The Sunday Flea

Hi everyone! Here with an update---Lizzy reporting from the flea. Kind of.. Despite the holiday, when everyone should have been home wine-ing and dining and brunching their Mamas, the flea was mobbed. And very very hot. Maybe 80's on the asphalt parking lot surface. It was a shock, because I left a chilly and densely fogged beach...maybe 55 here. As I left the house a friend saw me in cargo pants and a black tee shirt. He warned me, You're gonna be too hot. Next week I'll listen

my mother's day present! Cookies.
Too cute to eat.

Still, I'm glad I went because it was fun and also this week and next week are probably my last markets til Fall. The following May weeks are Memorial Day with the dreaded Air Show traffic, then there's the Strawberry Festival---and then it's summer. Beach time, not flea time. (Last February we thought this day would never come, right?)
I passed up this XXXL white with blue stripes mixing bowl. It was enormous, bigger than my giant bowl I use for my lavender mixing. I swear it weighed ten pounds. Mo could sleep in it.

It was new-ish looking though. Marked RRP [Rainsbottom?] , Roseville Ohio. here

And I decided against some new crappy thimbles because I couldn't get waited on.
A few fun finds...

This is a small platter in a pattern I call Bluebirds.

 Of course I love the discoloration and agey-ness.

The pattern is, I think, c. 1940-1950s. And it was made by Homer Laughlin, of Fiestaware fame. I guess its real name is Empress? edit: the pattern is Bluebird, the china shapes or blanks are Empress. This plate is selling for a whopping $145.oo on ebay. here

I don't collect Bluebird but I'll pick up a piece now and then when the price is right. $1.oo. The bluebirds remind me of the birds that dress Snow White [Cinderella?] in the original Disney film. (You can imagine how much I loved this old classic, as a little girl who loved to sew and loved animals.)

The same mother-son team had this interesting sewing stand. 

It must have been in someone's basement for years, look at this grunge!

I cleaned it only a little, I like the patina but not the dirt.

We can see that the awful green pincushion is a replacement---see the thumb tack holes? It's uglier than it looks in the photos with the green shutter. And it has gold Christmas cord to tie the melon wedges. Gotta go. Should it be replaced with a tuffet in velvet, or made with quilt craps? Should it have a calico hen instead. I'll have to think about this.

Legend has it that these wooden gadgets were made by boys in shop class at school, in the mid-20th century. Do you think it was a Mother's Day gift long ago, a boy made it for his mom? Maybe?

And with diligent rummaging I found a silver plate brush handle.

It's a bit plain but has potential. No marks, worn plating. It will probably get a strawberry somehow.

Back home, Mo and I escaped some possibly catastrophic Mother's Day DIY goings-on and we went for a long walk. Last week the plastic geese suddenly were, well, naked. And then a few days later they disappeared entirely. I was worried. Mo was puzzled.  On Sunday they were BACK! omg! lol! The geese are dressed up in brand new clothes. One has a butterfly costume. the other is a ladybug. But still, you know, geese.

Look at their little outfits.

Their hats are velveteen antennas or feelers.

They are so amusing, we've come to love them. Did their mum dress them up for Mother's Day?
The koi have new lily pads. Which I understand they'll eat but not my problem. We scurried by fast, so no photos.
Have a good week!

love

lizzy

gone to the beach

Mother's Day

Happy Mother's Day---to everyone, whether your kids are honoring you or you're remembering your own mom. My mom's been gone for awhile now. I don't think a day has gone by when I don't think of her. I still miss her so much.

I began this blog in her memory, because I missed our letters and shared journals and phone calls. She never ''got into'' computers and the Internet but I like to think she'd enjoy my posts here, if she was able to read them and see my photos. Who knows...maybe she's up there on Heaven's deck, in her shorts and tank top, sharing a beer with my dad and shaking her head at my folly. "I don't need a machine to see you, now do I?"

May's flowering trees always make me think of my parents. My dad planted dogwood trees for my mom when each of us children were born and each year after that, on Mother's Day he'd add a new flowering shrub or tree to our yard. He wasn't being entirely altruistic, he loved his yard and garden and collection of exotic trees and greenery. We moved a few times, so he never ran out of space.

In the Midwest we had apple trees and magnolias, then later in the prairie: white peach trees and Bradford pears, in Cape Cod were azaleas and hydrangeas and so many other beautiful plantings. I hope the trees are still there.

The shadblow is blooming in the marshes verges and on the dunes this week. (beach hawthorn)

And the geese should be out with their babies tomorrow, they always appear on Mother's Day. These are brants, though, not Canadians. Brants nest in the far North, so no babies when Mo and I visited earlier.

So---love and good wishes, to all. Happy Mother's Day, mom.

Mo in the dandelions. Yum.

\What!? I didn't eat it. 

First Spring Farmers Market

Hi guys! Good week so far? Yesterday was opening day of the Wednesday farmers market in town. It was a quiet grey day and the market seemed to have caught the vibe.

But I was excited and actually got there early. The market now has strange new hours, I just am baffled : 10 AM to 2 PM Then 4-7 PM, every Wednesday. What? Are the vendors gonna stay but be closed? Siesta time? Or new vendors will arrive. Or what.
I'm not fond of early in the day food shopping. I always grocery shop last thing in my errands list. Otherwise you end up with a car full of spoiled food. Or you have to rush home and get everything in the fridge?
When I lived in Brooklyn Heights, years ago, I loved it that in the summer the farmers market was still fresh and busy when I came out of the subway after work. I remember bunches of ruby red baby radishes, as if it was yesterday. Better than roses, I thought at the time.
Next week I'm going to check out the evening hours, see what that's about.

There was very little produce, but the asparagus was exceptional. I steamed this bunch and put a little butter and lemon pepper and we gobbled it up. The stalks are as thick as your thumb, that's the best tasting kind.

Some folks like the very thin shoots, but to me that tastes grassy. My dad used to tell us the thin shoots very fresh new baby shoots, but I now understand that's incorrect. There are simply two or more different hybrids, some are slender, some are chubby.
Asparagus is like pugs: chubby is best! LOL

No flowers, no herbs, no garden seedlings. Some lettuce and some greenhouse heirloom tomatoes. Mostly the vendors were selling things like honey and cheese and wine; eggs and yogurt.

I liked this guy's display with the old milk bottle carrier and red checked oilcloth.

He sold wine and cheese; all we'll need for deck time this summer.

I chose a Camembert from him.

There's also an old school bus with herbs and spices. I'll pick a few to try next time. They look tasty. I use a lot of spices in my cooking. Note the lovely pickling spice, second from the right. Gotta have for my pickles.

And way off in the corner was my old friends from Cobble Hill in Brooklyn.

I got fresh mozzarella and handmade parpardelli [egg noodles] from them.

This is a fun new vendor. She sells doggy treats and adorable little hand knit doggy sweaters. Maybe next time I'll bring Mo so he can try on a sweater. I was being cheap yesterday because I'm hoarding my spending money for the Flea. I got him yummy sweet potato bones for his busy box though.

I have a friend coming to visit in a few weeks. I'm thinking she'll enjoy a dinner picked here at the market: the wine and cheese, of course. Then artisan bread/ olive oil. And fresh pasta with spring veggies and cheese. Does that sound good? And girly? I'll make us lemon bars for dessert.

And so the season of hospitality and beach guests and ''cocktails'' at sunset begins. Finally. My winter quiet is ending, I'm a bit sad? But I'm wearing shorts! Yes right now a I type. Summer is looming, be here soon. (52* foggy. Wind from SSE at 18 mph)

What did you find at the market, or grocery store. Anything special?

love

lizzy

gone to the beach.