Pancakes and Pollinators

Family night at the zoo was filled with
fun and education with
Pancakes and Pollinators.

Long tables were set up showing the importance of
pollinators.

Two of my favorites: Lantana and Lavender.

Kids had fun having their face painted and playing games.
Two beautiful tiger sisters and one handsome brother snake.

Some of the Animal Ambassadors were out and about.
This is an Eastern Screech Owl.
He looks like a tiny tree!
Great camouflage.

Most of the Animal Ambassadors 
have been injured in some way
and can not be released into the wild.
The zoo gives these animals a home and uses them for 
educational purposes.

Golden Eagle

In some ways, this gentleman is an Animal Ambassador, too.
He is one of the official photographers at the zoo.
We were laughing taking pictures of each other, taking pictures of each other! 

Can't leave out a mention of the menu.
Fruit, yogurt, scrambled eggs, pancakes, bacon, potatoes,
chicken nuggets and
shrimp and grits.

Wishing YOU well and much joy!

Little Things Thursday

Willy Nilly Friday

Mosaic Monday

Keep In Touch

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

On This Date

Five 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.

With love ....

Tin Roof Teas

I really enjoyed my visit to Raleigh, North Carolina

to see my BGD (Beautiful God Daughter), her handsome fella

(AKA The Kids) and to attend their confirmation.

One afternoon, BGD and I set out to find Tin Roof Teas

and boy, did we find tea!

BGD is a coffee drinker, but she was a good sport 
and tasted all the samples of the day.




I think BGD liked Pineapple Mimosa Fruit the best.
My favorite was Arabian Night.
We enjoyed China White Monkey and to be fair,
it was a warm day so the cold tea was really good!

There were rows of tea and colorful teapots, tea mugs, tea bag holders.
All sorts of tea utensils. 
I didn't get a picture of the tea bar where they make their own blends.




Matcha sets, more pretty tea cups and 
they have wonderful tins and ceramics for storage.
If all else fails, and you don't find any tea that you like,
perhaps some chocolate will do!




Be sure to visit Tin Roof Teas if you are in the Raleigh, North Carolina area.

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

Big thanks to the hosts of:
Mosaic Monday

Teatime Tuesday
Teacup Tuesday

Friends Sharing Tea

Tuesday Cuppa Tea

Share Your Cup Thursday

On This Date

Four 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.

With love ---

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.

Sweet Memories

When I was growing up

we always went to Granny's for Christmas.

She had a bright, shiny tree with bubble lights.

Around the base of the tree was a little village -- all plastic.

Bottle brush trees.

I thought it was a wonderland.

The candy canes.

Hot chocolate in a Santa mug.

I still love candy canes, hot chocolate and Santa mugs.

Every year I go looking for new mugs -- the cheaper the better to get the look!

The mugs can't be microwaved, but they can be filled with candy canes and placed around the house.
Hot chocolate tastes really good in a holiday mug, too.
I've already tried Stash's Christmas Eve herbal tea -- especially nice as a bedtime treat. 

The owl mug is new this year.

I'm thinking of making postcards.

You can help.

Which one do you like best?

I'm joining some lovely tea parties today:

Tea Time Tuesday

Teacup Tuesday

Friends Sharing Tea

Tuesday Cuppa Tea

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

On This Date

Two 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 miss him.

One Year Ago

One Year Ago Today

The LOVE of my life,

My Knight in Shining Armor

Left this earthly home and traveled on to the stars.

We would have celebrated 31 years February 1.

I miss him.

Lunch

Beautiful God Daughter (BGD) joined me for lunch to celebrate the Lunar New Year.

The food was delicious and the setting extra special.

The only place in town I can think of where lunch costs less than $8.00 a person

and the tables are covered with tablecloths!

BGD had the garlic chicken.

I had the Hunan beef.

My little friend joined us for jasmine tea.

Thank you to our hosts: 

The Tablescaper for Seasonal Sunday

Mary for Mosaic Monday.

Wishing YOU Well and JOY!

A Tale of Two Bears

Today I'm going to tell you a tale of two bears.

When Mr. Dragon and I first moved to Galveston Island,

we discovered their holiday festival called

Dickens On The Strand.

For 38 years, Dickens has been centered on

The Strand National Historic District.

Parades, strolling carolers, roving street entertainment --

all dressed in Victorian garb.

 

That first year, we made a trip to San Diego

for a professional meeting for Mr. Dragon.

On the waterfront, we found Mr. Dickens Bear.

He was perfect!

His top hat, velvet vest ... with his heart for all to see.

I sighed over him and we made the trip home without him.

Or so I thought.

But on Christmas Day, Mr. Dragon surprised me with 

Mr. Dickens Bear.

This year, Mr. Dragon is no longer with me.

My first Christmas without the love of my life.

I decorated the house, inside and out.

I put up two trees and today,

two days after Christmas,

I came home with the Court Jester Bear. 

I love his old loved look.

It just seemed right.

Two friends who can tell each other stories

and can bring a smile to my face. 

***

There are other Christmas bears who have their own stories.

Several more bears who dress in Victorian garb,

but their stories are for another time.

I have done well this Christmas.

I miss Mr. Dragon, but I know he would want me to

*suck it up and get on with it*.

No tears were shed ... until THE grandson ... on 

the other side of the country said:

"Merry Christmas Nana Snap.

Santa came to visit and this time he got it right!"

Wishing YOU well and JOY filled holidays!

Christmas Memories

Welcome to Winter Wonderland!

I just had to share this shot.

It is the first thing you see when you enter Blue Leaf in my village.

Oh, my!

Christmas Overload!!!

On to the memories with some help from Blue Leaf.

A smile came to my face when I saw the Christmas Village.

I remembered being a little girl and visiting my grandmother for Christmas.

She had the most wonderful Christmas Village around the bottom of her Christmas tree.

All the different buildings were made from cardboard.

The roofs had batting on the top with glitter (of course) to look like snow.

There were churches and shops and lots of bottle trees all decorated.

She even had some small houses in her Christmas tree.

Sweet memories!

I'm joining The Tablescaper for Seasonal Sunday.

Wishing YOU well and JOY filled week.

Bridesmaids Brunch

Last weekend my Beautiful God Daughter married her

Knight in Shining Armor.

Festivities started off with a brunch for the bridesmaids

on 11-11 at 11AM.

 

Here's the bride with her maids ... all close friends.

 

Brunch was held on the pool deck of the Hotel Galvez

(which was celebrating its 100th anniversary).

Wonderful centerpieces.

The food was delicious.

I ate every bite.

 

Can't forget the shoes!!!!!

Thank you to Mary for being our hostess for
Mosaic Monday.

Wishing YOU well and a JOY filled week.

Frank Stopped By

Frank stopped by the house.

Here Kitty Kitty!

Teddy wasn't sure he'd met Frank before.

Frank brought his beautiful bride to visit, too.

Don't you think they make a lovely couple?!!!

I do!

We all wish you a very Happy Halloween!

His and Hers

This was the beautiful view for the 

His and Hers shower the bridesmaids

had for THE kids.

I could look at this view everyday and not get tired of it.

In fact, I did have a similar view for 13 years before we moved to the big city.

Here they are:

THE kids

and the four smart, lovely ladies who are the bridesmaids.

All of them friends.

 

The food was delicious and there was lots of it.

The only picture I took was of the cupcakes! 

The strawberry  ....  delightful!

The big day will soon be here!

Lots of excitement and busy, busy!

Wishing YOU well and a JOY filled day!