Tutorial in progress

I'm working on a new tutorial involving embroidery floss and rhinestones! Stay tuned!

Music: The River

I can't stop listening to this song!

Whenever I am feeling depressed, all I have to do is go visit the river. It's not quite like the Hudson, but it's so calming and peaceful. My favorite is to bike along it until the city fades away.

Finds: for Lauren

My friend, Lauren, would look amazing in this vintage, cotton dress I found on Etsy today. 

From the shop GoGo Vintage.

Travel: Eastbourne, UK

I visited my cousin in Eastbourne this weekend. After a few rainy days in London, the sunshine and warm sea breeze were most welcome. The town is pretty small and easily walkable. The beach is pretty uncomfortable. It's made of large stones which aren't great for sitting, but the view is pretty great. There was a sailboat race on while we ate our fish and chips on the beach.

I'm always impressed with the color of the sea in England. Sometimes it looks down right tropical!

Garden Update: Blooming!

 My little borage plant sprung its first flower!!

Also been admiring these guys in the garden. They were a surprise, blossoming out of a pot that I thought was empty!

I fixed my bicycle!

I fixed my bicycle with the help of Sam from Micycle this weekend, and I have ridden it every day since then!

Garden Update: The lettuce is safe.

Even with all these pests eating the kale, beans, and strawberries, they've left all the lettuce alone. I don't understand it at all and it makes me wonder if the lettuce is no good to eat.

There's not a single hole in the lettuce leaves!

Finds: for Jenn

Jenn is an adventurous lady. She gave me a bear-claw shaped stone as a parting-from-NY gift. Saw these gold-dipped shark teeth necklaces on Etsy today and it reminded me of her!

From the shop TalaStone in California.

Garden Update: It's not snails.

So the egg shells did not work. I moved the strongest pot of kale inside in the hopes that whatever was munching through the leaves was an occasional visitor that would no longer be able to eat a free lunch with the plants inside.

 

Well, sadly I was wrong. Seems the lunchers have actually taken up residence  on the underside of the leaves. Most of the bugs are a slivery, white color, but this guy had spots.

 

I washed all of the bugs off when I discovered them, but alas, they seem to have come back in even great numbers! 

After a bit of internet research, it appears these are aphids. This article suggests sprtizing the leaves with a water/soap (like Dr. Bronner's) solution. That will be the next thing to try!

Garden Update: We've got holes.

 Someone or something is eating all my plants! It's really bumming me out because the bugs seem to enjoy all my favorite vegetables as much as I do.

They have already destroyed the three giant white bean plants I had going and now they have started into the Kale. I was advised if it was slugs, I should put crushed up egg shells around the plants. The shells are too pointy for the slugs to walk on, so they won't cross the barrier.

Lets hope it works!

Garden Update: It's been a hot July.

Well July has been a very hot month in the UK. Since I was in the US, I relied on my flatmates to water the plants. Unfortunately the heat still go to most of my plants. Including the lovely strawberries my aunt gave me for my birthday.

I've been nursing the roots back and this one shows signs of life! But something is eating it too. UGH.

Maine!

So I took a lil break from the blog to spend a week in Maine with the man.

We spent a couple of days at a great lil cabin on a lake near Farmington, ME.

The porch was literally on the water and had a rope swing.  We spent several glorious days, swimming in the clear, cool water of the lake, eating amazing food lovingly prepared by friends, and doing lots of laughing.

On day 4, we left the lake and headed to the coast while our friends headed home. We camped out in Acadia for a few days, hiking and sailing around the area. We even got to sail on the oldest Friendship sloop still sailing.

Our cruise was captained by a pleasant, relaxed fellow, tan from head to toe with brown hair baking to blonde. We shared it with the two oldest guys in Maine and a couple from North Carolina who have been chewing nicotine gum for 11 years after "quitting cigarettes." It was a colorful trip to say the least.

It started raining on Desert Island after 3 days there, so we headed south with no particular plan, but learned en route from a terrific radio station that one of our favorite bands, Father John Misty, was playing in Portland. We bought tickets and drove down. The show was great - he has an incredible voice - though he seems tired of touring and singing the same songs.

After the show, we sat outside on a giant concrete planter, bemoaning our inevitable fate of staying at a Super 8 or other somesuch, when out of nowhere the man recognized an old sailing buddy riding his bicycle down the street. After a quick catch up, it was clear we had found a place to stay and a fabulous host.

After a terrific evening, we extended our vacation by several days to hang out with our host and his friends as they showed us all around Portland. We ate lots of good food and swam in the ocean.

Could not have asked for a better trip!