Neutral Corners

An old pencil case, now filled with spools of thread...

I love the dry old wood, the inner brightness, the craftsmanship to make a small utility object attractive..

 And how it is functional and useful after all these years...

Did it hold a student's pens and pencils? Artist's brushes?

For years it has held my quilting threads...now it will be shared, time to move on. In my etsy shop and/ or eBay.

I love threads and yarns, the perfection of a new spool or skein...

I think one of the main reasons I  knit is that my hands---and eyes---so enjoy the the textures of the yarns. And oh, all the possibilities!

I love this hemp yarn from etsy seller Hemphouse.

...so appealing, I just had to have some.

And don't you just love the sepia pansy tureen? I found it when I closet-cleaned a few weeks ago!

So...shall I make an open weave [knit] market tote?

Or attempt a sophisticated tote like this one from J.Jill?

Attaching the leather handles and looking good has me stumped! I figure I can find a belt or two to recycle, but the rivets? Hmmmm...

Off to the beach---the sun has peeked out at last. Mexican dinner tonight (taco salads, yum!).

Hope your weekend was good?

love

    lizzy

ps I made you guys this cool waves vid! Check it out!

gone to the beach

birds of spring

Hi! Is that a hint of spring we are seeing?

It's chilly here---at the beach the air tends to remain as cold as the ocean, about 43-45 degrees right now. But my boardwalk has been repaired  and replaced. It has to be in position before the shorebirds return.

One windy day recently I stopped again at the saltmarsh bird sanctuary. The ospreys have returned...

They arrived promptly on March 29th. Click here for a very interesting website that chronicles the ospreys migration to and from South America each year.

As did the other two pairs whose widely spaced nesting areas are scattered through the barrier beach marshes here.

My good binoculars-camera (Bushnells) have gone to be repaired. And the cheapies from CVS seems to kill the batteries as soon as I insert them. So these photos with my regular camera aren't wonderful...For really great osprey pix, check out this Cape Codder website

You can see that the marsh is barren.

Winter winds and storm tides have cut away the tall grasses. And no hint of green. But the birds must be finding small fish and insects? The egrets are back too. These huge, statley birds also migrate to and from South America, a long flight along the east coast, over the open Caribbean and on down as far as Panama!

This egret was doing a solo dance display, strutting about, his head and neck undulating like a cobra hearing the snake charmer's flute.

And I have brants in my yard. They are small geese, just passing through. They will nest in the high Arctic tundra above Alaska! Too shy for pix.

On the open beach the second set of piping plovers has arrived, more close to schedule, around April 3rd. They nest towards the eastern boundary of my private beach.

Do you see him? Center right, behind the driftwood? Below is a zoomed version...

And the little guy who was making trial nests, on the western edge, has acquired a mate.

When I was a little girl in the Midwest, we'd put out string and yarn for the songbirds' nest building about now. No sign of that here at the beach, too bad. I wonder why they don't like it here? Too windy, too   difficult? Even my pair of mockingbirds that I fed dried cranberries all winter have moved on.

Do you like to watch the birds in your yard? Any nesters yet?

Flea market tomorrow, yay!

Have a great weekend.

love

    lizzy

gone to the beach.....

April Winds and April Showers....

Hello! And hold onto your hats!

Gale winds are blowing here at the beach, the tiles are flying of my roof and vicious whirlwinds of sand discouraged me from my afternoon walk. We must be right at the center of the dry storm since the wind has rapidly switched from south to SSW at dawn through to west, and now blowing in from the north at about 40 mph. With an air temp of just 45*, it really is quite biting---but the sun has come out even as write....eye of the storm?
Hard to believe that Sunday was sunny, calm, and lovely for the "little" flea market that alternates with the so-called [by me] big flea market that opened last week. It was chilly, jacket weather, but very nice and very busy.

Flea market season is in full swing!

This market has grown to be as big as the original market, a railroad station parking lot full of vendors. The good news is this market has a hot dog stand, yum!

The less good news is that despite the 200-ish dealer booths, there are very few who sell real antiques or primitives.

I did find some lovely silverplate pieces.

I use the big serving spoons to scoop lavender into heart sachets and for digging bath salts out of tall Mason jars.

                                  

I love the details..and of course the price is right.

The last spoon has roses on the front, but adorably---violets hidden on the back.

And has wild roses engraved on the reverse bowl of the spoon, imagine that! 

And  top one has dainty violets both front and back, perfectly, naturalistically, sculpted in silver. The back of the spoon has the backs of the violets on the front. Such care and detail, so charming....

Fascinating patent dates too! 1851!, 1867, 1911...though of course these spoons could have been made much later.

And I love finding names and monograms:

                        

The bottom knife says either Arthur[s] or Father's, lol! Arthurs could be a surname or a restaurant? But if it says Father's...well, daddy sure was possessive of his butter knife.

The other: CAMENBERT is from Rita at Beach House Living on etsy. I use these knives for soft cheeses, when we have nibbles and drinks. Hopefully out on the deck on the deck soon!...

I inherited my dad's lettering die stamp set, maybe I'll try to make one myself?

And I found this very me bracelet! I loved one similar last summer and it was sold before I could scrounge up the money to buy it...but the same dealer had this new-old one. I love the way the large turquoise's opacity contrasts with the watery clarity of the aquamarines, don't you?

Vintage-y, not real old.

You can see where it is marked 925 (left side, bottom, below the aquamarine...), but no country of origin. Maybe Mexican?

So---some useful and pretty silver and a new piece if turquoise jewelry! Good finds among the tchochkas, don't you think?

love

   lizzy

gone to the beach?