Seeing Purple

 

Jacarandas in brilliant purple bloom are a sign of spring. In Southern California, where we tend to warm up a little quicker than other parts of the country, Jacarandas in bloom mean summer is around the corner. For the past few weeks every time I look down a street all I see are full purple blooms. The horn shaped flowers are a bright lavender color, sometimes with blue hues, which arrive in May and last into June.

 

 

There’s nothing like looking down a side street and seeing most of the neighborhood shaded by purple blooms. Many stand in parks provide shade up from above and flowers for play down below. Driving the overpasses of the 5 freeway looking down onto Santa Ana, Orange and Anaheim, Jacarandas are bright spots of purple between the green of other trees and grey of concrete buildings. 

 

I love seeing the purple blooms every year, breaking up the monotony of green and grey that is so common in cities and suburbs. I may also like them so much because I don’t actually have a Jacaranda at home, or even on my street. The purple flowers, while beautiful up in the branches of the Jacaranda eventually fall. The blooms create a mess at the base of the tree, which may include parked cars seeking shade, that can be slippery as well as smelly.

 

 

The mess must not have bothered Kate Session, a botanist and horticulturist from San Diego who is said to have brought the blooms to Southern California in the late 1800s. They quickly became popular there and can now be found further North along the coast into Orange and LA Counties. Stanton, Anaheim’s neighboring city to the South, named the Jacaranda its city tree in1956 at the recommendation of the Women’s Civic Club. Huell Howser even talked about the Jacarandas on California’s Gold earlier this year.

 

Soon the purple blooms will fade back as new green leaves take their places. Though we will get a second bloom in the fall, it won't be nearly as brilliant a display, or as optimistic as spring.

 

If you are an Anaheimer and can’t get enough of the Jacarandas in bloom and don't mind the mess, they are one of the TreePower Program selections.

Victory Book Club: On the Beach by Nevil Shute, 1957

 

As I started reading On The Beach I was pretty confused. The novel has a copyright date of 1957, and the story was taking place between 1961 and 1963. It also spoke of a war that wasn’t World War II, but didn’t seem to be Korea, Vietnam or the Cold War either. Since I had an older library copy, there was no jacket with a synopsis. After reading a quick online summary, I realized I was reading a work of fiction about World War III with the main players being China, Russia, England, and the US.

The Northern Hemisphere has been wiped out due to nuclear war. No one is sure how many bombs were dropped over a month long battle, but the Southern Hemisphere lives in fear of when the radiation cloud will reach them.

Of the United States Navy, two ships remain. One is off the Atlantic coast of South America and the USS Scorpion is in Australia. Both are submarines and will deploy on missions along the US coast, seeking signs of life. Captain Dwight Towers is the captain of the Scorpion, and has Lieutenant Peter Holmes of the Royal Australian Navy working with him during his stay down under.

The Lieutenant invites Captain Towers to his home for the weekend, and spends some time with his wife Mary, baby Jennifer and friend Moira Davidson. They enjoy the beach, sailing and a dinner party, all while wondering how long it will take for the nuclear devastation to reach them and how long before their inevitable death.

Each character reacts differently to the fact that they will eventually die. Captain Towers goes on like nothing has changed, and runs the US Navy by the books without alcohol on board or taking liberties in port. Others like Moira live more recklessly, taking advantage of their last months, weeks and days. No one corrects the other, because they know they must handle the impending death of mankind in a way that will get them through it. In the end every character has something in common; a little red box with two white pills.

On The Beach is truly riveting. The story is very human and shows the good and bad side of people awaiting their death over events they had no control of. I found myself looking up time periods, locations and technological facts to better understand Shute’s fictional world. I wish there had been a map in the cover of the book, but since it was an older library copy, maybe more recently published copies do? Although On the Beach is classified as Science Fiction, give it a chance. I’m really glad I did.

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Show and Tell with Rita from Sammy's Grammy Vintage

I began to collect vintage items for my home from the very onset of my “one and only” marriage, homemaking, mothering, chauffer-ing, cheering, baking, cooking, canning, nursing, gardening, loving, shopping, knitting. Reason being: in the beginning we were too poor to buy new things. If I remember correctly, the first antique we bought was a round oak dining table and 4 chairs. The poor, old antique chairs could not stand up under the pressure of 4 males (1 husband and 3 sons) who leaned back on the chairs, putting their weight on the 2 back legs of said chairs until the chairs collapsed. Next purchase: a new set of “old” chairs. And new house rule: “NO LEANING BACK ON THE CHAIRS”. The beautiful table still resides in my dining room (covered in a cloth I made from red toile). 
 

 

 

That was the beginning of my love affair with vintage. One of the things I loved to hunt for at estate sales was vintage table linens, especially napkins, looking for the ones with embroidered monograms, tatting on the edges, or crocheted edges. Once I had enough of them to satisfy the drawers of my vintage armoire, I still was addicted to hunting for them. What to do, what to do? My answer to this quandary – re-purpose them and sell the results. So began my long association with BORN AGAIN ANGELS. Unfortunately, the angel craze seems to be passe’. I sold the last one in my etsy shop at Christmastime. I do have one of them “hanging” in each room of my house. My addiction to estate sales is still intense. I buy what I can remake, re-purpose, re-imagine into something adorable for my shop.

 

You can find me and my creations at

Sammy's Grammy Vintage Shop, Blog and Facebook.

 

*Have a fabulous story to share about your vintage collection? Join Show & Tell! Just send me a note for the details.

Metalcraft Products Steel Furniture

Metalcraft Products out of Lynwood, California sure knew how to appeal to the housewife and working husband during the atomic age. Offering furniture made of "Space-Age Materials" – or steel – their designs offered strength and durability, the ease of cleaning and yet appealed to the Mid Century Atomic look.

The “people proof family furniture” for the living and dining room combined tubular steel frames with wood tones, foam filled cushions with a vinyl finish and durable plastic table tops.
In the children’s room, bunk beds made of the same strong steel were tough enough for boys, but more delicate paint colors made them likeable for girls too. Matching chests and desks completed the child’s bedroom and were also made to last and easy to clean. I’m loving the aqua and blue Deluxe Model bedroom set!

For the unexpected overnight guest, Metalcraft Stowaway and Rollaway beds solved the problem. The steel framed beds could be used at home in a spare bedroom, or while camping and were easy to store at just 7 inches thick.

I wish I was able to find out more information about the company, but I didn’t find much out there. If you do, please leave a comment.