Mothers Day

This was my mother's favorite painting [below], by her favorite artist...a postcard copy of it was tucked under the glass top of her dressing table for as long as I can remember....

Vase of Roses
Vincent van Gogh 1890

I suppose she knew it was white roses....but she always thought of this as apple green wall, apple green vase and apple blossoms. So perfect for May and Mothers Day.
Both my parents loved springtime and took great joy in watching their yard and woods come into bloom.

My dad was especially fond of the urban plantings of Bradford pear trees, like these in my town by the sea....

All the towns and villages here plant these wonderful trees.

at the end of this small street is the open Atlantic Ocean!

What a joy to see the gnarled black limbs suddenly burst into white sudsy mounds, like snowfall in May---only better.


And yes...at the end of *this* little block is
also the Atlantic Ocean and miles of white sand beach

When each of their children were born, my dad planted a dogwood tree for my mother on the next Mothers Day as a special gift, a living remembrance, of each birth. A pink dogwood for my older brother, white for me. And each time they moved to a new house (hand built by my dad with my mom at his side, handing him the hammer, getting him a beer, cleaning up the mess. OMG, the mess...) he'd plant two dogwoods for her on the first Mothers Day in their new home.

I was always impressed that it was a day he showed his pride and reverence for the mother of his kids...it was always more their day to celebrate, though as I grew up I sent cards and bottles of Paris perfume, perhaps a new shared journal or a treasured book....

dunes with wild apple tree or shadblow

And all these years later I like to picture the dogwoods in bloom, back in Ohio and Illinois and on Cape Cod. Alone now...but still standing strong. I hope.

love

             lizzy

gone to the beach....

PS I was thrilled to see pink dogwood blossoms for Mothers Day, on my favorite blog, 52 Flea. Her photos are exceptional! Here's the link, take a look! (Laura lets her pix tell her stories, she doesn't ramble on like I do! So I know you'll enjoy!)

love

lizzy

Spring?

Hi!

I just returned from the very barren beach!

The wind is from the north at 20+mph and the temp is hovering in the mid forties! I've seen many Januaries that were as warm or warmer...

The poor shorebirds are shivering..and only three piping plover nests so far, possibly due to the chill, but more likely the result of overzealous "beach grooming" daily. And maybe only two oystercatcher nests? That is sad to me, usually I have four families right on my own beach/ dunes...many more scattered along the couple miles of beach.

I remember some years as many as 16 plover cages, the protective fencing that is put up to stop predators from attacking the nests, stealing their eggs.

The two nesting plover pairs I showed you a month ago making their try-out nests have disappeared, moved on...again, the big earthmovers destroyed their nests! (I would like to see the grooming and raking curtailed, not stopped entirely; and it should/ could be confined to daily light cleaning along the tidelines of beaches used by humans. Even I don't want to sit in piles of trash, bitten by black flies! But look at that beach above. Does it look to you like it needs heavy-duty plowing/raking!? No!))
In the following pix you can see the deep treadmarks of the heavy trucks, right down into the waterline, where the birds feed!

Beach grooming is a bugaboo of mine, so I won't go into details. You can google the term or read about it here. On my beach, huge rakes plow acres of pristine sand, destroying birds habitats. My beach rarely has large seaweed deposits and if/when that is cleaned below the tide line by the daily raking. All raking removes the food sources which live in the wrack, or natural junk, thrown up by the sea....

On a positive note, a golfing friend sent this photo to me today, with the caption "Just Born, Their First Time on the Course!"

Note how teeny tiny the chicks are and how proudly vigilant the parents are, taking them on their first walk...yes, across our local golf course. I was thrilled. My friend knew I would be, even though as a golfer he's not so fond of geese. But Yay! Here is one goose family that beat the cruel conservation geese killers, yay and hooray!

love

       lizzy

gone to the beach....

Canadian geese photos by MH. Thx, M!

May Day

No May Basket flowers on my doorknob! How about you guys?

from Martha Stewart Living

I fought the traffic to the flea market...the roads were all closed due to a marathon and bikeathon and other  endeavors of an energetic and athletic nature. Making it a marathon of sorts for flea market lovers too. The market was HUGE! Just packed with dealers and shoppers and...(sigh)...junk.
Maybe I was overwhelmed?
On my list: linens, fabric, quilts, mason jars, other old jars/bottles. Blue and white plates & / or pitchers. Blue or turquoise graniteware. White ironstone. Old wooden crates. Pincushions. Old funnels. Old pearl buttons?

All a big, fat No! But: hey, lady, we got tube socks! Twofer ten bucks! (yeah, right.)...

Or all the usual beachy stuff? Ships in bottles, seashells, old seaglass collections, Nantucket baskets? Uh, no....

I did find this sweet pink silk heart...a hatpin holder, I think....

The note inside says it's in its original box.

C.1920?

And a couple new hearts for my silver hearts collection necklace.

(Yes, it's for sale on etsy with 100 silver hearts but I keep adding! because, well, ya never know?)...

A guy had adorable blue pansies and sweet lavender planted in handmade rustic little crates...so sweet! But OMG, $16.oo for three little pansy plants? C'mon.

And let's see, what else didn't I buy, but kinda liked: a couple ho hum blue transferware plates (Henry Hudson Discovers NY? Get out! Nice border though...); "silver" golf club cufflinks; an etched glass apothecary bottle with a silver ring top (new/ Marshall's-ish, but pretty); a blue & white striped pitcher (England); a b & w polka dot pitcher (Japan); some random boxes of buttons. A tiny b & w Willoware "Blue Willow" teapot, doll sized. Three or four neat old handmade tin cooky cutters, mixed in a batch of 50s aluminums and recent plastics; the guy said I had to buy ALL. Again, no.

How is it possible that a market with 200 dealers had not a single Mason jar?

PS I even brought quite a few dollars for the surly young man with the lovely Victorian jewelry, but he wasn't there. I am so wanting stacking rings, old wedding rings? And he had a beauty---rose gold with tiny flowers, miniscule pearls and paste centers, but last week when I gasped at the 138.oo price he looked down his nose at me (and he was sitting down! Good trick, my boy!) and he said, It is verrry old." Well, me too, lol---or at least that's how he made me feel!

MSL

Maybe next week?
What's on your flea market list? Any special wants or must-haves?

love

          lizzy

.....gone to the beach