Around Memorial Day, Chris over at the Last Resort mentioned that she always decorates her house with Americana for the summer, taking in those patriotic holidays -- Memorial Day, the Fourth of July, and Labor Day. "I don't do that," I said to myself. Whereby the little inner voice replied, "Well, you might try!"
I don't have patriotic quilts and wallhangings, but I went to my cupboard to pull out some things that seemed to fit the bill. Then I made a trip to the Dollar Tree for artificial red, white, and blue flowers and to Jo-Ann where I purchased the little birdhouse and the flag-shaped heart in the bouquet -- also the "liberty" plaque for the wall. (You can't quite see it.) At Wal-Mart I bought bright red seat cushions and summer placemats.
The teapot, cream and sugar on the top shelf are souvenirs of Boston's Freedom Trail. My dad bought me the teapot from Paul Revere's shop when he and Mother visited me in 1973. The "bicycle shop" is Department 56 and just says "summer" to me. On the next shelf down, the red glass pitcher, or vase, is also a souvenir from Boston days. The other two were Grandma Ina's and were just the right color for my display. The two little silver bowls on the next shelf say "Paul Revere" on them. I bought them at a department store in Marshfield, MA, when I lived on Boston's south shore. The tray, very well worn, was my mother's -- has the initial "D" on it. Today it holds peppermint taffy -- red and white -- but often the tray serves to hold embroidery thread for an upcoming project. KW
