Z is for Endings-You know, XYZ?

And Z is for zinnias, the adorable posy that fills the farmstands at summer's end.

They appear in bunches, set in jelly jars on the roadsides of Cape Cod...

and my farmers market guys sell lollipop-like bunches for $2.oo for two dozen.

They don't grow well here at the beach, no space and they develop a strange powdery mold.

To me they are the flower of late summer, the flower of the farm and fields.

It's hard to be sad that summer is almost over when the house is filled with old pitchers stuffed with zinnias.

They sure do make me smile!

enjoy!

love

      lizzy

           gone to the beach......

Empty Nest

Hi everyone! Is your house lovely and quiet after summer's bustle? Kids go back to school? Or maybe (gasp) moved out for good? Or maybe you're a student or a teacher yourself, back into the routine.

I know of one mom who definitely won't be sad to find an empty nest....and soon, she hopes! All summer I've been watching a mama gull with her big loud demanding baby! You may remember him from his King of the Hill sandcastle pix earlier this year.

He had his unappealing brown and grey first year feathers that make him look bigger than his parents...

Now he has become a little lighter. But unlike the other fledged babies this guy still follows after his mother, squawking and fluttering and making a scene. If she lets him he will tap on her beak with his own beak, a signal for the parent bird to regurgitate food for its infants. But he is no infant. Sometimes she feeds him and sometimes she stalks off in a huff. (By now she is a single parent, gulls do not remain in pairs...).

So the other day I was interested to see that he was trying to fend for himself. Poor little man, I think he is a trifle, um, developmentally challenged? (He is on the right , above. See his treasure?)

his "find" has been dropped! It is at the horizon lne...

You may know that gulls search out whole fresh clams at the tide line. They then carry the clam high in the air and drop it, over and over again until the shell shatters and they can eat the fresh clam meat.

again....

 Our boy was following directions, trying hard!

Unfortunately his "clam" was a bright green tennis ball!



and again



He'd fly it up high in the air. Make the drop...and it would bounce!

see the tennis ball? It is in the water to the left of his pointing wing

He did it over and over again, maybe fifty times while I watched.

(I felt sorry for him! Maybe he was sooo hungry? I brought him bread the following day....)

You can see the mom watching...

she's vigilant. And a bit embarrassed?

And the supremely uninterested rest of the small flock!

our boy is in the top right corner...

They would know if that green thing was yummy.

He ended up way down the beach, still with his prize---and pride---intact.

He's taking his bows! He hears the applause!
Hope his mom gave him some dinner!

love

            lizzy

               ....gone to the beach

Rain Day

We had a rainy Sunday....

After all the end-of-summer craziness and guests---back-to-school! Holidays! Not back-to-school---more holidays! And ongoing household update: renew-repair-replace....

 And everyone just had to get a few more beach days in...

A quiet, home-alone rain day was pretty special.

I filled some orders for lavender hearts (thank you, dear friends!)

And then I worked on my Found-object/ Old blocks quilt....

The cheddar background seems very Fall-like and the vaguely patriotic feel appealed to my post 9/11 sadness. (Last night I took out the trash late at night, looked to the west...and there were the two blue columns of light reflecting on the gathering clouds. Blue lights where the Towers once stood.)

Putting together a quilt top from all this disparate, unmatched blocks is very fun, like a puzzle. And a bit of "which comes first" that must be all planned out ahead of time.

I find myself relying on my old designer skills, dressmaking skills...no chalk marks, just notches in the sashing to be sure everything fits, for example.

And should I mark the seam line or the 1/4 cut edge? And so on.

It's not a fast process. But I'm having fun.

PS We ended our rain day with grilled cheese sandwiches, used up the artisan bread and tomatoes form the farmers market. Fresh dill pickles.

Homemade applesauce with plums, served warm with cinnamon. Cozy...

love

           lizzy

               ......gone to the beach