SEA BREEZE

When spending a day at the beach, I generally tote a towel, lotion, a book and a lacy hand knit shawl. I like to travel light, so why a shawl?

It's in case I want to stay and watch the sunset over the water. In late afternoon when cool breezes begins to blow off of the water a shawl comes in mighty handy.

This wind, officially known as "sea breeze," occurs in response to differences in temperature between a body of water and neighboring land. While any old sweatshirt would do, one of my hand-knit shawls feel more romantic for sunset viewing.

Today, I came across a shawl pin for beach-loving knitters (or shawl wearers).

It's from Knit Picks and I couldn't wait to share my find... after I ordered one for myself, of course! It also comes in a Cat Lovers version or with knitting or nature charms.

COAST TO COAST

Yes, I know it's been awhile, but before I explain why I haven't been blogging lately. I'd like to share some exciting book sightings.

ROCKLAND, MAINE
Just before Labor Day, my friend Judith was vacationing in Maine and went into a cute shop called SEAGULL COTTAGES.

She was so thrilled to see Waterside Cottages on display that Jim Stewart, the shopkeeper, came over to see what was going on. She asked Jim if she could snap a few photos. He asked if I'd be willing to do a book signing in Spring. Maine, here I come!

Judith already has an autographed copy of my book but she reportedly left with several shopping bags overflowing with gifts from the sea.

Visitors and Mainers can stop by the Rockland shop for coastal home decor or visit its sister location in Warren, Maine. There are also outposts in Pompano Beach and Sarasota, Florida. And no matter where you live, you can visit online at www.maineseagullcottage.com.

MANHATTAN BEACH, CALIFORNIA
Clear across the country, last Sunday, I spied Waterside Cottages in the window of A Summer Place (1401 Highland Avenue, Manhattan Beach, CA).

I was on my way from the Inn at Playa del Rey to an Arts Festival in Hermosa Beach. I looked out the car window and shouted, "Stop the car!" There in the window was Waterside Cottages.
When I introduced myself, coastal maven Sue Keporos was as excited as I was.

I snapped a few photos of this special shop. Enjoy the tour!

Make a free digital slideshow

Now, for the explanation of my vanishing act. I'm sorry for the long silence but it has been a demanding summer. I spent much of it nursing Samantha, my wounded chick back to health (see July 2nd post), and helping my mom while she recuperated from a broken knee.

For all of you who sent Samantha get well wishes, she says THANKS. She's now back in the coop with her friends but misses being hand fed and hanging out with me on the porch.

And for all of you who wrote, called, emailed and dropped by to cheer Mom and me on,
THANK YOU VERY, VERY MUCH!

Tomorrow morning, I'm off to do a book signing at My Island Cottage in Chincoteague, Virginia.

Barbara

P.S. I plan to jump back in where I left off. I'll be sharing some wonderful sea glass finds plus my musings and photos from England and Scotland in the very near future.

I HATE COMPUTERS

Imagine you log in to a Live Chat and for some mysterious reason,'acess is denied'. Pretty frustrating, right?

Now imagine the same thing happens when you are the Live Chat's guest and you are one of the two folks who are supposed to be ready to help moderate the chat and answer questions. My ship was sailing and I wasn't on it. XX#&~!@#$%^&*()_+!!

There I was sitting with my Mac, my laptop, my friend's laptop, paint color fans and a few favorite sources of inspiration and for 20 minutes I couldn't get online.
I could read all of the questions coming in ...but I couldn't answer. My office was not a pretty place to be from 11 AM to 11:20! Words that normally don't cross my lips came spewing out.
Then, thanks to the savvy tech crew at The Post, a lifesaver was found, and it worked!
I could publish my answers instead of just thinking about them. It was fun after all.
A great big thank you to everyone who participated in the Washington Post's Live Chat -- and to those who posted, re-posted, re-twitted and spread the word.

There were so many questions and comments that Washington Post editor Liz Seymour couldn't post even half of them in our allotted time!

Please accept my apologies if you were left out. If the Washington Post doesn't mind, I'll try to answer some of the coastal related in future posts.

If you missed the chat and want to read it online the perma-link is:
http://live.washingtonpost.com/home-front-07-08-10.html

For now, I'm going to brew up a pitcher of iced tea and try to stay cool. It's another scorcher here today. I photographed the gull and ship murals at the fabulous train museum in York, England. If anyone knows who painted them please let me know. I'd like to credit their creator.

*** BLOG DU JOUR ***

I'd be remiss if I didn't share this great European ruffled table linens giveaway from Lidy at French Garden House. I know it dilutes MY chance of winning but I owe it to all of you who have been so nice about sharing my recent news. Go ahead and enter, I won't mind a bit.

WATERSIDE WEDNESDAY: SEA GLASS

No matter where I travel -- this time it was around England and Scotland -- it always feels good to be home again. (village of Avebury)

My itinerary included London, Bath, York, Peebles and Edinburgh.

(Cricket in Bath)

I spent time with my British cousins, attended several classical and world music concerts, saw Shakespeare's Henry VIII at the Globe Theatre and stayed in a Scottish castle.

(The Globe )

I also enjoyed all sorts of fabulous food-- everything from traditional British cookery to trendy Scottish cuisine, Indian curries to Moroccan tagines.(Potted shrimp at Castle Venlaw)

I have lots more wonderful photos and royal decorating tips to share but you'll have to be patient, because today is Waterside Wednesday...

(ruins along the English coast)

And today's post is about sea glass.(©2010 Celia Pearson)

Sea glass is one of nature's semi-natural wonders. It begins its existence as a man-made bottle, plate, jar, marble or stopper before being tumbled by the tides and transformed into a treasure coveted by beachcombers the world over.

(©2010 Celia Pearson)

In 2004, photographer Celia Pearson collaborated with Richard LaMotte to produce the book, Pure Sea Glass. LaMotte, an avid sea glass collector and board member of the North American Sea Glass Association studied over 30,000 pieces of glass to create his definitive history and rarity scale. And Pearson's photos conjure the excitement surrounding water-washed glass.

The book (along with notecards, posters of a dozen illustrations from the book, including the cover photo, and an identification deck of cards) may be purchased from www.seaglasspublishing.com. Pearson's fine art sea glass prints can be ordered from www.celiapeason.com.

(©2010 Celia Pearson)

For those who love the thrill of the chase, collecting sea glass by walking at water's edge is the only way to go. But, those who want a shortcut can gather beach glass online. Tiny shards, chunks and bobbles are often available on eBay.

Etsy.com is the place to shop for seaglass jewelry and home goods embellished with glass. Do-it-yourselfers can frequently score pre-drilled pieces ready for crafting, too.

Jewelry artist Jean Forman of Lucky Sea Glass (www.luckyseaglass.com) says its harder than ever to find gem quality sea glass.

Although sea glass can be found along almost every shoreline, I recently learned about two locations that are particular paradises for glass lovers.

The first is Glass Beach in Fort Bragg, California. The story of how three protected coves came to be blanketed with sea glass is the stuff of legends involving brothels, earthquakes and town dumps. Lisa D Walker tells the intriguing tale in her book Glass Beach (available at www.Blurb.com/bookstore/detail/813540)



The second heavenly destination for glass afficionados is England's North Sea coast. Lisl of Out of the Blue Jewelry (www.naturalseaglass.com) sources gorgeous glass that can be traced back more than a century. It comes from a Victorian era glass factory that discarded its surplus and scraps into the North Sea. To learn more, try the link below.
http://naturalseaglass.com/index.php/whatisseaglass/about-our-sea-glass/england.html

I'll be featuring more about sea glass next WATERSIDE WEDNESDAY. Stay tuned.

*** MARK YOUR CALENDARS***

On Thursday July 8th I will be the featured guest on the Washington Post's Home Front live chat with Jura Koncius. Please join us with your waterside decorating questions and comments. One lucky chatter will win an autographed copy of my book Waterside Cottages.

SEAGLASS SOJURN

It's been a busy week. Sea Glass lovers have been calling and e-mailing me from all over the world! Some make sea glass jewelry. Others want to chat about coastal-inspired paint colors.

I'm planning a comprehensive glass post but it will have to wait until I get back from vacation.
My flight leaves for London tomorrow at dawn. Meanwhile take a peek at this British sea glass. It dates back to Victorian times and comes from the North Sea.

With luck, perhaps I will find a few pieces to bring home.

If you'd like to be included in my Sea Glass post, send a photo or two and tell me about your collection or craft.

Cheerio!

(Photos by Dan Mayers)

SEAGLASS STYLE

Waterside Cottages strikes again!

It all began when I got a Friend Request from Jura Koncius, the Washington Post's lead writer on Home & Design and the DC area's go-to design guru.

Whether you want to find an obsure piece of hardware for your Civil War era house or a coffee table for your funky bachelor pad, Jura can help. Her Twitter feed is legendary.

Several days later, I received a 'heads up' e-mail from my publicist at Gibbs Smith saying that Jura wanted to get in touch with me about a story she was working on.

It was too early to break out the champagne, but I WAS pretty excited. Over the next few days, Jura and I exchanged emails and chatted on the phone about one of my favorite topics, Sea Glass.

Then, I kept my fingers crossed.

TODAY, Waterside Cottages is mentioned in THE Washington Post, the DC area's oldest and most distinguished newspaper.

With a circulation of over a half million, The Post, as locals call it, has covered The White House and its inhabitants, and goings on in Maryland and Virginia since 1877. Today, the newspaper is also alerting readers on how to enjoy Summer In Style.

While working with Jura on her Summer In Style feature, I created several palettes inspired by sea glass with colors that can be mixed and matched beautifully. Dive right in!


Have questions? Jura and I will be having a Live Washington Post online Q & A on Thursday July 8th from 11 AM to noon. Let's chat!

(Photo by Dan Mayers)

Benjamin Moore- Pale Tones:

Aqua: Barely Teal 2048-70

Green:Crème de Mint 2036-70

Blue: Bashful Blue 2065070

Benjamin Moore - Medium Tones:

Aqua: Jamaican Aqua 2048-60

Green: Marina Bay 20136-50

Blue: Caribbean Coast 2065-60

(Photo by Dan Mayers)

Sherwin Williams:

Aqua: Pool Blue sw 6944

Green: Kiwi sw 6737

Blue: Blu Click sw 6952

(Photo by Dan Mayers)

Martha Stewart:

Aqua: Sunken Pool

Green: Sea Glass

Blue: Statosphere

Behr:

Aqua: Aqua Breeze 500E

Green: Palm Breeze 420E

Blue: Morning Breeze 560A

California Part 2

The great thing about Los Angeles is that unlike other cities, you are never far from the water.

(sign available from Beach-Signs.com)

On this trip I spent time in Malibu...

Savored scrumptious fresh fish tacos..
Chilled out at Huntington Library's Chinese Lake and Terrace gardens.
Marveled at how large koi can grow in a Japanese pond garden...
Went birdwatching in Venice at low tide...

Watched all sorts of waterbirds fish for dinner...
Discovered that snowy egrets appear to wear bright yellow galoshes....
Celebrated Chinese New Year...
And visited Hermosa Beach (more about Hermosa in a future post)...
But even the best of vacations can be exhausting...
It's time to go home.

** BLOG DU JOUR **

If you like coastal interiors that are a bit modern, a hint retro and always chic, check out Coco, a Los Angeles style maven with stunning taste.

PACIFIC DREAMS

I've decided to run away from home! I've had it with galoshes, wool hats and snow shovels.

Suzie Q has the right idea when she commented about escaping to Florida. I want to head somewhere it's 72 and sunny, too.

I feel like Maisy bird in Horton Hatches An Egg...

I'm tired of winter and I'm heading to Southern California. Really!

For those who must stay at home, or already live somewhere warm, I'd like to share a few new coastal decorating products guaranteed to brighten your day.

Coastal Cushions

Get in the swim with hand-hooked squid, octopus, seahorse and crab pillows (see above).

Each one measures 18 inches square and backed in coordinating cotton velvet fabric.

You know you need them! Visit www.madisonavegifts.com


Something Fishy

Don't you hate it when you pick up the wrong margarita?

With these hand blown art glass wine charms it won't happen again.

Imagine how cute the little aqua one would look on your Turquoise dacquiri...or the sunny gold fish on a mimosa...
or a tan one on an iced tea.

Color coordinating drinks opens up all new possibilities! Visit www.americanchateau.com



Knob Knots

Produced in Olde Towne Portsmouth, Virginia by marine artist Joe McNelis, monkey fist knobs add nautical style to any room.

Joe notes that you can paint them to customize your kitchen cabinets or bedroom chest.

Available at www.skipjackmarinegallery.com