Completing Summer

Hello!

My holiday was lovely--- hot and sunny!
And I am feeling rather proud of myself...remember my doll quilt from last winter? It's sole purpose was to create a fun and engrossing handwork project for the beach this summer...?

I finished the hand quilting on Saturday! I am so pleased. And my hand quilting looks, okay if not awesome, I think.

A few more sunny days and the biding will be done too.

I'm pretty amazed at how cute it is! And I was surprised how much I enjoyed the handquilting, very relaxing, in its precise way.

The feedsack backing has been a big hit with my various beach audiences, too...

I even had time to do almost all the mending on this adorable but so worn, so loved tiny antique doll quilt. It is tiny, about 12" square, and a true miniature. The 9-Patch pieces are only about 5/8"! I like the way the red vertical sashing makes a secondary pattern, with the self blue going the other direction, then the pale blue frame or border. Note also how the one pink and blue bright 9-patch block was carefully used in the center.

A few years ago I sold all my antique doll quilts, only kept this tiny treasure because I thought it hopelessly tattered, an eBay buyer would surely b*#%^ch and moan about condition.

I gathered old fabrics for the repairs, but it usually is in my beach bag as a backup project.

 But now it too , almost done. I'll write more about it when it's finished, it's such a treasure and I am happy I am saving it.

a corner repaired, one tiny frayed square left to repair here
the corner fabric is blue checks too, it doesn t show in these pix.
 Best I ever found...

Third project! was last summer's redo of this charming old Tiny Baskets quilt top.

I repaired, replaced and mended it---all last summer; finished it this July. I've been searching for a quilter since (any thoughts?)...machine quilting is fine but I have certain thoughts about how it should be finished. Sadly my beloved quilter has changed professions and while I laud her ambition to become a midwife, I am bereft without someone who understands my work....
I think my replacement baskets blend nicely? I used only antique fabrics.

Last I got a lot done on my market basket/ string bag during [lol] hurricane Irene. The loose patternless knitting was perfect to work on during the evacuation period.

It is actually more done than this, I am on the handles next. And...should it be lined? With antique linen or...? Or, not?

It was fun, big needles, no pattern, fun ''string '' (hemp twine/ bamboo-cotton) yarn,  and any mistakes made in the low candlelight aren't important. I also got to experiment with dropped stitch long stitches and reverse garter stitch to make some texture...It should be all finished by pumpkin buying time in October.

So...a fun summer for me!  Lots of beach books too to add to my read-books list. I'll do that soon!

love
           lizzy


gone to the beach...

September!

Hi! I'm back! Even though Irene missed me the week has been a trifle chaotic, as we unload, unpack and resume our lives after being senselessly evacuated...

And now it is September! We love that here, we have this "Ground Hog Day" feeling about September: Oh, Labor Day, awesome. Six more weeks of summer, yay!

It truly is the very nicest time, as the humidity lessens and the air is clearer, the beach again is mine all mine.

My tiny town has done a wonderful apres-Irene restoration...the golf course is open, the beaches are clean and lifeguards on duty, on their rearranged chairs; even the farmers market was going strong! I have to give these farmers so much credit, they probably had much worse storm effects to deal with but there they were....

So what if the tomatoes are a bit split from too fast growth after to much rain? They're red and yummy!

The cheeses, as always, so wonderful, the fresh breads.... I had to add to my usual produce by shopping at the IGA (who uses local growers too, actually). All veggies showing a hint of storm damage...but delicious.

I planned a holiday BBQ, just for family...a retro nod to some of my fave foods, things my mom made all those years ago.

"Cocktail time'' with artisan mozzarella and fresh tomatoes; marinated goat cheese; French sourfodugh bread.
Main course: my mom's shishkebabs--they were probably unchic even when she made them years ago, but oh so yummy!
Cubes of chicken breast and [prime] porterhouse steak, marinated with lots of meat tenderizer and Good Seasons salad dressing. (I went to get the famous cruet, thinking, no way would I ever find the plastic cap in my utensil drawer...but there it was, just waiting for the past, oh, 3 years? Sometimes it's good to be a laid back, lazy housewife. Some women would have discarded that white lid or put it somewhere safe, lol.)

To go with, rice pilaf, Caesar salad (yes! I used a kit! more LOL), and steamed summer squash.

The kebabs have only the meats and orange peppers, sweet onions---plus Trader Joe's hollandaise sauce, yummy! I find that using tomatoes and mushrooms on kebabs is a waste of time. They fall off and make a mess in your grill. Stick with the peppers & onions.

 

Then for dessert I made (the day before) homemade ice cream sandwiches with gourmet chocolate ice cream and crispy walnut chocolate chip cookies. [Just put the ice cream in the fridge [not the freezer] while you do other kitchen work; when it's soft, blob a couple tablespoons onto the cookies, smoosh another on top, press down. Store in single sandwich bags, pack into a Glad box and refreeze. Easy-peasy...always a big hit.
(if the sloppiness of the melting ice cream bothers you, go ahead and refreeze. When nicely refrozen, unwrap, smooth the edges with a butter knife dipped in a glass of hot water; roll the edges in choc or colored sprinkles and freeze again. But...you know, after dinner, on the candle-lit or moon lit deck, no one much cares how the ice cream looks. We're not Martha Stewart here, are we...?]

This was all DELICIOUS! I make no apologies for using mixes and shortcuts...even this much effort was a lot after a day at the beach. And it tasted just like "home" to me: Aaah....dinner on the deck at sunset, good thing sizzling on the grill. Perfect, just---perfect.

This is The Life, isn't it!

                      

 PS  This is that umbrella that flew through the air after the storm, just missing me, on my deck! .....

 I hope you all have a wonderful holiday weekend! Tell me what you cooked or did?

love

          lizzy

 gone to the beach....

linked to Beach Cottage's Wednesday Good Life party!. Yay a party! We love a party, be sure to check out Sarah's blog...

A Little Wind, A Little Rain

Hello everyone! Hope you are all home and safe and sound. Thanks for everyone's message of concern.

 I'm not at all sure WHAT to say about "Hurricane" Irene....except what?

Yes I am grateful whatever storm there was missed us....but still. Lotta angst and hard work for what we'd call a rainy night at the beach! I mean, c'mon! 35 MPH wind?! Storms with 60MPH winds are not uncommon here and we go nowhere, except about our usual lives.

The beach has no trees so no branches are here to fall on us, and our two feet elevation [two---2! feet!]  above sea level was more than enough to protect us from the so-called "storm surge/ high tide".

beach to my west just after "eye" passed

 Was the hurricane party fun!? Oh yes! Wonderful new friends took us in and gave us a party to remember....and I thank them from the bottom of my heart. Such warmth and generosity, such amazing hospitality. (Thank you,  N & D!).

so-called storm surge?

 But I resent the news media with their fear-mongering tactics and overblown hoopla...making me, us all, run away in fear. Run from a marginal storm that if it happened before the days of "hoopla" we'd never have even thought it was a tropical storm.

a little wind, a little foam, a little seaspray...
taken at noon, just after "eye" passed


So Dear Mr Weather Channel Guy: believe me when I tell you my home and I have happily survived far more severe nor'easters and blizzards. Happily tucked in, here at the beach.
Never again. I don't care if Jose or whoever is a Category 5, never again.
(Will I eat my words, because I have kids? We'll see...)

Oh PS: The only scary moment! After the storm was "over" and the plywood down, I just went into the house to get my binoculars to look at my birds...and like a demented Mary Poppins, a huge metal and canvas waterlogged beach umbrella (like a big market umbrella) flew through the air and landed where I'd just been standing, admiring the sunset. An isolated gust brought it from...somewhere.

And now today...the beach is HUGE. And pristine. No treasure, not even a clamshell...that flotsom after a storm thing is just an old wive's tale!

Erosian, what erosian? The beach is lower and flatter but much deeper, wider...

The birds look exhausted though, poor babies.

a toppled on purpose lifeguard stand.
They tip them over to make them more stable...

A little evidence of the largest waves...this wooden bin is about the size of a large SUV. It usually is on the beach by the above lifeguard stand to my east. Now it is high up on my dunes.

Otherwise....
Couldn't ask for a more beautiful beach...

Or a more perfect beach day....

love

            lizzy

                      gone to the beach....