I wiped away the weeds & foam. / I fetched my sea-born treasures home... Ralph Waldo Emerson







Friday, April 8, 2022

Out and About ~ Magpie* Junk and Daffodils

 


[magpie* in the meaning of collector of weird junk; we have NO magpies here at the beach!]

Hello, hello, another Friday as April in its grey cold glory trundles along towards spring. I have only trivial things to report, I must say. It was a not-good week, with recurring health issues and fails, very hard to be positive and upbeat.

Not to mention it rained and rained and rained.



Of course Mo and I I must venture out at least twice daily. As you can see  Mo is underwhelmed by spring walks.


This week the forsythia has bloomed, and a few spots of daffodils.



Pansies and crocuses in pots by front doorways:



Last fall I offered the HOA a donation of spring bulbs to bring us some April pretty but my idea was firmly shot down and rudely refused. "We employ a gardening service, no freebies or butt-in wanted.'' How sad, how rude.



This is an area of benches that Mo and I enjoy in the summer when the hydrangeas bloom. It has two meagre daffodil groups, nothing else. It would be nice planted up with early crocus, daffs, tulips?


Rudeness seems to be in ascendence in my little world. I ordered new rain pants from Eddie Bauer, end of season sale. Fleece lined! Cozy, yes/ fit ok, yes. BUT they fall off  and the waist tie won't tie tight enough to remedy that. I wrote asking about a refund / credit, as in:  shouldn't pants stay ON, please? And was promptly told only unworn garments can be returned. sigh....Anyway back to our travels.

 Recent odd "magpie" finds:


Yes I picked them up and brought these home. 


What are they? Tiny computer components? Both have moving parts but are minuscule and mysterious.

And then there was this little religious statue, poking out of the mud along the road. It's tiny maybe  1.5", quite heavy. Silver pot metal, the turquoise is a reflection of my phone case.



I left it for a week, in case someone had lost it, even though it was quite buried, just the bottom rim showing. 


I don't know who this is, I thought St.Christopher, but the bottom says, "a little bit of luck" which sounds more St-Patrick. Will it bring me luck if I give him a home, I wondered.



I am not comfortable with random religious items in my home, not sure what will happen to him. Maybe back into the ocean? Or a freebie on etsy, ''just pay postage'' giveaway, my usual way of passing such items on. 

.......................................

One rainy day I pressed this PA German looking top. Look at these seams, this lady never heard of perfect yet scanty 1/4" seams allowances, did she. And the orange solid bleeds like crazy.





And I bought these blocks on FB Marketplace, rather hurriedly. I thought I was buying a small Chinese Lanterns top! [I planned to add the black handles that are missing]~ But no, just these 2 blocks. Cute though. I have another baby bunny block to go with the Elephant/Balloons 9 Patch too.






And last~  my tiny painting of the week IG art challenge, @roomportraitclub. UGH! I knew it would be hard, but decided to try. Isn't it awful....though do keep in  mind how tiny the paper cards are.






Below is a photo of the inspiration room, a UK shepherds' hut similar to a gypsy wagon/ guest house.

I lacked motivation to repaint ''the Chair'' from a few weeks ago. Maybe tomorrow or never.

............................

Hope your weekend is great, filled with egg dying and Bunny Egg hunts; matzo ball soup and family time planning. Or just a few minutes out in the elusive springtime sun.

Easter post midweek, come visit again.


love 

lizzy 

gone to the beach...

PS. My new crucial glasses are a fail, I cannot reconcile the double vision yet , can't safely drive. Just a horrible disappointment, please forgive my not too cheery post. [They do work well enough to improve walking around, so may get out to the shoreline soon.]

view from my chair, out to the beach...


This goofy mini-monster of a plant is a Vidalia onion heel, now regrowing. Gotta get her out into a pot soon.



6 comments:

  1. Hi! Yeah, not a great week here, either - cloudy and really windy. No nasty storms, though, so could be worse!

    Interesting finds! I think the orange and clear thing is a fuse - one part of it is 'blown'. May have come from someone's air conditioner or something? It's a pretty hefty fuse. Not sure what the blue thing is, it's pretty curious. Looks like it might be some sort of connecter but I can't enlarge it enough to guess. If someone else knows please tell me because now I'm curious!

    The little figurine I *THINK* is a St. Joseph, as that's the only one I could find holding a child and lilies. He's kind of the patron saint of everything from what I read - home, family, travelers, etc. Maybe one of your other readers will know more.

    Spring is here - trees are starting to bloom but unfortunately for me, they're also doing their pollen thing so my allergies are being annoying! I'm kind of tired of being cold, though, so maybe I'll like summer more this year?? Have to wait and see.

    LOL, a couple nights ago I sneezed while holding my tablet and fumbled it, and somehow managed to buy two kindle books... They look interesting, though, so I won't return them! I've been on a book binge lately and have bought enough to see me through the summer even if I gave up fanfic for a while. Must be spring fever or something.

    I hope this weekend improves, and next week gets even better! Give Mo a little hug for me and I'll keep my fingers crossed that your eyes can adjust to your glasses a little better. Been there, done that, and completely understand how frustrating it is!

    Take care and thanks for sharing!

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  2. That statue was a fun little find. I bring all kinds of stuff home from my walks -- some treasures, some not. Some to be upcycled. How really abrupt of the HOA to respond the way they did. I imagine if you did try to do anything out of the ordinary they'd probably rip it right up because it wasn't part of the plan. Really very silly that people think in such limiting ways. I planted onions a couple of weeks ago and the tops have grown so much.

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  3. Commiserations on your sight issue. I hope time improves things.
    It's always lovely to see your Forsythia pics.
    Stop beating yourself up about your little watercolours. Keep going and just enjoy the paint and colours - making it your own (as you do with your quilts), rather than a photographic copy.
    I'm still smiling at Mo's 'if I cant see you, you can't see me and walkies will be cancelled' tactic. So funny!

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  4. Speaking about painting...have you read the really encouraging and fun book by Natalie Goldberg: "Living color--A Writer Paints Her World"..When I began fooling around with watercolors this book really allowed me to "try my hand" and not get too critical of my results...i did my "Dancing Piano" and Tom sitting in a chair...as I look back on them I am amazed at how they look...perhaps this how I "See" the world ( Grandma Moses style?)
    Anyway--thought it might perk you up a bit;)))
    The HOA doesn't sound too welcoming of suggestions...hmmm...
    I hope your weekend finds you feeling better--it is so difficult when your health issues take over, isn't it? hugs (while icing my back)
    Julierose

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  5. I think your little painting is great. It makes me happy to paint something. Even if it's not perfect, at least I was able to find some joy. Hope you start seeing better soon.

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  6. Well I love your little miniature paintings, this one immediately brought to mind a beach cabana, so eclectic and charming. Maybe you could write a little story around each one and bind them together in a handmade book.

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