Wild Blue Yonder

No, I'm not getting ready to fly off into the wild blue yonder!

In this case, Wild Blue Yonder is the name of a floribunda rose currently blooming

in Musashi's Garden -- even in this horrible heat!

Almost a purple color with a smattering of white.

It even smells good -- like a rose should.

I don't believe this rose bloomed at all last year.

I have it planted in a pot and moved it to a new spot. 

Guess Wild Blue likes the new location.

If we could see the miracle of a single flower clearly, our whole life would change.

~Buddha

Thank you to Mary for hosting Mosaic Monday.

Don't forget that Google Reader is going away.

You can follow Twisty Lane at Bloglovin'.

Wishing YOU well and much joy!

Good Morning!

Another Week of ICADs

Another week of Index Cards A Day is complete.
June 20 - June 26
More information about Index Card A Day can be found at Daisy Yellow.

Wishing YOU well and much joy!

Old Country Rose

I've been out cutting roses from the garden.

It's so hot they don't last long outside.

Why not bring them inside and

enjoy a cup of tea in the lovely old-fashioned Old Country Rose by Royal Albert.
The tea is even rosey -- Rose Petal Tea by The Republic of Tea.

tea leaves

tea loves

loves tea

lives tea

leaves tea?

never.

~Uniek Swain

"A red rose is not selfish because it wants to be a red rose.

It would be horribly selfish if it wanted all the other flowers in the garden

to be both red and roses."

~ Oscar Wilde

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, much joy and a wonderful cup of tea!

This and That

It's Friday and that means time for Random Things.

Thank you, Nancy for hosting.

*

I made a quick stop at Michael's early this week.

I was looking for a couple of sheets of 22 x 30 water color paper.

As I was dashing through the store on my way to the cashier, I stopped dead in my tracks.

I could not believe what I was seeing.

The FALL decorations were out.

Pumpkins and all.

Ack!

**

It is too hot to cook.

So, I've been having a slice of wonderful rosemary/thyme bread

 with black peppercorn chevre and tomatoes all from the Farmer's Market.

My Farmer's Market Meal.

Oh, my -- sinfully delicious.

I think I'm going to add some wine!

***

Hard to believe that the 4th of July is just around the corner.

My fingers have been itching to do a quick crochet project.

Last year I made red, white and blue placemats.

While I was cleaning out a closet,

I found a Leisure Art leaflet with holiday hot pads.

I thought the watermelon and star patterns were perfect for the summer festivities.

The watermelon was easy, 

but the star has a few glitches I need to work out.

****

My basil was ready for picking so I made pesto yesterday.

Yum! 

*****

I don't think my Japanese Maple is going to survive.

I've babied it through the long hot summers and our drought,

but it looks pretty sad this year. 

I had to trim some dead branches. 

I'll keep trying.

I talk to it every day.

Telling it how pretty it is and how much I'd like it to stay around.

I guess I could start playing music outside.

I wonder what it would like to hear??

The sound of rain, I bet!

Wishing YOU well and much joy.

Enjoy the weekend. 

Happy Summer Solstice

Another Week of Index Cards A Day

For the week from

June 13, 2013 - June 19, 2013.
More information about Index Card A Day can be found at Daisy Yellow.

Wishing YOU well and much joy!

Tuesday Muse

Tea is my muse today --

This lovely teacup from Bentley Tea.

One of Nancy's scripted textures and an added quote.

Wishing YOU well and much joy!

Bentley Tea

I found this lovely teacup on a recent visit to Ross.

It was made by Bentley Tea and came with an assortment of their teas -
Bed Time Herbal, English Breakfast, Lemon Ginger Herbal, Super Fruit Green
and Pomegranate Green.

I love the aqua color of the flowers.

The cup has a refreshing, summer look.

A little green tea and lemon served with a lemon-blueberry scone from 

Artisana Bread purchased at the Farmers Market.

A tasty treat!

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, much joy and a wonderful cup of tea!

This and That

It's Friday.

Time for a look back at the week with a few

Random Things.

Thanks, Nancy!

*

Let's get this over quickly.

It's HOT and HUMID and I don't want to talk about the electric bill.

**

Last year I was so excited about the butterflies that were visiting Musashi's Garden.

I haven't seen many this year.

Perhaps it was the change in weather -- first cool and then HOT??

This is the only shot I've been able to get of a butterfly stopping by to visit.

This swallowtail was in the midst of fluttering wings as he took a quick taste of the duranta.

***

I'm using Bloglovin now to read all of your blogs.

So far so good, but it sure seems easy to get behind.

I promise I'll catch up! 

****

Last Saturday I made it to the Urban Harvest Farmer's Market.

What fun!

You can have breakfast there -- lots of good food available -- drinks.

Entertainment

I wanted fresh, home grown tomatoes.

There is just nothing like the taste of a home grown tomato.

Yum Yum Yum

Got my tomatoes and stopped by the Blue Heron Farm booth

and picked up their special of the day:

Garlic-Peppercorn Chevre.

Oh, my - Sinfully delicious!

Can't wait to hear what the special will be for tomorrow.

Splurged on an orchid.

Last, a bar of luxury shea butter soap from The Herbal Goat --

HOT FLASH (!!!) Lavender and Peppermint.

Boy, do I smell good!

On my list for this Saturday: peaches and blueberries. 

Thanks for stopping by.

Wishing YOU well and much joy.

Good Morning!

Don't Grow Up

It's A Trap

ICAD Day!

Another week of ICADs 

(Index Card A Day).

More information can be found at Daisy Yellow.

Prismacolor markers, rubber stamp.

Have fun in the sun this summer,

but remember to wear your sun screen!

Celebrate your life with flowers.

Watercolor and micron pen

Meow!

Stencil, rubber stamp, book page, watercolor, micron pen.

WOOF!

I thought it wasn't fair to do a cat ICAD and not do a dog!

So here's WOOF, book page, water color, stencil, rubber stamp.

This is a sketch for a larger work I'm thinking of doing.

I wanted an old, old-fashioned nature scrapbook look and came close.

Rubber stamp, napkin, bits and bobs, tea bags, distress ink.

Time for a little Fun Among Friends!

Hoot!

Watercolor, micron pen, rubber stamp.

Order of the Day

I thought I had this one finished when I found the words

Order of the Day -- perfect color.

Synchronicity!

Book page, stencil (love those wheels), magazine image and words.

The Order of the Day is to enjoy every minute.

Thanks for dropping by.

Wishing YOU well and much joy.

It's Friday!

It's Friday!

A little randomness is called for! 

Thank you, Nancy!

* 

I'm having fun eating birthday cake for breakfast!

Tea and Cake!

**

Speaking of my birthday,

I had a surprise from a young friend.

She didn't know my birthday was coming up when she called and said

she had an extra ticket for the ballet and was I interested.

You bet I was interested.

It had been years since I'd been to the ballet.

It brought back memories.

When we first moved to Houston, we joined everything.

We had opera tickets, ballet tickets, symphony tickets for several years --

until it seemed like operas and ballets were being repeated. 

And, by that time we had also discovered Rice University and all the wonderful

programs going on there and usually free! 

The ballet was wonderful -- three small ballets -- one classical, one modern and one a spoof.

Nice night and fun.

***

Teddy made a visit to the vet for another ultrasound on his heart.
I'm happy to report that there was no change in 3 months.
He's doing well on his medicine and the vet will see him again in 6 months.
The girls and I are happy and so is Teddy!

****

The Rice Owls won the regional in Oregon and are in Raleigh

for the Super-Regionals against North Carolina State. 

Can't tell you how proud I am of these young men.

Go OWLS!

*****

It's HOT! 

Wishing YOU well and much joy!

Good Morning!

WARNING!

CHOCOLATE

Will make your clothes shrink

Index Card A Day

Index Card A Day has started.

You can find out more information by visiting Tammy's Daisy Yellow Blog.

I decided to post my ICAD's once a week.

Here they are for June 1 - today.

I've been taking some online classes from Martha Lever and this is a good way to practice!

Watercolor, micron pen, rubber stamp.

This is Miles. 

He is my favorite giraffe at the zoo.

He really does have a heart spot on his neck.

Rubber stamp, Neocolor, micron pen.

I found the quote on Face Book and just had to use it.

Lots of tasty sprinkles!

Watercolor, Neocolor, micron pen.

I got out my bits and bobs box and this is what I came up with.

Yellow watercolor background.

Stamped ledger paper.

Old book page

Butterfly is from a napkin.

Distress ink.

I keep looking at this one and it keeps telling me it's done!

Practice, practice, practice my water drop flowers!

Watercolor, rubber stamps, micron pen.

Wishing YOU well and much joy!

Today is THE Day!

THE Day when the winner of the 

Box of Curiosities 

is announced.

The winner was scientifically selected by my chief assistants.

21 small pieces of paper (numbered 1 - 21) were made,

placed in a hat, mixed up well and then thrown into the air.

And then I waited, waited to see which kitty would decide to pick the winner.

Which piece of paper would be THE toy?

Which kitty would have the honor of selecting the winner?



Drum Roll, please!

Mina picks number 4 -- Creative Dreamer!



June, please send me an email with your address and I'll get your box off to you!

A big thank you to everyone who played.

Wishing YOU well and much joy.

Chilean Flamingos

Today I'm taking you to the Houston Zoo and the newly refurbished
Chilean Flamingo Habitat.

The Chilean Flamingo pool and waterfall opened in 1926 and it became
the centerpiece of what was then the Zoo's main entrance.
At the time, the exhibit and pool design were state-of-the-art for zoo exhibits.
Failing infrastructure of the pool, new innovations in avian husbandry
and a desire to enhance guest viewing of the flamingos prompted the recent decision
to perform a complete renovation of the area.

The updated space features a 20,000 gallon filtered pool, 

a separate feeding pool,

new animal holding facilities,

and lush new vegetation. 

The renovated habitat also includes a large nesting island that

will allow the Zoo's flock of flamingos to grow into the future.

The original exhibit concrete decorative work was designed and built by

Mexican-American artist Dionicio Rodriguez.

Mr. Rodriguez specialized in "faux bois" artwork, which is the use of cement to create

the look of wood.

During the renovation of the Zoo's flamingo exhibit, 

the artificial trees that were designed and built by Mr. Rodriguez have been cleaned and repaired.

I hope you enjoyed this visit to the Chilean Flamingos at the Houston Zoo.

Detailed information about the Flamingo exhibit provided by WILDLIFE published by the Houston Zoo.

Thank you to Misty for hosting

and to Mary for Mosaic Monday.

Thanks for stopping by.

Wishing YOU well and much joy.