pickin' and grinnin'- My best antique find for Christmas

We are upon the holiday season and I am feverishly adding things to my Etsy and Ebay accounts when I run across this little sterling baby food pusher, dated Dec. 1914 on the handle.

A baby's first Christmas gift from the year that saw the start of WWI, the first Model T car, Charlie Chaplin starring in 'The Tramp", and a little boy is born in Birmingham Alabama that will change Christmas.

Yes, that's what I said. Changed Christmas with this movie score.

From Meet Me in St. Louis

His name was Hugh Martin and he wrote the musical score (words and music) for the movie Meet Me in St. Louis, starring Judy Garland, which included  "Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas."

Found online this image is of Hugh Martin, Judy Garland and Frank Sinatra

Now you see how he changed Christmas! It a Christmas time standard that everyone has covered on their Christmas albums. It is a song that allows for us to feel melancholy and happy, simultaneously.

His first Merry Little Christmas, was December 1914, in Birmingham Alabama. Among his gifts was a baby food pusher. Actually it was this baby food pusher. I found it at his younger brother's estate sale in Birmingham.

This item is currently available on Ebay here. You too, can have a piece of Birmingham and American Christmas history.

Trees- It's dogwood season

The dogwood tree is the stuff of legends. It is supposedly the tree used as the cross to crucify Jesus, though they are not native to the Middle East. In the Native American culture, it is a symbol of good luck for the Quileute and Makah ( Yes, the "Twilight" tribes), as well as a historic food source for many tribes. For some, it indicates when to plant corn, for others, it indicates the start of spring and the Easter season.

I am a passive gardener, in reality. So, if a plant volunteers in a spot that seems good, I leave it. If it survives my neglectful gardening, all the better. This volunteer dogwood has been growing in a garden bed for a few years. It is the "under story" tree to a volunteer oak tree. This is the first year the dogwood has really bloomed and it out did itself! The blooms are about 3 inches across and plentiful. So, maybe it is good luck, maybe it is time to plant corn, but this showy shorty is a winner with me!