my daughter's mother's mother. . . . . . .

A long long time ago, I spent a lot - and I mean a LOT - of time pursuing my genealogy.  It all began with a marriage record:

Mariah Skinner Powell

Bernard Oscar Hitchcock

married

Mariah Skinner Powell

18 December 1862

in Clark County, Ohio. 

The day I found that certificate I was hooked.  I spent every free evening that I could at the Family History Library in downtown Salt Lake City.  My car was on auto-pilot.  My brain was constantly thinking of what to research next.  What joy!

Then --- I met Fred.  We got married.  We still worked on the genealogy, but we did other things too.  Like get pregnant.  And then Michael came along.  And the genealogy took a back seat.  It's still sitting there.  But it's never gotten out of my blood.  It never will.  And someday it will get back in the front seat.  Probably the day Sarah goes to college. . . . . . . . .

In  the meantime, I've been wanting to create a family tree, but a little different than your standard pedigree chart.  I'm going to put it up in my living room eventually.  It'll look a little like what follows, although this one is a bit scaled back.  For my blog, I'm celebrating the beautiful women I'm descended from through my sweet mom . . . 








Sarah Caitlin
1997
Utah



Catherine Dorothy
1958
Michigan

 

Joan Lois
1932
Illinois





Dorothy Alma
1901 - 1997
Chicago

Martha Wilhelmina
1876 - 1956
Chicago





Caroline
1842 - 1881
New York







                                        and the heart of my daughter shall turn to my mother,

                                                                                                                      and to her mother,

                                                                                                                                         and so on ~ 

                                                                                                                                                     in love. . . .



Just one week 'til the flea. . .

The count is on. 


         Just under a week until the flea.       flea.o.logy that is. . . . 


                  It's our mid-summer flea, next Saturday, July 14th. 


                                       (Isn't that Bastille Day?  In France, that is.) 



It's time to get serious about getting ready.  Time to get all the goodies I've been collecting gathered, cleaned up, priced and packed up.  It's gonna take a while.  There's a LOT. 

It's just a bit exciting, to see it all come together for this little flea that's

become such a wonderful thing for so many. . . .

Here's just a few things I'm getting ready for the flea. . .



Got Flea Market Style? Pick one up for under the cover price!

(There's lots more.  I promise.)

See you next week @

f l e a . o . l o g y

a n t i q u e s   &   c r a f t s   f l e a   m a r k e t

3 0   d e a l e r s

l o v e l y   s h a d e d   y a r d   t o   s h o p   i n

 

s a t u r d a y   j u l y   1 4 t h

2 1 8   n .   m a i n   s t r e e t

p a y s o n

8 : 0 0 - 4 : 0 0

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. . . .