Happy Easter! Welcome Spring!

 Hello! Happy holidays, everyone.

March is fading, still windy but we've seen a sunny sky and the temps have hit 50 degrees at last.

My family is away , enjoying the fun of spring skiing, so I've kept my Easter decorating to a minimum, a few adorable prim bunnies in the big blue trencher...

[from Michelle, at Olde Farmhouse Primitives]...I added wool wrapped prim carrots from her blog tutorial.

And mostly just filling the house with spring flowers...

 

 

 

 

I was lazy, I decided I actually like the bright foil wrapper on these hyacinths...

Heavenly blue!

 

 

Later I added my fake chocolate bunny prop.

He looks so real, doesn't he?

My beach-found large bell jar has proved a very useful item for centerpiece decor!

I put a pot of slow blooming tulips by the back door. I was tidying my deck and found my odd pink crock, just had to have it out for Easter!

When my family arrive home tomorrow, tired from skiing and the long drive, I plan to serve devilled eggs [my nod to Easter Eggs]...on one of my vintage-y egg plates.

And my friend Melody's wonderful brisket [recipe at the end], an assortment of multi seed croissants, whole grain Cuban rolls, horseradish  spread, and a sweet broccoli-carrot slaw.

All made ahead so we can eat whenever the kids and friends arrive. Won't matter if they get home at noon [slushy slopes!] or 8 PM [powder! awesome]....

Happy holidays to everyone !

love

       lizzy

               gone to the beach....

  

 

 

 

 

 

 

*****PS This is the BEST brisket! Better than crock pot and soooo easy:****

 

Melody's Brisket

 

Marinated Brisket

 

2 Tablespoons liquid smoke [optional, I don't use it]

2 teaspoons garlic powder

2 teaspoons onion powder

3 teaspoons celery salt

½ teaspoon seasoned salt

4 Tablespoons Worcestershire sauce

(1-2 teaspoons hot sauce, if desired)

 

Place fresh or thawed brisket in oven bag.  Pour ½ of the marinade over one side of the brisket, then turn the bag over and pour the remaining marinade over the other side.  Close the bag with a twist-tie and place in refrigerator for 8 hours or overnight, turning occasionally to re-coat surface of the meat.  The next day put the bagged brisket in a baking dish (fatty side up, if there is one), snip a few small holes in the center top of the bag, and bake at 250°F for 6 to 8 hours.

What Was in My Pocket



waiting for spring cleaning

Hi everyone!

Hasn't this March seemed endless and grey and dismal! March is a horrid month, in my opinion. And this year I've been kept indoors all month with a rather severe ''respiratory'' infection". lol, NOT to be confused with a mundane cold, I understand. This thing that ''got'' me has involved large turquoise pills, codeine cough syrup, and an very expensive inhaler gadget. And tomorrow, a chest xray.

Good thing [no, not really, but...] the local hospital is still filled with sand and debris from Sandy because otherwise I fear I might be headed that way.
 [Google images photo]

The worst part is that the icy wind makes it hard for me to breathe and the doctor [who looked appalled by my daily winter walking regimen] has suggested I remain indoors or only take short local walks. I know I love the beach but I don't think I understood how much my creativity is linked to my long hours spent idly beachcombing---walking, searching, thinking. [and so if you also read my writing blog, you'll understand its lack of updates.]
Click to enlarge all photos

 However before the medical people got involved I did get out, searching for goodies left by winter storms.
 Look at this giant light bulb! Is it new---or old?

All my life I've yearned for the joy of finding an old glass fishing net float. So when I spied this glass thing buried in the sand, I crossed my fingers and dug it out.

Nope. Just an odd huge old light bulb! See its size!
 Keep in mind the plate is like the size of a large serving platter...

I also found this smaller light bulb. Imagine them surviving in the winter gale waves.  Odd items, but inspiring. They can, if they ever dry out, perhaps be tiny terrariums? ''Snow'' and sand filled Christmas ornaments? Something fun anyway.

Then a beautifully weathered, but not old bottle.

Its shape seems so familiar, what is it!?
 An old Perrier maybe?

And a pretty assortment of small junks, tossed into my favorite spongeware bowl.

 The large glass piece, below, front, is old, probably part of a canning jar. It has a dimple on the side where there must have been a wire bail attached.

And interesting 1/2" thick safety glass embedded with now-rusty wire mesh. [Airplane? boat, lighting device ? What is such glass used for, I wonder?]

My kids have perhaps done better than I at finding real treasures.

Note the gorgeous jewel-like lavender old bottle neck. 100 years old, spent washing in the tides.

 

A c.1900 barbershop shaker bottle-top...still has tiny cork ball.

 

 

This Seven-Up bottle piece, what was the slogan?
 Anyone recall? edit: Hunter found the slogan! Yay! "Seven-Up You like it, It likes you!" See the word likes? I couldn't imagine....The link is in her comment at the end.

And a very nice late 1800s bottle neck, pale aqua blue...

and sand dollars...again so fragile....yet they survive.

 

 

 

love

          lizzy

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

 

 

Shell strings rescued from the deck eaves during Sandy.

Haven't moved since!

And my collection of binoculars....

And interesting local images c. 1926, just a a nor'easter....[I apologize to the unknown source, for absence of attribution].

 

 

They're Back!

Hi everyone! Welcome spring!

When I was a little girl growing up in the Midwest we waited each spring for the first robin to return. On Cape Cod my dad always planted lots of holly bushes so the birds would find berries when they arrived in early March. Here at the beach we don't have many songbirds, so I watch for the return of the oystercatchers, my first harbingers of spring.

These funny colorful shorebirds arrive each year promptly by St. Patrick;s Day and this year, despite the icy weather, they are here!

I was so happy to see them.

They seem shy again, but healthy and energetic.

Look at their bright eyes! [click to enlarge all pix]

They were bathing and dancing and preening, their mating ritual.

I was a bit concerned that they would find their beach habitat too changed. Not so much this pair, the eastern pair, since their area is more or less as it was before H. Sandy.

But the pair that nests to the west will find no dunes or high ground for their nest this year.

They lay their eggs right in the sand, just slightly hollowed out, no real nests. I hope they move far enough above the new tideline to be safe.

But they seem to use their birdy GPS to lay their eggs in exactly the same spot each year, no matter how the winter storms have changed the sand and tides.

Even the water looks warmer, doesn't it?
So beautiful. So fresh.

And the beach is huge at low tide.

The only bit of color caught my eye...

A rarely seen bright orange scallop...

And look! Our boardwalk is going into place.

Its arrival makes me think of hot summer days and sultry nights. Summer will be here soon!?
Oh I hope so!

love

     lizzy

gone to the beach....