Do you remember the red poppy?

Memorial Day -  a way to remember our country's heroes who sacrificed their lives to allow us live a life of freedom. This day is dedicated to the military people who sacrificed their lives for the security of their countrymen.

On this Memorial Day weekend, we hold parades with bands, marching veterans and flags for our children.  We come together as family and friends with picnics and cookouts.  But let us remember to observe this day by paying homage to those who could not be here because of their sacrifice. Place flags in your yard, visit your local Veteran's services and witness the laying of the wreath.  You will not leave without tears and a grateful heart.  

 If you see any soldier, sailor, airman or marine, stop and thank them for their continued service to you and this Country. 

 I remember two traditions our family followed.  The first was the hanging of my father's World War II flag outside our house.  My dad would hoist me on his shoulders while I placed the 48-star flag high on the hooks so it would wave proudly.  The second was my mother taking us all to the local VFW to purchase Memorial Day poppies to wear.  Some were fresh flowers and other times they were fashioned from brilliant red crepe paper... no matter how they were sold, we always bought them to wear while watching the local parade and attending the wreath laying service.

In 1915, inspired by the poem "In Flanders Fields," Moina Michael replied with her own poem:

We cherish too, the Poppy red

That grows on fields where valor led,

It seems to signal to the skies

That blood of heroes never dies.

She then conceived of an idea to wear red poppies on Memorial day in honor of those who died serving the nation during war. She was the first to wear one, and sold poppies to her friends and co-workers with the money going to benefit servicemen in need. Later a Madam Guerin from France was visiting the United States and learned of this new custom started by Ms. Michael and when she returned to France, made artificial red poppies to raise money for war orphaned children and widowed women. This tradition spread to other countries. In 1921, the Franco-American Children's League sold poppies nationally to benefit war orphans of France and Belgium. The League disbanded a year later and Madam Guerin approached the VFW for help. Shortly before Memorial Day in 1922 the VFW became the first veterans' organization to nationally sell poppies. Two years later their "Buddy" Poppy program was selling artificial poppies made by disabled veterans. I still have some of the red poppies made by the Disabled Vets that I wear every Memorial Day.  I don't know if they still sell them, but this would be a wonderful tradition to start with your children and grandchildren.  Create your own Red Poppy pin and wear it proudly over the Memorial Day Weekend to honor our fallen soldiers.

And I'm proud to be an American,

where at least I know I'm free.

And I won't forget the men who died,

who gave that right to me - Lee Greenwood

Have a safe and thankful Memorial Day.  Sea Witch

Treasure Chest from Canada

After a long day at work and then a swim to decompress, I walk through the door and a box from Canada is addressed to me. I'm thinking, who could be sending me something from Canada?  I haven't purchased anything and I have no relative there.  Well, I see the return address and it is from Langley Girl...the winner of my "A Sea Witch in Paris Giveaway" a few months ago. 

 I'm thinking, why would she be sending me a package and what is inside it.  Well, this sea witch was left speechless.  It was a treasure trove of wonderful things and just because.  Yes, just because she wanted to say hello and thank you for all of the things I had sent her in the Sea Witch in Paris box. 

Like Christmas, I couldn't wait to tear into it.  But I had to take photos so you could enjoy the items as I pulled them out.

 A lovely note saying how much she enjoyed my giveaway box and that she wanted to say hello.  Well, if this is a "hello" I can only imagine what a "How are you doing" is. Nifty paper trunk with New York icons all over it.  I spent many weekend in "the city" as a child so this was like coming home.  Let's open it up and see what is in side, shall we?

Lovely linen handkerchief in aqua blue with pretty embroidered flower, a Langley girl creation just for the sea witch...mermaids, sea stars, she shells and words to dream with.  Oh, and a handmade fortune cookie with a fortune in it.

A pair of magnets which are of sweet birds on a letter cancellation stamp.  Love these.

A huge stack of Eiffel tower tags.  I know my french loving visitors will be sea green with envy over these. So many uses, I think I will give them a Christmas in Paris look and use them as gift tags for Christmas gifts this year.

Lovely framed pendent of a Japanese print with a turquoise scarab charm on a beaded chain.  Flip the pendent over and you have...

another Japanese print of a koi.  Love this side for its fish in a neutral palette.  I will be wearing this to work tomorrow.

Now add bead baggies, mini cards, jewelry elements, post its, diner star envelopes, a lovely hand created thank you note,  and a pretty ribbon and you have treasure falling everywhere.  Speechless, I am speechless by Betty's thoughtfulness and generosity.  All so unexpected and such joy she has delivered to my door.  Thank you Betty, for thinking of me and sending treasure to my door.  More importantly, though, thank you for this marvelous, long distance friendship we have established through blogland.  If it hadn't been for this venue, we would never had met, we would never have visited each others blogs and learned a little bit about each other.  Such amazing friendships are born from simple blogs.  What a ride we are all on.  Sea Witch   

Why oh why can't it be

a five day weekend and a two day work week?  Really, Why can't it!!!!  So many things to do and I know you are all just as busy with graduations, school year ending, preparing for the summer, etc. etc etc. 

So after the tree that fell was finally removed from my front yard, chipped and hauled away, I made a road trip to Snellville and stopped in at Vintage Village to say hello to friends and dealers. There was also an additional shop that recently opened behind the "Village" ... "Joy's Vintage Thrift".   Love it when there is another place to find treasure.

One of the personal touches you find at Vintage Village at this time of the year are fresh flowers throughout. 

This lovely bouquet of hydrangea's (a personal favorite) greets you as you enter the shop.

One of my favorite dealers, My Vintage Heart.  I keep eyeing the pretty silver plated Art Nouveau flower vase every time I see it.  I need to just bite the bullet and buy it as it would look lovely with my footed bowl that looks just like it.

How fun and summery this bright orange water can is.

Speaking of summer, this vintage soft cooler is perfect for Americana holidays, especially when fireworks are involved.

Another favorite dealer, Fox, always finds the coolest stuff.  This neat Victorian fold up chair has been over painted with aqua blue and sports a cabbage roses seat.  The best part, this nifty piece is only $45.00.  I had to force myself to walk away from purchasing it as I just don't have the room in my home.  But what a great piece.

Pressed and hammered aluminum pieces.  The American staple found in homes throughout the 1950s. Still affordable, these are fast becoming the next hot collectible.

How pretty is this vintage cake topper displayed under this glass dome.

Pretty jars have been repurposed with a little wire and a floral spray for lots of decorating ideas.  Use them for starting flowers, seedlings, or fill with sugar water for hummingbirds.

Clever is as clever does.  Pretty summer flowers bloom around a bicycle wheel wreath. 

Love this shade of aqua, especially during the summer. 

A new dealer at VV and I am crazy about the large letters that are for sale.

Eat Cake...words to live by...unless you are Marie Antoinette.

I don't know what it is about a big pair of panties that reduces me to childish giggles...maybe it is Ethel Merman's fault.  As a child, I remember her singing, "The Hostess with the Mostest" and a line from that song was "Don't leave your panties in the hall."   My baby sister and I would laugh till it hurt over that.  There is just something funny about panties.

Made  a lot of wonderful purchases and was so busy over the weekend that I forgot to take pictures of them.  Loaded up my vehicle and then took a short stroll to Joy's Vintage Thrift.   If you are looking for American kitsch, old time candies and a cold soda from a vintage fridge, then Joy's is the place to go.  Prices are great for both the collector and for the dealer looking for inventory. 

These four chair, sturdy, well made and in excellent condition were $35.00 for all four.

A quick coat of white paint and a pretty fabric change on the pads and you have a new set of dining room chairs on the cheap.

Old fashioned cash register greets you as you walk in.

Joy is a delightful young woman who at 21 has opened her first shop.  I love to see young people enter this field, there is such joy in it (no pun intended). 

The fridge full of cold soda's.  Saw YooHoo and had to buy a bottle.  My childhood was calling.

Joy has filled vintage frames with pics of 1950-60s television heroes and stars.  How fun.

Shelves are also filled with penny candy of my childhood.  When my raviolis come to visit, I must take them here to pic out a cold soda and a penny candy treat from her pretty jars of treats.

And finally a shot of my booth.  Brought in more items and filled both the booth and the case as rhinestone jewelry seems to be moving again.  My favorite piece in my booth right now is the small, aqua blue ladies trash disposal can.  Today's young gals probably don't now what it is, but if you grew up in the 1950-60 and a little of the 1970's, you would find this item nestled between two stalls in school and public restrooms for you to dispose of your personal hygiene items.  How fun would it be to put this in a bathroom and fill with your hygiene products.  Have a lovely Monday.  Sea Witch

The house began to pitch.

The kitchen took a slitch, well actually it was the computer room. Didn't wake up in Munchkin land but it is that time of the year when we see lots of thunder and lightning storms in the south.  Mother Nature will often give up a wonderful show and at night it is like trying to sleep in the middle of a disco between the booms of thunder claps and the disco ball of lightning that goes on for hours all often accompanied by heavy winds.  Minus the "twister" action, Dorothy would have been proud. 

Sometime during the storm or shortly after, the tree in our front yard split and hit the roof of our home. 

It did not break any windows or put a huge hole in the roof.  It did take out the gutters but that is an easy fix.  Hopefully, the structure did not sustain damage, but that is for an adjuster to determine.

The smaller of the two giant limbs hit the house. 

The largest limb crashed between my neighbor's house and mine and missed their bay window by inches.  There is alot to be thankful for as this could have produced a lot of damage or potentially hurt someone.

So now I make the third call to my insurance company for a claim in the the last 45 days.   What gives, I haven't had a single claim in over 30 years, but now it's the "trifecta", the "hat trick" of homeowners claims and all on the roof.   Whatever the message is, I'm trying very hard to read it.  Still, I'm thankful that no one was hurt, a hole was NOT put in the roof and my only real concern is "if what is left of the tree can be saved."  

Now everybody sing,  

The house began to pitch. The kitchen took a stitch.

It landed on the Wicked Witch in the middle of a ditch,

Which was not a healthy situation for the Wicked Witch.

The house began to pitch. The kitchen took a stitch.
It landed on the Wicked Witch in the middle of a ditch,

Which was not a healthy situation for the Wicked Witch.

Who began to twitch and was reduced to just a stitch of what was once the Wicked Witch.

Have a marvelous day full of winged monkeys, munchkins and hopefully a pair of really great red shoes will fall your way.  Sea Witch

Busy weekend and its its its

my birthday today!!!  We will get back to that later. Had a busy weekend starting on Friday when I finally got around to changing my work email address to reflect my married name.  If I had known it was going to take 48 hours for this to happen and dealing with the encrypting of data process I would have just kept my old one. Since Friday afternoon, I have not been able to access my work email and I'm having huge HUGE withdrawals. So in between my need to see if my new login worked I did a little antiquing and then pricing and finally hauling it all over to the shop.

Not much in the way of treasures this time out.  Some linens which I am now cleaning and bleaching; a nifty piece of EAPG that had turned sun purple...I'm keeping that piece as I adore EAPG; cool, bright yellow vintage birdcage that I filled with white pillar candles and will make a wonderful table centerpiece for a patio or deck; and a vintage covered candy dish of pressed glass.  So pickin's were lean but it gave me the opportunity to prepare my space for Memorial Day. Brought in the chairs and the mirror I found last weekend too and now my booth is maxed out.

Had more Americana but by the time I finished, customers had already carried off half of it.  So much of it is now gone.  Yea!

Closer look at the nifty yellow bird cage.  I think this would be neat to have on your patio or deck table.  Candles inside flickering at night will have such a pretty look.

It was my plan to hang the large mirror on the wall above the antique settee.  I removed all pictures and got ready to sink toggles to hold it in place and decided to leave it where people could look at it closely.  So I had to rearrange the pics I had taken down and return them to the wall.

Pictures back up and some red star sales throughout.

The faded blue beach chairs are filled with summer items. See the shabby capitol dome?  It is actually a birdhouse.  How fun is that?  Retro ice bucket is rattan with bamboo handle.

Notice the oil painting of the girl, a flower and rainbow?  This was an unusual little find.  Measures about 6 inches by 14 inches and cut from a larger, vintage canvas board.  The artist has painted a series of small stories on the single canvas and then on the back has shellacked a pair of natural butterfly wings.  These odd little items always attract me.

Moved this wonderful piece of Italian art glass that I found at Goodwill earlier this year.  Rich, cobalt blue with copper throughout, it is heavy and substantial piece of art glass. 

A lovely piece looking for the right home.

So now, "happy birthday to me"!  56 years ago, Paul and Shirley welcomed their first child, a daughter, into their lives.  This "May" baby has loved every minute of those 56 years and even with some of the not so good that life tossed my way, I wouldn't have changed a thing...well maybe if I was thinner. Nah.  I enjoyed those marvelous meals at home and out way to much to want to give them up too. 

So this Sea Witch will  hit the pool after work tonight and swim and be thankful for these 56 years.  

So  grab a seashell cupcake and have a lovely day.   Blessings to all.  Sea Witch

I just couldn't resist!

Just when I thought my life couldn't be any crazier.  When I feel like I'm losing my mind because everything is moving faster around me then I can control...this vid is sent to me by a friend and suddenly, I realize all is right with my world.

On one hand, I gotta give props to the "Hoff" for actually standing by this absurd video but you have to admit, it is hilarious in the purity of its stupidity.  But then sis looks at me and says, "Hey, don't mess with the Hoff" which only produces uncontrollable giggles from both of us.  You must watch this to it's bitter end as it is so absurd.  Still, I have my questions.  Like, why is he wearing those goofy outfits and dancing like he has a hot coal in his underpants?  Why are those creepy little girl angels floating over head going nowhere?  Why does he insist upon floating over his motorcycle and pretend like he is hanging on for dear life?  See, I have my questions.

So do you have a video that sends you over the edge when you see it for its stupidity...don't hold it in, oh, please share it so we can all laugh with you.  Have a joyous day. Sea Witch

I take off my wings.

Yes, I take off my wings. I don't need to wear them today as a talisman of pride, daily remembrance and with the superstitious belief that if I wear them he will be kept out of harms way.  For a while now, he is back in the arms of his lovely wife and beautiful children.  He is home.  

The "Jump Wings" awarded to my son at his Airborne graduation eight years ago. 

Tradition among those who obtain them is that you never wear the first pair awarded to you. (Bad ju ju)  You give them to someone you love or admire.  My son gave me his wings and with tears of pride in my eyes, I made a promise that I would wear them whenever he was "down range" as they say.  I would wear them from the day he dropped boots on unfriendly ground and each day after that until he was out of harm's way; remove them only when he had returned home. I have worn these over my heart for three tours now.   The sterling wings have taken on a highly polished silver patina from me touching them each day as a reminder of my son's service and sending him all of the family voodoo I know in my bag of tricks to keep him safe. 

How does Ker do it?  I have such pride in his lovely wife for having the strength to run the family in his absence in a foreign country. She is a phenomenal woman with a fierce love of her family and offers a strength she often does not believe she possess'. 

So today, mommy and DADDY will be picking up Kit Kat from Italian day school. She doesn't know that daddy has arrived early this morning.  Daddy will surprise her at school.  I adore this lovely, little Italian Catholic school that Kit Kat attends.  It is full of caring and loving teachers and hugs and words of encouragement are offered by the nuns.  Happy and enthusiastic children that Kit Kat plays and learns her lessons with (all in Italian) and their parents who all seem to know her.  It will be a huge reunion for everyone with lots of tears and hugs.    How I wish I was there to watch this magical sea of humanity as a father reunites with his daughter.

My four cheese ravioli.

and the twins...the spinach pesto rav and the sweet sausage rav.

We have so much to be thankful for.  Which brings me to thanking all of you who have added my son and his family to your thoughts and prayers and for all of the good wishes and energy you sent to them.  I thank all of you.  Sea Witch