Now, back in high school my maiden name was Buthman. It was pronounced "Booth" not "But" but I rarely heard it pronounced properly in those days. My cousin, Gary, (who lives in Santa Cruz and has two boys who both surf and whose pictures I have posted here) did it right when he made the last name a nickname and spells it "Boothy". Now everyone he knows pronounced it correctly. But that wasn't the case when I was in school.
My sister is eleven months younger than I am and was in a grade behind me in school. But we both hung out with basically the same friends or at least some of our friends overlapped a bit. I got so sick of hearing it mis-pronounced that I used to preface it with "It's Buthman...rhymes with Ruth...she's Bertha, I'm Martha". And so that last part stuck. Forever we have been known as Bertha and Martha to each other. So, when Kim posted a photo of her latest works of art (matchboxes that she hand-decorates) I just had to send away for the one that had the story about Martha on the inside.
According to Kim, that phrase "pull up your socks Martha" is one that speaks to getting some backbone, standing up for yourself, speaking your mind so-to-speak. At least that is what I remember, maybe I'm wrong. But no matter what it actually means, I loved this little story in a box. And so it sits, on my mantle, just like you see it here next to my hand-carved little men. And I am old enough to remember having worn garters on my nylon stockings! What a pain in the "you-know-what" they were! But that was all we had. And that was just in the 60's. Not so long ago really. We had really great music but we were not that advanced on so many other levels.
So, thank you Kim for all your hard work and for sharing your work with the public. You can look at her blog at www.artinredwagons.blogspot.com I think that you will enjoy her beautiful photography, her beautiful water-colors, and her great ideas for so many other things. She has an Etsy shop too. Talented lady! You should see today's post of some sweet little knitted crowns she made for two lucky little babies! Where do people who have small children like Kim get all these ideas AND time to make them. I must be doing something wrong! It's all I can do to post on this blog occasionally.
ha that is pretty cool...i like the interior and the line that tells the story...cool find...
ReplyDeleteI'm glad you like it! The "pull up your socks" phrase is, from what I can tell, a british one. Similar to "suck it up" or "keep a stiff upper lip," but my good friend and I say it to each other when one of us needs a little kick in the rear. Kind of like saying - "come on, you can do it!"
ReplyDeleteI remember the "garter age" as well and narrowly escaped that particular torture as I was a teen in the 70's ... just jeans by then and the occasional pantyhose on a special occasion requiring a dress :)
love that phrase and your names..hee hee
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