World Oceans Day

 June 8 is World Oceans Day!

Oh thank goodness because I thought it was the 6th and hadn't written this post yet.

Here's the link.... And to quote, This is "our planet’s biggest celebration of the ocean held every June 8th. "

And so...what?: Well their suggestions include: "This year, we encourage you to reach out to young people in your community and help inspire them. The future of ocean conservation is in their hands!"
Yeah, I have a word or two for the brat who chases my seagulls!

More details.... Please check it out!

One catchphrase is "Wear Blue and Tell Two!"

Probably I'll be wearing blue---or aqua or some such ocean-y color. And I am always nagging about ocean/ beach awareness so I should be able to pull a thought out to share...hmmmm...
Well, here is one, something new to worry about!
Seahorses! We loooove seahorses, right? So adorable.

collage art from
black baroque on etsy

  
I very rarely find them on my beach: this one was plastic so I brought him home.

 
Here is another little soul, no longer living...

 
And a journal page with the only other seahorse skeleton I have ever found. And a tiny plastic charm also found on the beach....If you look closely, even the stamp has a seahorse, a red one.

from my summer journal


 So I was surpised to read in my local paper that these creatures colonize eelgrass seaweed beds nearby! I thought they were tropical animals only, but no! Some live locally. And they are in danger of extinction, due to loss of habitate and careless "harvesting"!

Yes, people harvest them...alive! Some are captured in commercial fishing nets and discarded. And some are taken because stupid humans want them as "pets"! or beachy decor! (I guess they let the little guys die?!) 

  

wonderful driftwood seahorse
fromOur Boathouse

My specimens were definitely dead and dry; I'd never take a live creature from the ocean. Nope, not even a fish.

 

The Newsday article went on to say that seahorses are social creatures (that argues brains and emotions, does it not? despite their tiny size!); it says they mate for life and if they are captured and put in aquariums alone that they become very sad. Ooooh.

also from black baroque, link above

  So, back to my post of a few days ago:

Please respect our beach and ocean creatures! This is their home; we are only visitors. Please be a welcome one.

 

Happy Oceans Day!

coastal collage in my journal

       love

               lizzy

****gone to the beach****

Small Treasures from The Flea Market

Hi! The brief couple days of glorious weather sort of greyed off into chilly beach/spring again, so I decided to go to the big flea market today. I was glad I took my usual route through the seashore area, normally impassable if the weather is nice, what we call a "beach day"...only a few Canada geese were there on the road with me.

The market was busy! And a bit crazed and junky. Flea market lovers know that it will be hard to get to from now through September and like me many will stay away. So everyone had dollars in hand and dollar signs in their starry little eyes. Quite a frantic pace, actually....

As usual when I have gone to the ATM beforehand, there were no huge finds to be had, just some fun small things.
These are chandelier crystals.

They are huge, much grander than they seem on this big white platter.

Beautiful big white diamonds!

They will be icicle Christmas ornaments for my etsy shop in the fall.

The seller asked me if I was going to use the crystals for jewelry, and at the moment I said no, described my icicles I make. (They've been very popular!)

But now that I have the pieces at home I see that these four are very small and fine.

I love the amethyst! So---maybe? Fall pendants with glass bead and metal chains? Pretty sterling silver bails?  I think Yes!

And then I have keys!

 I usually do a very fast walk-thru at a market, as soon as I arrive, then go back and look in detail. But a table with a box of small keys caught my eye right away. These keys are tiny! Most less than 1"

And I saw the dollar tag and snapped them up.

 It took the dealer AND his wife a few moments to get me to realise the price meant per key! I was thinking per bunch, wow! And so then I sadly set them down...but  just beofre I walked away I thought to ask, 'Well what if I buy them ALL?' Ten bucks! Not three dollars but very nice.

I love this tiniest key, second from the left. It looks like a teeny tiny skate key or clock key. Could it be a watch key??? Cool!

I think the keys might look fun on charm bracelets or necklaces with just one heart: Keys to my Heart (for the girl who gets around?lol!)...

And of course tied with twine to linen or velvet or wool hearts, filled with lavender & cedar? for fall...

How about you? Any fun treasures this weekend?

love

       lizzy

gone to the beach

Hope is the Thing that

What is that quote, anyway? "Hope is the thing with feathers that sits on your shoulder and...what?"

I guess I should look it up, it's Emily Dickenson?

LOL.

Anyway, usually I am a very optimistic person but this past weekend that begins summer each year is rather sad for me, missing people who are gone now, missing the tiny children I once had, now big and busy. Missing my beloved doggy who I adopted on Memorial Day weekend one year....

My son like his grandpa has become interested in gardening. We've been experimenting with daylilies and other lilies, his favorite, and again my dad's fave, too. My dad had the entire front bank of his Cape Cod yard, all along the gravelly road, filled with exotic and common (brought from Illinois roadsides!) lilies.

NOT my dad's roadside! But the same idea/
google pix

And you may recall I enjoy "forcing" bulbs indoors, so when I saw Peruvian daffodils at the market, I just had to try them.

I had them in a glass hyacinth jar for weeks; they grew but....Then I transplanted them into potting soil a few weeks ago, and Oh MY! Overnight the P.Daffs burst into bloom.

In the house! Off-season.

Aren't they wonderful and so exciting and so---hopeful?

Here's a fun post from my dear friend Lisa  at Unexpected Information. Her "bulbs'' sprouted too..maybe it's just a purple onion, just like in my mom's fridge! But to me it is so brave, so hopeful and so green, growing there in the cold dark of her Arizona fridge. If that's not a sign of hope and rebirth, I don't know what is....

PS What have we learned about lilies so far? Bulbs planted in the fall in containers will not survive. They will freeze and decay. BUT lilies that are container-planted in their growing stage, whether store bought as plants or started indoors in the spring, will winter just fine (I think I am zone 7? here). My pink stargazer lilies and baby yellow daylilies from last year look amazing, soon to bloom! We are thrilled.

last summer, 2010 lily

The quote: "Hope is the thing with feathers, that perches in the soul, and sings the tune without words, and never stops at all.”
 hhhhmmmm...creepy? Or, uh, hopeful?

And it is from Emily Dickenson, the young woman with the scary eyebrows on your Kindle screensaver...apropos of nothing.

love

       lizzy 

 gone to the beach......