Potpourri

On this last day in February
 I decided to go to my box of kisses to pick out a vintage postcard.

 

I laugh every time I see this postcard.

No artist or publishing date listed.

It is from a collection of postcards called 

A Box of Kisses published by Chronicle Books:

Charming vintage postcard reproductions of all sorts of smooches.

Mwah!

Thanks to Beth for hosting Postcard Friendship Friday. 

*

Outside my window...
It is cloudy today.
The last week has seen summer, winter and spring.
I'm not fond of guessing which season will appear each day
and would really like to enjoy a little spring before the dog days of summer arrive!

I am thankful...
for the nice soaking rain we got this week.
We need the rain. It's so easy to drop back into drought.

I am creating for...
Another postcard swap at June's.

The card on the left is from June and the one on the right is the one I made.
If you like swaps, check out June's blog, A Creative Dream.
She has a swap schedule for the year! 

One of my favorite things...
Is Terri Windling's beautiful blog.
Her name may be familiar to those of you who read fantasy.
Terri is a writer, artist, and book editor interested in myth, folklore, fairy tales, and the ways they are used in contemporary arts.
Myth and Moor is a daily journal for musings about art, myth, books, village life, and the world-wide community of folks who create and love Mythic Arts.
Full of beautiful words, beautiful art -- I could spend days there.

A peek into my day...

I'm missing my tulips.

A trip to Trader Joe's for flowers is in order!

Thank you Nancy for hosting!

Thanks for visiting.

Wishing YOU well and much joy!

Pretty In Red!

For the last tea day in February,

I've pulled out an old favorite, some red transferware.

My Granny called these luncheon plates.

Victorian Trading Company calls them tea and scone sets.

Tea and toast sounds good to me!

Is Spring around the corner?

I hope so! 

The Huffington Post shared an article from the Elephant Journal on Tea and Ritual

that you might be interested in reading.

I'm joining some tea parties today:

Tea Time Tuesday

Teacup Tuesday

Friends Sharing Tea

Tuesday Cuppa Tea

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

It's Baby Time!

It's baby time at the Houston Zoo.

This is Baridi, the newest member of the Giraffe herd.

He was 6' 6" tall at birth and weighted in at 165 pounds.

Baridi means cold in Swahili. He was born on a very cold morning.

Meet Duncan, the newest member of the Asian Elephant herd.

He was 6 days old when I visited.

He's with his Mom, Shanti.

Thank you, Misty!

And thank you Eileen at Saturday's Critters.

Wishing YOU well and much joy.

It's Party Time!

Vee's Note Card Party Time!

We get to pick 4 images from our blog that we think would make good note cards.

I think we are all looking forward to spring.

With that in mind, here are my four Note Cards.
The first three are from recent blog posts.

And last, but not least, from a Wednesday Wisdom post in 2013:

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

Wishing YOU well and much joy!

I hope the sun is shining on you today! 

My World: Hermann Park Centennial

Hermann Park is undergoing a transformation.

A giant maze constructed from saplings can be seen sprouting out of the ground

near the Japanese Garden. Constructed with over 1000 volunteer hours, it is the first of nine works of art that will grace Hermann Park as part of the park's centennial celebration.The maze was designed and created by artist, Patrick Dougherty.

Fun!  

I'd like to thank the wonderful hosts of My World.

Wishing YOU well and much joy!

Potpourri

Happy Valentine's Day!

I hope your Valentine's Day is full of hearts and flowers.

Another reproduction vintage Valentine.

No artist listed, but this one had a suggested publishing date of 1910.

Thank you to Beth for hosting Postcard Friendship Friday.

*

Outside my window...
The sun is shining -- finally!
Highs in the 70s ... what to do, what to do!!! 
Celebrate!

In the kitchen...
Have you visited Estelle's? 
You must go visit. The blog is named after her grandmother and there is always something delicious cooking. Too bad we don't have smell-a-blog! Then again, it's a good thing we don't. I'd gain five pounds with every visit! 

I am reading...
I've just started THOSE ANGRY DAYS by Lynne Olson: Roosevelt, Lindberg, and America's Fight Over World War II, 1939-1941. I read Bill Bryson's One Summer: America, 1927 and decided I wanted to learn more about Charles Lindberg. I found The Aviator's Wife by Melanie Benjamin, a lovely historical novel that gave me more of an insight into Anne Lindberg. I heard Lynne Olson on NPR and decided I needed to read THOSE ANGRY DAYS. Isn't it fun how one book can lead to another. 

I looked forward to...
 The Westminster Dog Show.
I watch every year. I do love the dogs. I have three cats now, but when I was growing up we had dogs. The first dog I remember was named Brownie -- yep, a little brown dog. I was about 4 years old and I thought Brownie was huge -- she could stand on her hind legs and put her front feet on my shoulders. She wasn't huge, I was small. She also had a litter of puppies in my sandbox! I loved that the mutts appeared at the Westminster this year in the agility championships. 

A peek into my day...
The first camellia of 2014.

Thank you, Nancy!

Wishing YOU well and much joy!

On This Date

Three years ago today,

the LOVE of my life,

My Knight in Shining Armor, 

left this earthly home and traveled on to the stars.

We were together over 30 years.

I think I miss him more with each passing day.

Life goes on.

Tulips and Tea

I went by Trader Joe's early Sunday morning.

I knew I could depend on Joe for fresh flowers -- especially tulips.

I am a happy camper!

This little teacup looks mighty fine (as my Granny would have said).

She's a sweet little gem for a Valentine Tea.

I found it at the thrift shop on my last visit -- many months ago.

It is the only hand-painted teacup that I have.

Lovely, isn't she?!

She has some wear, but that means she's been loved.

There is no artist signature.

In very small letters on the teacup it says:

April

Sweet Pea

I'm joining some tea parties today:

Tea Time Tuesday

Teacup Tuesday

Friends Sharing Tea

Tuesday Cuppa Tea

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

Potpourri

I finished one postcard swap and can now show you the cards.

This is the one I sent:

and this is the postcard I received in return:

Isn't it fun?!!

I love the little feet.

It makes me smile.

Thank you, Deb!

You can meet Deb at Learning To Just Breathe.

**

Talking about postcards:

It's February and time for Valentine postcards.

A reproduction vintage Victorian Valentine postcard.

No artist or publishing date was given.

Cupid is in attendance with his box of hearts.

Take care, Cupid!

Thanks to Beth for hosting Postcard Friendship Friday.

***

I watched the first half of the Super Bowl and then switched to Downton Abbey.

In case you were wondering if the kitties and I had a favorite team

 -- this should answer that question.

My BSD (beautiful step daughter), her knight in shining armor and my amazing grandson live in the Seattle area. 

But I've been a Seahawks fan for a long time. 

I love the colors and the mascot! 

****

Not everything is baseball or football around here.

I attended part of the women's tennis match at Rice and came home with a new T-shirt.

A girl can never have too many Rice University T-shirts.

This one says Rice - Women's Tennis. 

The match was between the Rice Owls and the Stanford Cardinal.

Stanford is ranked #1 and the Owls #22.

Stanford won, but it was fun to watch the Owls give the Cardinal a good match.

*****

Still cold and damp and cloudy here.

A little sleet yesterday morning. 

I'm still doing some odds and ends around the house.

I was in bed, looking at the ceiling and the smoke detector and thought

"Yikes -- something else to do -- change out the batteries in the smoke detector!"

Do you do that, too -- have your best thoughts and ideas when you are almost asleep?!

It's always fun to visit with Nancy and the Random 5 bunch.

Thanks, Nancy!

Wishing YOU well and much joy!

Mug of The Month

When I posted about my new Emma Bridgewater mug,

I realized that I use a different mug each month for tea.
Thus - Mug of The Month!

For February,

here is another Emma mug:

Big Love.

Perfect for Valentine's Day.

How about a little sugar cookie?

The tea is a simple black tea with honey.

Big Love is sitting on my newly crocheted heart hot pads.

I'm joining some tea parties today:

Tea Time Tuesday

Teacup Tuesday

Friends Sharing Tea

Tuesday Cuppa Tea

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

When The Red Red Robin

Came bob, bob, bobbing along --

he made an early morning visit to Musashi's Garden.

Not my usual visitor for the morning buffet.

He took a bath in the fountain.

No pictures -- although I did try -- he was just a blur.

Here he is sitting drying off. 

(I wonder where I put the tiny towels?)

The sun was just beginning to find the garden.

Pleased with himself, I think.

Come back again, Mr. Robin!

I'm joining the other sun lovers at Sun Lit Sunday.

Wishing YOU well and much joy!

We Had a Photo Shoot

He is a natural poser.

He sits in the sun looking like a King.

Handsome, sweet boy.

He likes to ignore the camera.

"What?

You were taking pictures of me? 

I never knew!"

This is Sir Theodore.

Theodorable

Teddy

Thank you, Misty.

And thank you Eileen at Saturday's Critters.

Wishing YOU well and much joy!