Summer Blues Lavender Hearts

I love going to Cape Cod each summer to replenish my supply of dried lavender buds....

                                                              

"The air was fragrant with a thousand trodden aromatic herb,

 and fields of lavender,
With the brightest roses blushing in tufts all over the meadows..."

                                                                    wm cullen bryant



There is the delightful Cape Cod Lavender Farm in Harwich, recenly featured in the June issue of Victoria magazine. It's so fun to see a familiar beautiful place in a gorgeous colorful magazine spead.

And I also stock up on wholesale dried lavender from The Atlantic Spice Company, in Truro, up near the flea market.

This past week I gathered my blues: vintage linens, homespuns, quilt scraps and cherished bits of early indigo calico...

and cut and sewed dozens of hearts which I then lugged out to the beach to stuff and stitch closed.

As I hid from the scorching 90* heat under our new beach umbrella, my daughter looked on and finally asked me if I sew the hearts at the beach so that they will have the scent not only of Cape Cod lavender but of sea salt air and sunshine and hot sand. What a lovely image, I thought.

Even though I really do so because it is a messy job and the overflow of lavender buds falls harmlessy into the sand instead of on my carpets or deck planks.

And busy hands make the long summer afternoons feel so much more productive.

I also made a group of white hearts, using vintage white and ecru linens and embroideries and tiny bits of antique lace. These are sold but I take orders if anyone would like the white Moonlight hearts....

The hearts in the photos are not finished...but they will be ready soon. See them in my etsy shop and on ebay, hopefully by late next week....

enjoy!


  love

                 lizzy

                  ....gone to the beach

Baby Squash and Fresh Picked Corn

My weekly farmers market is always a joy.

I love watching the season turn, the crops come in, each in its own special time of ripeness.

Nothing says midsummer like corn picked just this morning and sun-ripe tomatoes.
The corn is pale creamy yellow Long Island crop corn....

There's an immense variety of tomatoes now: I got one beefsteak..and a mixed heirlooms pint today.

The early onions are starting to be ready too...these are small sweet cipollinis for weekend grilling....

And these are baby pattypan squash. I had to get them, my family looooves squash! And they are so CUTE! But, um, what do I do now?

I looked them up...can be grilled with the onions and tomatoes, which sounds yummy. Or even better...sauteed in garlic butter...double yum!

Tomorrow I plan to bake a mixed fresh fruit tart I found here in the world of blogging! I'll let you know what happens...

love

                    lizzy

                                 gone to the beach...

Seaglass and Sunshine

Here at the beach we call seaglass "treasure"

and hoard it carefully in glass jars and old blueware bowls.

I was thrilled a few weeks ago on a trip to Home Goods (to buy more beach towels! But, no...) to find this very special collecting box.

It's even painted in my soft beachy colors...

Now I have a place to store my very best finds...the rare sandollars, the transferware shards, the oldest, loveliest glass...

It also makes a great display case for my seaglass and other treasures/ found object jewelry, doesn't it?

I wish I'd bought more display cases...there was one that said Seashells...I didn't get it! (What was I thinking?) but I am loving my "find"...

A thunderstorm cut short our beach Sunday so I just got all my newest jewelry up on my etsy shop too...come visit? Or you can buy something you love right here, just send me a comment and we can work out the details. I am offering 10% discount to clients who but through my blog or mention my blog when ordering on etsy.

Summer Blues, Moonlight Sands,  and Beach Cottage HEARTS will be on sale soon too...

So---enjoy! 

      

 

love

              lizzy

gone to the beach..........

                  

PS I am thrilled to tell you all that my Summer Dreams treasure necklace (it's in that box somewhere, or you can click on the link) has been featured in a new esty Treasury: Dream a Little Dream of Me, along with lots of other lovely dreamy treasures. Check it out! I am so excited and honored! love, lizzy

Warm & Cozy...in July???

Edited for better photos!  Original batch was yuck! Check it out?

I love to knit...but I don't consider myself a knitter. My finished work definitely reeks of homemade!

I love the feel of the yarns and the rhythmic busywork for my hands, as I sit and visit with friends who come to share my beach. It's waaay too hot to hold a big quilt on my lap, to sew those endless binding edges that are so patiently awaiting me...and so I knit.

I found this cool knitting and crocheting site: Ravelry through blogging. I love it---all these patterns available for a fast download (some even free!). I chose a scarf: Just Enough Ruffles by Laura Chau.

I forget if I found the yarn resource there too, or on another blog: Purl Soho . I wanted to buy cashmere (um, no. gosh, it is expensive!) but chose this lovely alpaca merino blend instead, in a soft pale grey-blue, like fog: Blue Sky Alpacas Suri Merino.

The photos don't do the color justice, it's so delicate and pretty. It reminds me of my hydrangeas as their colors begin to fade...so next winter when I wear it I'll remember today was one of the hottest days of July. And it will keep me toasty warm!

Feels so  soft and cozy too.

The pattern Just Enough Ruffles by Laura Chau is fun and fairly fast (I am a veerrry slow knitter). It has a weird wrap and shape thing going on here that I don't consciously understand, but so far it seems to be okay.

If I like the result I may try this Lion Brand Merino cashmere...It seems to be priced okay, until you see that the skeins are very small...but great colors. Palest shell pink? The turquoise?  For a special someone's Christmas, maybe?  bet it would make wonderful socks too.

I sure hope the ruffles work!

Have a great weekend!

love

                lizzy

   gone to the beach...

Summer Evenings

I love to walk on the beach on a hot summer evening...

I have a swim, do some beachcombing....

Lotta beachcombing competition in the summer! Some weekends the sand seems swept clean, lol...

I love to look at the big pieces that wash ashore. Wonder what this was? It's huge!

A pier or dock? A ship plank? The rusty bolts are almost as thick as my wrists...

And this wonderfully weathered big crate...

I see a chic beachy coffee table here: some whitewash, a glass top, baskets in the partitioned spaces.

So cool, right?

Lucky for me (and my living room) it weighed about 100 pounds.

Then I enjoy the glorious sunset! It looked like mother-of-pearl tonight.

PS Please remember! ONLY swim when beaches are open and there are lifeguards present! Never venture further than ankle deep as dusk approaches---and never take your eyes off your kids! Have fun, be safe. And please teach your kids to respect the shore birds [including gulls] and horseshoe crabs! It is their beach, not ours.

love

           lizzy

            ............gone to the beach