grindstone girl's daily ..musings and other departures

I'm a lover of all things great and small related to the ocean-- sand, sea, air ( the saltier the better)- the sounds of the waves, gulls, terns and sandpipers and the smell of marine life permeating the air-- all get me right in the heart. I'm instantly elsewhere --transported over time and space to a place that can't be named or plotted on a map. A sense of peace and happiness, simplicity in the grandest sense seems possible. I can honestly say that the memory of a bathing suit or bed filled with sand makes me feel instantly at home and joyful.
This coming summer for the first time in a number of years we've rented a tiny cottage by the sea in Cape Cod. An old stable transformed into a sweet abode with bleached grey shingles and wide plank pine floors-- and a fireplace. We'll only be there for a week so I'll have to drink the ocean in, and up.... and I have a feeling when the week is done, they'll have to come and pry me from the place. I have been dreaming of this place all winter.
In the meantime I revel in having found some sweet sea inspired goodies for 5gardenias. Each so  charming, containing secret stories....An antique hand made model row boat with crackly old black and ocher paint from the 1930s-- a fine floatation device steeped with poetic charm. 5 vintage painted red and white wooden floats/bobs--perfectly folk arty and worn so well. Some nautical silk French millinery ribbon with Arethuse ( accent over the "e") embroidered in a happy gold thread with navy blue arrow patterned border-- the name of a French frigate from the Napoleonic war. And last a marvelously charming vintage sea shell tea pot-- a souvenir from the sunny realm of Florida, sporting a reed handle. Does anyone know-- is that a lace murex or a king's crown-- or another altogether?

Wishing everyone a lovely Sunday evening and week ahead!