Windy with a Dash of Snow

Past few days were windy here at the beach---65 mph and 15 degrees makes for a chilly night's sleep with no electricity!

sand corrugated by the wind

Then we had snow--but a perfect snow, soft downy feather flakes wafting down late at night....the sidewalks and streets clear and dry by morning.

The beach was scoured bare, blown clean and faceless as an airport runway at JKF.

No beachcombings to be found...
The only treasures were---metaphysical?
The silence, the peace, the purity. The briskly oxygenated air filling one's lungs.

The pleasure of "owning" the beach, just me and miles of white sand...

By today, the very gentle waves created patches of what we call "outwash gravel"--though as you can see, it is really small shells.

(Think panning for gold? When the waves lap gently on the shore the small tidbits are uncovered.)....Often the place to find sea glass and lost jewelry, coins, and prized sand dollars.

Again, though, little to find:
A few pennies, a few little shards...

....a fun bit of wood for hanging a seashell mobile, a tacky item I make and force on friends, lol! (not sold on esty! you're safe!).

It's pretty cool, actually...hexagonal wood bits, a big knobby bead, rope....I like it!

And the blue bead? Yes, yes...it is ugly!

But I collect beads on the beach because...well.......

...years ago I made my first beaded bracelets, one for each of my girlfriends, as a welcome summer fun gift. I labelled the bracelets "Sea glass beads" because they were blue and aqua and frosted. And each and every recipient, all of whom have lived at a beach for years, asked me if the beads were truly from the beach. (uh, no. like--- have you ever seen semiprecious beads in the outwash, gang?) The good news is they all still wear the bracelets every summer at the beach! And I now say "sea-glass inspired" and I collect actual beads too....for...someday?

actual beads found on the beach

Oddly I regularly find rosaries and religious medals---but I pass those along to those who may cherish them...and their journey to my shores....

The sky, the sand, the water---all were pink as I walked home at 6 PM. Truly I felt like I was in heaven.....and spring is on its way?

love

                    lizzy

........gone  to the beach

Talismans

Warm hearts sounds lovely and cozy as we brace ourselves here at the beach for a "dry storm" (no precip!) of 65 MPH winds. Brrrr.

I learned about knitted felted hearts from my blog friend Peggy....

The little hearts are featured in this fun book of small projects: Gifted , by Mags Kandis. (It's available on Amazon and Borders etc if your library doesn't have it.)

The little hearts knit up fast, my first took less than an hour and I am a slow knitter.

The pattern is fun and soothingly rhythmic ...and the felting process is interesting.

Be sure to use 100% wools that are recommended for felting; yarn that is machine washable, of any fiber, won't felt easily. I washed my heart at least 5 times, just threw it in with the white/ hot wash. Dry in dryer.

So adorable and chubby!

By this time next year I hope to have a whole bowlful...

Then, while looking at internet bookstores I discovered this book by Josie Iselin, called Heart Stones. I have her other books and so I ordered this right away. Her eye for "treasure" is exceptional and her photographs are beautiful.

This is a quote from the editorial blurb on Amazon (perhaps from the book, it doesn't say?):

A heart stone is one of nature's gifts. Heart stones are not rare or precious in the typical sense--a good scour of a beach with any stones at all will usually turn up one or two heart-shaped stones. But heart stones, lifted from their obscurity, with all of their cracks and blemishes, lopsided and imperfect, are simply the best find on any beach.

Beachcombers collect them, keep them as talismans, and give them to friends and lovers.

The bold type highlites are from me. My beach has really no stones or rocks at all, just the occasional white beach pebble, few and far between. (My beach is just acres of empty white sand, really...) But my family's Cape Cod beach has wonderful, if painful, stony edges and there I collected a number of heart stones over the years. We kept them in a basket in the blue bedroom....

And sadly our collection was discarded when my parents' home was sold. Maybe the hearts were tossed out on the bluestone driveway? And over the next few millenia they will wash down Stony Brook Road to Paine's Creek, back to their home beach?  I hope so...

I did bring a few home over the years, cherished talismans of sunny summer beach days, happy days, and sunset walks at the Cape Cod beach.

A blog note: Welcome, new friends! Please remember that I can't respond to comments unless you send me your email in a separate comment or email to me. Some stupid bloggy glitch! Please know how I treasure each response...from everyone!


love


           lizzy 


                  gone to the beach!

sanderlings are returning!



Collecting Hearts

Hello! Hope everyone had a lovely Valentine's Day.....Since we're all about hearts this week, I thought I'd show you some of my collected hearts.

I've been collecting hearts as long as I can remember, since I was a little girl....My collection is very random, as you'll see. I don't actually collect hearts, I collect various "genres" and if I should be so lucky as to find those things with hearts, well! Wow....
So....
Here's a sewing whimsy or "make-do" bird with a heart in his beak....He is here with my gorgeous traditional Nantucket baskets that my sister makes.

Here he is on a folk art / tramp art shelf carved with hearts; with other sewing make-dos. Above is a cherished family sampler....

Turquoise hearts, of course!
These are pins that I wear on my denim jacket.

Big tin folk art heart, hung with beach fence wire...so far I haven't had the "heart" [sorry] to punch holes, I just hot glued  the wires to the back.

I hang it on this Pennsylvania jelly cabinet, c. 1860? , another heirloom piece I treasure.

And this is a very old Sandwich, Cape Cod,  MA candy jar, c.1800. Hand blown glass, shown with a later c. 1820 pressed glass decanter, also Sandwich.

The candy jar holds my collection of primitive tin handmade heart-shaped cooky cutters and molds....

Teeniest tiny vintage buttons from a cigar box of buttons, bought at the January flea market....are these the tiniest ever! i love them....

I think the red heart may be Bakelite, it has that look. These will become dolls' hearts (remember Raggedy Ann's heart on her tummy?) Or doll necklaces....

And this is a Valentine I made this year for someone special. I made them for my friends...just color copied the old Valentines, added some stickers , a doily, and a ribbon rosette...remembering my mom's tradition...

more hearts...but different! on Friday!

love

lizzy

gone to the beach.........