Potpourri

Some of my favorite things from the week:

- Fresh onion bagels

- New addition to the neighborhood

- Sunflowers in my favorite hand-thrown jug

- Pretty pink kalanchoe in the atrium

- Toad singing by the pond

It really is all about the Little Things.

Wishing YOU well and much joy!

Little Things Thursday

Five On Friday

Willy Nilly Friday

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Thinking of Granny

Every now and then I get an email that makes me laugh out loud.
In fact, I almost didn't open the one with the subject:
Getting Enough Fiber?

I opened it and it was about fiber, but not the digestible kind.

It was about yarn.

I need more yarn like I need a hole in the head! 

*

Early morning over the Texas Medical Center

I walk early every morning before it gets too hot and humid.
I try to walk for 45 minutes.
My favorite day to walk is Sunday.
It is so quiet.
No cars on the street so there is no background motor noise.
It's just me, the birds, an occasional sprinkler raining on a lawn.
Last Sunday I listened to the doves cooing, 
the blue jays and the mockingbirds trying to out mock each other.
I even heard one of the local screech owls.
No cats or dogs or people.
And then, there they were -- crossing the street.
A family of seven opossums!
Led by Mom (I assume) they went two by two.


Definitely something I don't see every day.
Just one of those reminders 
that it is the little things that can make a day extra special.


Did you know a group of opossums is called a passel?
I came straight home and looked it up.
Male opossums are called jacks and females are called jills.
The young are joeys -- just like their Australian cousins.

*

I love cherry anything!
Mighty Leaf makes a wonderful cherry lemon green tea.
It tastes especially fine in my hand-thrown kitty mug with the moon and stars.
The tea bags are handcrafted silken pouches.
Delicious hot and great iced for this hot weather.

Mighty Leaf began in 1996 as Tea & Company, 
a boutique tea house in San Francisco.
They support artisan communities and 
sustainable farming practices around the globe.

Every time I see a zinnia I think of my Granny.
She always had zinnias in her garden.
All shapes and sizes.

This year, I have zinnias in my garden.
I had an empty space, had the seeds 
and decided to throw them in the space and see what happens.
Wow!
I think every seed came up.
Marvelous mix of all types of zinnia and the color.
Double wow!

I thought I'd share some of them with you.

Wishing YOU well and much joy!

Five On Friday

Willy Nilly Friday

Mosaic Monday

Tuesday Cuppa Tea

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There Is No Doubt That Summer Is Here

It is hot.

And it is humid.

Feels like temps (in the shade) well over 100.
There is no doubt that summer is here

and I'm already tired of it!

*

I'm still celebrating my May birthday.

This time with the Mother of my god-children 

and one of my sisters-by-choice.

We went to one of our favorite spots:

Morningside Thai.

I had garlic eggplant and she had basil-eggplant.
We were both smiling and "yumming".

*

Not only did we have a lovely lunch,
I received a lovely gift, too ...
tea pot and matching mug
by Emma Bridgewater.

I love Emma Bridgewater.
The pattern is called Wallflower and is described as a
Cheerful, purple and green floral pattern that was inspired by
Emma and Matthew's love of a flower bed that overflows with wallflowers every May 
... perfect for an "Emma lover" with a May birthday!

*

I also received a surprise in the post.
When the box arrived I wondered what I had ordered that I'd forgotten!?
No, it was a surprise from a dear friend who knows I have a thing for owls.

Aren't they great?!
I'm lucky -- good friends and more great mugs for tea drinking!

I made an early morning run to Trader Joe's
(before it got too hot for man or beast).

In addition to food, I came home with flowers ...
peonies and tulips.

So pretty!

Wishing YOU well and much joy!

Willy Nilly Friday

Five on Friday

Mosaic Monday

Amaze Me Monday

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I Squealed With Delight!

I subscribe to two boxes.

The kitties receive the Kit Nip Box every month

and I receive the My Texas Market box. 

This month the My Texas Market box featured Bourbon and BBQ --
a kick off for the summer season. 

From No4. St. James came Chocolate Chip Bourbon Bombs.
I opened the package 
and memories took me directly to my Granny's kitchen during the holiday.
I think she put Bourbon in everything! 
(Kidding)
She did put bourbon in the sweet potatoes.
No wonder they were so good and so are (were) the Bourbon Bombs!

There was a lot more in the box 
and I squealed with delight when I saw caramels 
from the Dallas Caramel Company -- Bacon and Texas Drunken Nut.
I've had their caramels before and they are melt in the mouth delicious.

*

A dear friend of mine -- also with a May birthday -- went to lunch with me at
McHugh Tea to celebrate our birthdays -- better late than never!

We both had the sampler plate and it was delicious.
Peach iced tea.

Cream cheese and date scones for dessert.
YUM

*

The Passion Flower Vine is flowering in the garden.

I thought I should get the camera out before the squirrels eat the flower!
They really do think the very middle is a tasty treat.

This is the closest I've gotten to an image of the small dragonflies 
that visit the water garden.
They are usually moving too quickly.
I was thrilled (I might have squealed with delight)
when this little guy decided to take a time out on the water lily!

Wishing YOU well and much joy!

Five on Friday

Willy Nilly Friday

Mosaic Monday

The Second Most Wonderful Time of Year

The second most wonderful time of year
is when peaches make their appearance at the Farmer's Market!
I was afraid there would be no peaches this year.
The best peaches in this area are grown in the hill country.
They need cold weather and they didn't get much last winter.

I've been having peach smoothies for breakfast.

I also came home with tomatoes.

It's bacon, lettuce and tomato sandwich time.

With half of the tomatoes gone and only a few peaches left,

a trip to the market next Tuesday is definitely in order!

In Musashi's garden,

the day lilies I ordered from Oakes Lilies are starting to bloom.

Little Grapette was the first to bloom.

2″ bloom, 12-18″ tall, Early Season, Semi-Evergreen. 

Deep grape colored blooms with a deeper purple band around a small chartreuse throat. 

This is Mini Pearl. 

3″ bloom, 16″ tall, Early-Mid Season + rebloom, 

Masses of blush apricot pink blooms are held low on short scapes.

Wishing YOU well and much joy!

Five on Friday

Willy Nilly Friday

Mosaic Monday

This and That

- June Is National Iced Tea Month 

and that's a very good thing!


- June marks the beginning of hurricane season 
and that is not a very good thing.......

- ICAD (Index Card A Day) started --
June and July --
61 little pieces of art on an index card.

This is my Index Card for June 1.
Mixed-media, paper scraps, ephemera, stamps, fortune cookie.

"The challenge is about the DOING and not the
KEEPING or PRESERVING or ARCHIVING. 
It is the process of creating each day that matters."
~ Tammy at Daisy Yellow


- I had a birthday.

It started by opening all the birthday cards.

*

Flowers from a dear friend.
Too cute!

Instead of birthday cake--

birthday cupcakes --

fudge bites with frosting.

YUM!

-  Musashi's Garden had a visitor -- a charming little lady.....

Wishing YOU well and much joy!

Five on Friday

Willy Nilly Friday

Mosaic Monday

Tra La! It's May!

Tra la, it's May, the lusty Month of May

That lovely month when everyone goes blissfully astray.

Tra la, it's here, that shocking time of year

When tons of wicked little thoughts merrily appear!

(Lyrics from Lerner and Loewe's Camelot)

*
Where I live, the arrival of May means summer is here.
Six months of summer and six months of not summer.
Although the "not" summer seems to be getting shorter.

*

Did you know the month of May is named for the Roman goddess Maia,
who oversaw the growth of plants?
Also from the Latin word maiores, "elders," who were celebrated during this month.

*

Amaryllis is blooming in Musashi's garden.

*

My 50th high school reunion is this year.
THUD!

Here I am --

If I remember correctly, the senior pix were taken the end of the junior year.
Thus the short hair (look at all that teased hair).
Yes, I have my eyes closed  -- the sun is bright in New Mexico.

*

It's no secret that I enjoy shopping (especially window shopping) at Sur La Table.
This is what I found in their latest email.

Too cute!


*

I decided I needed to clean out my yarn closet.

I would open the door and wonder what would fall out next!

My habit when I'm working on a project,

knit, crochet, counted cross stitch -- whatever --

is to put all the supplies in a tote bag with the project.

A girl can never have too many tote bags.

So in goes the pattern, yarn, needles, hooks -- everything to get the project done.

And when I finish, I tend to leave everything in the tote bag.

So, cleaning out the yarn closet meant I went through all the tote bags to see what was there ... mostly patterns and hooks/needles.

One of the totes had two balls of a washable acrylic, nylon yarn in a wonderful teal with dark  blue specks, a circular needle and several scarf patterns.
I like to use a circular needle on small projects.

 One of my all time favorite stash busting patterns from Knit Picks was included.

I must have decided to try to get a scarf from the two small balls of yarn.

Well, it worked!

Here's the finished product.

I cut the pattern (Diagonal Garter Stitch Scarf) from the Knit Picks catalog 
(back when they sent catalogs by mail).

It's very simple -- Cast on 22 stitches (or your choice).

RS: Knit into front and back of first st, knit across to last 2 sts, K2tog.

WS: Knit

Repeat these two rows until scarf is desired length and bind off loosely.

*

Wishing YOU well and much joy!

Five On Friday

Willy Nilly Friday

Mosaic Monday

Monday Social

Craft On

Exercise Your Mind Not Just Your Abs

I hope everyone had a nice holiday weekend.

I had a quiet one.

Did some digging in the garden which is always good.

*

I put my crochet hook and my knitting needles aside giving my hands a rest.

Marly Bird is going to do another KAL (Knit-A-Long) and I want to be ready!

I haven't been to Michaels yet to get the yarn.

It's on the "to do" list.

*

The Fortune Cookie Journal suggested I exercise my mind not just my abs 
(which I did in the garden)
and I guess I did that by completing some reading.

My 88 year-old godmother loves to read.
She really enjoys the China Bayles mystery series by Susan Wittig Albert.
The new one - THE LAST CHANCE OLIVE RANCH is out. 
Number 25 in the series!
It's a good thing that my godmother doesn't mind if I read it first!
It's on it's way to her house for Mother's Day. 
One of the reasons I enjoy this series so much is the business China owns--
an herb shop.
In this book -- olives take center stage along with murder.
All the favorite characters are back and in fine form.

*

The second book I want to share with you is
MY CITY HIGHRISE GARDEN by Susan Brownmiller.

Most people know Susan Brownmiller as feminist and journalist. She is probably best known for her 1975 book, AGAINST OUR WILL: MEN, WOMEN AND RAPE. Now 80 years old, Brownmiller takes us on a delightful tour of her 20th floor high-rise garden, something she has been tending with care for 35 years. 
 Small space gardening is not easy (I know), but on the 20th floor of a high-rise is definitely an unnatural environment with high winds and bad weather, along with the occasional maintenance of the building. She talks about the garden with humor and honesty. I got lots of ideas for my balcony (on the second floor) and my postage stamp backyard. I even ordered day-lilies from the company that she uses. If you love gardens, this a short (154 pages), sweet description of an oasis in the city with all its trials, tribulations and successes. I'm going to keep my copy for future reference!

*

The third book is THE CURIOUS CHARMS OF ARTHUR PEPPER
by Phaedra Patrick.

Charming and delightful, Arthur Pepper is nearing the one year
anniversary of his wife's death. It's time to clean out the closet and get rid of her things. While separating clothes and shoes, he finds a charm bracelet in a pair of boots. He doesn't remember ever seeing the bracelet before.
This bracelet and it's charms take Arthur on an adventure of healing and self-discovery. 

Three different books and all good.
Although if you are interested in the Mystery,
you should start with book number one -- not number twenty five!

 *

I went out to feed the fish and look what I found in the pond!
A whole lot of "something" going on. Ha!
This must mean that spring is definitely here.

*

This week instead of lunch it was breakfast with a friend.
Spinach Quiche at Croissant Brioche -- French Bakery and Cafe.
Authentic French breads baked fresh daily.
YUM!

Wishing YOU well and much joy!

Five on Friday

Willy Nilly Friday

Mosaic Monday

Location, Location, Location

How many times have you heard location, location, location?

One of the best things about living where I do is definitely location.

Living near Rice University there's always plenty going on...

athletics, art, music, community education.

I'm also near the museums and Hermann Park.

There's lots of shopping and good eats in Rice Village.

The latest public art installation in Rice Village is an owl by California artist Nathan Mabry.

A blue origami-like aluminum owl, along with four smaller lifelike owls, 
are a nod to Rice University.

"While researching Rice Village, I became interested in the vibrant history of the neighborhood and proximity to Rice University. I find myself particularly engaged with the mascot of Rice University, the Owl," Mabry said in an announcement.

"It's a powerful symbol in both antiquity and contemporary life. My work has long explored the depiction of birds from all facets of art history."

The Owl weighs 868 pounds and took 8.3 hours to install.
It's a fun addition to the neighborhood.

*

Speaking of location.

I'm also near the Zoo.
The zoo always celebrates Spring with a Spring Fling for some of its members.
Usually it is a breakfast.
This year the zoo decided to make it Breakfast for Dinner and hold the event in the evening.
It was a beautiful night.
Breakfast was delicious -- with the best biscuits and gravy I've had in awhile!

I invited my next door neighbors and can say that a good time was had by all!
There was a hula hoop competition for the kids,
face painting, endless carousel rides and the children's zoo was open with
the petting zoo. 

And even the adults had fun watching the zebu.
He put on quite a show.
His keeper asked him to walk in a circle.
He did and he was given a treat.
Then he kept walking in a circle and back to his keeper --
"treat please"!
We were all laughing --
all except the Llama who seemed quite put out!

*

A good friend took me to lunch.
We went to one of our mutual favorite spots --
the Hobbit Cafe.
The Hobbit has been around since 1972 and for some time was the 
only spot to get good, fresh vegetarian food.
They have now added the "regular" food for those who just can't live without their burger.

I had the "slim" Gandalf.
(Believe it or not, there is a larger version of this sandwich.)
Their wheat bread is amazing.
Avocado, mushrooms and melted cheese.
You can pick your side - black beans for me.

My friend had the Fatty Lumpkin -- tuna salad, tomato, melted cheese
with carrots on the side.

They are knife and fork sandwiches -- 
no way I could get my mouth all the way around to take a bite. 

*

Last and not least for locations--
there is no place like home! 

Wishing you well, much joy and a "Hoppy" Easter!

Five on Friday

Willy Nilly Friday

Mosaic Monday

Monday Social