Guy Wolff Pottery and the forget-me-nots.

 

It's usually April when we begin to see the small blueish white flowers along the roadside.  But because of this year's late spring, we're invited to enjoy them into late May!  I envy the yards where they spread all over; begging the homeowner to put off mowing for another week.  

When looking for a small pot for some of these tiny beauties, I came across this one that I adore.  It's stamped G. Wolff & Co. I remember when Martha Stewart visited Guy at his quaint Connecticut studio.  He was just one man creating pots as fast as he could.  I'm kicking myself now that when I lived there, I never went to visit.  

Guy's website tells us that these white pots were originally made for Smith and Hawken (now closed, my favorite location was in New Canaan.  It's a bit of a tragedy because Target carries the line now).  Until 2006, these pots were made in America.  Now the pots are made in China, where a specific group of throwers is able to handle the quantity challenge.  You can find more information regarding the different Guy Wolff stamps here.

A walk in the garden after the rain.

I love the garden after the rain!  The way the glistening raindrops perch upon the petals and leaves is magical. 

Fresh Asparagus

We took a drive over the weekend to simply enjoy the wonderful spring scenery.  It seems as though the summer heat will be bearing down on us any day now.  There was a light breeze with nary a cloud in the sky.  We stumbled upon a small and a bit run down farm selling asparagus.  How could we resist?

It was quite a large tent for such a small amount of asparagus!  Perhaps the farmer will treat us to more veggies as the summer progresses.

 Fresh picked.

 A quick rinse and a small bit trimmed off the end was all that was needed.

 A dash of olive oil, sea salt and cracked pepper and it was ready for the grill!

A fabulous side dish for the barbeque event!

If you live in the Michigan area, you can find information for the National Asparagus Festival here.

If you live in Massachusetts, you can find information for the Hadley Asparagus Festival here. 

Check your local farmers market for fresh asparagus!

Memorial Day

My Dad served on the USS Pawcatuck during WWII.  Thank you Dad and thank you to all of our Veterans as well as our active military personnel this Memorial Day.

Felted Soap

 

I’m guessing that most of you have washed and dried a favorite sweater at least once….you know, the lovely wool pullover that you purchased on your last trip to England?  You toss it into the laundry basket thinking you’ll remember to hand wash it when…uh oh….you pull it out of the dryer?!  Now it’s small enough to fit your five year old niece!  Yes, that sweater.  That process of shrinking is specifically called felting and when things are felted on purpose, it can be very useful!

Felting is often used in knitting. The result is similar to the old boiled wool jackets that we all wore in the 80’s!  When felting a hand knit item, the item is first knitted, then tossed in the wash.  The combination of hot water and agitation felts the item.  It could be a handbag, hat, jacket, scarf; there are felted toys and felted bowls…just about anything can be felted!  Keep in mind, there are other types of felting as well.  Wet felting, dry felting, needle felting; all different forms of art that enable you to create!

I’d like to introduce you to the idea of felted soap.  That’s right; soap.  You’ve probably seen it before; perhaps at an artisan’s guild, a country store, a farmer’s market or a craft show.  Felted soaps come in all shapes, sizes and colors.  They make fabulous gifts!

You'll need wool roving in several different shades, soap (I like to use Pears or Ivory), a bowl of hot water (as hot as your hands can stand) and a bowl of cold water for rinsing.

Roving is wool that has been washed, combed and carded into a thick, continuous “strand” ready to be spun.

Roving pulls apart easily so begin by pulling your roving into thin pieces that will wrap around a bar of soap.  The pieces don’t have to be the same size.  You can wrap your roving around the bar of soap in any arrangement you like just make sure that the entire bar of soap is covered!

You're ready to begin the felting process.

Submerge your wrapped bar of soap into the hot water and begin rubbing it gently.  You are now felting the roving!  The more you rub it and work it, the more it will shrink.  You are smoothing it around the bar of soap.  The fibers are bonding together to form a tight fitting cover around the soap.

Don’t worry about the suds, you’ll wash them away with the cold water rinse.  When the roving has felted to your satisfaction, dip the felted soap into the cold water rinse to remove any excess soap.  Let it air dry and that’s it!  

You have a beautiful bar of felted soap.  It will look wonderful in the soap dish next to the bathroom sink or tie it in a pretty ribbon and give one as a gift.  The newly felted bar of soap has terrific exfoliating properties as well!  It’s a built-in wash cloth that you can toss when the soap is all gone.  Just make sure the recipient of your gift isn’t allergic to wool! 

Wool roving is not hard to find.  You may find it at your local yarn store, craft shop, farmer’s market or even local farm.  Just make sure you are purchasing wool roving for your felting project.  You may prefer to use a beautifully hand made soap for your felting project.  The soap guild has soap makers listed by state!

Updating a very old bathroom.

We fell in love with this house on the first day that we looked at it.  There were holes in the ceilings, walls and floors.  I like to spackle as much as the next guy, but I often wondered....can I handle this?  We owned the house for seven months before moving in and I admit that I completely ignored this poor neglected bathroom for many months.  It's upstairs, along with three bedrooms.  It was a little scary up there at first!  Climbing those stairs was not on the "to do" list.  We were actually sleeping in the dining room anyways, so why waste the energy?  I knew that the bathroom wasn't that bad, but I just kept putting the project off.  Once I got underway, it was actually easy to enjoy!

You can see that the ceiling had drywall damage.  I don't know when the last time the tub was used, but it wasn't pretty.

We loved the claw foot tub and had decided that it really did belong in the house; thus we were going to keep it.  I knew that porcelain could be re-enameled but I didn't know how to find someone to do it.  I began asking friends for recommendations and was able to come up with someone who did a great job making the tub look new again. 

New fixtures were called for.

New fittings for old claw foot tubs are readily available.

We refinished the pine floors but I wanted a small rug for those chilly New England winter nights!

This room gets tons of morning sunshine!

 

You can see the "aqua" paint I chose when first painting the old room.  Once the tub and floors were finished, I wanted something a bit more neutral on the walls.

It's a very cozy space.  Well worth the elbow grease!

View from the Kitchen Window 5/17

What a difference eight weeks makes!

Spring

by Celia Thaxter

The alder by the river
Shakes out her powdery curls;
The willow buds in silver
For little boys and girls.

The little birds fly over
And oh, how sweet they sing!
To tell the happy children
That once again ’tis spring.

The gay green grass comes creeping
So soft beneath their feet;
The frogs begin to ripple
A music clear and sweet.

And buttercups are coming,
And scarlet columbine,
And in the sunny meadows
The dandelions shine.

And just as many daisies
As their soft hands can hold
The little ones may gather,
All fair in white and gold.

Here blows the warm red clover,
There peeps the violet blue;
O happy little children!
God made them all for you.