Lavender, Lemon Verbena and Bergamot

Hi guys! Another Monday, huh. Yesterday the flea market was a bit of flop. I got there EARLY! But I had no money, or just a little. There were many dealers, 200?---but their wares were junk. At the very first booth I found a little old box of treasures---thimbles, tiny tin boxes, a carved bone handle, a brass filigree cuff bracelet, cut-steel beaded purses with no frames, miscellaneous old buttons, tarnished tattered junk. But you know...first booth! I didn't want to carry it around all day. And can you imagine, someone bought it before I went back. Who but me wants an old grubby box of junk? How odd. I also missed out on a polychrome transferware tea bowl / slop bowl, unusual because it was French not English [same dealer] and a teeny tiny hand smocked silk infant dress, palest eggshell peach color. The dress was snatched out right from under my eyes. A woman just wanted it so bad and I really didn't need it, so, okay. Fine. (Old silk is so hard to wash, I thought, as she scurried away with my find.)

Mo had an all day playdate, so I used the quiet afternoon time to work on my spring selection of lavender hearts for my etsy shop.

The box of new lavender came last week. You may notice I use two types of lavender. One is floral, one is almost pine-y or crisp. Both are French lavender, from Cape Cod.

I use my giant white bread bowl. It's English ironstone, not American yellow ware.

I add essential oils. This time I used bergamot and lemon verbena as well was lavender oil.

Mix it good with my new big silver spoon,

then cover it for a day or so with its wooden cover [beachcombed find, isn't it great?]

I also ordered two kinds of sea salt, or rock salt, and made bath salts for myself. I mix the sea salt with epsom salts and again I add a drop or two of essential oils. I don't use lavender for bath salts, it's too floral for everyday use; I prefer the more citrus-y verbena and the bergamot.

Bergamot smells like Earl Grey tea, so you can imagine the scent.] Very calming and subtle.

Meanwhile I sort through my collection of tattered but beautiful linens and lace, some quilt fragments too, and the hearts and squares and tubes are sewed and turned.

I like to stuff the sachets and pillows outside so it doesn't make a mess or smell too strong.

 I love when the completed hearts are all gathered in a big bowl or tray

Something pretty for spring-cleaned closets or to tuck in stacks of line-dryed sheets and bath towels. Or---for Mothers Day? I am always so hopeful that they please..

love 

lizzy

gone to the beach

Foggy with a Hint of Daffodils

Hi. Dense fog advisory here today!

It's actually not all that dense but gloomy and I miss my view.

Everyday Mo and I go out looking for signs of spring. hahaha. Hope springs eternal.

We stop off at my friends' garden where last fall I planted daffodils for them. The daffs were supposed to be a bright springtime treat when they got home from their long days in the city. The other day, finally!, an itty bitty green shoot appeared.

We'll be lucky if these daffs bloom before we plant their summer garden. These are slooooow daffs. "Late-bloomers"?

Mo has a snuggle on their cushy loungers---

Then we wander around looking at other folks' gardens and yards. A few hopeful spots are emerging....

Daffodils in a sunny southern facing spot.

I love these tiny fragile crocuses, in their shades of blue.

This is a curly willow that peeks over a fence. No catkins or even buds yet.

But the forsythia wants to bust into bloom despite the cold.

Our prettiest find are these lichens on the alley fences.

So unusual!

Don't the flowers look like the tiniest red toadstools?

Id love to harvest a few bits of lichen for  the terrarium I am planning. [like the Wardian cases at the flower show last month]. But maybe the people would object? Or think I'm a nutcase?

We did get shooed away from the koi pond! How sad and embarrassing.

 It was a bit upsetting, as I love visiting the koi.

See the blue koi with the black polka dots! So handsome. And the harlequin patterned, and the ''white''  one.  He's pale peach really.  They're the biggest of the group, maybe the oldest? The others are mostly big too, you can see all their shades of orange.

We'll go back anyway, it's a public sidewalk! But maybe no lichen snitching.....
Back home the antique quilt redo is coming along nicely. [the ripples will iron out, no worries].

I want to make it quiltable, and fairly square but I don't want to take it entirely apart and redo it with ideas of 21st century perfection. The original maker was so thrifty, and quirky. Her hand sewing is immaculate then she got tired of that about halfway through the sashing and switched to machine sewing. Her main issue for me is that she used the bias edge on the outside of the Chimney Sweep blocks, and she had major stretching problems. No one ever told her to measure the sashings, nope, she just sewed 'em on. I had to use a repro ditsy print / shirting here to add to the sashing. It matches better in real life.

 The quilter made no attempt not to cut off points either And I'm finding tiny mends, even darned spots, squares pieced of bits of fabric no bigger than my fingernail.

It's so fun---a mystery, a challenge.

Have a good weekend.

love

lizzy 

......gone to the beach

The blue and white quilt behind Mo is from
the same flea dealer, who  told me the quilts
[and the blue polka dot star quilt]
came from the same owner/ family home.
To me the two blue quilts look newer,
1920-1950? How I wish I knew their stories.

False Economy

Hi guys! Today's topic--recipes. And Pinterest.
I love looking at recipes on Pinterest. Sure, it's great to be able to access all these wonderful quilt photos...but for me the lure of Pinterest is in the food. I'm such a sucker. Mmmm. Just LOOK at the food. The photos! I sit there and pin ideas for future meals, everything looks so pretty and so healthy to make for my family.

It's very tempting.
And now and then I actually make something from my file. For example "BEST Crockpot  Beef with Broccoli Ever''.  OMG it was the worst fail to come out of my kitchen since I tried to make moussaka for a boyfriend who had just returned from a trip to Greece. Many many years ago. But the beef w/ broccoli? Oh, wow. Nasty. [Way too  much soy sauce, and the beef cooks away to nothing. Waste of good sesame seeds, at best.] here
But that doesn't stop me from looking. Which brings us to another issue--Spring Cleaning. And here on Pinterest was a lovey recipe for a ''green''  / safe/ healthy / frugal household cleaner. Cinnamon Orange Cleanser

The idea looked so pretty. Like Mrs Meyer's Christmas cleanser.

And I had all the makings. Even a big jar of white vinegar leftover from last fall's pickling efforts.

I had an orange. And a jar of cinnamon sticks from my stock of potpourri makings.

I got out  a big glass pickle jar from my stash of useful glassware and filled it with the good things, anticipating a lovely fresh spring cleaning product.

The jar marinated on a dark shelf for a few weeks as directed. I decanted it into one of my not-so-green-so-I reuse them Mrs Meyers spray bottles. I sprayed the kitchen counter, high hopes in hand...

Ugh. It smelled like I wiped down the counters with an old bottle of Good Seasons salad dressing. The vinegar  reeked. [No surprise, I hate the smell of cheap vinegar] It was was disgusting.  What was I thinking? [in defense of the original blogger who posted the recipe, she does say it smells awful. But I was dazzled by the photos. Again.]

And how could this possibly be a frugal way to to clean? The jug of vinegar cost a couple bucks, the orange was at least 99 cents, the cinnamon?---not free anyway. A nice fresh bottle of Mrs Meyers costs 3.99. I think I ll stick with her products, and my beloved Clorox.

I've used both lemon verbena and radish Mrs Meyers scents--and now she has green apple! oooooo! And sunflower! What do sunflowers smell like, you ask? Dirt and green foliage, sap and pollen? Nope, the site says citrus and melon. I'm gonna look for that for summer. Basil sounds lovely too, doesn't it? And Parsley. A far better way to spend a few dollars, I think.

As for the Pinterest cleaner--do you think I could use it to wash my windows? Or will the cinnamon and orange sweetness draw ants and other bugs? Maybe it will make a nice drain refresher instead?
Wasted time, wasted money But kinda fun.

Now where did I leave my Clorox Clean-up?
[my Pinterest food file is here ]
PS I had to add my chocolate bunny for Easter and spring. He's just so cute! And faux.

love

lizzy

gone to the beach

PS neither Pinterest or Mrs Meyers in any way asked for my opinion. Products pix are from Mrs Meyers website.