Potpourri

It must be spring.
How can I tell???
I walk out into my postage stamp back yard (Musashi's Garden).
It smells like orange blossoms.

- My Satsuma, Clementine and Grapefruit trees are blooming!

- I love rain drops on blossoms.

- It's loud around here again. The guys working on the streets in the neighborhood have made it back to my street. I'm like a little kid! Sitting on the balcony watching them with their big machines tearing up more of the old street before they get to the oiling and then asphalt for the new surface.

- I've almost finished reading THE BOOK STOPS HERE, a Bibliophile Mystery by Kate Carlisle. It is one of my favorite cozy mystery series. Brooklyn Wainwright is a bookaholic. She is a bookbinder and knows her rare books. She has been asked to appear on t.v. show as a rare book expert and appraiser. Her first subject is a first edition copy of THE SECRET GARDEN. A dead body can't be far behind when Brooklyn is around! 

- The weather has been nice. Coolish long enough in the morning (before the humidity gets to be too much) to walk up to the Village. I did a little shopping at Half-Price Books and then had breakfast.

Wishing YOU well and much joy!

Thanks Nancy for hosting Random 5 Friday.

Hunting For Spring

Daylight savings time has arrived.
I admit, I don't like the dark mornings.
Why do "we" have to muck with time??!!

Daylight savings means spring is just around the corner
and I decided to go hunting for spring in my teacups.

That led me to one of my newest (new to me) teacups.

Isn't she pretty?

This is a Rosina teacup.

The iris is one of my favorite blooms.

I couldn't resist this teacup when I found it at The Guild Shop.

The gold edging is worn off in some areas,

but for me, that just means that it was well loved.

I found the adorable little bunnies at the same time.

I've had the teapot for years.

I love the shape and the decoration.

The only mark on the bottom of the pot are the words

Made in Japan.

You read that correctly -- not made in China!

When I make a pot of tea,

I normally use loose tea.

I have so much tea in tea bags

(mostly gifts and spur of the moment purchases)

that this time

I made a pot of tea with tea bags from the Republic of Tea.

Imperial White Tea with Persimmon.

100% white tea is also known as China White.

It has a low-caffeine delicacy and is the most minimally-processed of all tea varietals.

Once reserved for the cups of emperors and the nobility, 

this high mountain China White Tea (from China's Fujian Province)
 still remains one of the rarest of all teas.

The end white downy buds are painstakingly hand-plucked,
only two days of the year, right before the leaf opens.

Because it is so minimally processed,
White Tea retains the highest level of disease preventative antioxidants
known as polyphenals.

Be Funky Processing

The Republic of Tea has a few teas that are Organic and Non GMO.

Imperial White is one of those.

I'm not sure how long I've had Imperial White with Persimmon!
I note that it is no longer available at The Republic of Tea.

The container had not been opened
and I could smell the persimmon when it was opened.

I made a pot of tea that had a subtle, slightly sweet taste.
The taste was delicate with just a hint of the persimmon.

I'll enjoy several more pots full as I go hunting for spring!

Wishing YOU well and much joy.

I'm joining several tea parties:

Teatime Tuesday
Teacup Tuesday

Friends Sharing Tea

Tuesday Cuppa Tea

Share Your Cup Thursday

* Information about Imperial White Tea from the The Republic of Tea.

Longing For Spring

The sun was shining one day this week.
I went window shopping at Highland Village.
A nice walk among the flowers!

I didn't buy anything.
Just took pictures of the flowers
to share with my friends up north
who are longing for spring!

Thank you to Karen for hosting Sun Lit Sunday.

Wishing YOU well and much joy.

Hoppy Spring!

It's time for some tea and for Vee's Note Card Party.

I'm going to take a trip back in time and share some of my posts

celebrating Spring and Easter. 

Rules of Chocolate Easter Eggs:

1. If you get melted chocolate all over your hands, you're eating too slowly.

2. Chocolate covered raisins, cherries, orange slices, and strawberries all count as fruit,

so eat as many as you want.

3. Diet tip: Eat an Easter Egg before each meal.

It'll take the edge off your appetite, and that way you'll eat less.

4. If you can't eat all your chocolate, it will keep in the freezer.

But if you can't eat all your chocolate, what is wrong with you? 

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

Vee, thank you for hosting the Note Card Party each month.

A big thank you to our tea party hosts:

Tea Time Tuesday

Teacup Tuesday

Friends Sharing Tea

Tuesday Cuppa Tea

Potpourri

Easter is just around the corner.
This is reproduction vintage postcard that the Lillian Vernon Corporation offered many years ago. I love the embossing. I happened on this cute card while cleaning out a closet. Wonder what else I might find!? A big thank you to Beth for hosting Postcard Friendship Friday.

*

It gets quiet around Twisty Lane during college baseball season.

I try to keep up with posting, but I'm not always successful.

I've been watching ....

COSMOS and I'm loving it.

I remember watching the original Cosmos with Carl Sagan ... 

"billions and billions of stars".
Cosmos' "ship of the imagination" -- 
a vehicle to take viewers through wonders large and small -- 
now has a new captain, astronomer Neil deGrasse Tyson.
I could listen to Tyson for days on end. 


I'm reading ...
JOY FOR BEGINNERS by Erica Bauermeister.
Kate has won her battle with a life threatening illness and has invited her six close friends to dinner to celebrate. At the dinner, her friends challenge Kate to go white water rafting down the Grand Canyon. Kate is reluctant and decides she will do it if her friends will do one thing in the next year that scares them. Since Kate didn't get to choose her challenge, she wants to choose theirs. It's agreed and the adventure to experience true joy begins. 
I enjoyed Bauermeister's THE SCHOOL OF ESSENTIAL INGREDIENTS and hope I feel the same way about JOY FOR BEGINNERS. So far so good!


If you've been following the daffodil saga, I'm happy to announce
that I now have a house full of daffodils.
Trader Joe's came through again.
YeeHaw!
Spring can now officially begin.

I was determined I would not miss the azaleas this year.

They were late blooming with all the cold weather so I had no excuse.

Here's some of what I found at the zoo this week:

Wishing YOU well and much joy!

A big thank you to Nancy for hosting.

Spring is here!

This is "The Hour of Tea" by American artist, Frederick Frieseke (1874-1939).

I've been sharing art work like this on my FaceBook page and thought I should be

sharing them here on tea day, too.

Frieseke was a prominent American Impressionist painter. 

Born in Owosso, Michigan, he later studied at the Art Institute of Chicago,

the Art Students League in New York City and later in Paris.

Frieseke's art has been described as "Decorative Impressionism".

He often painted women in lush, colorful surroundings like his garden which was tended by his wife.

Daffodils have arrived and for me that means Spring is really here.

I'm drinking Earl Grey in a Blue Willow cup and saucer by Churchill.

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

A big thank you to our tea party hosts:

Tea Time Tuesday

Teacup Tuesday

Friends Sharing Tea

Tuesday Cuppa Tea

Mug of The Month

A new month and a new Mug.
Spring is going to arrive on March 20 so I decided the tulip mug was in order.

I'm drinking an orange spice black tea from Stash with a teaspoon of honey.

Another Emma Bridgewater mug.

The bottom of the cup suggests you can never have too many tulips.

Plant hundreds! 

The rabbits are slowly making an appearance around the house.

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

I'm joining a few tea parties and thank the hosts of:

Tea Time Tuesday

Teacup Tuesday

Friends Sharing Tea

Tuesday Cuppa Tea

Random Things

I'm joining Nancy at Rural Journal for Random 5 Friday.

Do you have a bucket list?

One of the things on my list is tulips.

Yes, tulips.

I've often thought it would marvelous to see the tulip fields in the Netherlands.

I also figure it would be easier for me to visit the tulip fields in the Pacific North West.

Like this:

This is a postcard of the Wooden Shoe Tulip Farm in Woodburn, Oregon.

The photo was taken by Jon Gnass and I found the image in TULIPS OF THE NORTHWEST:

A Postcard Book.

Can you imagine?

Field after field of tulips.

Heaven on earth!

(Thank you to the lovely Beth for hosting Postcard Friendship Friday)

**

I went to the grocery store and while there decided to check out the cut flowers.

I found more daffodils.

They were a little past their prime, but I couldn't resist.

Along with the daffodils, the Easter decorations were half off.

Now I ask you -- how could I pass up a bunny wearing tennis shoes?

***

One of my favorite cozy mystery series is The White House Chef by Julie Hyzy.

FONDUING FATHERS is the latest in the series.

Fun characters, good background story, good mystery, believable amateur sleuth.

Highly recommend but be sure you start with the first one

(STATE OF THE ONION)

and read them in order.

****

The garden fairies are very happy.

The Gardenias have started to bloom in Musashi's Garden.

*****

I'm going to the zoo today.

It is going to be on the cool side with low humidity.

Perfect!

Wishing YOU well and much joy!

Hoppy Spring!

I went to the Spring Fling at the zoo.

Lovely breakfast buffet, a mimosa or two, and cookies!

This morning I decided to make a pot of tea and eat one of those cookies.

The Happiness is a Bunny Rabbit mug is by Emma Bridgewater.

The teapot is hand built porcelain and painted by New Mexico artists -- a husband and wife team.

I've had it for over 30 years.

One of my real treasures.

The cookies are on a bunny plate from Pier One.

I couldn't resist the zebra and the monkey cookies.

There were butterflies and tulips on other cookies,

but I was at the zoo and just had to have the zoo animals.

 Cookies By Design made the cookies.

Happy Easter! Some bunny loves you.

And remember --

“Easter is the only time of the year when it's perfectly safe to put all your eggs in one basket.”

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, a delightful cup of tea and a happy and blessed Easter.

Spring Tea

Spring is just around the corner.

I thought I'd share this lovely Tuscan English Fine China teacup with you.

I love all the flowers, the colors and the Spring look!

I added a Gerbera Daisy from the garden.

For tea drinkers Spring means that the tea plants are readying for the first harvest.

The first flush March into April for teas in China (I'm looking forward to Dragonwell).

India (Darjeeling and Assam), Nepal and Taiwan among other areas.

There has been drought in some areas 

and that will mean the harvest will be delayed and will not be as large.

It also means it's time for iced tea.

For me, I have iced tea year round, but for a lot of tea drinkers

Spring means get the ice out! 

"The grandfather plants and raises the tea bushes, 

the father harvests the tea,

and the son drinks it."

~Chinese Saying

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 delightful cup of tea!

Sunlit Sunday: Surprise!

I'm sharing with Sunlit Sunday

 a surprise or two that I found in my garden yesterday.

What a surprise to find daffodils!

I first planted daffodils in Musashi's Garden in 1998 when we first moved in.

It was December and I planted them in a pot.

There were no flower beds, but I was determined to have some Spring color!

Over time the pots were emptied into the garden beds and I forgot all about the bulbs.

That brings us to this year and my surprise.

Mother Nature -- WOW!

**

I was looking out the back door when I saw this little guy flying by.

I grabbed my camera hoping he would stop someplace close.

He did.

I believe this is a little yellow Sulphur butterfly.

He didn't stay long -- zipped right off after I took the shot.

Good thing the glass was sort of clean!

Wishing YOU well, much joy and a very happy St. Patrick's Day!

Wishing you always-

Walls for the wind,

And a roof for the rain,

And tea beside the fire-

Laughter to cheer you,

And those you love near you,

And all that your heart 

might desire!

Daffodils

"For oft, when on my couch I lie

In vacant or in pensive mood,

They flash upon that inward eye

Which is the bliss of solitude;

And then my heart with pleasure fills,

And dances with the daffodils."

~William Wordsworth

A big thank you to Karen for hosting Sunlit Sunday

 The Tablescaper for Seasonal Sunday

and

Wishing YOU well and much joy!

Spring Is Coming!

The bunnies are coming out of hiding and

things are turning green!

A bunny with a rose from the garden.

I found the teapot at World Market at the end of the Easter season last year.

I like the bunnies, the carrots and the lovely green color.

I thought it would go well with my green glass.

The ceramic bunny was made in Brazil for the Avon company.

I bet I've had it for 30 years and it holds a candle.

The towel in the back ground is from Angela McRae .

She had lovely give-a-ways this year to celebrate Valentine's Day.

Thank you Angela!

I put it to work immediately!

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 and much joy!

Happy Friday!

Spring is just around the corner along with Easter.

Since the sun is shining here today,

I thought I'd share one more tulip postcard from the Pacific Northwest. 

From the back of the postcard:

"Topping" involves cutting off the tops of the flowers that are just past their bloom. This keeps petals from causing decay in the lower stem of a tulip and redirects the plant's energy into feeding the bulb for next year. 

Roozengaarde Garden, Mount Vernon, Washington

To celebrate Easter a reproduction vintage Easter postcard.

This one makes me smile with Daddy Rabbit buying eggs from the chicken for little bunny.

Bring on the bunnies!

Thank you to the lovely Beth for hosting Postcard Friendship Friday each week.

Wishing you WELL and much JOY.

Springtime!

It's Springtime!

Today we started with a cool morning and will have a high near 90.

The humidity starts coming back late today.

I wanted to do some experimenting with some of the mosaics I have presented before

and add some shots to celebrate Springtime and Easter.

The Bluebonnets and Indian Paintbrush are in bloom on the Rice University campus.

It seems like Spring happens for the first time each year!

Do you remember the blooms being this lovely last year?

Or the sky as blue (on those days without humidity)?

Listen to the birds sing!

New life.

New beginnings.

Courage and strength.

I'd like to thank
Mary at Mosaic Monday
and

Seasonal Sunday at The Tablescaper

for being wonderful hosts.

Wishing you WELL and a JOY filled week!

Candlemas/Imbolc

If Candlemas day be fair and bright, Winter will have another flight; But if Candlemas day be clouds and rain, Winter is gone, and will not come again. —Traditional English weather rhyme

The Catholic Church assimilated the pagan purification festival by linking it to the purification of the Virgin after the birth of Christ, "the light that brightens the darkness." Worshippers brought their year's supply of candles to the church to be blessed by the priest in a special Candle-Mass.

Candlemas continues the celebration of new beginnings. It was a day to prepare the fields for new plantings and to bless the fields to ensure a good harvest. In England, the holiday greens were taken out of the house, and if even a leaf was left behind, it was unlucky. "Out with the old, in with the new" is the theme for Candlemas. It's a good day to make commitments, renew pledges, and plant seeds for new growth.

In your herb garden, celebrate this day of new beginnings by turning over a piece of earth and repeating this ancient Anglo-Saxon plowing charm:

Whole be thou Earth Mother of men. In the lap of God, Be thou growing. Be filled full of fodder For fare-needs of men.

Or plant some seeds of annual herbs in pots on a sunny windowsill, for later transplanting into your garden or deck containers. Some good choices: chives, dill, basil, cilantro.

February 2 is also groundhog day. However you wait for the light and Spring to return, celebrate!

Bayou City Art Festival

If you missed us on Friday, sorry! We went to the Bayou City Art Festival. The festival is held twice each year. In October it is held downtown and in the spring, it is held in Memorial Park.

It's really very pleasant ... out under the trees. It had rained the night before and if you walked off the path you were in deep muck.

These wild and crazy critters were the first things we saw as we entered the grounds.
There is no public parking at the festival. Everyone drives to a mall where the buses pick you up and deliver you to the festival.

Aren't they fun? Mr. Dragon and I talked awhile about liking things in bright colors.
We wondered if, as we grow older, with older eyes, we just prefer the brighter, wilder colors.
Do old eyes have something to do with color preference?
Then again, why have a reason? The critters are just cool!
Unfortunately, (or fortunately) we have a postage sized yard and the critters won't fit.

Frederick Prescott is the artist and I didn't find a web site for him.

Aren't these grand? I laugh every time I see them.
The artist is Kimber Flebiger.
She is usually at both festivals and I love her work.

Love Humpty!

These nice folks are the Bailey's from Dripping Springs, Tx.
I love their jewelry. I love bracelets and I have several that they have made.
Easy to wear and they don't break the bank!

I think I need a pair of earrings.
Good to make the shopping list and have it ready for October!

Lot's of sculpture.
Anyone need a giant ant?

We've reached the end. I guess we could start over!

Here are a few more artists that we both were taken with.
You might want to check out their web sites.

Lisa Kristine is a photographer. I wanted Eightfold Path from Laos (I may still order it) and also loved Arches from Morocco. There wasn't much I didn't like!

Nancy Eaves' thing is making jewelry from found objects. She had a wonderful dog necklace at the Festival made from dog tags and found *doggy* charms. Her web site (Conceits) doesn't do her things justice.

Ping's art work is just fun, bright, cheerful and full of meaning.

We missed seeing several artists. I guess the economy kept them at home.
I need to add art festivals/fairs to my list of favorite things.
Already looking forward to October!


Have a good week everyone!