I Thought Shopping Season Was Over

But the catalogs are still arriving!

Since I haven't done a "join me while my fingers do the walking through the catalogs"

post in a long time,

I thought I'd do one for this weekend.

Enjoy the window shopping!

I'm a big Star Wars fan (especially the first three).

Yoda pancakes would be fun!

This is from Williams-Sonoma Winter 2011.

It's the bright white sale at Crate and Barrel.

The bright colors of the pillows (above and below) would certainly

take the blah out of winter.

The rug is fun, too.

I thought the Max dinnerware at Crate and Barrel was great.

I liked that you can mix the patterned stoneware with the solid Delilah porcelain plates.

Fun!

It was the Pottery Barn catalog that had me salivating.

I could show each and every page,

but I'm going to stick with the pillows.

These are called Cafe pillow covers. 

They are designed after antique curiosity engravings. 

Each reverses to a light shade of the same fabric (rugged linen/cotton).

I love the butterflies and there is also a bird and a flower.

They are going on my wish list!

Do you know about the Isabella catalog?

They say they have gifts for reawakening the spirit.

I keep looking at Lovey the Lavender Lamb.

Lovey has a lavender/flaxseed insert that is removable. 

Pop Lovey into the microwave for 30 seconds 

and then snuggle with him releasing the fragrance of lavender. 

Sounds good to me.

How about a sleeping pig from Isabella?

Isn't he cute?

There is wonderful story that goes with him:

"When the pig was domesticated in China, owning one was considered to be an indication of a common man's prosperity and good fortune. If you were lucky enough to have a pig, you simply took very good care of it, and that meant it slept in the home. Quite simply, if you were wealthy enough to have a pig living in your house, life was pretty secure and happy. In fact, the Chinese symbol for "home" is a combination of the symbol for "pig" with the symbol for "roof" over it. (If there is a pig under the roof, it is a home of happiness, a "home sweet home.")"

The tradition continues with porcelain sleeping pigs placed in homes 

to bring happiness and good fortune.

I hope you enjoyed letting my fingers do the walking through the catalogs!

***

We have family visiting on and off the next several weeks.

My posting may be on and off, too.

I'll try to stop by and wave!

Wishing all of you well and a JOY filled weekend!

The Amazing Painting Cat!

I couldn't resist this postcard.

It is from the postcard book Cat Artist's And Their Work.

The original is a lithograph poster made around 1887 and can be found in the

Museum of Animal Acts in Wisconsin.

The back of the postcard reads:

"Cat-marking behavior was trivialized in Victorian times, as this poster shows.

While Matissa certainly made marks with paint, Mrs. Broadmoore

(in reality a rather portly man dressed as a woman),

amused the audience by pretending that the cat's simple paintings were

"pawtraits" of people in the audience."

A big thank you to Beth for hosting Postcard Friendship Friday.

I hope this card brought a smile to your face.

Wishing you well and a fun filled weekend!

 

Good Morning!

***

I've been amazed at how busy the blogging world has been since the New Year began.

I may never catch up with all your posts.

But I'm trying.

Wishing all of you well and a JOY filled day.

January is Hot Tea Month!

Did you know that January is Hot Tea Month?

I thought it was the perfect way to celebrate the first tea post of the new year.

There is a nice article at About.com on tea and celebrating hot tea month.

To celebrate even more, I'm sharing a tea cup with a story.

This cup belonged to my godchildren's grandmother.

It came into her hands while she was living in India and was probably purchased

from a Chinese trader. The silk road was still going strong in the 1940's and 50's.

This cup is at least as old as I am! 

WOW!

It is porcelain and is the rice pattern, but not the standard blue and white rice pattern

that is common today.

Look at the gold edges on the cup and saucer.

The gold on the dragon and around the lovely red flowers.

Finally, the rice pattern.

The quintessential Chinese dinnerware, Rice Pattern, is named as such for the grains of rice that were embedded in the clay before firing.  The intense heat in the kiln destroys the grains and leaves a little translucent "porcelain window" in the final form.  This style of dinnerware has been produced in china since at least 960, during the Song Dynasty. 

A very special gift that I will treasure.

and a big thank you to Martha and Teri at 

Teacup Tuesday

and

Teapot and Tea Things Tuesday.

Happy Tea Day!

December Favorites

Time got away from me this weekend.

I didn't have anything prepared for Mosaic Monday.

So, I decided to look at December, pick some favorites and share them with you.

Happy New Year!

Wishing you all the best of everything.

Thank you to Mary for hosting Mosaic Monday.

***

Mr. Dragon is on oxygen 24 hours a day now and is very frail.

He still has his sense of humor and makes me laugh daily.

He enjoys visits and telephone calls from friends.

We are trying to make every moment count.