Summer Begins/ Winter Ends?

 

Hi everyone! Memorial Day weekend has finally arrived, bringing summer to the beach. Or so we always hope. Actually a gale is blowing in a storm or fog, it can't decide. Every year I say I will get my seeds planted by April 1st and every year it is too cold. This past week it was warm enough to garden a bit, just my deck pots of course. I ordered bags of fresh potting soil that holds moisture via Amazon. Sadly I didn't get my pots repainted; maybe next year I'll replace these.

I'm very pleased with my lilies and coreopsis. Years of successful regrowth.

This year I was going to just do two "tropical ''pots [my son gave me beautiful cannas bulbs for Mother's Day], but in the end I couldn't resist my seeds and the pleasure of my annual summer zinnia and wildflowers pot gardens. I started with seeds from the Dollar Store. I give them credit, they are germinating, see above on the right.

But it was not enough, so I ordered more seeds. Heirloom zinnias and marigolds from Baker Creek Heirloom Seeds .HERE

I didn't know scabiosa was a type of marigold.

I love their packaging, both their seed packs and even their padded brown envelope. 

I wonder if ''pink celery'' is rhubarb? I 'll have to look it up.

The order included gift seeds, extra seeds on the ornamental artichokes and free purple carrots, all of which I'll pass on to my friend who vegetable gardens. We'll see how the seeds do: my dad, an expert gardener, didn't hold with using heirloom seeds due to, in his opinion, low germination and disappointing yields/ flowers. Give him modern hybrids all the way. But then again, he had a BIG garden and grew enough produce, including a cranberry bog! and fruit trees, to last almost all year; I have two pots.

Speaking of friends I made these dish towels for a friend who is so caring and helpful when i need her.

Did you know that currently "Coastal Granny Chic" is a thing? We laughed and laughed. I have had this look all my life, this year I am ''in'', next year I'll be out. Here's the link. Coastal Grandma Chic

Dish towels now cost a fortune! Who knew? I looked at some on IG, linen towels run $40.00 each. For my friend, I used linen remnants from my stash, one grey, one ecru. I backed it with the batik from her worn out duvet cover, as we await the arrival of its replacement fabric.

To hold the layers together I tacked the center with a rarely used decorative stitch. Tiny starfish? Dandelion seed heads?

If I was making these for myself I'd probably want to add handmade antique lace. But I refrained. I hope she likes and uses them.

Mushrooms and toadstools! Why do we love them? Remnant memories of fairies and gnomes hiding under red toadstools in nursery tales? Note the turquoise 'shroom, Penny---lol.

This is a card I found in my Trader Joe's cards stash. Sadly I needed a condolence card, which I didn't have. [Kudos again to Amazon for delivering a lovely "Little Prince'' quote card the following day.]

And why do I love this print, what I call a bellybutton dot. It was in my TQC Shop Scraps bag. Maybe it looks like mushroom caps?

If anyone recognizes it, pls tell me, I would love to have more than a 4" swatch. Thx!

Mo had the groomer and her spa van visit yesterday! He was so excited [because he knows she gives him big greasy chicken jerky sticks!] that she was coming he ran out and escaped. 

He knows he was naughty!

We sat on the curb til she arrived. Later, exhausted. But fluffy.

See the small cabinet behind Mo? I am thinking of emptying it out and using it to store my small quilts. Hmmm...

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Just for a final smile, another bee-fairy Pug from IG artist @sunammy So adorable.

Have a good first weekend of summer! 

Chill the wine, find your flipflops, summer is here! 

[You know that old Yiddish proverb? Man plans, God laughs.] It's pouring rain now.

love 

lizzy

gone to the beach....

Mid-May Miscellaneous---And Something for the weekend

                                                                   Tiny quilt by Sue McQuade

Good evening! Another Friday. A spring thunderstorm just rolled through. It's chilly, don't believe the Weather Bug fake news that it is hot in NYC. Here at the beach: 54* with a 20 mph wind off the ocean, from the east. Still wearing winter clothes. We did have one nice day this week. Mo and I had our first real sewing hour on the deck for summer '22. 

I only have one chair out. I put out Mo's deck bed but he was doing his guard dog surveillance and hid behind the flower pots.

Seeds and canna tubers planted too.

Old crock for my sewing table. 

I went inside briefly and ooops, when I came back 2 minutes later, look who hoisted his chubby butt up onto my chair.

He was all set. Not. Gonna. Move. Mommy Later Mo was not happy there was no ice cream though. Dogs DO have long term memories, he won't forget his decktime ice cream treat ever. [He  can count and tell time too. ]

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I didn't have my TQC handwork prepped so I sewed on my crows for my Winter Marsh quilt. I am trying to accumulate hand work for the summer afternoons ahead, but always run short

Yesterday I cut random cute-pie fabric squares for a requested real world/ child use doll quilt. It was fun to get out all my saved special fabrics.

I don't know anyone except me who loves these funny novelty prints. But I buy them and hoard them anyway. Maybe a 2 1/2 year old will like finding the pictures, like a simplified I Spy quilt? And she can sternly put her stuffies down for naps beneath it.

Sorted TQC Shop Scrap Bag for TQC sewalong too. Must cut tomorrow.

After looking at Cartwheels, hung on the jelly cupboard all week, I did decide to add the cheddar side borders. It makes the quilt look finished. I can always later cut them off. This will hopefully address a measurement issue too, as one vertical side came out about 1 1/2" longer than the other, despite all my efforts at staying even and square. Hopefully a little ease, a little stretch will make the difference less. 

For Winter Marsh, my May goal is/ was to make the five or seven smaller star blocks. I messed around with it for awhile but finally had to admit that a Hobby Lobby bundle of blue plaid fat eighths was never going to enough material to create the stars.I ordered this fat quarter set of plaids from Fat Quarter Shops. I love the flannels, deep rich blues and  soft but not stretchy or flimsy hand.

Isn't it pretty. Cozy too, for January's dark cold nights.

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In the cottage, I'm removing the earlier spring accents: eggs, forsythia, yellow throw pillows, adding a few touches.

The ugly locust tree bestowed upon me a tiny branch for my seaglass bottle, and it has sprouted.

I moved this framed tiny quilt out into  the living room. It was gifted to me by friend Sue McQuade, a dragonfly in the style of Janet Bolton, whose work we both admire. It always hangs in my sewing room, but I brought it out to welcome summer days ahead. Janet Bolton

I put my prize gift, the dandelion pin on it too. From my IG win. @weepeaceofnature 

And parrot tulips from my grocery delivery, 6 stems/ 5.oo. Made them last.

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This was the week I had my IV treatment [13 years, every 8 weeks! who knew?], so actually not much got done. I am enjoying this book, below, recommended by blog friend Julie. It is more an autobiography than a painting how-too manual. Her musings about her own paintings resonate the most, along with her gorgeous high colored paintings. Descriptions of other painters' works, such as Matisse, fall down a bit because we don't see, or always know, which paintings she is speaking of. When I have a chance I'll reread the other artists chapters while looking up their work online.

And I treated myself to Amazon/ Brit Box free subscription and watched Season Six of Ann Cleeves Shetland . Six episodes, one story arc with many sub plots. I admit I couldn't tell the bad guys, male and female, apart and sort of lost the plot so to speak, yet some of the sub plots were glaringly obvious, something that always irks me. And I couldn't remember who used to be married to, or lovers with, whom.

Loved the general story, actors, Shetland itself, all the distinctive Scottish sweaters, lambswool on Inspector Perez, cashmere on the woman candidate for Parliament, handknits, some spectacular, on others, especially Sister Caroline; good cars, clothes, parkas, interiors, beaches, town scenes. 

It fascinates me that Perez's second in command Tosh wears the same two plaid tartan blouses through six seasons! And Perez wears the same awful Hush Puppy shoes and doesn't try to hide his greying old dude stubble. Oddly Cassie, Perez's daughter, has aged about 15 years though  it's the same actress who now looks 35 instead of 15; everyone else is still the same age as in season one. Tosh's boyfriend has matured nicely, Sandy is still an idiot--and oh wow, huge cliffhanger season ending. If you like Ann Cleeves books [Sue, Penny?] give it a try! Her Vera series is up next, also free for a month. Something for the weekend.

[I can't get a link up that doesn't go to my account, so just google Shetland on Amazon or Netflix.]

Shetland books by Ann Cleeves

love

lizzy

gone to the beach....

Seaglass found by my kids after full moon eclipse high tide.

Mo and I, enjoying the longer brighter days. Pink snow and fairy garden rocks.

This week's art so far: The Pug Glare, Immortalized

I just had to share this painting from Room Portrait Club, with the artist's generous permission. @sosunammy https://www.instagram.com/sosunammy/ Many of her paintings and drawings have Pugs! This one is so amazingly creative. The pears [see last week's post] have taken flight and become Pugs who are also bees? Or fairies, or butterflies. But tiny pugs! I am smitten!

                                                                    by @sunammy