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Do you watch Funniest Home Videos? I rarely do because it seems many of them are contrived. Yesterday there was a moment when I wished (sort of) that someone was filming a few moments before my friends and I left for Smithfield's Autumn Vintage Market. The scene: a parking lot at a local shopping mall. A burgundy Toyota Highlander driven by me pulls into the parking lot. Seconds later, 5 women of, shall we say, "vintage" age climbed out of their cars and came towards me. I got out and there were hugs all around. I was the designated driver for the trip. We thought since the Highlander had third row seating, we'd all fit in and avoid taking two cars. I had had no reason to use the third row seating up to that point. I thought putting the third seat up would be no problem but quickly realized I didn't know how anyone could get back there! Chaos ensued as I tried to figure it out with the help of my friends. Picture 6 little old ladies, pushing and pulling and thinking out loud. "Maybe you're supposed to just crawl over the second seats?" one suggested. We finally figured out how to move the second row seats so our smallest member could climb in back. She was wonderfully cheery about it all. We were okay. Until we got to Smithfield and had to get out. One friend who'd had knee replacement had trouble getting out of the second row passenger seat even though the driver's seat was forward as far as it would go. The rest climbed out okay except for the one in the very back. With the second row seat pulled forwarded and folded over, she tried to scramble out but the long ride hadmade her stiff. One of the others went around and helped pull her out. She practically tumbled into the waiting arms. We switched around some on the way home but no one complained. Once there, we tried to find soemplace to have a late breakfast. After trying several places to learn that there was over an hour wait, Madeline and I found a bakery with a crowd but operating efficiently and got a bite to eat. We were disappointed by the items for sale - some vintage but mostly primative and a lot of junk. There was an Irish shop along the route and that was a bright spot. I came home with a nice Connemara marble bracelet and a pewter tree of life necklace. Despite the travel accomodations, the heat and humidity at the market and the disappointment, we all agreed it was a good day. Good friends and lots of laughter. But we are going to wait for cooler weather before attempting another road trip. And will probably take 2 cars!

Saturday zip of Mermaid Journal freebie

If the weather and all else cooperates, I will be in Smithfield, VA today at the Autumn Antique and Vintage Market. About half a dozen of the Sentara retirees I lunch with are going so it should be a fun, if tiring outing.
Here's what we have today:

Link: https://www.dropbox.com/s/c9krjbchatpzv84/ws_MermaidJournal_18.zip?dl=0

Thursday freebie of Mermaid Journal

Thursday already? The week has sped by. Today's outing will be lunch at Glory's Bakery in Virginia Beach with hubby, Aunt Sissie and her boyfriend. Great Filipino food there. I'm looking forward to some lumpia and pepperoni bread and my husband wants some pancit.

Here is today's zip which includes a little flashback to Art Deco:

Link: https://www.dropbox.com/s/4z910k0qbn5ndmu/ws_MermaidJournal_17.zip?dl=0

Tuesday freebie - late!

Interesting week so far. Monday was spent with my God-daughter & neice, Rachel. She had invited me to go shopping with her. I took her to lunch at Jason's Deli (always try to introduce her to new places), then off we went to Hobby Lobby, coupons in hand. Rachel both knits and crochets but lately has been favoring knitting and she was hoping to find some interesting yarn. We are both working on shawls and planning for next project. Neither of us liked the selection - nothing grabbed us. I was also looking for some tiny hinges for a rosewood box that had belonged to my Mother. No luck on that either. However, they were having a fabric sale - 30% off - and I spotted some chocolate Minke. Bought what I hope is enough to line a patchwork velvet piece I have. Back when I was constantly on alert for interesting fabrics for my crazy quilt stash, I found a long velvet patchwork skirt - probably 60s or 70s - in a thrift store and snapped it up. When I took it apart, I wa surprised to find that instead of just some useable pieces, once the waistband was off, and back seam (only seam it turned out) was opened, I was left with a large regtangle, big enough for a lap throw. Too pretty to cut up, so I put it aside, intending to line it and use it as a throw. Never got around to backing it but will now and what a pretty autumn throw it will make. We also visited A.C. Moore but weren't tempted by their yarn either. Last stop was Quinton's Tea Shop in Virginia Beach. Lots of yummy teas to sniff and acessories to look over. Rachel bought a couple 2 oz bags of fruit flavored teas and a cute lilypad infuser. The rose tea smelled so good and conjured up visions of warmth and contentment so I bought some of that, plus a couple bags of scone mixes to take as gifts when I go to Richmond next month. We had a little thunderstorm going off and on so Rachel and I went and brought pizza home for dinner and she stayed until things settled down.

Thought I'd be posting yesterday when I got home from lunch and gab session with the Ladies Who Lunch. But right at the end of our time together, I got hit with wave of dizziness and fatigue. Got home and crashed for hours with good 'ole Chronic Fatigue Syndrome. Our lunch meeting was fun with some of us sharing old photos of days gone by. But one thing that sort of rankled with me was when the woman to my right mentioned she had talked to the woman who got so upset last time over our discussion of religion and spirituality. That woman, who wasn't present yesterday, told our friend that we shouldn't allow talk about politics or religion because it upset her. That felt like censorship. I mean, another person could than say we shouldn't talk about the homeless because it makes her uncomfortable. Or about the future of Social Security or Medicare because that makes someone anxious. Or even, don't talk about your grand children; it makes me sad because I don't have any. Ever heard of tuning out when you aren't interested in the conversation? Maybe I'm off base but I feel that if there is going to be any censorship of topics, it should be from a group consensus.

My apologies for no post yesterday. I have this for you:

Link: https://www.dropbox.com/s/2hzolwanssbdmhg/ws_MermaidJournl_16.zip?dl=0

BTW - my Dropbox is getting full so I've had to delete some files. Anything from the first quarter is now gone.

Already Saturday? And a Mermaid Journal freebie

Finally spoke with my friend, Joyce, who lives in Jacksonville N.C. I've been worried because I hadn't been able to reach her and knew Jacksonville got hit hard by hurricane Florence. Her grand-daughter and great-granddaughter had left early on to go stay with family in Tennesee. Joyce had planned to ride the storm out but a few days before it hit, she began to be concerned with developments and she packed up and headed to her daughter's in TN. She knows there are a lot of power outages in Jacksonville but isn't aware of how their homes fared. At least for now, she is safe and dry.

I think you will like today's Mermaid Journal. I created this mermaid myself using a number of drawings and Poser figurs as reference. It's humorous and something many of us can identify with.

Link: https://www.dropbox.com/s/4rbt23ia4zapbts/ws_MermaidJournal_15.zip?dl=0

Quick Mermaid Journal freebie

Link: https://www.dropbox.com/s/pk6rhu4crwdyxjt/ws_MermaidJournal_14.zip?dl=0

A Happy Birthday Tuesday and a freebie

Today is my husband's birthday. I've got a cheesecake baking in the oven for him. Not doing much. We both had doctor appointments earlier in the day. Will meet with Sissy & John for dinner tonight.

Do you know the difference between Poseidon, Neptune and Triton? The first two are names for the sea god, the first is Greek and the second Roman. They were god of the Sea and other waters; of earthquakes; and of horses. As Olympians they had legs. Triton was the son of Poseidon but instead of legs he had the lower body of a fish. Triton was Poseidon's heralder. Like his father, he carried a trident but he also carried a twisted conch shell which he blew to raise or lower the waves.

Today's zip has a Triton theme.

Link: https://www.dropbox.com/s/24gemwna8vtbefu/ws_MermaidJournal_13.zip?dl=0

You might enjoy this:
https://mysteriousuniverse.org/2013/06/why-do-mermen-get-the-short-end-of-the-trident-in-the-public-eye/

A late Saturday freebie

Hmm, don't know what happened but here I was thinking Saturday had posted and nothing is there. Sorry! If you are interested in more Mermaid lore check this out:
http://alternatewars.com/Mythology/Reliquary/Reliquary_Mermaid_Symbolism.htm
Isn't it interesting how persistent the mermaid myth is over time and culture? I read somewhere that scientists (?) think that what sailors in ancient times thought were mermaids were actually manatees. If you've seen a manatee, don't you wonder how that could be mistaken for a woman with a fish tail? The notion of aquatic humans makes for an interesting "what if" topic of conversation. For example, if mermaids are half human and half fish, do they have live births or do offspring arrive in eggs like fish do? Why have breasts unless to suckle their young from live births like humans and other mammals like dolphins and whales? Why have human type ears which can't work underwater? Why not something like dolphins use? How do they breathe underwater? Where are the gills and why have a nose? Think of what a long bath does to human skin. If any aquatic humans are found to exist, wouldn't they necessarily look much different than our depictions? What do you think they would be like?

This zip has a piece of wordart, one plain paper and a variety of little elements.

Link: https://www.dropbox.com/s/ok6uclp4dnmcb43/ws_MermaidJournal_12.zip?dl=0

We have been very lucky hurricane wise. Getting some rain, some thunder storms off and on but nothing like it could have been. Of course, it isn't over yet and. as my God-daughter and neice, Rachel, reminded today, it's still hurricane season with more expected. I thought I'd be going down to Jacksonville, NC to see my friend, Joyce in the next week or so but Jacksonville has been devastated by flood waters. I haven't been able to reach Joyce by cell phone and can only hope that she, her pregnant grand-daughter Sammi, Sammi's toddler daughter and their dogs all packed up prior to the storm and headed somewhere safe. Grandson-in-law, Tony is a Marine so I'm sure he had to remain at the base to help out. Our grandson, Tyler, who goes to college at University of South Carolina in Columbia had planned to come home for the weekend so my husband called him and advised he stay put since his apartment at the college is on the 3rd floor. But when the college canceled classes, Tyler and his roommate decided to drive home. It was good to see him but now we are worried because he is driving back today and there are so many areas where interstate and other major highways are closed due to flooding. Dear readers, I hope you are safe and dry wherever you are.

Mermaid Journal freebie zip 11

The little merbaby in today's zip came from a black and white line drawing in an old book. I'm very pleased with how it turned out and hope you like it too.

Link: https://www.dropbox.com/s/gujag596hcwyyzn/ws_MermaidJournal_11.zip?dl=0

Zip 10 of Mermaid Journal freebie

I noticed some comments about reading and wondered if all of you who use e-readers (I use Kindle Fire) know about the many sites where you can get cheap or free e-books? Amazon has lots of free ebooks for it's readers but there are also sites like bookbub.com, bookriot.com and earlybirdbooks@openroadmedia.com where you can find bargains on anything from classics to new and self-published fiction and non-fiction.

Hurricane Florence is on it's way and all sorts of things are being cancelled, places shut down through 9/16! Storm not expected to make landfall until Thursday but it's a level 4 and might become level 5. Some local areas are evacuating already. Zone A here in Norfolk to evacuate tomorrow morning. I'm in Zone C and planning on going to lunch with friends in Vriginia Beach tomorrow. Of course could wake up to strong winds and rain and then will reevaluate.

Anyway, did you know that mermaid legends extend back to 8th century? If you are interested in the folklore you might enjoy this:
https://mermaid.galactic.to/documents/Mermaids_in_different_Cultures.pdf
Not so much about mermen but what I read about the Irish merman makes them sound like something I wouldn't want to meet - ugly with green seaweed like hair and green scales and a red nose! Nothing like the handsome Poser type mermen you might see if you google merman images. I've also noticed that many modern depictions of mermen suggest they are homsexual. Really? Where do all the merbabies come from? Got to thinking about how we might find juvenile looking mermaids but rarely merbabies. So I created a couple myself and you will find them in today's zip.

Link: https://www.dropbox.com/s/42jsdodq03i24o3/ws_MermaidJournal_10.zip?dl=0

Since I don't know what Thursday will bring, I'm going ahead and advance scheduling zip 11.
Stay safe!

More Mermaid Journal freebie

Running late because I seem to be developing a respiratory infection of some type and I'm exhausted. Talk about bad timing as we are expecting company from New York tomorrow. Won't be posting on Saturday. Thank you all for the kind comments you've posted about this set. Today I have another premade journal page and various elements to make pages your way.

Link: https://www.dropbox.com/s/bsd0wkbvwitkydf/ws_MermaidJournal_9.zip?dl=0

Mermaid Journal freebie - there be mermen here!

Today's zip contains one prepared page featuring a merman, a male silhouette, journal spot, and some shrimp for your element stash.

Link: https://www.dropbox.com/s/8d9rrfjuwhiurmp/ws_MermaidJournal_8.zip?dl=0

Health scare in family but I'm supposed to be silent and wait and see. Naturally, fearing the worst. Company expected on Friday from New York - husband's boyhood best friend. Got to get busy and clean and try to think of what we can do while he's here.

Labor Day weekend and Mermaid Journal freebie

The weekend may be a wash out for last minute beachgoers as we've had thunderstorms in afternoons for several days now and it's tuning up again. We have no special plans for this weekend. Do you? If so hope it's fun and safe. Today I have more Mermaid Journal and it doesn't look like much in the preview. Preview only shows a pre-decorated page and a large frame, bbut inside is also the background of the page I made and some components for your DIY stash.

Link: https://www.dropbox.com/s/3pu4f3ov04mkzf8/ws_mermaidJournal_7.zip?dl=0
Be safe!