Colorful Fall - part one

Hi! I know many of you decorate your home for fall...and some of you do nothing much at all. My mother, always chic in a classic way, could fill a crock with hydrangeas, toss an old quilt top on the table, light a bunch of votives, and her house looked wonderfully autumn and inviting.

I am ambivalent. One of my favorite blogs, A Beach Cottage, is showing adorable baby blue [painted ] pumpkins this week! here
Of course she lives in hot summery Australia, so...? But then my quilt-loving, antiques-collecting soul wants traditional: orange! Rustic...a little prim? Colorful!

Last year we decided we got too tired of the  orange pillows by December,

and so I did an Autumn of stormy grey, indigo, browns, blues. Prophetic, as we sure induced a Storm, and had little time to enjoy that color scheme. This year I treated myself to store bought pillows, ordered from One Kings Lane. Sophisticated ikats, not home-spun. Ha! They went to Pennsylvania instead of The Beach.
I was so sad.

www.onekingslane.com [obviously cannot recommend]

 

Out came the orange stuff:

 

 

 

I will probably move this quilt [old blocks, finished by me] to the dining room table next week, just for Halloween. I am afraid the old blocks may fade if allowed to be in the sunshine for too long...

 

Not a pumpkin was left in the stores this week! How is that possible? I used what I have....

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

In photos the rooms sometimes look a bit bare, but my family is not fond of clutter. (They'd love Sarah's baby blue and white Halloween.) And they don't really like the quilts but tolerate them since they must,lol.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I love old transferware china [English Staffordshire]and as the seasons change I display different colorways. I love mixing a few old mulberries and purples with the traditional browns and polychromes....[below]

 

 

Even the knitting gets an autumn bowl!

 

Tomorrow I'll show you the dining room and entry hall,  along with more of my brown china....enjoy!

 

love

 

lizzy

 

gone to the beach....

 

as always, pls click to enlarge photos and to see slide show....

Full Moon, Low Tide

click any photo to enlarge/ see slide show.

Hi! The October Harvest Moon brings very high, and very low, tides to my beach.

I've been watching all week, waiting for the lowest tide, often a best time to look for treasures...

The moon was full on Friday, rose in the deep blue velvet sky. And in the west, a shiny beacon just opposite: the evening star of Autumn, Venus. Brighter even than the landing lights of the planes headed to the city's airports.
The high tide can bring flooding...

No treasure except an oddly huge amount of children's plastic sand toys, sadly lost or abandoned at summer's end. I only picked up this one small bird. Doesn't he look just like the Twitter logo! But for me he may be a quilt template, birds are a popular primitive applique motif.

One huge driftwood plank has washed up. It is silvery old oak, perhaps two feet wide and twelve feet long, 6 " deep. It would make a spectacular mantel or tabletop...

Yesterday I timed things better, caught the very low tide. The ocean was so receded that the first sand bar was exposed..

... but again, no seaglass, only these two tiny shards.

Many birds to enjoy though.

Busy sandpipers...

The late remaining oystercatchers..

Their departure is now three weeks late. Are they fooled by the very warm weather? Or might they winter over?

 

Here they are with Gully.

 

Some piping plovers remaining also.

 

 

It was a gorgeous day for a walk, the water so blue...

And I did find a maybe-treasure on my way home. I detoured through my small neighborhood, checking out the busy flocks of warblers and kinglets in the shrubbery and occasional trees. On recycling day, sometimes folks set ''good stuff'' on the curb, for passersby.

I couldn't  resist this blue delft bulb pot!

Funny egg shape...definitely worth a rescue, a wash, and  some pretty red tulip bulbs to cold condition in my deck bin. If that doesn't work, in the spring I'll replant with supermarket crocuses or daffs...

Final sky note: tonight, Sunday  October 20, there is a meteor shower, the Orionides. This means the shooting stars originate [not really, but apparently] in the constellation Orion, which will hover over the dark ocean late tonight. Worth putting a sweater over my pjs and going out for a look! You too?

Shooting stars and wishes---who can resist?


love

  lizzy

gone to the beach..............


And a little live action: see the sanderlings playing in the waves, having their baths! So cute...

 

 

October Harvest

Hi! You know how I love outdoor markets! This week's farmers market was bustling under the bright blue October skies...

It is truly a feast for one's eyes and culinary inspiration for someone like me who has been Not Cooking for the past few months...

Every fruit and veggie is a gem, not necessarily perfect, but so fresh and tasty...

I got eggplant and heirloom tomatoes for a light pasta topping...

And squash for roasting and restuffing....

I love how the speckled squash look in the similar patterned spongeware bowl, one of my favorites...

Too pretty, with the blue Mason jars, to eat. They may sit on the counter for awhile, little green and cream pumpkins. I call these Delicata squash...very tasty, less meat but less fibrous than acorn squash,  quite yummy.

The flower grower still had masses of summer dahlias...

in deep autumn shades.

So pretty...

I gave my pitchers a rest and used an old stonewear churn for this bouquet.

Pastas and cheese from the Brooklyn pasta man.

This is aged mozzarella, a favorite of mine. Texture is similar to Jarlsberg with no holes, but tastes light and a bit salty, perfect with baguette or croissants for a light lunch or snack.

 I froze the manicotti, but immediately cooked up the wholewheat ravioli with mushroom filling.

I made a ragout from the fresh eggplant--cubed, sauteed til brown. Added diced unpeeled, unseeded tomatoes, some minced garlic, basil and taragon. 2 T of balsamic vinegar, plus a scoop of Splenda [or sugar is okay]. No water, just stir with a wooden spoon, leave it on very low simmer for an hour or two, with lid on but cracked a half inch. The veggies caramelize and retain their fresh picked flavors.
I couldn't live without my le Creuset pot! below

 Add cooked ravioli, toss gently, serve hot with lots of fresh parm.

I wanted to take a picture of the dish when plated, but this meal got gobbled up so fast! I had to ration the ravs! Next time I'll buy two packs, won't I.

Have fun with the harvest! Experiment...enjoy.

love

   lizzy

gone to the beach....