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....