How do you feel when you open a blog....

and all of a sudden, loud music starts to play? Depends on where your volume is
set I guess...but this morning, when I opened a blog that I frequently read, I nearly jumped out of my chair. Like a shot in the head, out of the blue, music began playing...really loud music. I couldn't hit the volume button fast enough. Not a good thing. Sometimes I think the blog world affords us too many creative additions to our little pages with points of view.
As for me...I like to view blogs that feature pictures of the insides and outsides of the author's home. I love all kinds of decor and admire folks who can put a room together with style. I could absolutely stare at the pictures on "Between Naps on the Porch" all day long. This blog has amazing photos of the author's beautiful enclosed porch that is set up for year 'round using. Love it, love it, love it! She has also taken her readers into her bedroom as well as other areas of her home. All are an inspiration...especially to a reader who loves decor. And, there's no music!
I've posted a picture today of our "old house" dining room. We have an odd sort of fireplace, but it was the thing that warmed my heart when we first looked inside this old place. Years ago, one of the neices of the former owner stopped by. She had spent her summers here and was building a summer house of her own on the other side of town. She wanted to photograph the fireplace so she could replicate it in her own place. I guess our humble fireplace "spoke" to her as well.
I'll not whine today about the weather. We had one glorious beach day yesterday, but this morning, we're back to cloudy, dreary skies. It's hard to comprehend.
Now that my Emily is here, I'm hoping to get some pictures of her modeling my aprons and tops. In the meantime, check us out
at apronsgonewild.etsy.com to see what we have to offer.

Well...it's still raining.
Heard a weather report this morning that said Cape Cod has only seen two full days of sun since
June 2nd. How's that for depressing? Our daughter and her family arrived from Ohio last week,
expecting to be spending our visit sitting in the sun at the beach. Instead, we've been stuck
in the house, eating and playing board games and napping, while the rain pelts against the windows and leaves branches and whatnot blown around messing up the deck and front porch. Yikes!
This morning, I couldn't sleep so I got up before 6am and took advantage of the break in the rain to sweep the water and debris off the decks, pick up the yard a bit and just feel fresh air on my face. I'm not an indoor person. Not an athlete, or anything like that. I just like fresh air in my face. I like to have the doors and windows open, sensing the outside air. I love sunshine. It's probably why I enjoy our four months in Florida each year. Just about every morning while we're down there, I wake up to bright sunshine. When I open the front door to get the morning paper, the sun warms my face. People are out walking their dogs, smiling, enjoying the warm salty breeze that comes off the ocean.
That's often the scene here on the Cape in the summertime. But even though June is never a really warm month here, it's hardly ever this dreary and rainy. None of our outdoor painting projects have even begun. Luckily, I got the back deck sanded and painted before this streak of rain hit. I have a hard time finding a time to mow the lawn and even when it's stopped raining long enough to do the job, the grass is always wet and heavy, making bagging a real effort. Whine, whine, whine. Maybe I need wine, wine, wine.
I've also been waiting for some nice weather to photograph our granddaughter, Emily, in some of the aprons and tops I made while in Florida this winter. Things always seem to sell better when Emily is modeling them. Three more aprons went out of my etsy shop this past month, all as gifts to women in Aruba! Since they were delivered, I've noticed some Aruba visits to the blog site. Hopefully that means the recipients are reading the info on the tags we place on every apron.
I've recently subscribed to a magazine I first noticed at my hairdresser's place. It's called, "Lucky." The sweetest clothes are featured. I think it will help keep me up to date as to what's in style and what buyers are looking for in this market. Lots of great separates put together as outfits with .com addresses to almost all the places for purchasing.
Hope you'll check out Lucky magazine and check out our etsy shop as well, at apronsgonewild.etsy.com

I've been a flop this week.
I'm usually full of plans and ideas, but this week, I'm just flopping around. I'm getting sick of hearing myself complain about the gray skies and almost constant drizzle outdoors. But, each morning, when I wake up, I just want to roll over and go back to sleep....no incentive to jump out of bed and start my day. I like it when the sun lights up our bedroom early in the morning. On those days, I lie in bed for a few minutes and think about my day, going through all the steps of all the things I want to do. But, on these dreary, drizzly mornings, the only incentive to get up is the thought of that first cup of coffee.
I had a nice email today from a shop owner here on Cape Cod. She was inquiring about aprons, but I was most delighted to learn about her shop location...a place I know well. "Yummy Goods," as it's called, is located in a really neat old building in W. Barnstable. There is an old fashioned General Store that's been there as long as I can remember. Yummy Goods is next door in the same building in the spot of the former post office. When I checked out the Yummy Goods blog, I learned that an upcoming movie scene was being filmed there recently. Named, "The Lightkeepers," it stars Richard Dreyfus, Blythe Danner and Martin Scheen. Cool.
I've got some really nice fabrics to work with in the next few weeks. Always a tough decision as to whether to make aprons or blouses. I guess I'll let each piece of fabric dictate its future.
Check us out at apronsgonewild.etsy.com for some really cute aprons like the one Emily is wearing here.

Rain, Rain, Go Away....

Please go away and come again some other day. I'm sick of you!! I know we need the rain for the lawn and the flowers and all that, but I need some sunshine. The sky is so gloomy and cloudy. Everything outside is wet...the picnic table, the chairs, the grill, the benches. Even the flowers are wet. I brought in a bouquet of lilacs yesterday to put in the guest rooms for our daughter and a friend who were visiting. Had to dry them out with paper towels before I could even arrange them.

We had a wonderful dinner last night. Mashed potatoes, London Broil, baked beans and a big salad. Sometimes, the simplest menu is the best menu. Topped it off with a carrot cake. My stomach still felt full when I woke up this morning.

I've been doing a lot of cleaning lately and therefore haven't been doing much sewing. So, I'm going to share some cleaning tips. We use a several products here that aren't well known. Three of them have been recommendations by friends who watch the Home Shopping Network and QVC. Since we're all supposedly trying to eliminate use of potentially toxic cleaning products, I can highly recommend "Supercloths." They are made in Italy and are available on QVC or directly on the Internet. Supercloth is an ecological suede like cloth that can be used on any surface from windows to floors. Just wet the cloth with tap water and wipe down the surface. The shammy like quality of the cloth creates a sort of "drag" that not only cleans the surface but dries it to a shine. Supercloths come in sets of 3. I keep one for the bathrooms, one for glass and appliances and one for wood surfaces. They seem to last much longer than the 4 months they claim on the package. Matter of fact, I've kept my original order for several years now, even though I did re-order one more shipment of new ones last fall. You do not need to use any cleaning solutions, sprays or powders with Supercloth. Just tap water and that's it.

My next favorite thing is "Pro Shot Floor Restorer." This stuff will take your wood floors to a new level. I don't know how it works but when our friend Robin comes to clean, I am always in awe when I return home and she has done the floors with Pro Shot. Somehow, it doesn't leave any build-up and it makes your floors absolutely glow. Robin gets Pro Shot on one of the home shopping channels, but I've noticed you can buy it directly online from several sites.

My third favorite thing is my Joy Mangano "Huggable Hangers." These hangers are very thin and have a velvety covering, so nothing slips or slides. Your blouses, shirts, t-tops, even lingerie stays right where you put it. Plus, the thin profile of the hangers doubles the amount of clothing you can put in your closet. Recently, I've seen copies of the original Joy Mangano hangers in stores like Home Goods and TJ Maxx. They aren't quite as well made, but the difference in price makes them well worth the purchase. I've given all our plastic hangers to Goodwill and we now have Huggable Hangers exclusively in our closets. They are that good.

It's still raining. So, I will take my Supercloths and do some cleaning and afterward I'll get out the ironing board and iron some shirts and hang them on my Huggable Hangers. The Pro Shot floor job will have to wait for a nicer day.

Check out our etsy shop at www.apronsgonewild.etsy.com for some really pretty aprons and tops for the summer.

I Thought It Was Spring?

Isn't spring supposed to be warm and sunny? Did Cape Cod forget how to have spring? After a straight week of dreary cloudy skies and constant threat of rain (and then some actual rain) we finally had a gorgeous day yesterday. We put it to use and worked so hard outside that our bodies were sobbing by dinner time. Woke up this morning and thought we were in for another beautiful day. Hubby and I sat out on the back deck in our new zero gravity chairs and soaked up some rays while having our morning coffee. Nice. Got started on taking out the summer furniture for the deck, washing everything in nice hot water in the nearby outdoor shower. But, by noon, the clouds rolled in and the day ended up threatening rain and very chilly, indeed. As I sit here writing, the sky is gray and foreboding. I don't like it.
I decided instead of complaining about the weather earlier in the week that I would put my indoors time to good use and sew. It's a bit hard right now to throw myself into a sewing project because the kids will be here soon, and for the time that my sewing room turns into a guest room, I put everything away and out of sight. Soooo, I don't feel like making a huge mess as I usually do when I sew, only to have to clean it up. I had a yard and a half of a pretty white on white fabric that told me it wanted to be a pretty peasant blouse. Voila! Here it is.
Check out the details in my etsy shop at www.apronsgonewild.etsy.com
I wonder what tomorrow will bring? I hate the uncertainty about the weather. We're getting down to the wire now with daughters, son-in-law and grandchildren arriving soon. The air conditioners need to be put back into the windows, beds need to be made up, quilts aired out, bathrooms cleaned, windows washed...you know the drill. I need sunshine to do all this! I'm getting depressed! Isn't it supposed to be spring?

Another Memorial Day has come and gone.

Not only does our little town of Falmouth memorialize its fallen veterans on Memorial Day, but each year, that day signals the beginning of summer here on Cape Cod. The added traffic on the streets and in the stores is evident. Families gather not only to celebrate but to open up their summer homes and begin the best months of the year. Flags were flying all over town yesterday. Three of our neighbors who live behind us, have huge flag poles. I love seeing the red white and blue flapping in the wind each morning when I get up and look out the window. Our flag hangs on the front porch, flat against the house. I like the way that looks as well.
Funny tidbit...the first year we hung the flag against the house, we had a visit from an elderly gentlemen. He had a little "flag rules" booklet with him and very politely and gently, informed us that we had committed a grievous error by hanging our flag with the field of stars in the wrong direction. "Left is right," he told us. The field should always hang on the left side when the flag is displayed flat against a building.
Fair enough. I've never forgotten that visit. I often ride by a home or business and am tempted to stop and inform the inhabitants that their flag is not displayed properly. It's an important symbol and justly deserves proper respect.
We spent most of Memorial Day, working on the house. (What's new?) I tackled the attic again, sorting and moving things around, still with high hopes of maybe, just maybe, having a yard sale at the end of June. Hubby painted the door sills in the new kitchen. A little sun time and then it was off to a barbecue at our daughter and son-in-law's house just around the corner. All in all, a productive weekend with a nice finale.
Two more aprons have gone into the "sold" column from my etsy shop. I'll have to get to the sewing machine soon or my stock will be sorely depleted.
Check out the pretty aprons and tops that we do have at www.apronsgonewild.etsy.com

Somehow in the midst....
of all the work we have to do around here, I managed to whip up another apron. This one is a half apron, made out of Amy Butler's "Seeds in Okra" with her "Royal Garden in Turquoise" fabric for the pocket. One thing about making half aprons is that I find I can spend a bit more time being fancy with the pocket. This one has a "V" opening with a ruffle (see close-up). It's cute. I like it. Check out the details at www.apronsgonewild.etsy.com
It seems like there is just sooooooo much to do each spring to get the house ready for summer. I like to be relaxed when our daughters and their families are around. But, I have this "fault" that prohibits me from enjoying myself unless all the basics are taken care of. In other words, I can't enjoy myself at the beach, or sitting on the porch, or going shopping...things like that...unless the trim paint is touched up, the windows are washed, the decks are painted, the outdoor furniture is bleached and scrubbed, the flower beds are weeded and edged and the lawn is in good shape. Not to mention the guest rooms being scrubbed from top to bottom along with the guest bathroom. This year, we have some extra projects. The garage doors are looking sad, the front fence needs repair, and our favorite zero gravity chairs are showing peeling paint and worn out supports. I'm guessing it will all get done, but I have my doubts about the yard sale I'd planned for the last weekend in June. Just one look at the attic and I cower in fear of how much time and effort it will take to get all that stuff organized, priced and set out for a sale. My big ambitions might have to wait a year.
The problem is age old; not enough energy. We're slow starters and we peak after about two hours. It's rather frustrating when I think of the things we once were able to accomplish in half the time it takes now. I've been trying to discipline myself lately to get outdoors first thing on nice days. It worked yesterday, but this morning, I ended up sitting in that zero gravity chair for over an hour, sipping coffee and enjoying the warm sun on my face.
We'll probably end up getting everything done but it won't be without some stress. Such is life on Cape Cod in the summer.
Be sure to check out my etsy shop at www.apronsgonewild.etsy.com
Lots of pretty aprons and a couple of new summer tops that I really enjoyed making.
On a serious note...a "Thank You" to all those whose sacrifice we memorialize on this Memorial Day.