TONIGHT on Early Work Mercantile...

Little Betsy Ross



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Hope to see you there!!!

Have a terrific weekend and fly your American flag!

:> )

Decorating with great finds and...

a broken index finger.
Long story short... I need to stick with interior decorating. Unfortunately landscaping is not my bag.

So we hit a few sales this weekend because I was on the lookout for a new "desk." As some of you know I was using a small table. But I was looking for something a little smaller.

The last place we stopped at, I eyeballed it from the road! A vintage federal style game table. It was worn and well loved and built solid. Not even a wobble. It also opens up to a larger square.

When the gal knocked 10 bucks off the already low price I yelled out "SOLD!" Even the cows in the pasture heard me. They were like "Who the h*ll was that??!!"
We wrestled it in old Betsy and were homeward
bound. It's exactly what I was looking for.





I've got little George on my left side and close to my heart.



My very dear high school friend who was also having a garage sale gave me some wonderful goodies!!! Here are just a few.

A repro Washington Inn sign...



And vintage George Washington bookends.



So overall, we had a fun weekend!!
Well... except for my index finger.

Happy Tuesday, all!!

:> )

White ironstone and vintage doilies...

Hubs and I decided to treat ourselves to an ice cream cone the other day and stopped at a nearby garage sale.

Found another ironstone pitcher to add to the ol' collection.



Also grabbed some wonderful old doilies. Man, I love doilies. Hankies, too. So small yet so very pretty.
I decided to whip stitch the doilies together and make valances for our dining room. You know, the room we never use. ((giggle))

Oh wait, I take that back! Wee Gracie eats in the dining room.
Although her dinner etiquette is something to be desired.



Happy Tuesday, all!!

:> )

In the nick of time...

I've always had a love for clocks. Especially older (key wound) clocks because they usually have a story to tell.

I am so grateful I have the clock that was given to my dad when he retired back in the 1980's.
He was a good provider, a loving husband and fantastic father. He was a hard working man.
This lovely Howard Miller clock meant the world to him. He was so proud of it and so am I.



This next clock was my mom's. Since she was a teacher, for the longest time she wanted a schoolhouse (regulator) clock. I remember my dad going to Montgomery Ward and buying her this clock back in 1977. I even have the original receipt. ♥



The problem with key wound or weight driven clocks are, if it stops working it's almost darn near impossible to find someone to fix it. Sadly it's a lost art.
Which got me thinking... My sweet hubs has a mechanical engineer's brain. Dare I say he's a tad OCD (Yes, I dare and he'd agree)((giggle)), and he loves to work on tiny, tedious things.

So I mentioned clock repair as a hobby.
Well... He ran with the idea because the next thing I know, he comes home with a broken vintage colonial grandfather clock. The person no longer wanted it and said he could have it. So he went and got it.

Within less than two hours he had it running.
I then gave him a quick spit shine (the clock not my sweet hubs)and TADAH!



I hope this is something he'll have a passion for.
I'm sure there are hundreds of non working clocks that still have a story to tell and owners who need help telling them.

Happy Saturday, all!

:> )

Today is Flag Day...

"Ragged Old Flag"

I walked through a county courthouse square
On a park bench, an old man was sittin' there.
I said, "Your old court house is kinda run down,"
He said, "Naw, it'll do for our little town."
I said, "Your old flag pole is leaned a little bit,
And that's a ragged old flag you got hangin' on it."
He said, "Have a seat," and I sat down.
"Is this the first time you've been to our little town?"
I said, "I think it is,"
He said "I don't like to brag, but we're kinda proud of
That ragged old flag."

"You see, we got a little hole in that flag there,
When Washington took it across the Delaware.


(General George Washington crossing the Delaware.)

And it got powder burned the night Francis Scott Key sat watching it,
Writing "Say Can You See."
And it got a bad rip in New Orleans, with Packingham & Jackson
Tugging at its seams.
And it almost fell at the Alamo beside the Texas flag,
But she waved on though.


(Feb 24, 1836: Alamo defenders call for help.)

She got cut with a sword at Chancellorsville,
And she got cut again at Shiloh Hill.
There was Robert E. Lee and Beauregard and Bragg,


(Civil war 44th New York Infantry.)

And the south wind blew hard on that ragged old flag.

"On Flanders Field in World War I,


(Battle of St. Mihiel 1918.)

She gotta big hole from a Bertha Gun.
She turned blood red in World War II


(Attack on Pearl Harbor, Hawaii December 7, 1941.)

She hung limp, and low, a time or two.


(USS Crescent City ~ World War II.)

She was in Korea, Vietnam, she went where she was sent by her Uncle Sam.


(Korean War POWs posing with hand-made American flag.)

She waved from our ships upon the briny foam
And now they've about quit wavin' back here at home.

In her own good land here she's been abused,


(Bill Ayers ~ Former member of the 60's radical Weather Underground Organization.)

She's been burned, dishonored, denied an' refused.


(1969 ~ Washington DC anti war protesters.)


(February 2012 ~ Occupy Oakland protesters.)


(April 2016 ~ Anti-Donald Trump protesters stole and then set ablaze an American flag taken from a Trump supporter outside the California Republican convention.)

And the government for which she stands
Is scandalized throughout the land.


(President Richard Nixon.)


(President Bill Clinton and Hillary Clinton.)

And she's getting thread bare, and she's wearin' thin,
But she's in good shape, for the shape she's in.
Cause she's been through the fire before
And I believe she can take a whole lot more.

"So we raise her up every morning
And we take her down slow every night.
We don't let her touch the ground,
And we fold her up right.


(The Countryfolk Keepsakes homestead.)

On second thought
I do like to brag,
Cause I'm mighty proud of
that ragged old flag.

Written by: Johnny Cash



(Miracle on Ice. 1980 Winter Olympics in Lake Placid, New York.)


(President Ronald Reagan.)


(A 505 foot by 255 foot American flag was flown from the downstream face of Hoover Dam. Nevada 1996.)


(Firefighter at Ground Zero ~ September 11, 2001.)


(Joplin, Missouri after EF5 tornado. May 22, 2011.)


(Space shuttle.)


(August 2011. Fallen Navy Seal's dog stays by his master's side.)


(April 19, 2013. Near the finish line of the Boston Marathon. Boston Marathon Bombing April 15, 2013 Boston, Massachusetts.)


(Bronze medalist Kristi Castlin, gold medalist Brianna Rollins and silver medalist Nia Ali. Rio 2016 Olympic Games.)






♥ Fly your American flag.
Remember why we do. ♥

Stars and Stripes Forever...

Yippee! Hit a few barn sales this weekend and found a vintage 48 star American flag to add to my (modest) collection. For an old flag the colors are still so vibrant! Man, they don't make 'em like that anymore.

My only dilemma was how to display it. Hmmm... A blanket crane would be perfect.
But I don't live in a perfect world which is why I don't have one. ((giggle))
I'm more of a "make do" kind of gal.

So as I looked at my walls I realized something was staring me right in the face.

Why not drape Old Glory over the antique pitch fork I have hanging on the wall??



Hurrah for the Red, White and Blue.

Happy Monday, all.

:> )

Order of the Day for June 6, 1944

One of the first pictures of the D-Day landings in Normandy, showing U.S. jeeps and men landing on the French coast.


♥

Well hello there, handsome...

I took Betsy out for a spin and decided to stop at a garage sale. So glad I did, too.

Found this big, old shaker box and a wonderful penciled/signed portrait of you know who!!!



When I mentioned he was my favorite president to the woman who cashed me out, she excitedly asked me if I've ever been to Washington's home in Mount Vernon, Virginia. Sadly, I told her no. But it's on my "Bucket List."

Her eyes lit up when she told me when she visited there, she ran her hand down the banister knowing George and Martha did the same so long ago. It warmed my heart so to hear the passion in her voice about American history. I totally get how she felt. A true kindred spirit.

What a wonderful way to spend a Saturday morning.

:> )

Ahhh. A perfect evening of ...

sewing.



And hanging out with my Stella listening to Kohala's "Cool Breeze."



Well, not quite "perfect."

I just broke my last sewing machine needle.
Let the cursing begin.
You all might want to cover your ears.

:> )

Happy June 1st.