Coiled

Rough, grey rope coiled and waiting...

Tomorrow

Maybe tomorrow we'll see Connecticut but today we just have to believe it's there.

Clothkits

Or another delve into the photo albums. (Bonus: my kids are going to freak when they read this. I expect shrieks to be heard all the way from BXL)

Jean Martha, curator of Renovation Therapy and lover of beautiful fabrics, sent me a link to this blog from UK artist and designer Jane Foster. As I scrolled through the gorgeous images I came across this doll that looked familiar. Then I zeroed in on the text: "the doll I designed for Clothkits".

Clothkits! Way back when I dressed the kids in Clothkits. These are ready-made Clothkit dresses and somewhere in a toybox stashed in the secret room is an original Clothkits doll I sewed for them.


Dungarees, dresses and sailor hats, robes and padded jackets, I made them all from their ready to sew fabric. It was a delightfully easy experience. The fabric was printed with the pattern ready to cut; wadding, binding and all the other haberdashery goodies were included and each came with a pattern for a wee stuffed animal to go in the pocket. They were ADORABLE. (I made the jackets large so they could wear them for several seasons, that's why one poor child is swamped).


See that elephant on the front of the jacket, the one I stitched around to highlight? That is a muff. A place to warm tiny hands made icy while forming snowballs. And it's attached to the coat so it never gets lost. Genius.

Clothkits suffered an expansion and bust scenario many years ago that put them out of business but it seems they are back.

Anyway, enough with the happy memories and cuteness. Go visit Jane Foster's blog and as Jean Martha says "lose a few hours" in the retro-inspired fabrics, modern and vintage... she even has a store where fabric cats rule!. Enjoy!

After that, hop on over to Julia's Hooked on Fridays blog fest to browse through her family heirlooms

Thinking positive

The upside of all the rain and humidity: moss on moss

-morphic musing

Is that where snails come from?

If anthropomorphic is attributing human qualities to the non-human, what is ascribing animal-like attributes to a plant?

Almost as addictive as twitter

It's summer and in spite of the thunderstorms and pouring rain I have been making a batch of ice cream every week. Last week it was a refreshing blueberry that turned out the most amazing shade of purple. Today's gelato recipe is a sweet vanilla ice cream with cream cheese for stabilization and texture. It's rescued from boring blahness by


the addition of a handful of roughly chopped Sea Salt and Turbinado Sugar Dark Chocolate Almonds from Trader Joe's. These are the most addictive bonbons ever to land on the supermarket shelves. I decided to make this gelato just to limit the number of times we pass by the kitchen cupboard and sneak a couple. Buy 'em, try 'em but be warned, you may have to give them away to save yourself!


The Recipe
2 1/2 cups of cream and whole milk (or half and half)
1/2 cup cane sugar
1 tsp vanilla
4oz cream cheese
2 tbsp sour cream
Handful of chopped chocolate almonds. (If you can't get the salty ones you could add a 1/4 tsp gray sea salt)

Heat the cream, milk and sugar until the sugar dissolves. Cook stirring constantly for 5 minutes. Add vanilla and cream cheese. Whisk gently until the cream cheese has melted into the cream mixture. Take a bowl and fill with ice cubes, place the pan in the bowl and allow to cool. Whisk in the sour cream. Meanwhile chop a handful of the almonds. When the cream mixture is cool to the touch pour into an ice cream maker and add the nuts.
There you have it, almost every tastebud is tickled: Creamy, Crunchy, Sweet, Sour and Salty Gelato. Enjoy!

Bob Vila makes it look so easy*

Sometime, a couple of winters ago, after the sprinkler system had been winterised by some joker who took the pipe apart, we noticed one of the outside taps was dripping. Turning off the water to the faucet helped but there was still a persistent drip through the winter that replacing washers and tapes just wouldn't stop. Not good. In Spring we replaced the sprinkler faucet and everything worked until winterisation rolled round again. This time the upper compression faucet leaked. We turned the water off again and waited for Spring. The solution this time was to replace the old wheel type with a new lever and the sprinkler guy offered to take off the completely seized-up fixture but he didn't have one of the right size to replace it so he capped it and I was supposed to go buy one and fit it myself. That was April and as we rarely use that faucet we didn't miss it until now.
Now is mid to end July when the humidity on Long Island causes the stone and brick to turn green and algae to grow on the asphalt. Now is power-washing time. Now is the time when a working hosepipe is necessary to blast the green gunge off the paths. Now is the time to fix the faucet.


So with old tap in hand I set off to purchase a new tap. And an adapter so I could run the hosepipe from it. And another adapter the purpose of which escapes me but which I bought anyway. I've learnt not to argue with the hardware guy.


Having assembled some plumbers tape, a wrench, a screwdriver (just in case) and the necessary hardware I set about unscrewing the cap. I tried, I tried really hard but I couldn't get that cap off. Eventually I called for back up


The Guy applied the wrench, twisted and turned and eventually loosened it and pulled it off. Which is when we realised we had not turned off the water to the faucet.


It could have been me kneeling in front of the tap. But instead it was The Guy who caught the full force of the flow. Luckily I had my camera to record the moment and more lucky still, he was wearing swimmers. Rule #1: Always shut off the water when messing with the plumbing!


After a quick run to the basement to shut off the water he attached the new tap, complete with its extra doodahs and after another run to the hardware store where he laid down $16 for the right size spanner/wrench we have a leak-free outside faucet. Hurray!


The hosepipe we bought last week is connected and after a couple of adjustments, drip-free. We are ready to tackle the power-washing...

*If your outdoor faucet isn't completely corroded and your compression faucet not connected to another compression faucet that connects to your sprinkler system you can probably easily fix the drips by watching this video. Repairs should only run you a couple of dollars (if you have the right tools) and take less than 5 minutes.

Beach Cat

He's done it before, in fact he often takes a stroll down to the beach, but this is the first time I've captured photographic evidence of Cassis the Cat hanging out with Polly on the bulkhead overlooking the Sound.

Vineyard Spam

Today's recipe for spam courtesy of Gmail: Vineyard Spam Salad. Very appropriate if you live on Vineyard Rd and I imagine it's rather good - if you don't eat the spam...

Lousy, Holey Hostas

Last year the Hostas were shredded by a monster hailstorm, this year it looked like slugs had got to them. Holes everywhere, neighbours out with pet-friendly snail bait, and the conditions this year have been ideal for an infestation: rainy, damp, humid weather for months. The wet weather is what makes gardening in the UK so challenging and rewarding but it's not something I've come to expect from New York's Long Island.

Having grown up a warrior in the never-ending fight against the pests I was well prepared to find lots of the slimy creatures and to deal with them. My father dug cups of beer into the ground and sprinkled salt on those that slunk lazily down the paths leaving their silvery trails behind. As a pre-schooler I was encouraged to hunt for slugs and proudly carried an old beach bucket half filled with beer and salt to drop them in. (I believe there was a reward for most slugs captured). I was ready to do battle! I searched and searched for slugs and snails, turning up leaves by day, at night peering under them by flashlight. But I found no sign.


There were plenty of holes in the leaves, even my Basil had been attacked. But no sign of slugs. Which is when a lightbulb went off in my head.


Investigation around the yard showed me that only the common green Hostas had been eaten; the giant species and the variegated varieties had been ignored. Furthermore the basil is in a huge container 2' off the ground. If it were a slug chewing on my favourite salad herb he would either have had to parachute in, master the art of trampolining without the necessary equipment, or he would have left a trail. I checked: No trail.


I went back and looked a little closer at the holey leaves. And there they were. Everywhere.


The culprits: Woodlice on every leaf, on the ground, under my plants. Not surprising really as they like moisture even more than slugs do. It's still a mystery why they are eating only the less interesting Hostas but the most pressing question was what to do about them. According to those in the know they prefer dead material to live plants so I could leave decaying plant material about for them to gnaw on, although this would probably look worse than the half-eaten Hostas. The other ingenious suggestion I read about here: Drinking straws. This I can do, after all it's the perfect solution for a cocktail drinker. Let the Woodlice War commence!