Three great artists, sea salt in a pretty tin, and a tool for picking up black walnuts
Plus, neon sponges and custom protein powder
I love this stretch of October - as a teenager, this was the season of regattas. Even decades later, I still feel a certain thrill of the competition stir in early October, a kind of place memory of the color of the sky and the temperature of the air on race days. The feeling of being poised at the starting line; the absolute joy of racing; the sense of belonging to that moment. I’m not a competitive person - I pull over and let cars pass me without a twinge of regret, I know how to lose with grace, and I cheer for the other team when they score a particularly great goal. Still, for all of that, I have a competitor’s heart, and in October, it remembers.
A. My mother-in-law is in town, and we had the nicest sort of wandering day today, popping in and out of stores. I came across Sally Brody’s work and was instantly smitten.
B. I snapped a photo of these metal flowers in an antique shop and did a little clicking around for you, too. Etsy: Metal flowers
C. The work of Kirsten Westphal is hypnotic in person, the sort of sculptures your eye keeps returning to. Seen at BES Millerton.
D. A friend sent me the diary quilt of Claire Voelkel-Sedlmeir, thinking I’d love it, and indeed, I do. I haven’t quilted since Ben turned 2 - a true IYKYK, but maybe someday I’ll make one of these.
E. Parenting is full of unexpected moments and unexpected pleasures - one of the funniest to me is that both Alex (age 16) and I (age 46) are both obsessed with getting enough protein. Puberty and perimenopause: vastly different sides of the same coin. 😂 Alex discovered this custom protein mix, and I have to admit, he’s onto something. He swears by a blend of 50% low-lactose whey protein, 50% marine collagen plus psyllium seed husk, all in a monk-fruit-sweetened vanilla flavor that yields a whopping 29 grams of protein per scoop. However, I think the small joy here is to make your own.
F. The Garden Weasel always makes me laugh.
G. These neon sponges winked at me today. I can never get enough neon.
H. I bought this coarse sea salt from Nordur Salt today as a little gift for Tim to refill the salt cellar I gave him for Christmas. The real gift (for me!) was that tin is the most perfect orange inside. A good pen cup, I think.
The crickets are chirping outside, the sounds of the night only occasionally interrupted by the THUNK of a black walnut hitting our tin roof. Ben and I spent some time today gathering the fruit (which is toxic to humans and plants) out of my dahlia beds. We used this indispensable garden tool, which captures the nuts off the ground with a simple rolling motion. We also checked on Ben’s rainbow glass corn; we’d bought the seeds in the early spring, and one day, unbeknownst to any of us, Ben went out and planted all of it. Imagine our surprise when corn sprouted all over the garden. We’ve been waiting to see if the corn would be as gorgeous as the seed packet, and well, indeed it is. Link: Glass corn
Link: Dahlias
If you enjoyed this newsletter, consider clicking the ❤️ button — it really does help other like-minded readers discover my writing (oh, algorithms!).
I include a few bonus finds here each week for paid subscribers as a small token of appreciation for making this newsletter possible.
Last weekend, I saw the absolute chicest woman wearing perfect, worn-in jeans, a perfect cashmere sweater, and the absolutely most stunning, luminous lilac colored Mary Janes (that I think had two straps, and I think they were velvet, but it was really just a glance I snuck). I thought the shoes would be easy to find or I would have truly chased the woman down and asked her, but no - I still haven’t come across them.