Hatboxes and Cowgirl Boots

Hatboxes I have had for twenty five years. 

Boots size five (cause they are cute) that I picked up recently for almost nothing. 

They are leather and with bee's wax came to life again.

Linking with:

Wow Us Wednesday's

Tabletop Tuesday

Hold Everything Lightly #8 posts tomorrow Tuesday May 1st
please join me
 

joy and peace

Olive 

The Puppy Report

Shelley traveled well yesterday and was a star. 

People stopped their cars to speak to him. 

College girls flocked to him.

 

Shelley flanked by Joe's size 14 shoes.

Images in Yesteryear Effect by Pic Monkey.

♣

Yesterday was long but filled with bitter sweet moments for CC as she said goodbye to her room mates. Sophia, an exchange student from China cried and cried as CC got into the truck. That started a river of tears all round for the four roommates. Between star Shelley and our weeping girls we had quite the drama going on.

happy puppies

from our family of FIVE

Olive 

Urns On Southern Porches

 I took a field trip to Church Street in our county,

 not far from our old house.  General Sherman did not burn Sandersville and Tennille, on his March through Georgia, during the Civil War, so we have beautiful old homes. He did burn the court house and tie up the railroad rails. Because he burned the court house we have no records of our old house.  Now let's look at some urns.

This urn is gorgeous and one of four on this porch.

I love this door above.

This is the house that goes with the above urns.

 I have no idea of it's age. 

All these photos are taken from the sidewalk.

 

 House number two on our tour.

Boxwood, creeping jenny, and unknown to me.

The ceiling is a darling teal.

There are many more charming houses in our county. 

These two caught my eye as we were driving Shelley around one evening. 

I will be gone all day today (I am auto-posting I hope) because we are 

picking up CC from college and taking the puppy with us. 

It will be a long, long day.

Linking with:
 Wow Us Wednesday's

joy and peace

Olive 

Tags and Ironstone

Stamped shipping tags on a mini ironstone platter.

 Sometimes it's the simple things. 

That work for me.

Now I am off to photograph some doors flanked by urns. 

You know I am an urn freak.

I wish you a wonderful morning.

Olive

Shells-Cat-Quilt

Seashells

On the coffee table.

Table shot in Tranquil Effect by PicMonkey. 

Not staged, that's the newspaper over there.

 Coffee table bits. 

Don't know why I like them I just do.

That little alabaster urn is from a local thrift store and it had four birds on it and one was broken so I simply removed all of them. That is not a cloche. It's a piece of a light fixture used as a cloche.

Look who had to check out the pinwheel quilt. 

Clovis thinks it is his now.

It has been an interesting and craZy week so far, at the old house, with The Shelley Puppy and Clovis. Shelley wants to play and Clovis wants none of it. Shelly gets in the litter box and makes a big ole mess. Shelley is still eating/chewing everything.  Today when I showered I gave him my leopard bedroom shoe  and said "Go ahead eat it ". When I stepped out of the shower he was asleep on it. 

That was precious.

Linking with:

Vintage Inspiration Friday

joy and peace

Olive

Hold Everything Lightly #7 {A Simple Wedding}

I met Stephen at church.

 Not my family church, Green Pond Baptist Church, where my dad's people attended for over two hundred years. No, I was bad and went to the First Christian Church of Jackson where a young South African pastor was visiting because he was studying for a degree at Columbia Bible College in Columbia, South Carolina. His name was David Webster and his wife was Pam.  They had four young daughters. I was sixteen and had never heard a British accent before in person. David was and is a compelling speaker and pastor. Droves of young people and adults started to come to hear him speak. This is when I was thought to be in a "cult" and essentially excommunicated from Green Pond Baptist Church. I actually lived with David and Pam for a short time. Daddy allowed me to get a passport, plane ticket, and a South African visa. The plan was I would finish my last year of high school in South Africa and live with the Webster's. The plane was set to take off on January 3. Stephen asked me to marry him on December 21st.

Stephen's family was all that mine was not.

 His parents had been married for thirty some odd years. They were people of faith and went joyfully to church. They sat down together for meals, homemade biscuits, beef roast, vegetables, coleslaw and dessert every Sunday after church without exception. I was attracted to him and his family. Other than with my aunt and uncle I had never had what he took for granted. He did have some reservations about marrying me because of my parents. We waited to marry until I completed my first year of college. I wore that engagement ring the last year and a half of high school proudly.  I was eighteen when we married and two weeks later turned nineteen. Stephen, soft spoken, kind, sort of a farm boy was twenty three,with blond hair and blue eyes.  I knew we would have beautiful babies.

The wedding took place at an outdoor venue, Hopeland Gardens, in Aiken, South Carolina on May 23. I had thrifty habits back then too. My gown and veil were purchased second hand and were gorgeous. The entire event cost me no more than a couple thousand dollars and I planned it with the help of Steve's sister. One of the songs I had for the wedding was "Fairest Lord Jesus" an odd choice but a favorite of mine.  The gardens had curvy serpentine brick fences and small reflecting pools. We floated large white magnolia blossoms in the twin reflecting pools. Daddy did give me away and that image is priceless to me however the wedding was a disaster. Mother was admitted to the hospital that morning with a kidney stone and my darling brother Freddie was beside her in his tuxedo listening to her holler (no doubt she was in terrible pain) and he was conflicted and upset. He came to the wedding after all that and stood in the heat. The man who married us carried on and on. It was so hot Freddie fainted on the grey wood deck we were standing on and broke his nose. Freddie, who was over six feet tall fell like a tree, he fell hard. An ambulance was called for Freddie. They asked if I wanted attention too because I nearly fainted after Freddie.  I was upset and hot so I went and changed out of my beautiful wedding gown. In the remainder of the photos I am in my little skirt and top but I was cool. The reception went fine, considering the circumstances, and everyone was kind and loving to us. 

There is a pool of blood, on the otherwise pristine pale grey deck, in the wedding photos.

After the reception we drove to Savannah Georgia for a honeymoon. 

We were glad to escape our own wedding.

 More glad than most couples I fear.

"Hold everything in your hands lightly, otherwise it hurts, when God pries your fingers open."

---Corrie Ten Boom 1892-1983 

To read other installments in the series click on Hold Everything Lightly  

at the top of the blog page.

♣

thanks for reading

Olive  

Vintage Watering Can, Add Quilts

Friday morning I mentioned I was going to an estate sale. 

Usually I am early for estate sales but that was before Shelley The Puppy delightfully joined our family. I was three hours late. I had seen a vintage watering can in the online ad for the sale and just knew it had been sold. Upon arrival it was there and I was surprised. It was there because the price was, shall we say, elevated a bit and I was the idiot who bought it at that price.

I also picked up this quilt which is in perfect condition and one more pictured below. I have an awful time passing hand sewn quilts by. The seller did work with me on the price of the quilts since I bought two.

I have since washed this one and it is now whiter and brighter. This blue and white one is my favorite. I also found two bottles of Chianti (empty). They were selling bottles of liquor with the liquid inside.
 Happy trails to those folks.

 A very good year.

All in all a fun sale.

 There were two corner cabinets full of Fiesta ware but the prices were several times the watering can. 

I did not purchase any Fiesta pieces as I am an idiot with standards.

Linking with:
Table Top Tuesday
Nifty Thrifty Tuesday
Wow Us Wednesday's

On Tuesday April 24 Hold Everything Lightly #7 will post.
Please join me. 

happy hunting to you

Olive

The Puppy Report

He Grows Strong

Sometimes He Sits Down

Daddy Bought Him A Red Collar

He Is Learning to Play With Others

Others Seek Refuge in Higher Places

Seriously Shelley has gotten taller and leaner in one week. 

 He is still chewing on anything and everything but we have provided him with chew toys.

 Clovis is more tolerant and not quite as miffed as last week.

 joyful fur babies

Olive

Wandering Out

Thank you for all your kind well wishes yesterday. 

I do feel a little better and will soldier on today. 

I have been vastly entertained by Shelley puppy as he is chewing the house

 and all it's contents, including our toes.

I am going to wander out to one estate sale. 

Someone must go don't you think?

Happy Weekend

Olive

Rusty Flower Urn

I was given a rusty urn at a garage sale Saturday.

It was given to me because it was dirty. I cleaned the inner glass part easily. Then I went into the garden for some flowers to put in it. I was quick about it as still I do not feel well and I cannot remember the name of the shrub or flower I used. Forgive me.

Perfect rusty Patina

I realize many of the elements on the buffet have merely been reshuffled. 

I like them and they are staying.

I am not sure that the entire buffet looks cohesive but this is what we got today my peeps as I am out of energy. I do love this rusty urn, it is my favorite Saturday find and we went to the best garage sale and found many interesting pieces.

Linking with: Vintage Inspiration Friday

joy and peace

Olive

~Dog-Bird-Cat ~

Shelley's puppy feet. 

I do not have more images of him because I am sick, with a cold.  

 I will catch up on Shelley pics, no worries.

I have been attempting to snap a red bird in the bird bath.

 Finally I did it.

A pair of doves. 

We are especially fond of doves and the sounds they make. We already have about four hummingbirds and I am anxious to catch them with the new camera too.

Joe and Clovis

We are making an effort to give Clovis extra affection (as if he is ever neglected) while the new puppy is alarming him. Clovis stood on his back legs and smacked Shelley a couple of times. Then he sort of watched the puppy from afar with great disdain.

 Clovis perched himself on the deck and glared at the puppy all weekend. 

 We are praying he will warm up to this puppy

 Shelley walks between our feet and I am scared he is going to make me fall. I know I sound like I am 93 instead of 49 but I have had more than my share of orthopedic surgeries. He went to the vet today and weighs eight and a half pounds. He is going to be a large dog with those big paws.

Those are our Critters.

Our college girl, CC, comes home next week and she has asked three thousand puppy questions so far. She is terribly excited, thrilled, and delighted about our Shelley.

joyful puppies

Olive

Hold Everything Lightly #6 {FIVE YEARS FOUND}

This installment was tougher than I thought it would be so I am re-stating what I said in part one.
 I do not intend to sully the memory of my parents but to tell the story as it was told to me and as I remember it. I am as imperfect as they were and I believe we are all damaged in some way. 
I loved my parents.
I love them still.

I did not see my mother in pants until she started working in the mid 1970's.

 It was a tumultuous time for our family. The thinly woven threads that she and daddy had made together had become unraveled. Mother, domineering as she was, never allowed daddy to participate in any parenting decisions. Daddy let her get away with that and missed out on my childhood and my siblings. As a result he found someone else.
Not that I approve of his affair, but she pushed him out the door. 

I remember being eleven years old sitting in the backseat of mama's car
and mama and big sis driving from motel to motel looking for daddy and his girlfriend. Eventually after an exhaustive search mama found them at a cheap, shady motel. My big sister, after being sent to a state girl's school, was tough and mean.  One really was best not messing with her.
Daddy had a bad day that day.

Not to be undone by daddy, mother got her a boyfriend.

 A hardscrabble type, big and muscular in contrast to my tall and skinny father. Mother's mantra was " all men are terrible, never trust a man, men will hurt you" and on and on she went. It was not a peaceful transition between men, if that is possible. I recall that man, Billy, banging my dad's head against a concrete wall.  Daddy moved back to our hometown of Jackson near the Savannah River Site, the nuclear plant where he worked. When I turned thirteen mother decided that I should live with daddy.
She dropped me off and that was that.  I felt abandoned and scared once again.
I had been told so many times how awful my father was.

Mother was completely and totally wrong about daddy as a parent.
 He was a wonderful father. He was quiet, kind, smart, and stern when required.  Daddy read three newspapers each day and watched the news every evening. He was informed about the world. I cooked for him most days. It was incredibly easy because he ate meat and potatoes and meat and potatoes. One of my duties was to drive daddy to work because he had lost his license due to drinking. Daddy was, at that time, a functional alcoholic. He drank on weekends and never lost his job. It was nothing for me to drive him to the plant in my robe. I didn't need my license because at thirteen I did not have one. After a while it got around in our small town that I was driving without a license. The Chief of Police eventually stopped me but it was the very week I obtained my license.
 He probably let it go all those years, a twisted version of small town justice.


 Daddy and I had five lovely years together.
I stayed out one night, with my church group, until the unwholesome hour of four AM bowling when I was sixteen. Daddy did not say one word he simply decided to hammer on the roof all day. He had a sense of humor like that. Daddy drove an El Camino, one of those silly half cars half trucks. After he retired (he got his license back and quit drinking) he would drive to the Savannah River and walk along the banks. I believe he found peace there. He often would dig up pottery and artifacts out of the clay banks of the river. He also had a love for the past. I graduated from our small town's high school as Salutatorian and daddy paid for my college education as a registered nurse.
He let me marry at age eighteen.
I wish he had said "No" to my marrying so young but he was not one to confront others.
Besides, we would not have my daughter CC and she is our special gift no matter what happened later.

My precious daddy died in 2006, after a long illness, but I am not finished with his story. 
Not yet.

"Hold everything in your hands lightly, otherwise it hurts, when God pries your fingers open."

---Corrie Ten Boom 1892-1983 

To read other parts of this series click on Hold Everything Lightly at the top of the page.  
Nuclear tells of daddy's family history.

 ♣

Bless you for reading

Olive