Never Forget...

.....

Please don't be offended by this but the American flag in your final picture in honor of Memorial Day needs to be respectfully retired. One of my biggest pet peeves is shabby American Flags. It is not an honor to display a tattered, faded, fraying, etc. flag. It is the symbol of all we hold dear in this country and needs to be as pristine as possible. Your local chapter of the VFW or DAV usually has a ceremony at least a couple times a year to retire worn flags with honor. Have a wonderful Memorial Day.

This was a comment on my blog yesterday and I feel that I must defend...and please Nank, do not be offended by my comment.

I am an antique dealer, I have many old things in my stores, a respect and love for the old things of my country are reflected in those stores.
I personally own 4 vintage American flags, I love AND RESPECT each and every one of them, none of them are for sale...they are mine to cherish and display the honor that they hold dear to me...
AMERICA... my land of the free...

I am not a warrior, I have never fought in service to any war or madmen, I deeply oppose occupation of any lands and it's peoples, but I do honor those who have made the ultimate sacrifice by displaying my vintage flags...to me it shows a respect that moves forward with the times, yet preserves a history of my fellow Americans gone before me.

What would Betsy Ross say to having her flag retired and shut away from all American eyes...
I will continue to display my old American flags and continue to tell everyone that wants to buy one of them, that they are not for sale...
and I am VERY proud to own them.

Everyone, have a wonderful American holiday and...

Never forget

PEACE


BTW...the flag in the first shot has been turned right side up, just not in this photo...so not to be alarmed vets...

Shadow Shot Sunday...JAWS........

Dah dah...dah dah...dah dah...dah dah...dah dah...dah da...dah dah............

Ok, for those of you that had no clue, that was the music from JAWS,
everybody remembers that score...right...

Anyway, the jaws of my garden were spied taking a break on my porch yesterday...
be afraid, for much labor and toil lies ahead of these tines...
I really need to paint my porch floor(in reality)
BUT,(why be real)
I love the patina it gives my photos, that time forgotten kinda look...
right!

Anyway, y'all head on under to Australia where we're playing at Tracie's house again...
hey, we know how to have fun!

Shadow Shot Sunday

Baby cucumber plants in shadowland...

...and a shameless plug for my soap...
Coldwater Cucumber
...ahhh, refreshing...
Y'all have a safe and summery holiday weekend
and
never forget!!!

Peace...

I wandered in Iowa...to Sisters'

...and what a grand place to wander...Brandon of House Things and I share a room upstairs at Sisters...our stuff melds together perfectly...he has a style that certainly makes you want to stay a while and visit...and certainly sparks your imagination to create...

Brandon's dream is to one day have his own shop where all of his creations come to fruition...
...he's good huh!!!?

A perfectly beautiful day shines through the window of our space, creating settings out of nothing special, just the beauty we see in our minds and the stuff we drag in...

Ahhhhh...summer in Iowa...feel the warmth of each new day...and piece dragged into the store
for the perfect setting...

Did someone say summer...oh yeah, urns and more urns, can you ever have enough...NOT!

LUV this piece, it just screams country!!!

This painting is HUGE...wouldn't it look cool on a brick or stone wall, with the lil' hand-painted Italian stand near by...

Oh yeah...and Sisters' has it all, including the kitchen sink...
make the trip...
To IOWA...


PS...I finally caught a glimpse of the kitten that meows in the night...
it's fuzzy grey body wanders in twice a day for it's feeding of cream and hamburger.
It looks to be about 6 weeks old...
I can't get close yet...but who knows what a good meal with get you...

Fun at 'The Shed'...

Isn't this the cutest lil' sign Piper made up, she gets it from her Granny...
the sign(note) makers...ha!

Love this old silver ashtray, filled with a pressed glass bowl and Spanish moss...I love that stuff...
Piper sees me grabbing the box of moss from the shelf and says...
what kind of a mess are you making now...heehee...

Are these not the cutest lil' BIRD-houses ever...some lil' Jenny wren will have a field day with this lil' condo...

Too funky...

Tis the season...how are your tomato plants doing, I gotta get that tomato leaf soap made up, it's yummy!

What is it about old frames, I just can't have enough, they just totally make a setting...right...
and silver and grey...sigh...

Two new soaps, Dragon's Blood and Fiddle Fern, as I begin to fill another cupboard with fun scents...hey Wanda, dark colors...heehee...
Wanda has the cutest lil' primitive shop in Anamosa Iowa, Gatherings, I have got to get up there for some pictures to entice you out of staters into another GREAT shop in Iowa.
You will love it, she does the cutest settings and has a wonderful eye for primitives.

Memorial Day weekend...let us not forget!!!
Have a great one friends!

Where's Scratchy...

???????????????????????
I'm the invisible predator...hear me roar...

The winds whipped and howled last night and torrential rains fell all night,
I love to watch the grasses swaying in the fading light of day...

The leaning house of pinkness...
however, it was rather rough on the old birdhouse last night,
methinks its post has seen it's last days...

My husband used to brag incessantly about his peppers...
however for me, it's the berries...do let me go on...

Hee Hee...

Another day of not talking shop or furniture pictures, just an ordinary day
at the Pink Chateau...
However, I think I will be scouting out and about the grounds for the wee kitten that meowed
all night long all around my house.
I was very close to it a couple of times, I could hear it, but couldn't see it's frightened lil' soul
in the dark stormy night...
Scratchy, the cat-hater will tell me of it's return!

Don't ya hate it when that happens...

A good day to breathe...

A new day begins
listen, the awakening
beckons your heartstrings

The iris blooming all around my farmstead were planted by woman whom also loved this lil' home. She lovingly planted them all around it's perimeter and every spring since, they've bloomed, welcoming each day.
I pondered getting rid of the old tractor tires set 'round here and there, but she also painstakingly planted each one with sedum. This was the fashion on the farms back in the day, you used to see them on nearly every farm.
With these wet springs we've had and my careful nurturing of the delicate plantings, they've really started to stretch out into the yard.
This is an herb garden that keeps growing with every year, sprinkled with bits of reminders of my love of Florida.

I pulled this bench from someones trash heap...SCORE!!!
I'm just starting to work on filling it's space with greens, but the sedum is really taking over right there, so I may just make it a permanent home under the bench.

Got my fingers and toes crossed, that the varmit that ate my broccoli last year, has moved on...

Gonna work on this piece I picked up at Good Will yesterday...
all it needs is a good beating and some new handles.

Now I have everything...including the kitchen sink...and an outdoor potty...

The purple cabbages are really taking off with all the rains we've had, though I had to spot water yesterday, because I have very sandy, loamy soil and the winds blow constantly 'crossed my prairie plains...

This was once my veggie garden, but is now quite a nice strawberry patch, they love the sandy soils, as do I, the weeding is a cinch!

The fruits of my labor...
Yup...yet another pan of delicate morsels to please this country girls palate...
ahhhhh...life is good on my lil' piece of paradise...

Iowa
and the Pink Chateau...

Mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm.........

My first day of playing in my gardens was spent picking strawberries...quickly before the robins all got their share of the biggest juiciest ones...YUMMM...
finally some warm weather, 90 degrees, so the plants will be really taking off now!

My final haul...picking strawberries is no task for the feeble...it goes like this...one for the bucket, one for the mouth...if you follow this simple routine...there's totally enough to go around...right...
plus I sent a bag home with my dad for him and my brother to pour over ice cream...dad says...
if there's any left...ha!
Yup, welcome to my world!

Shadow Shot Sunday...the Pea and the Universe..

can you ever take
life too serious
and why would you want to
it's but a spec
in the belonging
and
if I can laugh
at myself
and my strange
little world
or
odd lil'
friends hiding
in the shadows
of my dreams
then why wouldn't you

see the humor
feel the laughter
take the chance
soar with the skylark
run with the winds
dance to the drumming
of your own heart's moment
feel the beat
of the universe
dream of Pandora

why not

we are all
stranger than life
we are the seeds
of all that will be
we are the hope
of the star dust
and the reason
to smile
and to breath
and to feel
alive

s. wilson

it is good to be green
(Kermit T. Frog)


OK...you know the game...Hey Harriet's the name, head on over or down under, check us out!

Well, my new lil' alien yard ornament was basking in the sun the other day and I just couldn't resist it's blinding green sheen...isn't he/she just the cutest...I think I'll name it 'Pea'...

Whether 'Mulder' would approve matters not, he just goofs off all day anyway...now how many peeps do you know that have two lime green aliens in there yards...thought so...

heehee...have a laugh-filled weekend friends!

and PEACE

She gives to me a gift...

as I gazed into the meadow
a dark wand beckoned
in the wind

lavender ruffles
as big as my palm
mysterious mechanics
and goings on
in my Eden

luxurious cloaks
and silken remnants
of a dance in the night
gala ball of the fairies
no doubt
wish I'd known
I surely would've
crept in silence
and watched

I know all that live here
I am the keeper is this
a gift from her
perhaps
seeds of friendship
blown in on the breath
of Nature

welcome
strangers to my nest
but what of my old friends
will I see them again
are you a trickster
such folly abounds
through these gates
a celebration
of belonging

remnants of homelands and
farmsteads and such
a gift unexpected
I'll accept



This afternoon I was looking out the side porch door as Scratchy was doing her thing...and I noticed strange goings on in one of my gardens...
I'm cornfused...
The only iris I had planted here were lavender and cream color...
where did the others come from???

The dark purples, the large pale lavender and the brown,
I DID NOT PLANT

Boy, this is one that's going to have me wonderin' for a long time...
but...I likey!!!

...and who doesn't love concrete...and strange...

Couldn't resist this sweet, chippy lil' angel...will add a lotta charm tucked away under a flower in the garden or on a bench...

...and everyone loves doves...the patina on these made them irresistible...
the garden is calling...

...OK...I know what yer gonna say...but I couldn't resist...this was screaming my name...and maybe Kellys' too...LOL!
I had to laugh, the woman I bought this from said..."I designed it myself"............
OK, but you have a market that you don't even know about out there...
there's a lotta strange nuts out there that love baby heads in any form,
right TOT...
I just painted 'IT' alien green to go in MY garden!

But, of course, the traditionals...boy meets girl and who doesn't love puppies and kittens...

New parlor table in crisp, bright white...

and a sweet white chest...
make a wonderful setting set to lure a passerby straight into our lair...
and it's working, we've had many new peeps in the doors,
the word is spreading!!!