Lucky "13"

I've hit a milestone on my blog!

Time to celebrate!

It's a red-letter day!

Why, you ask?

Why, it's obvious, don't you think?

I now have 13 followers!

(BTW, thanks to you who follow me. . . it means a lot.)

The number 13 has always been good to me.  After all, I was born on the 13th.  So I've always had a little soft spot for the "unlucky" number.  It's been pretty good to me. . . .

My brother was also born on the 13th.  Back then I don't know if I considered that lucky.  He was a little brother, after all.  He's grown up okay though, and has some pretty good qualities.  He's an EMT and firefighter and helps a lot of people, including my mom, so I guess the kid turned out alright ( * wink * ).

I've started a little collection of "13's."  My parents got me my first one, eons ago.  It's a brass cow tag.  

Here's a few more from my collection. . .

Picked up these cuties on our recent "flea.o.logist's" trip to
Southern California at a delightful shop in Pasadena
called "Zinnia."  It's the store I want to open someday.
You can check out their blog here:
http://zinnia4crafts.blogspot.com/

The "13" on one of my many scales.

(What IS it about scales, anyway?)

 

Cute little "13" tag I found on eBay that will
find it's way onto a necklace someday. . .

Darling vintage store-shelf price tag I picked up at the last
Acorn Antique Show.  Pictured on one of my "favorite finds,"
a Hoosier cabinet I bought from fellow flea.o.logist Jenn.

One of the clocks from my collection.
Set to 1:13 PM.
AKA 13:13.

Which is the time when our second son entered our world.

He was born on the 31st, a date with good numbers,
but just a little backward, methinks.

This would be me.

Born 3-13.

So thanks again to my original 13 followers.

(Not that more would be unlucky, though. . . )

You got me thinking about my favorite number.

Jenn & Cathie's fantastical Acorn Show adventure. . .

“I know it is wet and the sun is not sunny. . . . "
                                                                            ~ Dr. Seuss, The Cat in the Hat

So began our day setting up for Acorn's Antique show last weekend. 

After being sick for a week and a half, I knew I couldn't manage my booth by myself, so I invited my dear friend and fellow flea.o.logist Jenn to share it with me, and, bless her heart, she accepted!  The forecast on set-up day was for rain, but we thought we had beat the odds since she drove up to my house to meet me in full sunshine. 

This is Jenn's truck loaded for our last
flea.o.logy, but looking very similar
to how it looked for the Acorn show!

It didn't take long for our good fortune to end, though, as sprinkles started and we knew that we'd better cover her pick-up truck load of treasures with a tarp for safe-keeping.  Ten minutes later our caravan left. . . Jenn and I in the lead, my son Joel behind (whose job was to make sure Jenn's load stayed safe), and my DH in the rear with our trailer load.  We had just barely made it onto the freeway when Joel called me to tell me that the tarp was flying helter skelter = stop #1 to fix the tarp.  Ten minutes to fix and we're on the road.





Back on our way, sprinkles turned to light rain.  Jenn and I are excited as we anticipate our first event together.  Oh yes, we've done flea.o.logy together. . . but this is the first time we've shared a booth.  We get to intertwine our treasures.  My buttons and her trim.  Her "raggedys" and my faucet handles.  What utter fun!  My phone rings again.  Joel again.  Jenn's treasures are getting wet again = stop #2.  Transfer Jenn's items that can get damaged by the rain into our Suburban.  Ten more minutes and we're on our way again.





This Acorn show is going to be great.  Jenn and I have our booth on a corner in the center of the exhibit hall.  Right next to us is our wonderful friend and head flea.o.logist Paula.  Next to her is Bruce, who has been a part of flea.o.logy since the beginning, long before it was called flea.o.logy.  Paula and Bruce have been partners at these antique shows for years and this is their first show in their own booths. . . it's their "trial separation."  Turned out, at the end of the show, that separating worked out fantastic for both of them, and - thank heavens - they're still on speaking terms (*wink*).  Two of our other flea.o.logists, Jennine and Noel, have booths at the show also. 

Fifteen more minutes down the road, it's Fred calling this time.  The tire on the trailer is smoking and he needs to pull off and get it replaced.  The good news is that the exit he chose had a tire store at it.  The bad news is that both tires need replacing.  Ouch!   That'll cut into our profits.  That stop set him back a half hour or so.  At least we could unload Jenn's truck while we waited for Fred to arrive. 

We arrive at the Weber County Fairgrounds a full hour late.  By that time we can't drive in close to our booth space, but at least we can drive in, which is better than hauling our items in from the parking lot in the rain.  I'm grateful that Joel's there to help us. . . his 20-year-old energy was just what the doctor ordered to get the job done quickly!  Thanks Joel!!



Jenn's amazing shoe-form lamp. . . .  She made
it to look like the ones found at Antropologie.
Isn't she incredibly talented?!

In an hour or so we're unloaded, and in a few more hours we have our pieces pretty much where they go.  Then there's the job of "styling."  Jenn and I both love to do this, but it takes us a while to do it so that it looks just right.  Jenn has to leave by 4:30 to be in Orem for a ballet.  "Drive safe, Jenn."  What a wonderful friend I have in her. . . .

After she leaves I decide that I don't like how the clothing rounder looks behind the dresser, so the OCD me completely rearranges the booth.  Good thing my DH is patient and incredibly kind. . . . . . . .  The headache I've had for two weeks is taking its toll and I'm working at a snail's pace. . . and it's 9:15 pm before I'm satisfied that each vintage treasure is in its "exactly right" spot.  But --- the booth is ready for opening in the morning.  What a great feeling! 

Will customers like our treasures? 

Will our treasures find new homes? 

Will ours be a "can't-miss" booth? 

Oh, how we love this fantastical antique show adventure. . . . .

"Carded" buttons. . .

I'm in love with buttons.

As a child I would play with my grandma's buttons, safely stored away in the green Kathryn Beecher mints tin in her pink bathroom closet, high enough so that the grandkids couldn't reach them.  I spent a long time in the bathroom at grandma's house back then.







When Grandma died I inherited the button box.  Most of the buttons are still in there.  A few of them went on the back of my sweet daughter's blessing dress. 

Nowadays I collect vintage buttons myself.  Get them at yard sales, estate sales, from friends & aquaintances, and online.  It's always a thrill to buy some buttons, get them home, dump them out, and paw through them for an hour or two.



Recently I was going through some vintage carded buttons, and had some loose ones that had come off the cards, and some more that had never been on cards in the first place.  A friend mentioned that it might be a good idea to copy some of the vintage button cards and sew the loose buttons onto the copied cards.  I too, thought it was a good idea, but my printer wasn't working too good at the time, so when I got home I searched throughout the home to see if I could find something that would do the same job but without needing the use of the printer.

And. . . voila!  I came across these vintage children's playing cards that I found ages ago at an estate sale.  Perfect.  Just funky enough for the project. 


And here they are!  Some of them at least.  There are lots more at Treasures Antique Mall and I'll be taking some to flea.o.logy too. 

"Earth laughs in flowers. . . "

Ralph Waldo Emerson said that.  And I used it in a book of flower photographs that my dad took.  It was a hobby of his, taking photographs of flowers.  My mom has his photos all over her house, literally.  And in a few photo albums, along with quotes about flowers.  He truly loved flowers, and recording them on film.

I love them, too.  They are among God's most perfect creations.  Have you ever explored a flower ultra-close up?  Their organic shapes are something to behold.  Simply beautiful.  And perfect.

 

So when Paula and Jenn and I went to the Southern California Flower Market a few weeks ago while on a buying trip in Los Angeles, I was photographing while they were shopping.  And oooh, it was delicious. 

 

Hope you like this garden of visual delight. . . .

A little something for Mom. . .

I wanted to get my mom something special for her 80th birthday last week, but no "thing" seemed quite right.  A book?  Perfumed soap?  A sweater? 

Nope.  Nope.  I don't think so.

Then a few weeks ago a dear friend of mine arrived at church wearing mom's gift.  Well, not exactly.  But there was my idea.

And here is my version of it - a "shadow box," if you will, in a vintage pocket watch casing.  Each item in the casing and on the chain has special meaning for my mom. 







The main feature is a photo each of my mom and my dad when they were young. . . the one of Mom just before they got married and the one of Dad just after.  In the background is a vintage map of the county in South Carolina where they retired to, with their town showing in the upper right corner.  At the bottom are their initials, "J" for Joan and "K" for Ken.  The flower represents my Dad's love of photographing them, and the word "love" at the left is in my dad's handwriting, copied from a letter he wrote many years ago.

On the chain is a golf bag to represent all the activities my parents loved to do together, a Tiger's Eye to represent the time they lived in South Africa, a heart charm with a crystal bead (on top of the watch, I later moved it because it was hard to see) to represent their love and marriage, a lava rock to represent the last vacation they took together, in Hawaii, and a bead with an opal on the bottom, to represent the time they lived in Australia. 

Connecting the chain and the watch casing is a bird because they loved watching and feeding them.  Finally, on the back of the watch casing, is the number "51" in honor of the year they were married.





I won't share here what my mom said to me when she got it. . .but she was very touched.  It turned out to be a gift worthy of her 80 beautiful years on this earth serving her family and friends with tenderness and caring.



The eBay seller I got my watch casing and letters and numbers from is vintageantiqueartsuppliescom .  If you contact them tell them phredscat sent you!

My sweet mom turns 80. . .

Joanne Lois Brown

Born 27 January 1932
in Kankakee, Kankakee County, Illinois
to George Arthur Brown of Jacksonville, Illinois
& Dorothy Alma Debenham of Chicago

Art & Dort, 1929

Raised in suburban Detroit.  Two older brothers.  Graduated from Royal Oak High School.  Changed name from Joanne to Joan.  One year college.  Married Kenneth (Kenny) Paul Clayton -a.k.a. "Skinny" - a high school friend, at 19.  (Eloped to Indiana because they were underage in Michigan.  Sadly, no photographs. . . . )

Mom to three children.



Charles Wayne, born 1955.
Engineer @ General Motors.





Catherine Dorothy, born 1958.
Antiques dealer.



  

Philip Arthur, born 1965.
Emergency medical technician
& firefighter.




A few lifetime accomplishments:

• Devoted, supportive & loving wife for 44 years until Dad left this earth in 1995
• Supportive stay-at-home mom her entire life, was always home when we got home
• Mother-in-law to Laura, Fred & Angi
• Grandma to Michael, Joel, Alex, Andrea & Sarah
• Girl scout leader for three years
• Loved golfing, traveling and flower & vegetable gardening
• Loves animals ~ especially cats, birds & small wildlife
• Keeps an immaculate home
• Dedicated & appreciated hospital volunteer for many years

Cathie & Joan





















Ken, Joel & Joan

Joan, Phil & Angi

 

Joan & Ken in 1992 at Phil & Angi's wedding

Congratulations on 80 wonderful years, Mom.

Happy, happy birthday.

I love you. . .