The Cresendo Birds Liberty Tana Lawn Shirt for Ladies, from Cordings

Crescendo Tana Lawn Cotton

Cordings is well known for their wonderful materials - practical and evocative - from British tweeds to gold satin linings to this, a Crescendo Birds Liberty Tana Lawn Cotton.

Cordings offers this Liberty fabric in a lovely year round shirt. The silky tightly woven cotton shirt has a kind cut - not too tight and not too billowy.

• Cresendo Birds Liberty Tana Lawn Shirt <https://www.cordings.co.uk/cresendo-birds-liberty-tana-lawn-shirt.html>

A Wonderful Pallet and Perfect for Bird Lovers

Faces

Photo by Salt Water New England

Some people would rather be on a sailboat; others, a cruise ship.

Photo by Salt Water New England

Grey Waters

Photo by Salt Water New England

Brown on Brown

Needlepoint Foot Rest and Quoddy Canoe Shoes - Photo by Salt Water New England

The Canoe Shoe by Quoddy:

• Womens <https://www.quoddy.com/collections/womens/products/womens-canoe-shoe-1>

• Mens <https://www.quoddy.com/products/canoe-shoe-1>

Around the Coast

Linen Shirts in Your Wadrobe?

Photo by Salt Water New England

• Mercer and Sons French Blue Linen University Stripe <http://www.mercerandsons.com/swatches_and_pricing-stripes.htm>

"No suit should look new."

No suit should look new.  Anderson & Sheppard of Savile Row believe that if a customer leaves their shop and is recognized as wearing a new suit, then they have failed to do their job.  Beau Brummell had his valet wear all of his new clothes first, to take the vulgar newness out of them.

- Paul Keers,  A Gentleman's Wardrobe

Rhubarb Compote (Stewed Rhubarb) over Ice Cream

Fresh rhubarb is in season for many.  Here is an easy recipe for a surprisingly tasty topping used over vanilla or chocolate ice cream. While some may call it "rhubarb compote," many others prefer the more descriptive "stewed rhubarb."

Maine Coast, 1970s

Photograph by Salt Water New England

Thimbles

Photo by Salt Water New England

New Haven Green, 1960s

Photo by Salt Water New England

Cordings Lambswool Jumpers and Slipovers - Made in Scotland

Photo by Salt Water New England

Cordings lambswool jumpers/sweaters are ideal layering pieces for both springtime and cool summer evenings.  Made in Scotland, they are available in some lovely seasonal colors, including the Light Green Lambswool V-Neck Jumper and the Navy Lambswool Slipover, shown above. Substantive and  marvelously lightweight to wear,  they are good insulators when there is a bit of a chill.  Both have a V-Neck, and the jumper has set-in sleeves.

• Men's Jumper <https://www.cordings.co.uk/light-green-lambswool-v-neck-jumper.html>

• Men's Slipover <https://www.cordings.co.uk/navy-lambswool-slipover.html>

May on the Bay

•  Mercer & Sons <http://www.mercerandsons.com/>,<http://www.mercerandsons.com/swatches_and_pricing-oxfords.htm>

Out and About

Photos by Salt Water New England

Nursery Food for Adults

Photo by Salt Water New England

Culling

Photo by Salt Water New England

The end of every winter provides the opportunity to tally the items that have not been used for the past few seasons.  This could be because of many reasons, including better selections were just always available.  These items, once identified, are distributed to the right homes, using criteria include neediness, compatibility with their aesthetic, and informal and long term reciprocity (bartering).

The Bucket Hat

Photo by Salt Water New England

Greenhouse Green

Photos by Salt Water New England

This has been a cool spring. Earth day (April 22), a convenient annual reference point, usually marks a time when one's hands can be spent in the rich soil.  But the weather of 2018 has required plants stay in the greenhouse longer to get bigger and hardier, and most around here have not yet left.

Regardless, there is a green of new growth that is unlike anything else.  It is beautiful to look at, of course, but the tender leaves introduce the classic dilemma of when - in the plants' growth - is the right time to harvest them. 

Morgans

Photos by Salt Water New England

Wiscasset's Sunken Garden

Photos by Salt Water New England

Maine Coast Summer Camp Experiences in the 70s and 80s

Scratchy Photos by Salt Water New England

Phrases associated with many years at a Maine coast summer camp in the 70s and 80s:

• Long walks to the bathroom.  At night.  Through the woods;
• Getting ALS in Maine waters in May. (Assignment of swimming in full clothes turned from punishment to reward.);
• Wormers in the woods before daylight;
• Early sailboats and learning to bail;
• Big wood shingled barns with nesting swallows, who would miraculously catch bugs in flight;
• Nostalgic for electricity;
• Going to the bathroom on a 5 day trip aboard a sailboat with no bathrooms;
• Spending a few nights birding on Matinicus Rock;
• Only knowing some famous songs as they were sung around a campfire.  Unnerved later when they came on the radio;
• Calling home while wearing wool sweater to parents wearing shorts and short sleeves;
• Reading dozens of books, but none from summer reading list;
• Flashlight tag and Frisbee golf;
• Composting toilets (aka solar one-holers);
• Recalling the words of wisdom passed on by a colorful cook, "Wheatena is f*****g raunchy," as she served Wheatena; 
• Decisions around swimming: the tide coming in was colder but clearer; the tide going out - after baking in the salt marsh - was warmer but... more interesting.
• The sight of an elaborate spider's web, sparkling in the morning dew, created in just one night, across the only trail from cabins to the dining hall;
• One of the midnight Beans runs the night before leading a big trip, and only enough cash for either a wool sweater or a raincoat.  Warm or dry, warm or dry?
• Ospreys diving for fish;
• Disproving breathability claims of early versions of Gortex;
• Immature eagles;
• Porcupines, skunks, and porcupines and skunks;
• 7am swims when the ocean was warmer than the air;
• Three wool blanket sleeping nights;
• Becoming enamored with polyester fleece; Becoming unenamoured with polyester fleece;
• Valuing people who were prepared over people who were fun and spontaneous; valuing clothes that were durable over any clothes that were not;
• Old farmhouses with infinitely explorable attics;
• Hiking while wet;
• Cooking while wet;
• Sleeping while wet;
• Not sleeping while wet.

In Case You Missed It

City Bicycles - Photo by Salt Water New England

• Badminton Horse Trials 2018 Photo Galleries:
• Horse Inspection <https://www.badminton-horse.co.uk/portfolio/horse-inspection-2018/>
• Dressage Day One <https://www.badminton-horse.co.uk/portfolio/dressage-day-one-2018/>
• Dressage Day Two <https://www.badminton-horse.co.uk/portfolio/dressage-day-two/>
• Cross Country <https://www.badminton-horse.co.uk/portfolio/cross-country-2018/>
• Jumping Finale <https://www.badminton-horse.co.uk/portfolio/final-horse-inspection/>

“In a pedestrian zone, the advantage should be for pedestrians, not cyclists. Every day there is conflict between cyclists and pedestrians. This is the core of the problem.”

• Wheeling the axe- Prague to ban bikes from historic squares and streets - The Guardian <https://www.theguardian.com/cities/2018/apr/03/prague-ban-bikes-historic-squares-streets-cyclists>

Cotton buds, plastic drinking straws and other single-use plastics could be banned from sale in England next year in the next phase of the campaign to try to halt the pollution of the world’s rivers and oceans.

• Single-use plastics could be banned in England next year - The Guardian  <https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2018/apr/18/single-use-plastics-could-be-banned-in-england-next-year>

The Wooden Boat Show at Mystic Seaport, June 22-24, 2018 <https://thewoodenboatshow.com/>

Patagonia’s activism has made the company plenty of enemies over the years. Developers, the fossil fuel industry and lawmakers have all gone after the company, and this time was no exception. 

• Patagonia v. Trump - The New York Times <https://www.nytimes.com/2018/05/05/business/patagonia-trump-bears-ears.html>

[S]elling at farmers markets and to restaurants can mean less hassle.

• Farm CSAs struggle in Maine after years of popularity - Lewiston Sun Journal <http://www.sunjournal.com/farm-csas-struggle-in-maine-after-years-of-popularity/>

“A Maine boat is always going to have a lot of soul.”

• New boat, a labor of love, slips gently into sea (and floats) - Portland Press Herald <https://www.pressherald.com/2018/04/09/new-boat-a-labor-of-love-slips-gently-into-sea-and-floats/>

Idiosyncrasy: Saving the Volvo Keys, Even After the Cars are Gone

Photos by Salt Water New England

Some would rather keep their past Volvos, but the situation may be slightly ameliorated by just the keys.

19th Century Staffordshire Whippets and Volvo Keys (perhaps the first time this caption has been written.)

For Those in Peril on the Sea

Narragansett Bay - Photos by Salt Water New England

Portsmouth, New Hampshire

Rockland, Maine

Falkner Island/ Faulkner’s Island, Connecticut, Early 1970s