Weathering

Something about being on the beach is so soothing for me.  Early morning, when the only sound is the rythymic lapping of the waves, the occasional call of the soaring gull, or the far off tone of the foghorn, is when peace begins to settle in and transportation to another world, far from the news and the cell and yes the computer, comes into focus.  I think I love it so because it brings me back to childhood, when life was SO much simpler.

Last weekend Jackie and I took our first beach walk in months.

This is a actually a pic from last summer, but it's one of my favorites of him.  He's truly my very best beach bud.

At first glance, this could be a beach scene . . .water in the distance, froth as the tide rolls in.  But it's a close up of a section of weathered wood.  I find it amazing how the sea sometimes replicates nature itself just by the process of churning things around.

What I LOVE . . .  the simple joy of finding a treasure which the sea has offered me at no cost.  Years and years of churning waves and sun have sanded, smoothed and bleached the roughest of all edges, until all that is left is a perfect, clean and different object than it was before.  Maybe this process is similar to the one we all go through as we live each day, each week, each year.  Peeling back the layers, discarding the superfluous in our lives, and finally coming to understand that the circle of life can lead us back to the simple pleasures of our childhood if we let it.  Some people call it aging, but I prefer to think of it as weathering.  And weathering is a very good thing.

   

I'm always on the lookout for a beautiful piece of mermaid's tear (aka beach glass), or some interesting piece of weathered and bleached beach wood which may have washed up . . .

This piece of driftwood would have made a cool low table.  I saw it at dusk, uncovered it from the seaweed and wrack, but it was way too hard for me to move by myself.  About 5' long and super heavy, but such a great sculptural piece.  I decided to wait and get help moving it in the morning.  Too late. Gone. Somebody else with help must have come along, and now they've got MY amazingly wonderful piece of wood.  I knew I should have covered it up again.

When I saw this last summer from a distance it appeared to look like two dancers (birds maybe), on the beach, frozen in time . . . it really was standing just like this at the crest of the dune.

Every summer, off and on I re-read Anne Morrow Lindburgh's Gifts from the Sea.  Don't know how many times this classic has been reprinted since published in 1955, but I do know that Anne's amazing ability to express her own life stages is still inspiring and restorative, no matter how many times I pick it up.

A few years ago I made this from my collection of driftwood.  I love the way it reminds me of beach simplicity.




In the shop now are some summery simple beach things for your home . . . more coming this week!

Have a relaxing restorative day!

Thankful & Grateful

Mary & I made an executive decision.  We closed the shop for a few days this Memorial Day Weekend in order to get some much needed r&r.  Yes we know it's a busy shopping weekend with sales and promotions all around us, but we decided that spending time with family was way more important.  So, we're both off to some of our favorite places for a nice relaxing couple of days.  To all of our veterans, their families and those who have sacrificed so very much so we can enjoy the beautiful freedoms we have here in this great country . . . THANK YOU is almost not enough.

Last night the sky was the most amazing shade of pink!

Jackson enjoying a little dip in a very very cold Bay.

God Bless America, the Land of the Free and the Home of the Brave.

I've picked up some great small architectural finds scouring through the barn sales yesterday . . .
Wishing you all a great holiday weekend, see you back at the shop on Wednesday!

Peonies & Concrete

So today's the day I have been dreading . . .  as a gardener that is.  For weeks I have been following the progress of the construction crews on my walks with Jackson as they install new sidewalks all around town.  I knew they would be getting to my house sometime around now, by the speed with which these guys are working. . . and of course the timing just coincides perfectly with the opening of my long awaited peony garden in the front.  Here are some pics from last year's garden.

Yes I was worried.  No matter that I've been counting the days and waiting the 11.5 months to see the amazing blooms as they unfold into magnificent riots of pinks and fuschia . . . it could all be over before it even began this year as the men with shovels and chainsaws and the HUGE dozer parked themselves right next to my street garden.


Anyone who knows me knows that when it comes to my garden I can be as protective as a mother with her puppies.  Ask my husband.  When I hear his chain saw,  I go into panic that what he's sawing is something that is just about to bloom.  Wild roses, wigelia, climbing hydrengeas.  It's happened.  Many times.  Now,  I'm right out there being a big pain and watching his every move.  So, this time I decided to make friends with the crew DAYS BEFORE the action began on the sidewalks.  Al, the crew chief, was so incredibly nice and assured me that the garden would remain intact as we did a walk through on Friday.  I have to admit I was skepictal . . . how do you work with a humongeous bulldozer in a limited 4 feet of space and not rip out everything in range?  Well, I'm happy to say that maybe I jumped the gun.


This morning at 8am the digging began, so I was out there with my coffee just watching as they moved closer and closer . . . .and I was totally amazed.

Look how close they are here . . . omg.

 But, between the dozer director John, and the dozer driver Luis, they worked SO carefully moving this big bucket shovel around my peonies to get to the required 7 inches of depth for the sidewalk forms.

Getting closer . . .

The thing came within millimeters of the buds, but never hit them.  Luis was like a surgeon with that bucket arm, swinging it around, picking up the dirt, dumping it into the truck, all the while being very watchful of me and my flowers.

 Marcelo, Carlos and Eduardo who did the finishing hand work on the forms.

Here comes the cement mixer, another BIG BIG piece of machinery, ready to pour the concrete.  I'm still praying.

 Dumping the mix . . .

 Spreading it for the first pass . . .

 Rough hand smoothing first . . . 

 Then all hands working together.  Very Quickly.  Finally smoothing out with a large (for lack of a better word), flattener.

John inspecting the progress.

Moving right along . . .

It seems no day lately would be complete without a little rain to complicate things.  Covering up for 24 hours.




So the good news is that yes, the peonies have been spared their closest call EVER.  It was actually so interesting to watch this whole thing unfold and to see how each and every part of the job was timed so perfectly and organized so well.  It may have looked easy, but I'm here to tell you that it takes some major planning and synchrony to make it all happen so perfectly!

I am very, very thankful to Al and a great crew Luiz, John, Marcello, Carlos, & Ramondo for a careful & amazing job.  I think the entire front garden will look even better with the addition of our new sidewalks after all . . . Peonies left unscathed to come into their glory, and a good day's work for the guys who made it happen.

We've got some great looking vases and containers in the shop now for all those gorgeous looking blooms you'll be cutting from your garden.  Stop in & see . . .

Have a constructive day :) . . . 

The Courage of NieNie

Watching TV is not something I do a lot, but I was grateful that I turned it on one night last week . . . to be able to view a heartbreaking but truly amazing story of a young woman's courage in the face of unimaginable tragedy.  Her name is Stephanie Nielson . . . and when and if you watch her story,  I know you will be touched as I was.  


Her life as a young mother was literally filled to the brim.  As a vibrant, beautiful and super creative mother of four, loving wife, and, for those who follow the blogosphere, an amazingly talented writer,  NieNie's story of survival and subsequent road to recovery after a devastating plane crash in 2008 is nothing short of miraculous.  Aired on abc's 20/20: http://abc.go.com/watch/2020/SH559026/VD55126905/2020-513-plane-crash-survivor

Stephanie's blog, NieNie Dialogues, continues after a very long hiatus and her spirit is unbelievably inspiring.  The love and support of her family, friends and fans is a very beautiful thing.  You can visit her blog here:http://nieniedialogues.blogspot.com/

Isn't this a great family wall?  I wish I had thought of something like this when my kids were growing up.

image from Anthropologie

Interesting.  Leave it to Anthro's fab designers to come up with something SO creative using cork.  I'd do this one in all whites for pure texture.

Another great wall design . . . created by one of our Switch customers.  Very organic vibe, lots of texture, and looks stunning on the wall behind her dining table!  It's HUGE and represents so many great memories of dinners with family & friends.  Love this Lynne! 

Yay!  Family . . . celebrations . . . Mary & I are off to the last of our girls' college graduations today. Bittersweet, but we couldn't be prouder of them!  The shop will be closed, but we'll be back on Thursday . . . stop by when you can!




Hoping for sun soon . . . have a great day.