Good Morning!

Boo!

Oh let us cast dull care away

Again be children for a day

Witches, Goblins have their sway

Tis Hallowe'en, let's joke and play

Wishing all of YOU well and much joy.

Happy Halloween!

Photos taken at Zoo Boo 2013

Happy Owloween!

Halloween is just around the corner and
 I'm celebrating potion (tea) making Owl style!

I found the owl teapot and cups and saucers at Macy's -- on sale!

Yippee!

The pattern is Edle Rose by Rachel Bilson Dinnerware, Owl Teapot

I don't believe the butterflies on the saucers have a true function other than being cute!

I'm careful how I handle and store them. 

I'm joining:

Nancy for Tuesday Muse 

 and some lovely tea parties:

Tea Time Tuesday

Teacup Tuesday

Friends Sharing Tea

Tuesday Cuppa Tea

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

Happy Owloween!

Camera Critters: Babies!

I've been visiting the Houston Zoo while the weather is cooperating --

not too hot or too cool.

My first stop is always the Chilean Flamingo habitat to see the flamingo chicks.

"When I grow up, I want to look just like you!"

"Hey, look at me! I can stand on one leg, too. Yoga, flamingo style."

"Come on in. The water is fine."

It is so exciting to see the flamingo chicks.

You can read more about the flamingo habitat and the changes that were made here.

A big thank you to Misty for hosting Camera Critters each week.

Wishing all of YOU well and much joy.

Potpourri

It's Friday!

This week has really flown by.

Time for some this and that with a little randomness thrown in. 

*

Believe it or not, I never had a Barbie doll. 

**

Halloween is just around the corner.
I'm keeping my eye on some Halloween decorations at my favorite gift shop.
Hoping one or more of my favorites will be 50% off one day!

***

But, if I really told the truth -- the best reason to visit the gift shop is the *manager*, Lucy!

Isn't she cute!!!!!
Talk about a perpetual motion machine.

****


I'm going to join another challenge in November ...
Art Every Day Month.
I've been looking at some of my art and craft books.
I'd like to try some new techniques.
This should be a good way to use up some of the *stuff* I have.



*****

Here's another reproduction Halloween postcard.

The artist of the original postcard was Ellen Hattie Clapsaddle (January 8, 1865 - January 7, 1934) an American illustrator/commercial artist in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Not only is her style greatly admired and well recognized, today she is recognized as the most prolific souvenir/postcard and greeting card artist of her era. From the Halloween Postcard Book published by Darling & Co., Seattle.

Thank you to the lovely Beth for hosting Postcard Friendship Friday.

Thank you Nancy!

Wishing all of you well and much joy.

Have a wonderful weekend.

Good Morning!

"Many of us in this time have lost the inner substance of our lives and forgotten to give praise and remember the sacredness of all life. 

But in spite of this forgetting, there is still a part of us that is deep and intimate with the world. 

We remember it by feel. 

We experience it as a murmur in the night, a longing and restlessness that we can't name, a yearning that tugs at us. 

For it is only recently, in earth time, that the severings of the connections between people and land have taken place. 

Something in our human blood is still searching for it, still listening, still remembering. Nicaraguan poet-priest Ernesto Cardenal wrote, ' We have always wanted something beyond what we wanted.' 

 I have loved those words, how they speak to the longing place inside us that seeks to be whole and connected to the earth. 

This too is the place of beginning, the source of our living."

• Linda Hogan (Dwellings: A Spiritual History of the Living World)

Thanks Kim!


Wishing all of you well and much joy!

Potpourri

It's Friday.

A little this and that with a dash of randomness is called for.

*

I've been sort of blah this week.

Our wedding anniversary was Tuesday.

We would have been married 30 years.

I call it our legal anniversary as we lived together several years before we married.

Gosh, darn it all.

I seem to miss Mr. Dragon more each day.

Life has gotten easier -- more used to him not being here.

But my heart still cries out to him.

**
Now for some fun.
Halloween is just around the corner.
It's been awhile since I've shared a postcard.

This is a reproduction postcard from a book of Halloween postcards

published by Darling and Company, Seattle.

Thank you to the lovely Beth for hosting Postcard Friendship Friday.

***

Here's my version of a happy witch.

I really do enjoy playing with water color.

The witch and the cat both look like they've been hitting the hard cider a little too much.

Those eyes!!!

****

The weather has been lovely.

Teddy and I have been sitting on the balcony watching the world go by.

Cassie and Mina haven't been interested in sitting with us.

That's fine.

I'm afraid that Mina would see a squirrel and she'd be over the edge in a flash!

She's an action first and think about it after kind of girl. 

*****

Another lovely day today and I'm going to take advantage.

Off to the Japanese Garden and the Zoo!

YeeHaw!

Thank you Nancy!

Wishing all of YOU well and much joy.

Have a wonderful weekend.

Good Morning!

"There are only two days in the year that nothing can be done. 
One is called yesterday and the other is called tomorrow.
So today is the right day to love, believe, do and mostly live."
~Dalai Lama

Wishing YOU well and much joy.

Thanks Kim!

Note Card Party!

I missed Vee's Note Card Party last month.
I had a cold and forgot all about the party.
But I was forgetting about almost everything.
I looked back at the month of September to see what I missed!

The end of summer.

Mina -- keeping Mummy's place on the sofa all safe and warm.

McHugh Tea -- the first day I could really enjoy tasting.

As long as I was curled up on the couch with kitties, I put the time to good use.
Crochet Christmas Wreath hot pads.

That's how I spent my time while I had a cold.

A big thank you to Vee for hosting the Note Card Party.

Wishing YOU well and much joy!

Just Look At That Face!

Just look at that face!

I bet you are smiling.

I've been waiting for years to get a decent photo of the Golden Lion Tamarins.

Their move into the Natural Encounters building allowed me to finally get that shot.
Breakfast had just been served.

Lion tamarins take their name from their impressive manes.

The Golden Lion Tamarin my be the most beautiful of the four lion tamarin species.

Critically endangered, the tamarins live in Brazil's coastal rain forests.

These rain forests are disappearing due to ever-expanding logging, agriculture,

and industry.

Thanks to Misty for hosting Camera Critters each week.

Wishing YOU well and much joy!

Have a fun filled weekend.

To my Canadian friends: Happy Thanksgiving weekend!

Potpourri

It's Friday.

Time for some randomness with a little this and that.

*

What a beautiful week.

It started off with the first real cool front of the season.

Off I went to the Japanese Garden.

The azaleas are a bit confused -- they were blooming!

**

Then it was off to the zoo where they are busy decorating for Zoo Boo

and for Holiday Lights.

What do you do with a dead tree?

You carve it with a small chain saw into chimps climbing on a tree!

Located just in front of the entrance to the chimp habitat.

***

I have one more Christmas tree to crochet and my Christmas hot pads are all finished.

I started sending off the Halloween hot pads to their new homes.

I have yarn left over from the afghans I made several years ago.

I had to try out the Bavarian crochet pattern -- also called Catherine's Wheel. 

It took some frogging before I was comfortable with the pattern.

It reminds me a little of the cathedral window quilting pattern.

****

I have a list of books to look for when I make my run to Barnes and Noble today.

Top of the list -- the new Bill Bryson -- One Summer in American: 1927.

*****

The cool front didn't last very long.

The heat and humidity are back.

Next cool front is due in late next week.

Another trip to the Japanese Garden and Zoo is planned.

Thanks, Nancy!

******

Wishing all of YOU well and much joy!

Good Morning!

 This is what Autumn looks like in Houston!

Japanese Garden, Hermann Park, Houston

Nature does not hurry, yet everything is accomplished.

~Lao Tzu

Potpourri

It's Friday and that means this and that with a little randomness!

*

Our first real cool front of the season arrives this weekend.

I am more than ready, although, to be honest --

this summer hasn't been near as hot as some.

I just like cooler weather.

It makes for good walking and picture taking.

And, a trip to the zoo!

**

It's been a fun week.

I have several events to share.

The kids who lived across the street were in town for a wedding.

We had brunch at Union Kitchen.

What fun we had catching up.

The time flew and soon we were hugging our goodbyes.

Until the next time.

***

The Women's Athletic Advisory Board held a fund raiser

for women's athletics at Rice.

Teams competed at trivia -- a pretty good mix of Rice trivia and regular.

Answers had to be written in a blue book (of course) ... remember those?!!!

And sections were divided into History 101,

English 202 -- you get the idea.

Money was raised.

The food and drink were good.

Lots of laughs.

Looking forward to next year already!

****

I'm getting a hair cut today.

Two weeks late (I cancelled because of my cold) and I'm looking pretty shaggy.

*****

I'm taking an online class with Juliette Crane -- Serendipity.

The class is a year long and started mid-September.

Here's one of my little girls.

She's a sea sprite.

She keeps her hair short so that she doesn't get tangled up in sea weed when

she plays with her friends, the sea horses and fish, or is out looking for treasure

(she really likes gold).

She is an sprite, so she is an imp, but she does have her serious side.

She listens carefully to the universe with her heart. 

It is a fun class.

I love painting with my fingers. 

Thank you, Nancy!

Wishing YOU well and much joy!

Have a great weekend.

Good Morning!

Cassie (who is never still) and I wish YOU well and much joy!

Musing With Tea

I enjoyed the final days of summer using my shell teapot 

and oversized teacup.

I do admit, it's hard to believe fall has arrived with temps in
the high 80s and let's not mention the humidity!

But, just in case Harvest time has arrived where you live,
here is a little weather lore from the Farmers Almanac.

- If Autumn leaves are slow to fall, a cold winter is in store.

- Onion and apple skins, corn husks, and nutshells are traditional indicators -

the thicker the exterior, the harsher the winter.

- An be sure to notice migrating hawks:

Hawks flying high mean a clear sky.

When they fly low, prepare for a blow.

I'm joining:

And some lovely tea parties:

Tea Time Tuesday

Teacup Tuesday

Friends Sharing Tea

Tuesday Cuppa Tea

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