Gone To The Beach

Thursday, October 6, 2022

Garden Peeping Looking for Fall

and a new book!

Hi everyone! Today is beautifully summery after 4 whole days of winter storm. Yes winter briefly came to the beach, very cold and gale winds. Not sure if it was a remnant of H Ian, because tropical storms are usually warm and humid and move fast. I wore a down parka for four days under a long rain slicker, Mo dressed the same. Today is ice cream as usual on the deck though, so I am hopeful. Blog friend Nancy has a lovely post today about how the seasons merge and evolve slowly, it is not like we wake up October first and Fall is HERE.

This is my newest used book find. As you may recall just about the only hardcover books I buy are seasonal and nature guides for my collection [and a few cookbooks, I admit]. This is a beautifully illustrated children's book, though I truly do not see how one would use it as a learning or even ''getting them interested'' sort of read.

Apropos as the sky lately has been busy with skeins of geese and ducks.

The illustrations, linocut and perhaps gouache? are lovely for an adult to study.

Fairy toadstools for blog friend Julierose who beautifully used them in a journaling challenge page.

another artist, IG. 'Shrooms seem to be a current fad.

Julie's page, HERE Journal page

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Garden peeping afternoon walks with Mo, looking for hints of autumn.

Fall roses and rose hips. These are cultivated beach roses, not wild dune roses.

Lovely that they bloom through til December.

Lovely pink coneflowers finally in bloom after a bit of rain.

The ubiquitous hydrangeas, mostly interesting as the colors change, since I have few trees for fall color.

Grasses....

Fairy moss gardens with [my] faux mushrooms.

The ugly locust trees with many clacking pods.

I had been so worried about Mr Mockingbird who rules his roost in fall and winter, from the top of this tree. For weeks I have been seeing grey feathers--oh no, did a cat or raccoon get him? Old age? Today he was back, singing away. I notice he is turning quite white---do birds get ''grey'' hair? [I looked up the lost feathers, it seems songbirds do molt in late summer, so all is well with my little elderly friend.]

Last week's nature sketch:

And a memory page for me and Mo.

A bit of rainy day Christmas gift sewing. It was so fun to start something new and tiny.

love

lizzy

gone to the beach....

I apologize for poor formatting, Blogger is refusing to load photos, must add desktop thumbnails by hand.

Thursday, September 29, 2022

September's Final Breaths

Hello hello! Oh my goodness today has seemed exhausting. I have to see the eye surgeon tomorrow and am in a frantic mode. Anyway, so far I have paid bills and done medical paperwork, taken photos, partially repaired an antique toy, see below, did two loads of laundry, prepped and cooked a stirfry for the next few days; Mo had decktime while I cooked, it was too buggy for me out there. The frantic busy-ness, is bec after the appointment my vision is poor due to ''drops'' and flashing light tests.

[ediit: eye update: report was good but extremely dilated still, hours afterward. So vision is temporarily poor. Probably no surgery for at least 6 months. Dr feels double vision cannot be fixed; I may look into that more, as it is exhausting....]

Venting, just had to vent. btw Did you realise a flannel fitted sheet now costs 98.oo plus shipping? Inflation!

Hydrangeas from my friends' yard.

I love the turquoise smudges in the rose and brown.

It's too soon for pumpkins for me--maybe next week?, but I am loving squash and apples season. This is delicata squash, brushed with butter [for a change from olive oil, more nutty and savory] and sprinkled with Chinese Five Spice seasoning. [cinnamon, curry, paprika, coriander, and? Not sure but tasty!]

Seed saving, the pretty coreopsis, for friends and to do our Johnny Appleseed thing, sneak into dune edges maybe? It is not invasive.

Nature page from the last few weeks:

We had a windy night a few days ago and in the morning I found the stack of Shaker boxes toppled. This box is from my dad's collection. And when it burst open, out came this sweet tiny old toy!

Sadly broken. I started to mend it today but I see one hoof and the little driver are missing. Someone will have to crawl around the baseboard to look for them!

I don't know where the toy came from, was it my dad's? I was surprised to see it said "Japan" which I suppose dates it to the 1950s? Usually when toys turn up from his collections they are German Erziberger wooden toys, maybe pre 1920.

Mo's sweater is done except to block it. He is underwhelmed.

Anyone have good advice, do you wet the garment but no soap? Or just spray? Steam instead?

This is my teadye rust dye experiment, coached by Julierose.

The tea evaporated much quicker than I expected, out on my hot sunny deck. Been out there maybe a week. I will have to bring the tub in tomorrow before the possible rains of H Ian come, if indeed they do. I think Julie said not to rinse them...but I may be compelled to do so, as they look a smidge poopy right now. Dying to open one bundle, maybe if tomorrow goes better than expected?

In quilty news yesterday I bought an antique or vintage top! Buyer beware, the only photo was not good, but it is so enticing and colorful. Can't wait to see it, despite obvious stains and possible intrinsic Lone Star ruffling. Price was right, seller was pleasant, yay!