I wiped away the weeds & foam. / I fetched my sea-born treasures home... Ralph Waldo Emerson







Saturday, July 23, 2011

The Hottest Day

July 22 , 23, 2011


Hi! Hot enough for us, lol? My Weatherbug thing says 103*! Wow. Just think 6, 7 months ago it was a HUNDRED degrees cooler. Too bad we can't bottle that cold air.


What do you do on the hottest day? I filled my biggest old Mason jar with pink lemonade....



Made a big bowl of chicken salad---in case the power goes off...
Friday night dinner will be classic Illinois/ Ohio farm supper of corn on the cob and fried tomatoes w/ a smidge of cream gravy! Then I'll waddle off to the beach for an evening swim....


Tomorrow should be cooloer---just 100*?


A day to sit under a beach umbrella with one's knitting? Toes cooling in the gentle surf....


Here's a new project, a string market bag for autumn vegs, like squash and pumpkins. Yes I am dreaming of crisp autumn days....


I put crisp all white vintage linens on the beds....


And summery quilts which get instantly tossed aside....


And I am sending up thank you vibes to the guy who invented air conditioning! That sea breeze thing just isn't doing it for us today.


Stay cool....

have good weekend!


love

      lizzy


 ......gone to the beach

Tuesday, July 19, 2011

I ♥ the Beach


No surprise there, hmmmm?


The other evening I was down at the shore, looking for some nice salvaged beach rope to make a shell mobile. (more about that later...)












No suitable rope, the beach is very bare this time of year. But washed ashore in the quiet waves was this sweet little pink heart...


Just another sand toy


...lost or abandoned by a child at play...


Maybe she wanted to build a sandcastle, little pink hearts were just too tame?


I don't know why I left it there...


Usually I collect these funny sweet objects, mostly with the idea that someday I will glue them all together and form a funky beach toy wreath! Painted white of course, dahling, has to be chic, y'know.?


Instead I walked on and when I looked another day, it was long gone.


 A Valentine to the ocean, I love you.....



As for shell mobiles...well, I had been planning this one for almost a year: long ropes tied to a driftwood arm, shells and treasure spaced along the strings. Well let me tell you it was hideous! Even my son said so and he is usually very supportive of my projects (only other thing he really hated was an I-thought- gorgeous patchwork jacket I labored over one winter. All Japanese fabrics....I wore it once and his face! "Awfully bright, mom." ended that jacket's career. Into the donations bag it went. I was sad.) But not sad about the mobile.
A bit surprised, usually my shell mobiles are, well, tacky but fun? I bestow them on unwitting friends at Christmas, oh my.

I rescued the shells and set the treasures aside for another time. This is the final result which I quite like.

A fun project if you vacation at the shore and your kids insist on bringing home buckets of beachcombed clamshells. Just drill carefully (pls wear safety glasses!) and knot them onto any rope or heavy string you have around. The kids can do the threading and stringing with a little help. They will be so pleased and you'll all have fun memories when you see it on your own deck or porch eaves.


love

           lizzy

~~~~~~gone to the beach



Linked to A Beach Cottage's Good Life Wednesdays! Take a look! Fun links and Sarah's photos are awesome.

Saturday, July 16, 2011

Summer Hearts


Hi! I just had to show you the finished lavender hearts!


You'll remember seeing the bits and pieces...


The trims....

sold



The vintage pins....


This is how they look when they're finally done:

sold



sold

Vintage French linen:


 French ticking...both with Bakelite buttons!


Larger "pillows" about 6" x 7"...some of my buyers have used these as weding ring/ ringbearer pillows. A charming heirloom, I hope....

  


Also fun on the sofa or porch swing---they'll make your rooms smell so delightful, like a summery cottage garden....

               

And the sweetest vintage hanky bags, just like my mom and I made when I was a tiny girl....



love

            lizzy

.....gone to the beach




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