grandmother's tribute

Aforetime I have mentioned my habit of setting a pitcher of water on the counter to drink throughout the  day. I prefer room temperature water for the most part and by keeping it there at arm's reach it is easier for me to remember to keep drinking, especially as I go about my quotidian home engagements.

As I was going through some of my mother's things recently, I discovered some of the handiwork sewn by my grandmother.  Grandmother was born in 1914 and she could sew about anything. She was a clever woman very skilled with needle and thread.  She actually made a living sewing draperies and slipcovers for years in the back room of her home, and oh the neat stories she would tell. One that fascinates me even to this day is was how she learned the meticulous job of making fabrics fit through training she had while still a young girl. Her father constructed pine coffins through government contracts he was given and her part was to perfectly fit the inside of the coffins with a lining of white cotton.

Just before she died I visited with her one day. She was lying on the bed with her eyes closed and when asked how she was doing she answered, "Oh, I'm just lying here hemming a handkerchief."   She taught me a wealth of many things, but an important lesson was garnered on that particular day. The power held in both the concentration of the mind and the gratitude of the heart.

One of her white crocheted doilies with a solid linen center has proven

useful to set over my pitcher of water.

Beautiful and charming,

just like my grandmother.

joy seized

"The moments of joy we enjoy take us by surprise.

It is not that we seize them, but they seize us."

-Ashley Montagu

The first official day of summer found me at the seashore, while at home the deer greedily feasted on my beautiful blooming lilies. But the past month has indubitably seized me with an array of things providing moments of sincere joy on these summer days.  I never seem to get all the things done on the list conjured up in my brain back in the merry month of May. The list is purposed, thought out and harnessed while summer is looming as on a vast horizon. Experience continues to teach me the enjoyment of the unexpected moments.

A day in early July Claire and I did something we had been wanting to do for some time; getting together and preparing a batch of fermented vegetables.  French Cafe played on Pandora accompanied by the constant background hammering as the workmen were putting down hardwood floors in my bedroom.

The floors are completed now, beautiful and smooth, and we have just this week moved back into our bedroom. We moved mother  here on a day in late January. Hardly believing that was over five months ago.

therapy

I attended a funeral this morning. This is the second time I have attended the funeral of a friend's mother  since my own mother's funeral on May third. As I sat listening, I was thinking about the family's grief, wanting to be there for them knowing first hand how comforting it is when others are sharing this time with you.  But there were definite, personal things going on within my own heart too, I felt a strong squeezing. The stillness of the moment, the words and the songs provided a stage of familiarity.

As soon as I walked in the back door, I kicked off my black pumps, slipped an apron over my head,  promptly tied it in the back and began to cook. For several uninterrupted hours straight I mixed, chopped, stirred, baked, and sauteed with deftness and abandon.

Then I sat down and sighed. The curative powers of cooking, good therapy.

making it simple; smelling and tasting

I do believe I might just have the best smelling weed/scrub trash can, those big plastic wheely things the city provides, around these parts. The reason being attributed to the recent activity of the gathering, harvesting, and pruning of my herb beds. I have harvested several bunches of organo and sage to dry, then I undertook the cutting back of my lavender plants. Guess where all the extras end up?

Drinking water is a must for ladies on these hot, humid summer days. 

Looking to add a little extra zing this summer, I do believe this combination is my best so far. I throw in a few basil leaves, fill a two quart jar with water and squeeze in a bit of fresh lime juice. All throughout the day I keep refreshed drinking this water until the pitcher is empty. 

 Two quarts daily made simpler.

picture me

I carry the camera customarily, therefore, I will take the majority of the pictures that show up on the memory card.

But when the photos are snapped unsuspectingly by someone else you never know what the outcome will be. However, now that I think of it this photo was actually taken on my iphone!

We were heading back home from the beach, one more meal to enjoy by the waterfront where boats and gulls abound.

watching the dolphins

Dolphins in the sound, watching them surface while eating crabcakes on the water, the sun kisses my shoulders. Perfect.

I love the word besprinkle!

I call it a golden word.

Beginning tomorrow we shall be besprinkled for an entire week with:

~sand
~sun
~sea breezes
~umbrella shade
~ gobs of seashells
~ colorful beach towels
~salt water
~good literature
~seafood to eat
~walks on the beach
~beach chairs

Hope you will have a besprinkled week too!

josie dress

Opening a world of possibilities for girly summer dresses to be sewn in crisp cotton fabrics can be as simple as opening a girly book.

It needs a zipper. 

I have not set a zipper in a dress in years since buttons are my preferred method. I shake a little, even though a friend assures me she has a surefire method.

summertime yarn along

It has been quite a while since I've posted along with the wonderful knitters and readers of Ginny's Yarn Along. However, it is summer and that is the time to pull out one of those fiction books on the stacks just  begging to be read on lazy afternoons by the pool or in a lawn chair by the sea while the sea breezes stir the pages and sand burrows deep into the grooves.

Knitting a self-stripping sock is my remedy for mindless summer activity; I let other projects take on the most strenuous brain power, and so easy to slip into a purse or beach bag.

The book I recently began reading is by an author I have never read before, Elizabeth Bowen. This particular novel has acclaim as her choicest work. In reading about her life, she leaves an impression of not being my idea of a role model I would commend. We shall see how the novel's story unfolds. I am not abashed from laying aside any work of literature that I do not enjoy reading. There are so many other outstanding good reads why waste time on something not to your liking is my train of thought, especially in the good 'ole summertime!

lavender's blue dilly,dilly...

Burl Ives sings this song in the Disney film, "So Dear to My Heart". Perhaps you have seen it? So many things in it to charm and comfort a soul.

Not unlike the lavender that blooms in my backyard garden, planted near the stone walls. Lavender adores limestone and it has never ceased from thriving every year in my garden. Of course the application of lime to your soil will also help make your lavender happy.

Lavender syrup is so simple to make and I love having a jar of it in my refrigerator to pull out whenever I want to add a bit of summer's nectar to my iced tea or lemonade. Initially I gave the recipe a couple of summers ago. Making syrups, I have found, are very adaptable especially regarding the amount of sugar you must add to make your syrup. The typical recipe is 1 part water to 1 part sugar. I have sometimes altered that to half the amount of sugar, the syrup is not as thick, but still adds a good flavor to your drinks. Try it and see what you think. I now add the entire lavender sprigs, stems and all. You must strain it anyway and the stems contain huge amounts of lavendery flavor as well as the blossoms.

Lavender lemonade in my great-grandmother's punch bowl, with lemonade ice mold and a sprig of mint. Served at Charlotte's birthday party back in May.

summer reading program

During the summer vacations of my youth, I could think of nothing better to do than to spend hours of my "long" days reading books. The library was frequented often enough, but by far the paperbacks from Scholastic Book Company were the mainstay of my reading diet, titles such as Gone Away Lake, Magic Elizabeth, The Mystery of the Empty House, and Plain Girl.  Many of these books have been dug out once again and spread before Charlotte as a magnificent feast to be devoured, page by page. But first she reads a book received as a birthday gift, Dancing Shoes  by Neal Streatfeild of her shoe series. 

Charlotte finds various places to read daily but the back porch has become a favorite on summer mornings.

Red shoes (from the dress up closet), what part is she playing out I am wondering?