This and That

It's Friday!

Time to reflect on the week ... or not! 

Thank you Nancy for hosting.

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Hard to believe that the merry month of May is at an end.

Tomorrow June starts and so does ICAD -- or Index Card a Day.

ICAD is Tammy's wonderful idea.

"Buy a pack of index cards.

Cheap ones.

Draw, doodle, write, collage, paint, haiku, stamp -- whatever.

One index card each day -- June and July.

61 days = 61 cards."

I played last year starting on June 1 and made it all the way through.

The year before I didn't start until July 1.

It is fun -- you can start at any time.

No pressure.

Fun Facebook and Flickr groups too.

You can find out all the details on Tammy's Daisy Yellow Blog.

ICAD from July 2011


**

My Rice University Owl baseball team won the Conference USA tournament
and the automatic bid to the NCAA baseball tournament.
They are off to Eugene Oregon to the regional playoffs.
They start play today.
Good luck!

***

This is birthday week.
Lovely lunches with family and friends.
Today a trip to the Natural History Museum to see the newly opened, remodeled, Egypt galleries.

****

You are going to get tired of me saying it is hot and humid, but it is!
I try to get my outside garden work done early and my away from home errands done by 10 am
spending the rest of the day with the kitties, books, crafty stuff and lots of iced tea.

*****

This little guy came by this morning to try out the buffet.
When we lived on Galveston Island we saw the little Inca Dove almost every day.
In the big city, I don't see them often, but always smile when I do.
Such a cutie!

Thanks for stopping in.

Don't forget my Blog-o-Birthday celebration!

Have a lovely weekend.

Wishing YOU well and much joy.

Good Morning!

I can't clean because ...

I get distracted by all the

Cool stuff I find. 

Blue and White

It's time for tea.

This lovely set was a gift at Christmas --
teapot, teacup, luncheon plate.

Called Watercolour Floral Afternoon Tea Set.

The teapot holds 6 cups of delicious tea.

The whole set is quickly becoming a favorite.
I love blue and white. 

"When making a great pot of tea, pour hot water into the teapot to warm it

while the kettle of water is heating."

"My dear, if you could give me a cup of tea to clear my muddle of a head

I should better understand your affairs."

~ Charles Dickens

"Iced tea was invented at the 1904 St. Louis World's Fair

by an expatriate Englishman named Richard Blechynden.

His hot tea wasn't selling so he poured it over ice and had an instant success."

(From 365 Things Every Tea Lover Should Know)

Thank you to our tea party hosts:

Tea Time Tuesday

A Return To Loveliness
Teacup Tuesday

Tuesday Cup'a Tea

Share Your Cup Thursday

Tea In The Garden

Wishing YOU well, much joy and a wonderful cup of tea!

Don't forget to check out my

Blog-o-Birthday celebration give-a-way.

Splash Time!

I've spent a wee bit of time at the zoo lately -- especially with the Asian Elephants.

This is Mithai.

She celebrated her 44th birthday earlier in May.

She is the matriarch of the herd and spends a lot of time keeping the youngsters in line.

A little Spa time before dealing with the kids.

Mithai with Baylor.

He gets a little rambunctious and picks on little Tupelo.

Mithai decided Baylor should just stay in the pool!

Splash time!

Tess (Tupelo's Mom) and Shanti (Baylor's Mom) let Mithai discipline Baylor.

Looks like fun!

Baylor really does think he is the star of the show.

He is named after the Baylor College of Medicine.

BCM and the Houston Zoo have joined together to do research on the

Elephant Herpes Virus which is deadly to Asian Elephants in captivity and in the wild.

They've made progress -- especially in finding new treatments. 

Thank you to Mary for hosting Mosaic Monday

and to Misty for the wonderful Camera Critters.

Thanks for visiting and don't forget to check out my

Blog-O-Birthday celebration.

Wishing YOU well and much joy!

Good Morning!

It's That Time Again!

How time flies.

It's time to celebrate my Blog Anniversary and my birthday with another

box of curiosities.

This year the box holds two glass mugs

a red tea pot 

Honey

Honey dipper

Almondina cookies

Assam tea

Special Blend of tea (Blend of Ceylon and Indian)

and I'll probably add a couple of extra goodies.

All you have to do is leave a comment. 

One comment is all it will take.

You don't have to be a follower (if you win it would be nice).

A winner will be selected on June 4.

Good Luck!

Wishing YOU well and much joy!

More Mail Call

I'm still trying to catch up with Mail Call!

Here are two more Liberate Your Art postcards.
Both of these were made by blogging friends.
We thought we'd continue the fun of Liberate Your Art.

By Sherry at Becoming.

By Tracey Fletcher King

Tracey and I are both tea lovers
and along with the wonderful postcard she sent me a print of her beautiful watercolor header.

One of the blogs I've been reading for years now -- even before I started blogging

is Colette Copeland's Blog.

I've always admired her lovely art.

 She had a give-a-way and I won! 

And last, but certainly not least is the bracelet I won on Face Book
 from Diane at Snigglefritz.

I think I'm all caught up.

Another big thank you to Sherry, Tracey, Colette and Diane.

I love all my goodies.

Wishing YOU well and much joy.

Random Things

It's Friday and time for This and That.

Random Things!

Thank you Nancy for hosting!

- I went out early this morning into the garden, cut basil and back in the kitchen made pesto.

My mouth is watering!

- The kitties are upset.

They watched the kitchen chairs leave the house.

They love these chairs.
They are very comfortable for me and the kits. 

I finally decided to get the chair seats recovered.

They were getting a little thread bare after 30 years.

The stuffing was leaking out.

(Sort of sounds like me!)

- It's getting hot and humid.

Summer has arrived.

I have plenty of books, yarn and other crafty things to do

as I enter my summer hibernation!

- The college baseball season is coming to an end.

Tomorrow is senior day -- time to say farewell to some fine young men.

-- I finished reading Remarkable Creatures by Tracy Chevalier and recommend it highly.
Two remarkable women, unconventional in a very conventional time (1820s), meeting and doing remarkable things -- like finding fossils.
Fiction based on two very real women.


Wishing YOU well and much joy!

Notecard Party!

It's time for one of my favorite Blogland Parties:

Vee's NoteCard Party.





Once a month we all get together with four photos from our blog that we think would make a good Note Card. 
This time of year, before it gets too hot and humid, I spend a lot of time in the Japanese Garden at Hermann Park. Here are some of the images I've shared recently of this very special space.

The Kiss of the sun for pardon,

The song of the birds for mirth,

One is nearer God's heart in a garden

Than anywhere else on earth.

~Dorothy Frances Gurney

"In all things of nature there is something of the marvelous."

 ~Aristotle

"Japanese gardens ask that you go beyond the garden spiritually,

 that you look at the garden not merely as an object 

but also as a path into the realms of spirit."
— Makoto Ooka in The Temple in the House by Anthony Lawlor

"When a garden is used as a place to pause for thought, 

that is when a Zen garden comes to life. 

When you contemplate a garden like this it will form a lasting impression on your heart."
— Muso Soseki in The Temple in the House by Anthony Lawlor

Wishing YOU well and much joy!

Mail Call

It will come as no surprise that I LOVE Mail Call!

The lovely June at A Creative Dreamer suggested a postcard swap

to her followers and I threw my name in the hat.

Here are the lovely mixed-media cards that arrived in the post.

The first postcard came from June.
She sent a card to each of us.

In many ways the scan doesn't do this card justice.
The colors are so bright and wonderful.
I'm glad June loves poppies.

The second card came from Eileen - The Artful Crafter.

Isn't this lovely?!

I loved the message Eileen had on the back:

"Striving for perfection sometimes prevents me from finishing things. Challenges and swaps help push past my inner critic."

And last - this is the card I sent to Barbara at Rocky Cross Studio.

You know how I love tea.

This little bird is trying to add the teabag string to her nest.

And, I liked the message (also from a teabag):

For All You Do and ALL you are

SIP, SIP

hurrah.

Wishing YOU well and much joy!

Happy Mother's Day!

No Source Given

Liberate Your Art Postcard Swap 2013

This was the first year that I participated in the

Liberate Your Art Postcard Swap.
There were 216 participants.

Kat Sloma is the brains behind the swap and thank you Kat!

It was loads of fun and I'm already looking forward to the swap in 2014.

Zen Mind by Valeria at Zen Mind Photography

Abandoned Rail Car by Jenny Tucker

By Kelly Ishmael at Minding My Nest

By Karin Wei (unfortunately I have no link for Karin)

By Mandy Kopelke

"Abandoned and Alone" by Kat Sloma at Kat Eye Studio

Another big thank you to Kat and to all the participants.
I can't tell you what fun it was to check the post everyday and find the next surprise.
Kat is hosting a blog hop.
You can visit with Kat and see a video she has put together of some of the art.

Wishing YOU well and much joy!

Blooming!

Blooming in Musashi's Garden

Using one of Nancy's scripted textures.




Nancy, Thank you for hosting!



Wishing YOU well and much joy.

Tea in the Garden

During my last visit to the Japanese Garden

I took a little tea cup with me.

I hoped I'd find a place or two I could make this little cup the star.

I think the garden fairies would approve.

Don't you?

"If man has no tea in him, he is incapable of understanding truth and beauty."

~Japanese Proverb

Thank you to our tea party hosts:

Tea Time Tuesday

A Return To Loveliness
Friends Sharing Tea
Teacup Tuesday

Tuesday Cup'a Tea

Share Your Cup Thursday

Wishing YOU well and much joy!

Random Friday

I'm joining Nancy at A Rural Journal for Random 5 Friday.

Some very quick This and Thats!

- I had guacamole for dinner last night. 

Just guacamole. 

Perhaps it was an early Cinco de Mayo celebration.

-I'm enjoying our last (probably) cool front of the season.

I'll soon be entering my summer hibernation faze.

Too much heat and humidity.

Meanwhile -- I'll dance in the cool!

- More roses blooming in Musashi's Garden.

- I'm getting my hair cut today ... yippee!

- Practice, practice, practice....

This is from Martha Lever's color drop class.

Too much fun!!!

Good Morning!

Listen to the salutation to the dawn,

Look to this day for it is life, the very life of life.

In its brief course lie all the verities and realities of our

existence.

The bliss of growth, the splendour of beauty,

For yesterday is but a dream and tomorrow is only a vision,

But today well spent makes every yesterday a dream 

of happiness

and every tomorrow a vision of hope

Look well therefore to this day

Such is the salutation to the dawn.

~Sanskrit Salutation To The Dawn