In Time For Tea

I love to give books for special occasions or no occasion ...
To kids and adults.

I heard about Chimpanzees for Tea by Jo Empson in the 
Afternoon Tea Across America group I belong to on FaceBook.

Vincent's mother sends him to the store with a shopping list.
She wants him to be home in time for tea.
Along the way Vincent loses his shopping list.
He tries to remember everything on the list 
and comes home with some unexpected items.
But he is in time for tea! 
Great illustrations and lots of fun.
I think it will be a wonderful birthday gift for the little girl next door.







I decided I wanted to be in time for tea, too.
I was especially tea thirsty and got out one of my favorite oversized tea cups.

The perfect Tea Time Teacup.
It is part of the Leonardo Collection.
Designed in England. 
More fun!

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

Home Sweet Home

Make It Pretty Monday

No Place Like Home

Mosaic Monday

Tuesday Cup of Tea

This and That

I hope all my friends in the U.S. and Canada enjoyed their holiday weekend.
This is what happened around Twisty Lane. 

1. One last lunch to celebrate my birthday
and my friend's birthday.
We were about six weeks late, but it's never too late to celebrate.
We went to Little Liberty.
(Perfect for the 4th of July weekend.)

We both ordered the Hawaiian Poke
(raw fish salad appetizer)
with tuna, tamari, cucumber base, mango and avocado.
Delicious and it all was on my diet!

2. I finished reading Clammed Up (A Maine Clambake Mystery) by Barbara Ross.

A good read for the 4th of July weekend.
Clammed Up is the first in the series.
I thought it was amazingly good for the first book in a cozy series.
Clambakes, Murder and Recipes -- what more could one want??!!

3. I was ready for the 4th of July.

Uncle Sam was flying high over the bunting clad balcony.


4. I made a quick trip to Ross.
It's right next door to Michaels (more yarn).
I figured, why not!
Sometimes I find something, sometimes I don't.
I found these kitchen towels.

I watched all the fireworks at home on tv -- switching between channels.
No way was I going out in the heat, humidity and crowds.

5. Several of you wanted to see the crochet lovie blanket.
I finished one of the owls and have a panda started.
Too cute!
All finished in time for the baby shower.

Wishing YOU well and much joy!

Willy Nilly Friday

Five On Friday

Home Sweet Home

No Place Like Home

Make It Pretty Monday

Never Too Early

I figure it is never too early to try out patterns for possible Christmas gifts.

I found a lovely KAL (Knit A Long) shawl by Marly Bird 

and sponsored by Red Heart Yarn (using Red Heart Soft).

I haven't done any knitting in some time so it was an adventure for me.

But it is done and I really like it.

I learned some new tricks (you CAN teach an old dog new tricks),
and finished the shawl with the Icord bind off.






Love the texture of the shawl.
Now to weave-in the ends.

So, now that the shawl is done what's next?
Don't worry -- I have two more projects in the works!
But today I'm going to take a break.



*





With summer soon to be upon us - lets dream of gardens by reading
 GARDENS OF AWE AND FOLLY  by the delightful and talented Vivian Swift.
I love all of Vivian's books.
Wonderful journal like travel books with watercolor illustrations done by Vivian.
Gardens of Awe and Folly is her newest travel book.
I actually squealed with delight when the book arrived.
Now I can settle down with my tea and kitties and travel to Paris,
Key West, Marrakech, New Orleans, Long Island, Edinburgh, London, and
Rio De Janeiro
all in the comfort of my home.
I might even learn something new and something about life itself. 

Open the book, any page, and you'll find illustrations like these.

Beautiful!


Wishing YOU well and much joy!

No Place Like Home with Sandi
Yarn A Long with Ginny

Hop Hop Hopping

The Easter Bunny is getting ready for the big day.

 The arrival of the Easter Bunny
 must mean Spring is hop hop hopping down the bunny trail!

Time to find the bunny teapot (a World Market find years ago).

While looking for the Bunny Teapot,
I pulled out the Rosina Iris teacup.
I must be prepared for spring!

In the spirit of the season,
I'm going to keep my dust bunnies as decoration! 

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

Remember,
Every Bunny
Needs Some Bunny
Sometime.

No Place Like Home

Bernideen's Tea Time Cottage and Garden Party

Tuesday Cuppa Tea
Tea Cup Tuesday

Irish Drinking Team

With St. Patrick's Day coming up
I've joined the official Irish Drinking Team
with one of my favorite drinks ---
TEA! 

The tea I've selected for the month of March is one of

 the Literary Teas from Simpson And Vail.  

The Literary Tea Line is a collection of blends that were created with a specific author in mind.
The teas vary from a black tea blend to a flavored herbal blend
and each is inspired by the authors' works and lives.

I filled the Belleek teapot with Simpson and Vail's Walt Whitman Tea Blend.
Simpson and Vail's Walt Whitman Tea Blend is inspired by his beautiful nature imagery in Leaves of Grass, especially the poems he wrote about roots and herbs. In one of his memoirs, Whitman describes a man who "express'd a great desire for good, strong green tea." This blend in an earthier and more mature variation of Simpson and Vail's Lemon Ginger Green Tea. It combines an unobtrusive green tea base with the earthiness of ginger and eleuthero roots (ginseng) and the sweetness and acid bite of lemon (with lemongrass, lemon peel, and lemon flavoring)."

From Simpson and Vail:

"Walt Whitman was born May 31, 1819 to a house builder and his wife in Brooklyn. He was introduced to the written word at the age of 12 when he began working as a printer's apprentice. There, he taught himself to read and devoured the classics. When the printing house burned down, Walt taught for five years until he decided to pursue journalism. The first edition of Leaves of Grass, a rough self-published volume of only twelve poems, was printed in 1855. Whitman would continue to revise and reprint Leaves of Grass until he died. Though his contributions to poetry are considered some of the most important in American history, Whitman did not enjoy success in his lifetime. He spent much of his life struggling to get by with only a meager clerk's wage to support himself as well as his mother and invalid brother. An 1882 edition of Leaves of Grass finally afforded him enough wealth to buy a house in Camden, New Jersey where he would work on Good-Bye, My Fancy until his death in 1892.

(Surprise! I share my birthday with Walt Whitman!)

May you always
walk in sunshine.
May you never want for more.
May Irish angels rest their wings
right beside your door.
~ Irish Blessing

Wishing YOU well and much joy!

No Place Like Home 

Tuesday Cuppa' Tea

Bernideen's Tea Time Cottage and Garden Party

It Makes Decision Making Hard

There is a lot going on in February.

College Basketball will be ending and College Baseball will begin.

*

It's the Chinese New Year.

Gong Xi Fa Cai!

(Mandarin for Happy New Year)

It is the Lunar New Year, also known as the Spring Festival.

The date changes every year as determined by the Lunar Chinese calendar.

This year is the year of the Red Monkey.

Found on Elephant Journal and Pinterest

The monkey is intelligent, smart, wise, curious, energetic, impulsive, inventive, hyperactive, cheeky, strong minded and vigilant. Red monkeys are problem solvers and work well within group environments, while retaining their individuality.

*

I love this time of year.

Tulips are abundant at the grocery stores.

Daffodils appear at TJs.

It makes decision making hard.

Should I buy tulips or daffodils?

I decided to get both.

*

Mardi Gras is coming to an end.

Fat Tuesday is around the corner...

the last big party of the year before lent.

To celebrate I bought a small king cake and it is delicious.

Instead of the usual cinnamon interior, I got cream cheese.

YUM!

A King Cake is a type of cake associated in a number of countries with the festival of Epiphany at the end of the Christmas Season.

Here on the Gulf Coast it is associated with the pre-Lenten celebrations of Mardi Gras/Carnival.

In the southern United States, the tradition was brought to the area by colonists from France and Spain. 

The King Cake comes in a number of styles. The most simple, said to be the most traditional, is a ring of twisted cinnamon roll-style dough topped with icing or sugar, usually colored purple, green and gold (traditional Mardi Gras colors) with food coloring. King cakes may also be filled with additional foodstuffs - the most common being cream cheese, praline, cinnamon or strawberry.

Finding the baby in the cake is said to bring good luck and you must supply the King Cake for the next years party.

*

At the Kitchen Table

Wishing YOU well and much joy!

I'm joining:
No Place Like Home
Bernideen's Tea Time, Cottage and Garden Party

February Is Here

February has arrived.

Did you say Rabbit Rabbit on the first?

It is a common British superstition which states that a person should say or repeat the word "rabbit" or "rabbits", or "white rabbits", or some combination of these elements out loud upon waking on the first day of the month, because doing so will ensure good luck for the duration of that month (from Wikipedia).

Or, in Downton Abbey fashion, did you say Bad Harvest?!

*

The snowmen that I've been looking at every morning in January have been replaced.

I love Emma Bridgewater and it's so much fun to bring out my heart teapot and mugs made by Emma. Emma Bridgewater is a British ceramics manufacturer founded in 1985, owned and run by Emma Rice nee Bridgewater and Matthew Rice. Noted for their polka dot design among others, Emma Bridgewater specializes in pottery with motifs drawing on techniques stretching back over 200 years. The company is one of the largest pottery manufacturers based entirely in the UK, with all of its products made in its factory in the city of Stoke-on-Trent. Emma started the company when she went looking for a birthday present for her mother. She wanted to buy and cup and saucer but couldn't find anything she liked, so she created her own. And I'm sure glad she did! 

Every one should have a tea mug that says Peace and Love and Tea!

I have some Rose Petal Tea by the Republic of Tea that I think will be a very nice way to start the month of February. 
It says its a "Tea for The Queen of Hearts".
I don't know about being the Queen of Hearts,
but I am the Queen of this house!

"This royal tea blend has the light spice of delicate, young rose buds and petals atop the sweet fullness of China Black Tea. This Victorian tradition is perfect served in fine china cups for kings, queens, friends and loved ones."

I think it will taste very good served in my Emma mugs, too!

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

I'm joining:
Sandi at No Place Like Home
Tuesday Cup of Tea

Bernideen's Tea Time, Cottage and Garden Party

Leftovers

I just finished Trader Joe's Peppermint Pretzel Slims.
Thin, cruchy thin pretzels with a creamy coating and peppermint sprinkles.
Boy, were they good! 
I figured if I listed them here in the Land of Blog perhaps I would remember them for next year! 

I still have some TJs Mini Gingerbread Men -- gingerbread cookies with white fudge icing.
Also very good.

I'm really not a big lover of shortbread, but I loved the Santa tin -- especially the reindeer running around the bottom. 

Friendly Village by Johnson Brothers is one of my favorite patterns. 

I love that I can use this pattern from November into the winter months. 

When Johnson Brothers was founded in 1883 by Frederick and Alfred Johnson, their goal for the Staffordshire pottery was to produce an earthenware called "White Granite," which is marked on many early pieces as "Semi Porcelain." It was a great material for dinnerware because it looked like china but was as tough as ironstone. However, the firm would become the most famous for its transferware like Friendly Village.

I'm always on the lookout for more pieces to add to my small collection.

I'm enjoying my leftovers from the holidays, including Comfort and Joy Tea by the Republic of Tea. 

It is black tea leaves blended with spices and fruit. Yum! 

"Who would then deny that when I am sipping tea in my tearoom I am swallowing the whole universe with it and that this very moment of my lifting the bowl to my lips is eternity itself transcending time and space?"
~ D.T. Suzuki

I'm joining:

No Place Like Home.

Bernadine's Tea Time Cottage and Garden Blog Party

Wishing YOU well and much joy! 

I Need It To Keep Me Warm

I realized that, as much as I like Emma Bridgewater,

I didn't have an Emma Christmas mug.

So, I got myself an early present and have been using

the mug and my Portmeirion Holly and Ivy teapot

all month, drinking Harney and Sons

White Christmas Tea

(a blend of white tea, almonds and vanilla).

When I'm finished drinking White Christmas,
I get to start on my new teas.

My BGD (beautiful god-daughter) and her handsome knight
sent me Fearrington House Afternoon Tea.
It smells so delicious: Black China Tea
 with carmel, grapefruit, and lemony bergamot.
Plus, Fearrington House Jam:Raspberry, Star Anise, Thyme.
The Fearrington House is one of their favorite places for a romantic get-a-way.
Looking at it in the magic of cyberspace --
it looks like a wonderful spot for tea and belted cattle gazing! 
You can check out the Fearrington Village and Inn here.




More tea!
Liliuokalani tea from Serendipi Tea:
Organic China Black Tea, Safflower Petals, Orange Blossoms, 
and Tropical Fruit Flavor.

Taylor Maid Farms: Pacific Coast Breakfast - Organic Yunnan Black Tea.

There is a cold front blowing through.
I'll need all of this tea to keep me warm!

Wishing YOU well and much joy!

Thank you Martha for hosting
Tea Cup Tuesday.

Thank you - Tuesday Cuppa Tea.

Thank you Bernideen
for Bernideens Tea.

Thank you Sandi for hosting
No Place Like Home.


 

The Tropical Version of Christmas!

This is what Christmas looks like on my street.

The neighbors are ready for Christmas

and 80 degree weather!

"One can never have enough socks," said Dumbledore.
"Another Christmas has come and gone and I didn't
get a single pair. People will insist on giving me books."
-J.K. Rowling, Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone

Love the simplicity!

"I have always thought of Christmas time,
when it has come round, as a good time;
a kind, forgiving, charitable time;
the only time I know of, in the long calendar of the year,
when men and women seem by one consent to open their
shut-up hearts freely,
and to think of people below them as if they really were fellow
passengers to the grave,
and not another race of creatures bound on other journeys."
~ Charles Dickens





"Our hearts grow tender with childhood memories and love of kindred, 
and we are better throughout the year for having,
in spirit,
become a child again at Christmas-time."
-Laura Ingalls Wilder





"I heard the bells on Christmas Day
Their old, familiar carols play,
And wild and sweet
The words repeat
Of peace on earth, good-will to men!"
- Henry Wadsworth Longfellow




Wishing YOU well and much joy this Christmas season.

A Happy Yule and Solstice to you,too!

I'm joining Sandi at
No Place Like Home

and

Santa Is Arriving

Santa is appearing around the house.

My forest Santa has taken his place by the teacups, 
surrounded by Christmas mugs.

My new mug is the Ho-Ho-Ho mustache mug.
I found it at Pier One and it made me smile.

Merry Merry and a Happy Happy! 

Thank you to Sandi for hosting
No Place Like Home.

Wishing YOU well and much joy!

This and That

The Good---
I don't think I'll ever tire of looking at my water garden.





The Random ---
Thanksgiving dessert?!!

The Fun ....
Zoo Lights! 


I'm joining The Good The Random and The Fun! 
and No Place Like Home.

On this Monday before Thanksgiving,
I'm wishing YOU well and much joy
during this holiday season.

Nothing Like Being Done!

My Spice of Life Afghan is all done.
There are over 6000 members in the Face Book group.
Some are just starting their afghan.
Everyone in the group has been so supporting of the new crocheters.
Even us "old-timers" learned a few new helpful hints.

I had a great time using my stash yarn.

(Still have plenty of stash left.)

I tried to follow the suggested Stylecraft yarn colors.

When I ran out of one color I changed to another.

(Dusty rose went from rose, to light purple, to pink.)

The edging is supposed to be green, but I didn't have any left.

I had plenty of light pink (not my favorite color) left

and so the edge is pink.

Not bad! 

The girls, Cassie and Mina, have given their seal of approval to this afghan.

Good thing.

Our first cool weather has arrived and the afghan and the kitties

will feel good on my toes! 

An afghan -- makes home even more comfy.

**

I think I'm finished with my cowls.
I have all the upcoming birthdays and the holidays covered.
I hope! 
This is the latest color way that I used.
This is a Red Heart pattern called Papillon.

This one is a little smaller in width than the others I made.
I was determined to use up the yarn and not add to the stash!
This cowl is mine. 

***

I made a dash to Trader Joe's over the weekend.
When I get home I always wonder why I don't shop there more often.
Great produce and today they had Teddy's (the oldest kitty) tuna.
They don't always have it in stock.
Much easier to give him his heart meds when there is tuna in the house! 

The other thing they had was 
Lemon, Ginger, Echinacea juice.
Oh, my.
Warmed on these cooler days -- divine!
Almost better than hot chocolate! 

Wishing YOU well and much joy!

I'm joining Sandi for No Place Like Home.