Welcome Summer!

 

 

Hi! Happy Summer, everyone!
I know it is summer (despite being dressed in jeans and garden clogs and my rattiest cashmere turtleneck---planting dahlias...) because:
I hung my wooden flag out on my deck fence! It goes up every Memorial Day, in honor of those who have died fighting for our freedom, and tries hard to remain there til Christmas Eve. My dad made me this flag because the wind is too strong for a real fabric flag.

 

Green things have sprouted in the deck planters...

 

 

 

 

My little pot of pansies is so pretty! (Next spring I am putting pansies in all my pastel McCoy pots. Love this little guy.) Beach rocks set out to be weights to hold my sewing things.

 

 

And I know it's summer because I got stuck on the farthest beach drawbridge yesterday. It rarely opens and I am not too fond of sitting there high above the water, with the wind howling and my Jeep guzzling gas.
Some guy in a sport fishing boat sauntered through the opening while we sat. And sat, and sat.
I ordered new beach shorts from LL Bean.  And the ugly locust tree outside my window here where I write finally has some sweet little lime green leaves. Grey skies behind, it's been raining for days. No Mr. Mockingbird, I am sad.

And it must be summer because there's golf stuff strewn everywhere....

 And my phone gets photos of baby swans and geese sent from the golf course. So adorable.

 

 

the baby swans are crowded up behind their mama, on the right

 The best part, besides the baby swans and goslings, is that today I redid my house in its summer blues. sigh of relief! I was very tired of the neutrals I loved last January.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

A little touch of red! For red-white-and-blue...

 

Blue quilts here and on my bed....

 

All the living room quilts are ''rescue'' quilts from the flea market. I found them tattered and very soiled. In need of a good bath and some love.

 

 

 

I bought this blue polka dot star with the oh so good intentions of cleaning it and reselling it. But it's so wonderful, I love it. So far I am not able to part with it.

 

 

 

There's been quite a few blog posts lately, on the quilting blogs, about ''fussy cut''quilt blocks. Look at this, see how the maker cut the big polka dots and tiny pansy motifs to center in each diamond piece of the star. Even the backing, not shown, is a polka dot, baby sky blue with cream dots. It's a keeper, right?

 

I use only blue and/ or old white china in the summer:

 

 

This is one of my best collections! below  These are 19th century ''carpet bowls'' or carpet balls. Mixed in with modern thrifted versions. The antique carpet balls are like giant clay or china marbles. I love their plaid and calico designs. [the flash makes the colors too garish, actually they are wonderfully aged and subtle. I'll try to take the photo with a different camera tomorrow]

This is a bonus shot for Mel who always wants to see real life and mess and clutter, lol! Note the case of bottled water! The slippers under the coffee table, the snuggle-y throw, the wilty but cherished bouquet from Mother's Day.
Do click to enlarge to look for dust bunnies, and sand dunes.

The large flag behid the swan was also made by my dad. It was attached to the side of my parents' grey shingled house on Cape Cod. My brother very kindly  got it down and saved it for me. I treasure it.
The only grey at my house is the sky.......
  .....................wishing you sunny skies!

 

 

 

love

 

lizzy

 

gone to the beach~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~



the evil arctic terns have arrived!
They divebomb and poop on innocent beach persons.
Me!

 

 

 

golf course photos from a friend.

Pretty Things

Hi! So tell me, how do you feel about elephant gray? Monkey brown? A few years ago I was reading a ''mommy blog'' [I have NO clue why!] and the young woman blogger described her future baby's ''perfect layette'': cashmere hand knits! The colors she loved were Elephant grey and monkey brown! LOL?

Tres chic? So cool? But kinda takes the fun out of it all.
However I do keep an eye on trends, a leftover habit from my designing days. I noted that my friends are redoing their cottage here---all in shades of gray. My kids wear almost only grey [''or black, or dark wash denim, mom!", my last four cars have been grey...you get the picture. Gray / grey is the new black.

gray boardwalk, blue stucco wall

For my etsy shop for spring and summer, I have made quite a few ocean / coastal/ sea shore grey items.

 I do love gray and white polka dots! And these new paper roses.

Starfish and dandelion puffs! Very cute!

 

 

 I am also doing square and rectangular sachets, in lemon verbena/ lemon balm, as well as lavender. For people who find my hearts too frilly. And/ or do not care for the scent of lavender.

"chic gifts for the modern woman" I laugh but these do make wonderful hostess gifts, teacher gifts, party favors...and so on.

Squares are modern, chic.

I also made neutral muslin sachets, very natural and organic. Handstamped.

 

If you love my white hearts, no worries! I'll be doing a group of them before I skeeve off to the beach  for the summer.

 

 

I also am adding some beachy items, including my special beach gatherings and treasures, below.

What's your favorite summer color? (mine is maybe white....)

 Gray, white, blue (lemon yellow, tangerine!) but ...no monkey brown. Ever.

love

lizzy

gone to the beach




\wet sand = gray



 

mother of pearl grey sunset, from M

all photos are by me except the beautiful sunset, which is from my friend M, thanks, M!

 

PS I looked it up! Grey is UK English, Gray is US English, though either is correct. Grey with an e looks right to me, I must be reading too many English mysteries....

Flea Market Blues---But in a Good Way

Hi! The shopping theme this week has serendipitously been Summer Blues.
Sometimes, sigh, I just get lucky. [in a flea market-y sort of way, no snickers, please.]

Recent finds: lots of beautifully aged blue transferware.

This style is called Aesthetic Movement [1890-1910-ish?], and the designs mimic the patterns seen in late 1800s Japanese prints and also are reminiscent of crazy quilts.

This is a really nice ''chop plate''.

These crescent plates were set at the edge of one's dinner plate to hold one's gnawed-on bones! Ick! I love its crackle and brown spots. The small plates are great for holding scissors and thimbles or beads and buttons, so they tend to just accumulate on my work table.

The plate, below,  is such a sweet pale blue color. The sun was so bright I wasn't sure it it was faded blue-green or just green. Again, cracks and stains, only I love these babies, I guess. 
[I wonder if they're happy---rescued from a dark attic, dusted off, and treasured again with a new purpose? I hope so They bring me such simple joy.]

The dealer was packing up in a huff, I am not sure why because the market was busy. I'd have chosen more things if he wasn't packing faster than I could look.
A tiny ''pretty'' from the thrift shop---Maybe 1940?---love the flowers even if they are just mass produced and printed. Again, sweet holding a spool of thread, or tucked beneath a pitcher of pansies? On a bathroom vanity holding a pretty gust soap or two?

More glass baubles, including [not shown] a new to me glass thimble.

A stop at the thrift shop on the way home was also very fruitful.

Look at this graniteware bucket! The most gorgeous blueberry blue. I will fill it with a pot of tiny daisies for my back door stoop.

 

Or more lavender?

 

 

Nice vintage souvenir seashells for my etsy shop.

These big conchs make great beach house doorstops. Throw open the screen doors and let those summer sea breezes in...

And a seashell box, either for my collection or repurposed as a small sewing box. (Is the purple interior just too awful? It's growing on me...because new ones are red, so this is older.]

 

A primitive antique tiger maple rolling pin with a lovely patina. If it doesn't sell in my eBay shop I will keep it and happily use it. New modern pins just don't compare.

This was a tough decision: An old cheese box, maybe?

Already recycled once with a Christmas painting.

I am not a purist about my box collection: I have pantry boxes that are antique big bucks Shaker, others are authentic old PA primitive boxes, and some [the most treasured] my dad made for me---but is this just too junky? And too huge? Nope! [grin]. It IS huge but it came home happily with me.

 

I plant to paint it with these new chalk paints I've been reading about and am excited to try....

Here's hoping the rains stop for the flea market on Sunday. This may be the last spring / sumer flea market for me because I rarely venture out on summer beach weekends and hard as it is to imagine, next week is Memorial Day! The official first weekend of summer. Have a great weekend!

love

lizzy

gone to the beach!