Sunday

"Look deep into nature, and then you will understand everything better."

~Albert Einstein

Wishing YOU well and much joy.

Sunday

"Light must come from inside.

You cannot ask the darkness to leave.

You must turn on the light."

~Sogyal Rinpoche



Wishing YOU well and much joy.

Art Is

"Art is the essence of life.

Our words and our actions should be filled with art.

The substance of art is complete awareness."

~Thich Nhat Hanh

Signs You Are Doing Better Than You Think

Every now and then something is shared with me in an email,

or I see something on Face Book and think it's worth passing on.

This came from Face Book and The Mind Awakened.

19 Signs You Are Doing Better Than You Think

Ryan Maxwell

Even in uncertain times, it’s always important to keep things in perspective.

‘True wealth is the ability to fully experience life. ‘-Henry David Thoreau

1. You are alive.
2. You are able to see the sunrise and the sunset.
3. You are able to hear birds sing and waves crash.
4. You can walk outside and feel the breeze through your hair and the sun’s warmth on your skin.
5. You have tasted the sweetness of chocolate cake.
6. You didn’t go to sleep hungry last night.
7. You awoke this morning with a roof over your head.
8. You had a choice of what clothes to wear.
9. You haven’t feared for your life today.
10. You have overcome some considerable obstacles, and you have learned and survived.
11. You often worry about what you’re going to do with your life – your career, your family, the next step, etc. – which means you have ambition, passion, drive, and the freedom to make your own decisions.
12. You live in a country that protects your basic human rights and civil liberties.
13. You are reasonably strong and healthy – if you got sick today, you could recover.
14. You have a friend or relative who misses you and looks forward to your next visit.
15. You have someone with whom to reminisce about ‘the good old days.’
16. You have access to clean drinking water.
17. You have access to medical care.
18. You have access to the Internet.
19. You can read.

The truth is, you’re doing better than a lot of people in this world.  So remember to be thankful for all the things you do have.

*

Speaking of the good old days, a dear friend of mine from my university days (back in the middle ages) is coming to visit.

So, I'm going to take a short blog break.

Lots of museums to visit and walking to do.

I'll be sure to take my camera and I'll see you all again soon.

Wishing YOU well and much joy!

Good Morning!

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

Tea Tag Wisdom

Tuesday is usually tea day around Twisty Lane.

I was unplugged for a few days and I don't have any teacups for you.

But.

I do have some wisdom from a Yogi tea tag and one of my index cards.

ICAD # 39 for July 9, 2013




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

Old Country Rose

I've been out cutting roses from the garden.

It's so hot they don't last long outside.

Why not bring them inside and

enjoy a cup of tea in the lovely old-fashioned Old Country Rose by Royal Albert.
The tea is even rosey -- Rose Petal Tea by The Republic of Tea.

tea leaves

tea loves

loves tea

lives tea

leaves tea?

never.

~Uniek Swain

"A red rose is not selfish because it wants to be a red rose.

It would be horribly selfish if it wanted all the other flowers in the garden

to be both red and roses."

~ Oscar Wilde

Thank you to our tea party hosts:

Tea Time Tuesday

A Return To Loveliness
Friends Sharing Tea
Teacup Tuesday

Tuesday Cup'a Tea

Share Your Cup Thursday

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

Notecard Party!

It's time for one of my favorite Blogland Parties:

Vee's NoteCard Party.





Once a month we all get together with four photos from our blog that we think would make a good Note Card. 
This time of year, before it gets too hot and humid, I spend a lot of time in the Japanese Garden at Hermann Park. Here are some of the images I've shared recently of this very special space.

The Kiss of the sun for pardon,

The song of the birds for mirth,

One is nearer God's heart in a garden

Than anywhere else on earth.

~Dorothy Frances Gurney

"In all things of nature there is something of the marvelous."

 ~Aristotle

"Japanese gardens ask that you go beyond the garden spiritually,

 that you look at the garden not merely as an object 

but also as a path into the realms of spirit."
— Makoto Ooka in The Temple in the House by Anthony Lawlor

"When a garden is used as a place to pause for thought, 

that is when a Zen garden comes to life. 

When you contemplate a garden like this it will form a lasting impression on your heart."
— Muso Soseki in The Temple in the House by Anthony Lawlor

Wishing YOU well and much joy!

My Cup Of Magic

I try very hard not to pay full price for a teacup.

Every now and then that rule takes flight.

I found this cup at Anthropologie and it was instant love.

It is funky.

Wavy edges on the cup and saucer.

Bright colors.

Colorful flowers.

Butterflies inside and outside the cup.

(I drank the tea so you could see the inside.)

Fun aqua colored handle.

It was designed by New Orleans artist Shelley Hesse.

The first cup moistens my lips and throat.
The second shatters my loneliness.
The third causes the wrongs of life to fade gently from my recollection.
The fourth purifies my soul.
The fifth lifts me to the realms of the unwinking gods.
    Chinese Mystic, Tang Dynasty
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Thank you to our tea party hosts:

Tea Time Tuesday

A Return To Loveliness
Friends Sharing Tea
Teacup Tuesday

Tuesday Cup'a Tea

Share Your Cup Thursday

I'm also joining Nancy at A Rural Journal for Tuesday Muse.

Wishing YOU well and much joy!

Note Card Party Time!

It's time for Vee's Note Card Party. Once a month we all get together with four photos from our blog that we think would make a good Note Card. 
Decisions, Decisions!
First up is the Gerbera Daisy with the snail visitor. Several of you thought this should be a Note Card. 

By perseverance the snail reached the ark.
- Charles Spurgeon

The rose speaks of love silently, in a language known only to the heart.

~Author unknown

A closeup of the Buddha statue in Musashi's Garden.

Tea is such a magical product, perhaps even the eighth wonder of the world. - H. Rahman

Wishing YOU well and much joy!

Wednesday Wisdom

Wishing YOU well and much joy!

Party Time!

It's time for Vee's Note Card Party.

I have to admit -- this party is one of my favorite in the Land of Blog.

So many nice bloggers, beautiful photos, wonderful ideas.

A big thank you to Vee for hosting.

I've searched for four photographs on my blog that would make a nice set of note cards.

I think they will warm you up and perhaps bring a smile to your face.

They were all taken at one of my favorite places -- the Japanese Garden in Hermann Park.

Nature is profoundly beautiful in this garden.
We can't forget the critters!

Turtles sunning in the Japanese Garden

"Choose only one Master - Nature."

~Rembrandt

Black Crowned Night Heron

"Nature is the art of God."

~Dante Alighieri

Easter is Coming!



"I believe a leaf of grass is no less than the journey-work of the stars."
~Walt Whitman

Black Bellied Whistling Ducks

"The best remedy for those who are afraid, lonely, or unhappy is to go outside somewhere where they can be quiet, alone with the heavens, nature and God. Because only then does one feel that all is as it should be and that God wishes to see people happy, amidst the simple beauty of nature."

~Anne Frank

Wishing YOU well and much joy!

Wednesday Wisdom

 

Wishing you well and much joy!

A Rose Tea Celebration

Today is a special day.
Sandi is celebrating the third birthday of her Tea Time Tuesday Party
with a special rose party.

I have shared both of these teacups and roses with you before,
but I thought they were perfect for Sandi's celebration.


The first is an Elizabethan Fine Bone china tea cup with a rose from the balcony garden.

This is a Paragon teacup with a rose from Musashi's Garden.

One of my favorite rose quotes:

"I once had a rose named after me and I was very flattered. But I was not pleased to read the description in the catalogue: no good in a bed, but fine up against a wall."
Eleanor Roosevelt 

And, this quote for Sandi:

"But friendship is the breathing rose, with sweets in every fold."
Oliver Wendell Holmes 

Sandi, thank you for being our tea friend!

Thank you to our tea party hosts:

Tea Time Tuesday

A Return To Loveliness
Friends Sharing Tea
Teacup Tuesday

Tuesday Cup'a Tea

Tea Talk

Share Your Cup Thursday

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

Blooming In Musashi's Garden

Early last week it was rainy, dark, dreary and finally the sun appeared

bringing the first morning that the city saw a freeze.

I dashed out the door in the early morning to feed the birds

and caught the sun spotlighting the Bill Warriner roses.

I'd rather have roses on my table than diamonds on my neck. 

 ~Emma Goldman

Inside the house, the sun was shining on the Minerva Amaryllis.

When you have only two pennies left in the world, buy a loaf of bread with one, and a lily with the other.  ~Chinese Proverb

People from a planet without flowers would think we must be mad with joy the whole time to have such things about us.  ~Iris Murdoch, A Fairly Honourable Defeat

I'm joining Sunlit Sunday and Mosaic Monday.

A big thank you to our hosts.

Wishing you well and much joy!