, a little of that.

It was one of those weekends where it truly was two days of manageable bliss.  No crazy running around to beat the weekend clock.  Perhaps because it was Mother's Day weekend, the "just enjoy the time rather than manage it" kicked in and it became gloriously laid back.

Remember this?  The vintage sunburst clock that you all voted I use lime green paint to refinish it? 

Well it turned out wonderful thanks to you all and my inability to decide on a color. 

I love the bright lime green with the black bead accents. 

This color made the face just pop.

Closeup of the lime green and black.  It's in the store this weekend so I'm anxious to see how long it stays.

The robins have invaded our deck space by building nests in every gutter bend they can find. Why this robin chose the location 4 feet from our screen door, I will never know.

Everytime we go in or out she leaves the nest and sits on the deck edge to see if we will bother her eggs.  Thankfully, it doesn't take her too long to sit and realize we are not going to harm her and then back to the nest she goes.

In my Saturday travels, I came across a late garage sale and came home with this marvelous dresser mirror from a turn of the century oak dresser.  The original shellac has long since dried off.  Got this for a song as they were anxious to sell it as it was 4:00 pm in the day. I hand rubbed oil and beeswax into it and now it has this glorious golden oak patina.  What a lovely piece for over your sofa or wall for a focal mirror.

Oh, and that pair of faded, sea blue chairs you see in the mirror, yup, found those too.

Another one of my "poor man's" sailors valentines.  I just can't resist these silly little things...especially when the price is right - 25 cents.

Had a lovely supper at our new, local Cuban restaurant.  TO DIE TO DIE TO DIE FOR.  Great Cuban sandwiches, a patio to sit out on and fantastic live music.  Sis, my honey and I spent a few hours enjoying the evening with good food and music.

and last but not least...a sign in our local mall that reduces my sister and I to a quivering mass of giggles.  Yes, it says "Girdles".  Why does this make us laugh?  Pantyhose didn't exist in the early 1960s so if you wore stockings you wore a girdle to hold them in place. This silly, little word would set 5 year old sis into a laughing frenzy.  There was just something the way that word tripped off the tongue...well that and it was also a fancy underwear word that struck her funny as a child.  She would laugh and then I would laugh at her.  Fast forward nearly 45 years and the word "girdle" just reduces her to giggles so it is for her that I took this picture.  Laugh away sis as I am laughing as I type this.

I hope you all had as wonderful a weekend as I did.  Blessings. Sea Witch

Because mom said so.

Why, because mom said so.  I love those words, they have such power behind them.  No need for explanations, no going back and forth, no whining...just "mom said so."  That was the end of any further discussion.  So in honor of mothers everywhere, I thought I would share some of my favorite TV moms.

Carol Brady with that nifty little flippy shag hair cut.  She was warm and fun and herded those crazy Brady kids everywhere.

Florida Evans - I adored this woman and her roles.  She was a no nonsense mom with a heart of gold.  I can still hear her yell "JJ" and loved when she would give James a look that would reduce him to a smoldering mass of gotta have you, baby.

Peg Bundy...she was the antichrist of mothers but she always made me laugh.Selfish and self centered she still loved her family as long as it didn't interfere with her needs.

Samantha Stevens - everything about her was class from her radiant smile right down to the nose that could twitch which solved both of her Darren's problems.  She lived to give her children normalcy around her crazy and beloved relatives.   I wanted to be her as teenager.

Endora - Sam's mother.  Now this is a mom to fear and yet love.  In fact, it is from this show that I knew I would be called "grandma-ma" when I became a "grandma-ma".  From that wild flame red hair to the ridiculous blue eye makeup...she was a force to be reckoned with if you messed with her family.  

Ah, Mrs. C.  The only woman who could address the Fonz as Arthur. She is my favorite mom. The epitome of mothering and taking care of her family, hot meals, lots of love and a heart of gold.  I still remember one of her best lines to the family when they wanted fresh, homemade cookies...she was in the kitchen exhausted from a full day's of cleaning, shopping. laundry and cooking...she looked at them and said, "What, do you think I can just go the refrigerator and pull out a roll of cookie dough, slice and then bake them and I would have fresh cookies for you?"  Happy Day's writers often fused contemporary culture into the 1950s which I always enjoyed.

My mother. A woman who many say I am now looking like her as I age.  Lucky me, as she was always a beautiful woman.  But if I could be a fraction of the beautiful heart that she always carried, have her fierce love for all of God's creatures, own her infectious sense of humor and  maintain her never waivering moral compass and sense of justice, then I know I will have become a good woman to myself, my children and their growing families, my husband and to those whose path's I may cross.  I hope, as she watches me from heaven, that I please her and keep our family's heart well.  Not a day goes by that I don't miss her and I always think of her.  I love you mom.

It is from the many moms I have known as a child growing up in New Jersey (they were all neighborhood moms and they protected all of the children on a daily basis,  all of these TV moms, but most especially, my own mother that I have tried to take the best of all they gave and be the best mother I could to my sons.  I could not be prouder of both of them and I hope they laugh (and perhaps forgive me) when I would yell out the front door to them on a warm summer evening as the sun began to set and they still weren't home to get ready for a bath and bed:  "Jason...Aaron...if you're not home in 10 minutes, I'm gonna have your heads on a pole."  Really, this was always shouted out with great love.

Wishing all moms the very best weekend and a heartfelt Mother's Day.  Sea Witch

Back to the sea

The heat of the summer is nearly upon us here in Atlanta and the skies are blue, the trees are green and flowers are blooming everywhere.   All of this gives me a huge case of "senioritis"...you know, when the high school seniors are full of spring fever and all they want to do is play.  Yea, got me a bad case of senioritis.  The sea is calling me and although we have a trip coming up in June, I feel like I am going to burst if I don't get back into the salt water again.  So I pulled up photos of past trips to the Bahamas to try and quell my need to fill my bathtub with sea salt, dump my rubber shark in the water and put on my mask and fins pretending like I'm the Queen of the Mermaids.  

(all photos enlarge)

Ariel shot of the Abacos from a tiny island hopper plane really held together with duct tape.  Look at those beautiful turquoise reefs just waiting for snorkelers and divers.

Green Turtle Key Beach

The view from our room at Green Turtle.  

Lovely sunset from our deck at Green Turtle.

Same view, different night.  Sky is now orange.

Sky and water have become a vibrant golden color.  The sunsets are amazing as they change color in a blink of an eye.

 

Sun preparing to set on the beach in Port Lucaya.  My honey and I were married on this beach.  I love this shot, it looks like molten silver.

As sun lowers everything takes on the colors of fire.

Sun has now become a fireball in the sky and the waters take on a brilliant orange and purple color. 

Early morning sunrise in Green Turtle Key.  I love brilliance of the whites and greys against the black palms and tropical shrubs. 

Yes, I must go down to the sea again, to the vagrant, gypsy life.  Sea Witch

Unexpected surprise.

I adore the unexpected, the "swag" of life...things you never saw coming and there they are.  They just show up at your door or in this case, in my email box.    Ann, from Green Oak Antiques, a blog that I follow for its insight into the antique selling world (and has a marvelous post about what works in a show vs a shop) acquired a new printshop program and packaged with the graphics was this delightful jpg of a mermaid kingdom.  Sweet Ann thought of "the sea witch" and forwarded it on to me for my enjoyment.

Ann's thoughtfulness to send this to me is why I adore the blogging community.  We check our favorite blog sites daily looking for those words and images shared by really strangers in the purest sense but no, these are not strangers.  These are friends, buddies, personalities with a common or perhaps an uncommon thread that attract us to each other like bees to honey.  Before we realize it, we have become a community, we have developed friendships and we think of each other...and the community begins to feel more like family.

If you have received something unexpected from a blogger, please share it with a comment.  I suspect that we each have a story to share.

Now, I am often asked where I come across many of my unique mermaid images and although I have no specific source other then the internet and from blog friends like Green Oak Antiques, I thought I would share a few images that I have not utilized on my posts yet. 

Just came across this neat black and white image. Love that she has a shell to her ear.

Everyone's favorite movie mermaid from Splash!

Mermaid and Sailor

Postcard from the weeki wachee mermaid show 1950s

This image is found on a toilet lid no less. 

Love this image of the two mermaids (sirens of the seas) calling the ships to them.

 Thank you Ann for being the inspriation for this post.
Blessings and joy to everyone.  Sea Witch

New header for the sea witch

Hello everyone.  Was in the mood to switch out my header again so I went back to the Cancun photos to see what I could find to share with you.  This shot was taken at the same lovely reef, Machonies - Cancun Mexico. 

 

Visibility was good and the sun was shining through the waters so lots of color was there to see.  We had a little bit of surge or subsurface motion, the wave like motion of rocking back and forth under the water.  You can see the surge movement by the lean of the soft branch corals to one direction.  The brilliant cobalt blue fish you see are called Blue Chromis.  Usually no more then 6 inches or 15cms in length, they are a shimmering blue with a black dorsal shading, forked tail and dark eyes.  Usually shy, they will often dash to the cover of reef when it feels threatened and has been observed to dim its bright blue coloration to a duller gray. 

(google photo of closeup)

Chromis will travel in multispecies schools, especially when feeding, but are territorial when feeding on algae and will defend an area against other algae-feeding species.  I have seen these little blue fish go after larger ones at a rocket speed, it is amusing to watch.  My  own observation with Chromis is they like to huddle next to large coral patches and hiding themselves deep into the soft, flowing corals when they perceive danger. 

This school of Chromis hovered around this soft coral patch with no fear of me taking the photo. Usually they will hide when "large swimming creatures" enter their space, but when there is surge in the water, I do not swim towards them, I allow the surge to carrgy me to their location which gives the illusion of another water creature along for the same surging ride.  That is how I got this shot. 

Wishing everyone a "surge free" but colorful weekend.  Sea Witch

Fantastic Giveaway - you must enter

Miss Rebecca Ersfeld for Vintage Living has a fantastic giveaway to announce the opening of her new blog shop. 

Rebecca's work is lovely and she offers some of her best pieces along with wonderful antique treasuers...I'm crazy about the lace making stand with the bobbins still attached.

Click here to visit the blog shop.

Her giveaway if for a fabric collage using your family pictures like the one below.

In addition, she will also give away a Where Women Create mag.

It doesn't get better then this so click on over to her blog and enter.  Have a wonderful weekend.  Sea Witch

Can't decide, need assistance!

I'ma gal who almost always knows exactly what she wants or what she is gonna do next.  Rarely do I second guess a decision or have to think about a choice...I just know what I want or like and embrace it.  However, every once in a while (must be the full moon from yesterday that has me in a color choice quandry) I need a little insight from creative folks.  I need your opinion with a color makeover for a faboosh vintage sunburst wall clock that I found.  It runs beautifully, but has a good bit of metallic detoriation on the metal spokes. 

Once this happens, you really must steel wool it away and put a primer/paint on it to stop the continued rust and decay.  Normally I paint these either diner pink or diner aqua...but I came across a couple of spray paint cans in this glorious light, lime green that I am jonesing to use.  So here is where I need your help...should I use the really cool lime green or stick to the diner pink or aqua? 

Lime green which would be perfect for a sunny yellow room or retro den, would look great against the black clock face...and, and, and you rarely see this color used...which is another reason why I am leaning towards the lime green.

OR

Diner pink...a color you can never miss with. 

OR

Diner aqua...another color you can't miss with.

So there, can you not see my color quandry?  So please leave your color choice as a comment and help this sea witch figure out which color to use.  I will post the repainted photo next week.

Now, as long as we are talking color, how great are these spring petunias?  I am crazy about this magenta. (you probably recognize that I moved the petunias to put the clock up and snap a photo of it for today's post.)

Petunias are back on the stacking benches at my entrance where they belong.  Have a glorious day everyone.  Sea Witch

White Shell Wednesday

I like Sand Dollars. I like the way they look in their natural state and I like how smooth and detailed they are in their sun bleached state. I like that I can see a lily, a poinsettia, and a star on them and you can find doves hiding inside them. 

Keyhole Sand Dollar (dead) - all photos enlarge

Live Sand Dollar

I like that you can find them easily by pushing your toes through soft sand and slowly lifting them up to see them in either their natural (hairy) like state or smooth and white.  I like that they can be found in the size of a nickel up to a salad plate.  The name "sand dollar" comes from its the shape of its body which takes on a large, coin-like appearance.  Commonly called a shell, the Sand Dollar is actually an echinoderm which means "spiny skinned" in Greek. A  marine invertebrate that lives in the sandy bottoms of sheltered bays and open coastal areas.  The starfish, sea urchin, sea cucumber and sand dollar are examples of the over 6000 species of echinoderms in our planet's salt waters.

Native to Florida and other areas of the world, Sand Dollars are actually the skeleton of several species of Sea Urchins.   Sand Dollars are common to the southeastern U.S., Australian and Caribbean seas and are usually found on sandy bottoms in shallow water. The typical shell is flat, circular and about 3 inches in diameter.  There are 12 different types of sand dollars and among those most well known are the Flat Round or common sand dollar, the Arrowhead, Pankcake, Keyhole (above) and the Sea Biscuit sand dollar

Common or Flat Round Sand Dollar

Arrowhead Sand Dollar

Pancake Sand Dollar

Sea Biscuit Sand Dollar

On the ocean bottom, sand dollars are frequently found together.

This is due in part to their preference for soft bottom areas, which are convenient for their reproduction. The sexes are separate and, as with most echinoids, they are conceived by external fertilization. Live sand dollars can be greenish, bluish or purple. Their highly modified spines and podia give them a velvet-like texture and appearance.  The spines on the somewhat flattened underside of the animal allow it to burrow or to slowly creep through the sediment.   As you can see in this video, they are a very slow moving creature.

Fine, hair-like cilia cover the tiny spines. Food grooves move food to the mouth opening, which is in the center of the star-shaped grooves on the underside of the animal . Its food consists of crustacean larvae, small copepods, diatoms, algae and detritus.  Inside a sand dollar shell are five teeth, which are useful for scraping plankton from rocks. The teeth, which are found when the shell is broken open, are called 'doves' because they look like tiny white doves.

Greatly enlarged doves or teeth.

The Sand Dollar shares a unique relationship to Christians who have found symbols in the form and appearance of the keyhole Sand Dollar. They call it the “Holy Ghost Shell” because the markings on the shell symbolize the Birth, Crucifixion and Resurrection of Christ. On top of the shell, an outline of the Easter Lily is clearly seen. At the center of the Lily a five pointed Star representing the Guiding Star of Bethlehem that led the Wise Men. The five narrow openings are representative of the four nail holes and the spear wound made in the body of Christ during the Crucifixion.  Reversing the shell you will easily recognize the outline of the Poinsettia, the Christmas flower, and also the Bell. When broken, inside the shell are five little birds called the Doves of Peace.

There is something magical about the Sand Dollar.  It is light and delicate and yet manages to survive storms, predators and man stepping all over them in the watery shallows.  When living, they have the appearance of velvet and when reduced to the skeletal structure they become pure white talismans of all sizes.  I have collected them for years (always the dead ones found along the beach, never the live specimens) and utilized them in my wedding invitation as shown below.

Have a beautiful white shell wednesday and blessings to you and all you love. Sea Witch