Happy birthday, sweetheart!

✯ Day 218 of Vintage 365 ✯

 

As with all days of the year, today has played host to a great many people's birthdays over the centuries. From famed British poet Tennyson (b. 1809) to pop culture artist Andy Warhol (b. 1928), Noble laureate Sir Alexander Fleming (b. 1881) to beloved actress Lucile Ball (b. 1911), quite a few well-known folks have made their debut into life on August 6th.

While I certainly love Lucy, enjoy Andy's vibrant art, lap up Tennyson's words, and am very thankful for the work Fleming contributed to the world of science and medicine, the person whose birthday falls today that matters most to me is that of my beloved husband, Tony.

As he turns a spritely 31 this sizzling hot August morn, today will be the seventh of his birthday I've gotten to celebrate with him, and I could not be more elated about that fact.

Tony and I are both "summer babies" (with my birthday falling in July), and we love the fact that there's less than a month separating our special days. The time between the two seems to hold a special sort of excitement and anticipation, fuelled on my birthday first and the lead up to his today.

There's a cake to be baked, meals to prep, gifts lay out, and myriad other birthday details to tend to, so today's post won't be a giant one.

Instead, as the searing golden sun cuts a path across the sleepy horizon, I'll cheerfully send all those - who like me - are fans not only of your loved ones' birthdays, but b-days in general, to cheek out not one, not two, but three different delightful Flickr groups devoted solely to vintage birthdays!

-Vintage Birthday Parties

-Birthday Cakes of the Past

-Happy Vintage Birthday to You

{This sweet little dark eyed tot from the 1940s, whom I discovered in the Happy Vintage Birthday to You Flickr group, reminds me in many ways of my husband in his baby pictures from the same age. Both were so cute and eager to dig into their birthday treats! Image via Zellaby on Flickr.}

I feel honoured and blessed to share in this special day with Tony. He's an wonderful, intelligent, caring, sweet, funny, loving man and I am truly grateful that I can to spend my life with him - and celebrate his today! (Wearing my very favourite vintage party dress, natch!)

Happiest birthday, my darling, here's to countless more August sixths together!

Celebrating Canada Day with a new Vintage Canada Flickr group

Good morning and happiest Canada Day wishes! As followers of this blog may know, this is my first post in about three weeks. As discussed here, I recently underwent two investigative medical procedures and have been trying to recoup from those in the days since they transpired (thank you deeply to all those who left sweet, caring comments and sent emails my way for a speedy recovery, I am so fortunate to have understanding friends like you).

At the moment I'm not as far along in that regard as I'd ideally hoped for, so later on today I will be posting another round of Vintage 365 entries (in one larger post) to see us through the first part of July.

For right now though, let's bypass that topic and delve into celebrating Canada Day! The first (and one of only a couple) statutory holidays that we canucks get treated to each year, Canada Day marks the day when, back in the thick of the Victorian era (1867, to be exact), three Canadian colonies official banned together to form a nation (Canada!). In the years and decades that followed other provinces and territories joined the Dominion of Canada, to ultimately create the vast, maple leaf flag waving, country that we know and love today.

Toasted annually with firework celebrations, community parties, outdoor barbeques, and the sporting of red and white (not to mention many maple leaves painted on the cheeks of young and old alike), Canada Day not only honours the founding of this beautiful nation, it also pays homage to the many elements that help make it a fantastic place to live today.

Sometimes also referred to Canada's Birthday, July 1st, is the perfect day to stop and think about all of the things that one loves and holds dear about our marvelous nation. From a bounty of important rights and freedoms to a splendid melting pot culture, sunsets and rises so dazzling they defy adequate description to the home-grown cuisine of this fine nation that includes everything from perogies to poutine, it would be impossible for anyone living under Canadian skies not to have a lengthy list of things they treasure about Canada.

To mark today's holiday - and in the spirit of my love for all things vintage - I recently created a new Flickr group (adoring Flickr groups as I do!) devoted entirely to helping preserve images of Canada's past.

Dubbed, fittingly enough, Vintage Canada, this group is devoted to corralling and celebrating Canadian images (photographs, postcards, illustrations, advertisements, etc) that depict Canada and Canadians in the years prior to 1965.

Though the emphasis is on mid-twentieth century images (which I bet doesn't surprise anyone here who knows me), any early Canadian image (that's family friendly) is more than welcome to call this group home.

{1. Colourful Canada, 2. Capilano Canyon and Crown Mountain, Vancouver, BC, Canada, 3. Laura (Lauga) Ann (Hanna) Chris Arny in Lundar, 4. Busy Beavers, 5. MY MOTHER IN LAND ARMY 1943., 6. Mom & Dad , 7. 5 Sisters, Stjana Lauga Arny Hanna Rakel. 1915, 8. Drapeau de la Province de Québec, 9. Ottawa, Canada - Large Letter Postcard, 10. Michael in RCAF uniform, 11. Victorian Album 7 - (1880's-1890's), 12. Oshawa Generals Hockey Team 1937., 13. Chateau Lake Louise.

A very Canada Day approved selection of some of the stellar images that members have already added to the Vintage Canada Flickr group. Don't you just love that smiling vintage Mountie in the middle?! }

If you're on Flickr and enjoy Canadian history and/or interesting vintage images in general, I would absolutely love it if you joined the group (should you have any vintage Canadian images of your own, please don't hesitate to share them!).

As the sun embraces the sky this fine summer morning, I'm thinking of you each and am wishing you all an utterly terrific Canada Day (whether you live on canuck soil or not). Later today I'll be posting the aforementioned entry with another roundup of Vintage 365 entries to see us through the next little while.

 

Happiest Canada Day, sweet friends!!!