Summertime Mantle & Input Please

July, America's Birthday Month

As I prepped for the annual Bates Independence Day Lobster Bake, I decided it was the perfect time to change up the mantle.  All I had to do was a little tweaking to go from Spring to Summer.  In honor of the red, white and blue, I went with my version of a patriotic summertime theme.  Here's the mantle as it was all dressed up for Spring.

A few quick changes, and viola, the Summertime mantle.

I took away a few things, and added some, including the beautiful flag my Dad made me, handcarved to boot. 

Also, you'll note the lobster, which really is a salt and shaker holder my nephew Pat and his girlfriend Ashley gave me on last 4th of July. I took the salt and pepper out of his arms and moved him from the pantry to the mantle. He makes me laugh.

Then I spied my Jeter bobblehead (Garrett had just glued him back together after a terrible mishap) and thought the 'boys of summer' would be a perfect addition.  Poor Jeter lost part of his cheek and it was unrepairable (is that a word?). I'll have to do a little flesh color paint job on the poor boy. Baseball can be rough.

I kept things on the mantle that had gold, silver, blue or red and also kept my big Ireland print because, well....because it usually hangs out there. Plus, the houses are very Summery colors, don't you think. Again, not sure if Summery is a word, but it is today on Mercantile Muse.

My mantle extends a bit to the top of my bookcase, which is where Uncle Sam landed. Yup, you guessed it. My Dad made him too. He's quite the folk artist don't ya think?  Uncle Sam reigning high above all else. Perfect spot.

As you can see, I added some beads. Our 'neighbors-in-laws' Emile and Carol gave us a bunch when we saw them just before the 4th. I think they made a pretty big statement for a small detail.

Please ignore any dust that is still visible. That's life, right?

Do you have anything in your home that you change out for the season? This is really the first year that I've been doing the mantle change-a-roo and it's been fun. It's a nice change since it's one of the first things you see when you walk into our house. I'll keep the mantle like this for at least the rest of the month and maybe the entire Summer, unless I'm feeling a need for another change. Variety is the spice the of life, after all.

Photo Challenge Input

I was overwhelmed with the positive response to the potential photo challenge.  You guys are totally on board which makes me happy. I really appreciate your input and more is welcome. I'm thinking, instead of so many days 'straight', which can be hard for a lot of people to keep up with, probably 3 days a week for 4 weeks? How does that sound?  Perhaps Mondays, Wednesdays, and Friday's? It will probably begin next Monday. If that's what I settle on, I'll be outlining all the info on the challenge at the end of this week. How does that sound? I've got a few good ideas for topics, but if you've got any I'd be happy to consider them. Feel free to share. 

Check That Off the List

I was able to get all four photographs that I featured yesterday, listed and up for sale in Bates Mercantile Co., our etsy shop. Yay for me. Darn it all, I just love checking things off the list (hey, that reminds me- I still have a 'how do you juggle it all' post to write for Kristen at Milo & Molly....can I just say, not always well!!!). When I actually get to cross things off the list it makes me happy as a clam. I'd like to know where the heck that saying came from...has there been a study on the happiness of clams and I don't know about it? Did someone interview them about their state of mind and word spread across the world about the Bliss of Bivalves? Just wondrin'. Back to the subject at hand, and in case you're interested, you can find the new photographs for sale here.

On another note about yesterday's post, I told you the story of a little pebble from France making it's way to me in the mail. The sender, Cari-Jane, told a much better version on her blog yesterday. One little beach pebble spreading happiness the world over. I wonder if he's related to the clam?

Here's hoping you have a great day. You've already made mine super just by being here.

Ciao for now,