GoodWill Hunting...Thrift Store Finds for Fall

I am starting my blog a little late / or a little early depending on how you look at it.  I am up at 2:30 waiting for N. to come back home.  He had an ambulance call, and once that pager goes off and I hear him go out I can't seem to get back to sleep til he is home again.  I am proud of him for getting up in the night, he is usually a very heavy sleeper.  If only he jumped up so ready to go to school in the morning. Well, a mother can dream...

I had a very good, but very tiring day off yesterday.  The weather was nice, my dental checkup was good, and I spent the rest of the day til boat time shopping in Salisbury.  I was able to check out the Goodwill Thrift Store, Ross, Michael's, Family Dollar, and Cato's all between the hours of 11 and 3, AND stop for a quick bite of lunch when my poor gums quit hurting.  Let me say though, I like my dentist. He's really good - and he numbs up my gums with baby teething medicine before he starts (cause I can be kind of a big baby when he gets that pick out).  But it's still...shall we say...uncomfortable for a while.  Some nice soft cheddar and bacon fries from Hardees helped them feel right much better, however.  Hardees would not normally be my first choice for stopping to eat in Salisbury, but I wanted something quick, and those things are delicious!

I was not really all that impressed with Salisbury's Goodwill store.  The prices were high!   I went in looking for glassware and mis-matched plates and china for a project, and while the selection was larger, the prices were much more than I have paid at the other two thrift stores I go to.   I did find some decorations though to help me fix up my kitchen and breakfast room for fall.  Here is what I came home with:

Oh, and Chinese food for supper too, as seen by the fortune cookie slips and pot holder left on the table. Remember in my Fall Door Decor post when I was mad that I had seen a wall pocket at another thrift store and didn't pick it up?  You can read about it here ( Fall Door Decor Link ).  Well, I learned from that mistake.  This one is in very good shape and has nice colors for fall.  The candle sconce is is rough shape, but I think it will paint up good as new.  The outer frame on the picture is going to need a new paint job too.  But it said my name, so how could I resist?
  
The decorated stoneware crock I really liked, and the other thing that I don't even know what to call (a shelf sitter?) caught my eye sitting nearby. The three platters were my best find.  They are heavy stoneware in cream with raised rope trim.  They are "Octavia Hill" by Tracy Porter.  I think they are actually dinner plates but they are huge!  And a bargain among the other over priced stuff at just $2 each.  They are really much prettier in person than the picture shows.  These will not be a project, they're staying with me.  

Ross and Michael's yesterday was a treat!  Lots of great items on the shelves and good sales.  I can't show you everything I came home with, because lots of things are going to be presents and such.  When you live on an island, you learn to shop for presents year round, because your shopping time is limited. So, whenever I see something that would make a nice shower/wedding/baby/birthday gift I pick it up.  Luckily I have a big attic and I can store stuff.  Not so luckily, as I have learned the hard way, it that it gets very hot up there and things with hot glued decorations, wax, or candles tends to melt. Here is a peek of some things I got for me.

You might remember in an earlier post ( link here ) that I told you if you were ever in Ross and saw Brent & Sam's Key Lime White Chocolate cookies you needed to get a box.  The last few times I have been in Ross they have not had any. It's a hit or miss thing.  They usually have some variety of Brent & Sam's, but not this one very often.  So, imagine my excitement to spy a Brent & Sam's shaped box with hints of lime green as I rounded the gourmet food aisle.  Imagine my panic when I realized there was only ONE box and there was another shopper already down the aisle in its vicinity.  The urge to run her over with my shopping cart was strong.  But instead I abandoned my cart, ran walked down the aisle, said "excuse me" as I squeezed past her cart, grabbed them and kept going.  Poor thing, she looked confused.  Sometimes you see these in the mini size cookies, and they are the best, but these will do...The other thing I picked up was this really cute bird themed wall art.  It's colors are just right for my breakfast room when I need a change.

At Michael's I was able to pick up some craft supplies, a few cute home decor items to stash away as gifts, and a "chalk pen" that holds fine line chalk for writing on chalkboards.  I wanted a chalk marker, which a couple of people told me is great for those DIY silver tray chalkboards I have made.  I saw the space for them, but sadly they were out.  I hope what I did pick up will work similarly.  

Lastly, I stopped in Cato's.  I think Cato's is a regional type store mainly in the south, so you may not have heard of it.  It sells nice women's clothes, jewelry, and accessories at a good price.  I love their jewelry section, there's always something nice.  And their purses aren't bad either.  Of course I've almost never met a purse I didn't love.  If you are ever around a Cato's check them out.

And please check back in here at my blog when you get a chance, and feel free to comment.

A Throwback Saturday / B-17 Plane Visit

This week on the local Salisbury news station they featured a story about a restored B-17 bomber that would be visiting the Salisbury Airport.  My grandfather, Leroy Pusey, flew on a B-17 as a tail gunner during WWII.  So, when these planes are nearby, my family often takes a day trip to see them. We have been to the Dover Air Force Base museum a couple of time to see the one there.  But this particular aircraft that was coming could be toured inside as well as out, and N. had never done that.  Since N. is trying to rack up some driving hours on his permit, and I like to try and teach him a bit of family history, off we went to Salisbury this morning.  

My Pop Pop,  S/Sgt Leroy E. Pusey, bottom row extreme right
posing with a B-17 bomber at 487th Bomb Group Lavingham Station  England 1944

Here what Tangier looked like this morning as we left...

A beautiful but extremely hot day, especially for September

It took us about 45 minutes after arriving in Crisfield to get to the airport in Salisbury.  I have never seen a B-17 in flight, so I was hoping to catch them doing one of their ride along flights (which at $450 a head was too expensive for me though I would have loved it, but then again I'm not too keen on flying in general). As luck would have it, just as we pulled up to turn into the airport staging area, they fired up her engines and began to prepare for takeoff.  I had to hurry and shoot a few shots through the fence since we had not yet entered the compound.  Both N. and I were excited that we would get to see her in flight.

The tail gunner position, they have a mannequin that sits back there to show the crew position.

We waited for the plane to finish her ride along flight, and to open up for tours.  She came in and taxied right by us...

and parked at the staging area.  

In the pics below we are preparing to tour.  At this point the weather has gotten close to 90 degrees. Which will help explain why I didn't take any inside shots.  It was all I could do to not pass out.  Seriously, inside that big plane it is very small with close quarters, and an aluminum tube sitting in the sun generates a lot of heat.

The one part of the plane you were not allowed to go during the tour is the tail, just where we wanted to see.  It is very difficult to access the tail gunner position, you have to crawl around the rear wheel assembly and down into a very narrow space.  I assume insurance and potential injury have caused them to block this off.  You could peek over the safety netting but couldn't see much.  I told N. that I was going to ask one of the flight operations crew if he could just try to go back there just a little ways.  I found a crewman as we were taking pictures preparing to leave.  

I explained about Pop Pop and how much we had wanted to see his tail gunner position.  He took N. aside and told him he was going to do something special for him if we would wait til the crowd thinned out.  He explained he could not take down the safety barrier but he could get him a closer look.  The tail gunner had a very small bail out panel that they could remove near the tail position if they could not crawl back forward because of damage or lack of time to bail out the side door or open bomb bays. The flight operator opened up the panel for N. so that he could stand up and stick his head and upper body in through the hatch and look into the tail position.  I took a peek too but it was way too small for me. We are talking a very small opening.  How Pop Pop got out of there with a parchute pack on I'll never know.  Pop Pop was shot down on (I believe) his 13th mission, bailed out and was held as a prisoner of war.  I didn't take any pictures because we were trying not to attract attention, but both N. and I were amazed. Thank you Sentimental Journey Flight Operations Crew.  N. actually agreed to pose for a picture before we left.

Here we were standing under the belly of the plane looking at the open bomb bay doors.  They let B-17 veterans who visit the plane sign the door panels.  We were looking to see if anyone had signed from the 487th.

After this we had a delicious lunch at Longhorn Steakhouse. May I suggest their lunch pairing of a half shaved prime rib sandwich and french onion soup?  Yummy!  Then a little Walmart and Food Lion shopping, and back down to Crisfield by 4pm to catch the boat back home.

Pulling in and ready to go home.  Air conditioning here I come!

And I will leave you with this another picture of Pop Pop and his crew.  Oh how young many of them were.  I can't believe he was only about two years older than Noah is now.  Thank you Pop Pop for your service.

The crew of B-17 "Paddlefoot" after a few missions.  Pop Pop at top right.  He was shot down in February, so this may be just before then since it is winter.  They all look like they have aged from that first picture, even in a few short months.  I think that's sad...

My Day Away From The Dock Of The Bay....

Some More Information About Tangier

If you are one of my friends reading this post, this will not be news to you - but I thought I would share my day with readers from away.

Bet Your Shopping Trips Are Not Like Mine...

Today I needed to go shopping.  I had to have some paint that was mixed wrong retinted, some returns and errands to run at Walmart, a return at Aeropostale, a baby shower gift to buy, and I wanted to go to Hobby Lobby.  Doesn't sound much different than a shopping day for you does it?  Well here is where it gets interesting.

Tangier Island  7:20am

I am up and gathering up all the stuff I packed up the night before for a trip to Salisbury, Maryland.  I need to try and get as many things done as possible today as I don't get to go there very often.   Here is my view of my little dock of the bay as I leave my back door.

Ride #1  - Everything gets loaded onto my golf cart (the tan one on the left) for a trip over the road to the Mailboat dock.  The Mailboat leaves Tangier for Crisfield at 8am carrying the mail and passengers who want to go off for the day.  The fare is $20 round trip.  The round trip leaves Crisfield to return to Tangier at 12:30 pm, so you have only a short time to get anything done.  I won't be able to make it to Salisbury (which is another 45 minutes by car) and back so I'll need to take the afternoon boat back home.  A different person owns and operates that boat, so I'll have to pay another fare.  When I talk to people many think islanders get to ride the island ferry boats for free, but that is not true.  If you travel off a lot it can get expensive.  But these boats do us a great service and fuel isn't cheap.  Plus this is boat captains' livelihood.  So I'm off to buy my ticket and start my busy day.

Ride #2 - Here is the "Courtney Thomas" Tangier's Mailboat.  I am getting ready to back up and load my stuff on, and we will be pulling out at 8am to make the 45 minute trip over the bay.   The Mailboat runs every day except Sunday.  There are tour boats that come to our island as well, but most residents travel by this boat or the two others that originate out of Tangier, one making an afternoon run to Crisfield, the other making a run to Onancock, Virginia.

Crisfield, Maryland  9:00am

Ride #3  -  We have arrived, and I have walked up the block to the parking lot where many island residents (both Tangier and Smith Island) keep their cars.  We are very happy to be able to have a car on the other side for shopping, doctor's appointments, errands, school system meetings for me, etc.  

Now it's back to the boat and wait my turn to unload my stuff (there was a lot of mail and soft shell crabs being shipped aboard this morning) and put it into the car.  Time to get busy, the clock is ticking.  I will be on this side of the bay until 5pm today.

Highway Route 13 9:50am

Crisfield errands are done and I am now on the way 45 minutes north to the closest city of Salisbury.  Sunroof is open, Nickelback is blasting, and I am armed with a bag of Grandma Utz potato chips for breakfast.  All is well...

Salisbury, Maryland 10:30am - 3:45pm

Too hectic to stop for pictures...though I did make time to stop for lunch at Panera.  Love Panera!

Crisfield Dock  4:40pm

Ride #4 - It's time to go home.  Did I get everything done?  Nope.  Never do.  Day just goes so fast!  But I am happy with what I got accomplished.  Everything is unloaded from the car (No, this is not all mine!) and about 10 of us are waiting for the afternoon boat to pick us up.  Here comes the "Sharon Kay III" now.

Tangier Dock  6:00pm

Different Ride #5 for the day

Ha Ha, No just kidding!  Saw this car for sale today and would love to have her.  Stuck in the 80s?  Yeah, I admit it...  In reality it's back to the golfcart.  N. has come to the dock to help me because by now I am beat!  We unload all of today's purchases from the afternoon boat and load them on to the golf cart for the ride home to Canton.  Are you sensing a trend here?   If you can pull your car right up to your door when you finish shopping you don't know how good you've got it.  When you live on Tangier you haul a lot of stuff from place to place...

Meanwhile it seams while I have been gone my ship has come in.  LOL.  Saw this when I pulled into the yard.  It's a huge yacht.  What do you have to do to afford a boat like that?  Well, I bet it's not teach school...

My House 6:30pm

It's time to unpack, grab a bite to eat, and relax.  Here's my last picture for today as I head in the house. Thanks for coming along on the ride with me.  Tomorrow, I promise I am going to start posting projects and inspirations.  And swim out to my yacht...