"Shop Local"

Hi everyone!

Look! Santa came this year!

The big marina, now empty of yachts, is at his back. A few fishing boats remain, if you look closely.

And the firehouse once again has the best Christmas trees for sale.

Wonderful trees and a fine fundraiser, fun to see the guys who volunteer here for firefighting and rescues. We wish them all a very merry Christmas.

Last year all this was destroyed by H. Sandy, so seeing Santa and the firemen's trees made me very happy.

Monday and Tuesday I ''shopped local'' as they say here. We don't have anything very glamorous. (I'll put a couple links at the end for high style, fancy/ glamour locations, all white and sparkly.)

This is the local nursery/ flower shop.

You can see how it was once a farmhouse perhaps. It is located on the mainland on the big bay, where people ''summered'' before the barrier island where I live was filled in and built upon in the 1920s.
They stock cute beachy ornaments.

And seashell ideas.

The shop specializes in fairy gardens. This year: gingerbread fairies, adorable!

And trees too, of course.

I got a delightfully scented rosemary bush and two amaryllis bulbs that I stupidly thought were part of the buy one/get one bulbs deal.

 

 

 

 

The rosemary is, I know from experience, rather prone to wilt. They're fussy, they don't like my hot sunny rooms. So it is acclimating here in the pile of bowlies.

I also stopped into Marshall's. [I told you: Not Glamorous here,lol.]  I bought yet another mercury glass kugel, a spool of burlap ribbon and a bunch of tiny mercury ornies for the rosemary tree?

This is my back door. A little pine in the pink crock.

I tied just a single star at its top, I want it to look sweet and simple. Though I do see it could use a bit of the burlap to hide its pot.

My shopping is done except to add small stocking stuffers and gifts for my guests at my Christmas Dinner. Mittens and socks, wines, bags of pistachios...little things. Just for the fun of it. Because everyone must find a present under the tree, right?

Even if they were, well, a bit naughty!

Hope you're having lots of fun, no frazzle. Happy Holidays to all.

love

lizzy

gone to the beach

links:

52 Flea here Be sure to read  back a few posts too, where Laura shows a friend's delightful home in detail.

And for classy white beach Xmas: A Beach Cottage: here and see Sarah's series called "Love Your Christmas Home."

And Then

Poof! All that work, all that planning...15 minutes and it is over, gone, gone, gone. I love gathering my family and friends around my table, I love the ceremony, the pretty things, the party-ness [the cooking, not so much].

The dishes are done, the food is eaten. The holiday was lovely...

And I was very happy the next day, as my kids left before dawn for a ski weekend, to find that the wind had calmed and the beach was silent but for the waves and the gulls' cries---a place of peace and renewal.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

love
 
lizzy
 
gone to the beach.....

 

 

 

Turkey Plates Plates of Turkey - Happy Thanksgiving to All

 

click photos to see details/ enlarge, pls

 

Hi! Happy Thanksgiving! We are having a stormy day today, oh it is so dark! The wet dunes are showing nice Fall colors though.

I am setting my table and doing some cooking so tomorrow I can loll around and be thankful, lol.

I wanted to show you my turkey plates and platters.

These are mostly English Staffordshire transferware. Most are repros / new, except the large serving platters.

The big platters are my favorites. Sometimes you need a big platter, or even two (or six?).

I have a girlfriend who says the platters are just incredibly tacky but I like them. I love the tiny New England farm scenes and the borders with Autumn fruits, berries, brambles. Some are hand tinted, like the one below.

I didn't intend to collect a set of Thanksgiving Turkey plates. I bought them over the years because they are nice brown/ polychrome fall themed pieces.

 

I have extra sepia plates, too, in case I have lots of guests. This is a New England saltbox farmhouse with the Eastham, Cape Cod, Mass, windmill perhaps in the background?

For many years I didn't do much at all for this holiday. It was rather a sad day as my family were always elsewhere for various reasons. A few memorable Thanksgivings in Cape Cod, yes. My dad loved showing us where the Pilgrims first came ashore, on First Encounter Beach in, I think, Eastham or Wellfleet. Corn Hill where our not-so-nice ancestors stole the natives' cache of winter corn. Plymouth Rock, of course. And one awesome year we watched the Macy's parade from my office windows, on 34th Street, NYC.
But many years I was home alone with my doggy.

But life changes and now the holiday is spent with children and friends. A few years ago my daughter asked me to use the Turkey plates. 

I was so surprised she liked, or even noticed them. Or...maybe I asked her what she thought? Who knows but now I look forward to setting my table with them each year.

 

 

This is a smaller German plate. I use it under the gravy boat. I like the blue and gilt rim.

 

 

 

Maybe some flea market day, I'll discover an all-blue turkey platter! Or that rarity, a black version. Something to look for on Sunday at the flea when folks don't want to be bothered putting stuff away

Have a wonderful holiday! The turkey and fixings will taste delicious whether served on granny's Haviland china or on paper plates. What counts is sharing a meal with the ones you love.

love

lizzy

.....gone to the beach