This is our summer farm in Maine. I thought you might like to see my biggest Etsy distraction. (I took the photo last July.) There are apple trees on the other side of the house and more wildflowers. I can't bring myself to plow either field because the flowers are so beautiful. I'm planting fruit trees and bushes instead. (Between the flowers.)

a photo I took today

have you seen this pretty blog?

click on this one to enlarge

spring

Lots of fun new dresses in my Etsy shop...

Hi. It's spring here in NJ. That's an apple tree in bloom. The state budget crisis is so severe we can no longer afford plants with color.

I forgot to bring my camera to Cape Cod last weekend. Gasp.

Remember all those pictures of ice chunks on the beach I posted last winter? Apparently that's a regular occurrence on Cape Cod. I learned that thanks to a poem by the lovely LOVELY Mary Oliver, my all time favorite poet (who lives on the Cape). You'll love her poems too. Promise.

Cape Cod in March

In case you didn't know, you can hear the wonderful new Norah Jones album on www.npr.org. Here's the direct link. I never seem to be listening to NPR at the right time to hear the interesting stories, usually they're discussing war or some other sadness, so I like going directly to the site and choosing topics.

(Non-war ones.)

(Because Obama continues to let me down with his Afghanistan policy. Otherwise he seems lovely.)

Photo from Mayo Beach in Wellfleet, last month.

Peace

Yes, that house says "Peace" on the side. Love it.


When I take up woodworking, which is only about five seconds away, replicating this bench is my first project.

And last.


I went back to Skaget Beach last weekend.


The beach sand felt like velvet. And peaceful.

Seagrass at Skaget Beach

A scene from summer. My new favorite beach.

Wellfleet, MA

Add a window and wouldn't this be a lovely place to live?

Flowering Dune

Have a great summer. See you in the Fall.

My garden. Tonight.

This afternoon in my garden

The foxgloves are particularly beautiful this year. I'm all blissed out and exhausted from working in the restaurant garden. When I'm gardening I still think about all of you. I just don't have much time to show it.

In case you were wondering, I didn't fall off the face of the earth. I fell into it. Really. I'm busy installing an organic garden for a restaurant near my home. I won't be doing Etsy for a while but I will try to post photos of the garden as it develops.

Today I planted herbs. They looked quite photogenic in their little rows and I'm sure I heard them whisper, "Please post a photo of us. We want to be on a blog. It's what all the cool plants are doing."

How can I deny them?

Four words

Amy's California veggie burgers.

(Three bonus words:) Frozen food section.

(Hey, look a little smiley face.)

(And I just winked.)

(And I've spent too much time out in the sun watching baseball.)

Have a great weekend. Try the veggie burger at your barbecue. They only need a little heat. And in case you've looked at it in the store and wondered, yes, Stonewall Kitchen's Papaya Salsa IS very good (assuming you like sweet salsa.) Very good with that veggie burger - you should probably heat up two. Oh, and while you're at it - put it all in a good wrap with vegetables. That's all. Unless you want me to come over and fix it for you, in which case I'll need your address and possibly an airline ticket. (Hi Sheppie.)

(The photo is from my garden yesterday.)

(I made that, but not much else this week.)

If you live in Portland, Oregon, please go to this show for me. Thanks!

(After looking at the announcement, let's say you have a few more minutes, then go to her blog home page. Isn't it wonderful? Her shop, Ink & Peat, has more beautiful images. You have time for all that, right?)

Today Zack is 10. He wants the world to know.

Because there is a slight (OK, excellent) possibility you didn't click on my bandana listing and see the cool photos I took, I've posted them here as well! (Look away if you don't like shop items photographed on wrinkled canvas.)






Thanks for humoring me. Have a lovely day.

Come on in!

I used the kapok pillow last night and woke up youthful and refreshed. Just kidding. I looked the way I usually do. Like the cat played with me all night.

Oh, for those of you diving into Veganomicon, when they tell you to put the sweet potatoes directly on the oven rack, they're just kidding.

Those crazy kids. For goodness sake! Put a pan under them! Unless you are in fact looking for an excuse to clean an oven, in which case, mine is now available.

Cashew butter + flax waffles = yum.

If anyone else gets the "smart" idea of making their own kapok pillow, be sure to stuff it outside in a stiff wind or wear a mask. I have half a pillow in my lungs right now and it doesn't feel great.

A view from the cottage. Buy now. Invite me. Bye now.


Nice plastic lawn chair. Let's have it included.

(Yes, I took all the color off my blog. Spring cleaning.)

Tiny Spring Flowers

I have a major weakness for real estate on the verge of crumbling into the ground. On Friday and Saturday I went to the Cape to visit Hilary and look at every disintegrating property I could find. My favorite is below. (If I could have stayed in the area until Sunday, I would have been one of the lucky people to attend this studio sale.)




Anyone want to go halves? You can have June and July. I'll take August. It's only 169k. Cash. With high taxes and association dues. But we can dream.

The 90 degree heat blew open these tulips. The first two times I watered them, to extend their bloom in the heat, I saw a baby bunny hiding in the forget-me-nots below them. He was so cute I didn't even think about all the lettuce and peas he would be eating next month.

But I AM thinking about it now. With fear.

Oh, to be ant sized and walking through these forget-me-nots.

Across the street

I found a GREAT vegan cookbook: Veganomicon by Isa Moskowitz and Terry Romero! Vegan AND very funny. Perfect.

Let's do "A Flower A Day" for the rest of the week!

(It doesn't take much to get me excited.)

While the kids are at school tomorrow I'd like to plow the lawn under so I can extend my garden.

Fantasies of a suburban housewife.

P.S. If anyone read Kate's book (from the last post) she left an encouraging comment.

Happy Monday.

If you spot "Green Cooking" by Kate Heyhoe at your local library, flip especially to page 72 where she lists passive cooking instructions for common foods. Other than boiling eggs and then letting them sit with the water off to cook them, I'd never tried it before and now I'm totally sold. (Even though I'm trying to go vegan, two family members aren't so I experimented by passively cooking a whole chicken - cover with water plus half an inch, bring to a boil, simmer 15 minutes, then let sit with the cover on for an hour - it cooked more evenly than roasting. AND as a bonus I didn't give anyone food poisoning!)

If you have ever thought about going vegan, read this book - you'll love it. It's guaranteed to ruin meat, eggs, and dairy for you forever, but in the most pleasurable read possible. I was sad when I finished the last chapter and realized the rest of the book was 80 pages of documenting notes.

(pg. 72 in Kate's book also lists instructions for vegetables. Which is what you'll want if you read both books. Believe me.)

Crab Apple Blossoms

If you happen to be invited to a wedding in Laguna Beach next month, I hope you receive a beach bag favor from CapeBags, stuffed with fun beach...uh, stuff. You can see some of the bags below, turned inside out.


Speaking of weddings, Hilary's birthday is tomorrow so let's all blow on some candles for her.

See that "Linked Within" thing below? I saw it on another blog yesterday and thought, boy, that's self-involved, and two minutes later had it loaded on mine. I think it won't last because I'm a control freak and the posts are RANDOMLY chosen. Well a computer says they are related but that computer is kidding itself.

I am now officially a person of few words. But many photos. All of them of plants. Apologies.

(I seem to have lost the ability to write complete sentences. Nice.)

Know any good vegan cookbooks? With recipes children will eat?

I'm such a dreamer.

I found the all-time funniest blog post on "Sweet Juniper" (via the lovely "Lucy and I" blog). I recommend reading the March 31st post as a warmup to the March 26th entry which is THE ONE. Spread the word.

Thursday in the garden

(Thank you daffodils.)

Has anyone else discovered that adding a scoop of mashed potatoes to a bowl of warm soup takes everything to a whole new level of wonderfulness? (That IS a technical soup term in case you were wondering. (Wondering...wonderful. Interesting.)) Don't stir the potatoes into the soup, just scoop up a little with each spoonful of soup. Divine.

And if you open a soup shop, please invite me. I like soup. A lot. Oh, I forgot I wasn't going to write about that anymore. Too late.

(Yeah, I said I wasn't going to write until Monday, but I couldn't wait.)

Soon, Green

Reports of sightings of single Cape males have been flooding in...belated April Fools. He sure is illusive. We might need to start packing stun guns. Wouldn't want to let one get away.

Sorry I haven't posted in so long. I've been a little busy but it doesn't mean I don't love you, I just need to get other things done. (Like lurking in Cape Cod bushes.)

I'll start posting on Mondays.

I'll be taking a little break...

It's almost Spring here and it seems like a good time to take a blogging break. (Sorry, Sarah.) I'll still be posting but a lot less frequently.

You know where to find me if you spot that extremely illusive Cape Cod creature; the nice, marriageable, single guy. I know it's a tall order, but it's for my sister.

Until Hilary actually packs her bags I haven't completely given up hope, but things are looking bleak. Hence the photo. (Never read this blog before? Look at the previous posts.)

I KNEW I should have asked Santa for a nice single guy for Christmas. Next year.

Coast Guard Beach, CC, last April

It rained while Hilary was in North Carolina! Whoever arranged that, great idea and nice teamwork! Unfortunately she said she still had a great time AND DIDN'T WANT TO LEAVE. This is distressing to say the least. I may need to import a nice single man to Cape Cod, because it seems the rumors are true: no guys on Cape Cod in the off-season.

To cheer everyone up - because surely you are taking this as hard as I am - I'm providing a link to Duffy's "Mercy" which will undoubtedly be my Most-Listen-to-Song of 2009. The first time I heard it, I thought, that's nice. By the end of the second time, I was hooked. That day I listened to it 73 times (really). Last Thursday, 58 times (really). If "Mercy" came in a powdered form I'd be snorting it right now.

It's Day Three, People

(Remember last spring's bunny? I found another bunny nest in the garden and am really torn over whether to ignore it knowing how much destruction those cute little fur balls will cause in a few months.)

OK, back to business. Were you on facebook today? Did you ask to your 214 friends if they knew any nice single guys on Cape Cod? No? OK, go ahead and do it now, I'll wait here for you.


Back so soon?


Let's ramp up the urgency. Hilary is in North Carolina this weekend AND she has bought tickets for another weekend as well. I tried to get the flight canceled, but no luck on that one. (Pesky police investigation to deal with now as well. Great.)

Arrange a first date and pick anything from my shop for free.

Free! I recommend the $45 Snowflake sleeveless blouse, one of which is going to be in a charity fashion show in Chicago next month. That's right! Famous and free!

Have a great weekend and remember FOCUS on finding Hilary a nice guy. Don't forget, we're doing it for him too.

And for me.

The Search - Day Two

It goes without saying that whoever locates that nice, single Cape Cod guy gets invited to the wedding. Let's get crackin' people. I think we all want to hear "Strawberry Swing" on a warm sunny beach.

Open bar.

Free airfare.

Also not a current photo. It IS mud season here in the northeast. But you'll see why I picked heart shaped flowers further down this post.

I'm trying to figure out how to make a big scoop of maple cream a legitimate lunch. (I ran out of the flax waffles - which I originally bought for Ethan and Zack. They rejected them with a look of horror on their faces. Children.)

While I find a suitable maple cream conduit, can you tell me if you know ANY nice single men on Cape Cod. I am searching desperately.

Not for me. Mom.

For my sister Hilary. She is threatening to move off the Cape if a living breathing single male isn't located soon. Apparently they are as rare as albino star fish.

Help.

I really don't want her to move. There is no better combination than Cape Cod and a family member to stay with. (A happily married family member apparently.)

Have you heard that Cold Play song, "Strawberry Swing"? I think they should play it at their wedding. On the beach. In September. Gentle breezes. Gentle sun. Happy children.

P.S. I'm not kidding, know a guy who is also looking in Cape Cod? Hilary is much nicer, prettier, younger (37) and more fun than me and she has long blond hair that acts like a stun gun on men (it was really annoying when we were in St. John how men kept keeling over when they saw her hair. Men.)