Do you see what arrived in the mail?
From Vanessa at A Fanciful Twist -- The Mystery of Lewis Carroll.
It will go with Mr. Dragon's new old copy of the Annotated Alice!
And, perhaps we'll have a cup of tea made in the white rabbit tea pot!
Tuesday, August 3, 2010
Monday, August 2, 2010
Teacup Tuesday
Visiting means you get to see all the teacups on parade!
I have a short post for you today.
In case you didn't see the previous post, I was interviewed by the delightful Julochka at one of my favorite blogs, Moments of Perfect Clarity.
In the interview I mention the two ladies who got me interested in tea.
The teacups I'm sharing today were a gift from them and they are perfect for tea leaf reading!
(I promise a future post on reading leaves.)
You can see the Japanese Porcelain Ware stamp along with decorated in Hong Kong on the bottom of the cup. They are quite ornate and the porcelain very thin -- perfect for transferring vibes to the tea!
They were my first teacups, one of my most treasured possessions, and have been used often.
I hope you have a wonderful week and drink lots of tea!
Joy to You!
Interview!
One of my all time favorite blogs, Moments of Perfect Clarity, is featuring an interview series asking bloggers questions about themselves. Today it's my turn! Please pop over and check it out. While you're there, spend some time looking around Julochka's blog. It's absolutely gorgeous. Please tell her Snap sent you.
***
I edited this post on August 4 to include the interview.
I really enjoyed answering the questions - so much so that I wanted my photos and words on my blog, too!
an interview with snap of twisty lane
next up, we have an interview with the charming snap of tales from twisty lane. it seems that i always find myself fixing a cup of tea after i've read her blog, tho' i do tend to drink my tea in giant starbucks mugs, after this, i'm going to have to get out the fine china a bit more often. the photos are snap's...
1. it's obvious from your blog that you're a tea person. tell us one of your most perfect tea-related moments.
I’m a Southern girl and drinking tea - iced, cold and sweet is a fact of life. In my early twenties, my Mother and I were friends with a mother (Vada) and daughter (Donna) who liked tea hot. We spent many an afternoon sharing a wonderful meal, drinking tea out of beautiful cups, and reading tea leaves! It was Vada and Donna who got me interested in tea.
2. why don't people use their fine tea sets anymore? what can you say to convince us we need to?
I think it's like using your good china, or silver, grandmother’s special dishes. You think you’ll save them for a special occasion. They are too much trouble to take out and use -- all those excuses. My thinking is what occasion could be more special than a celebration of yourself? Tea is one of those things that can be enlightening, stress relieving. Look at the cup before the tea is poured. REally look at what it is made of, how it is decorated. Pour the tea. Smell the tea. Taste the tea. Hold the tea cup in your hands. Feel the warmth. Let the rest of the world go by. Relax. Enjoy. No one is more special than you and you deserve a little quiet time. If you can share this with friends and love ones - great. Take time for yourself. Pamper yourself. Be mindful. If you don’t use the tea set who will????
3. cat person or dog person?
We had dogs when I was growing up. Mr. Dragon isn’t much of a dog person, so we have cats.
4.what do you love most about blogging?
Meeting the people. Bloggers are generous, supportive, interesting, talented, intelligent. Never a dull moment and always a story to tell.
5. when you go antiquing, what items do you look for?
I don’t go antiquing often (good thing). I have more than enough stuff and should be downsizing rather than adding. But I have a soft spot for china (Fitz and Floyd), salt and pepper shakers, teacups and tea pots, old linens, books. I love old children’s books.
6. what IS it about dragons?
For me, a dragon was my imaginary friend. He was more the Puff the Magic Dragon type rather than the fiery type. Some believe its in our genes (really), left over from the days of dinosaurs. There’s no doubt that dragon mythology is found in many cultures and continues to be popular today.
7. can you recommend any dragon-related literature?
Where to start and where to stop?!!! Dragons have appeared in literature from around the world. There's the dragon in Beowulf, the dragons in Chinese mythology, and on down to Tolkien's Smaug.
Many are children's books like Kenneth Grahame's The Reluctant Dragon (1898) that was made into a children's feature film by Disney in 1941.
Fantasy novels (just a few) include Robert Heinlein's Between the Planets (1961), one of my favorites Ursula K. LeGuin, and the world of Earthsea (1964), Anne McCaffrey, Dragonriders of Pern (1966) (I think the earliest Pern novels are the best); Laurence Yep and his Dragon series (1982-1992); Melanie Rawn. My all time favorite is a mystery/fantasy combination by R. A. MacAvoy, Tea with the Black Dragon (1983) and my current favorite the Temeraire series of Naomi Novik (dragons and the Napoleonic wars).
8. do you think there might really be dragons?
Of course!!!!!!!!!
IF YOU DON'T BELIEVE IN DRAGONS
If you don't believe in dragons,
It is curiously true
That the dragons you disparage
Choose to not believe in you.
~ From THE DRAGONS ARE SINGING TONIGHT by Jack Prelutsky (poems) and Peter Sis (pictures)
1. it's obvious from your blog that you're a tea person. tell us one of your most perfect tea-related moments.
I’m a Southern girl and drinking tea - iced, cold and sweet is a fact of life. In my early twenties, my Mother and I were friends with a mother (Vada) and daughter (Donna) who liked tea hot. We spent many an afternoon sharing a wonderful meal, drinking tea out of beautiful cups, and reading tea leaves! It was Vada and Donna who got me interested in tea.
2. why don't people use their fine tea sets anymore? what can you say to convince us we need to?
I think it's like using your good china, or silver, grandmother’s special dishes. You think you’ll save them for a special occasion. They are too much trouble to take out and use -- all those excuses. My thinking is what occasion could be more special than a celebration of yourself? Tea is one of those things that can be enlightening, stress relieving. Look at the cup before the tea is poured. REally look at what it is made of, how it is decorated. Pour the tea. Smell the tea. Taste the tea. Hold the tea cup in your hands. Feel the warmth. Let the rest of the world go by. Relax. Enjoy. No one is more special than you and you deserve a little quiet time. If you can share this with friends and love ones - great. Take time for yourself. Pamper yourself. Be mindful. If you don’t use the tea set who will????
3. cat person or dog person?
We had dogs when I was growing up. Mr. Dragon isn’t much of a dog person, so we have cats.
4.what do you love most about blogging?
Meeting the people. Bloggers are generous, supportive, interesting, talented, intelligent. Never a dull moment and always a story to tell.
5. when you go antiquing, what items do you look for?
I don’t go antiquing often (good thing). I have more than enough stuff and should be downsizing rather than adding. But I have a soft spot for china (Fitz and Floyd), salt and pepper shakers, teacups and tea pots, old linens, books. I love old children’s books.
6. what IS it about dragons?
For me, a dragon was my imaginary friend. He was more the Puff the Magic Dragon type rather than the fiery type. Some believe its in our genes (really), left over from the days of dinosaurs. There’s no doubt that dragon mythology is found in many cultures and continues to be popular today.
7. can you recommend any dragon-related literature?
Where to start and where to stop?!!! Dragons have appeared in literature from around the world. There's the dragon in Beowulf, the dragons in Chinese mythology, and on down to Tolkien's Smaug.
Many are children's books like Kenneth Grahame's The Reluctant Dragon (1898) that was made into a children's feature film by Disney in 1941.
Fantasy novels (just a few) include Robert Heinlein's Between the Planets (1961), one of my favorites Ursula K. LeGuin, and the world of Earthsea (1964), Anne McCaffrey, Dragonriders of Pern (1966) (I think the earliest Pern novels are the best); Laurence Yep and his Dragon series (1982-1992); Melanie Rawn. My all time favorite is a mystery/fantasy combination by R. A. MacAvoy, Tea with the Black Dragon (1983) and my current favorite the Temeraire series of Naomi Novik (dragons and the Napoleonic wars).
8. do you think there might really be dragons?
Of course!!!!!!!!!
IF YOU DON'T BELIEVE IN DRAGONS
If you don't believe in dragons,
It is curiously true
That the dragons you disparage
Choose to not believe in you.
~ From THE DRAGONS ARE SINGING TONIGHT by Jack Prelutsky (poems) and Peter Sis (pictures)
* * *
thank you snap! i've got to check out those novik books - dragons and the napoleonic wars, that sounds like a combination that's gotta be good!
Sunday, August 1, 2010
Mosaic Monday
Mosaic Monday is hosted each week by the lovely Mary.
Each mosaic is different. Each a story to tell.
You'll enjoy visiting. I promise!
"Books are not made for furniture, but there is nothing else that so beautifully furnishes a house." ~Henry Ward Beecher
We love books.
We have art books (including the Dictionary of Art -- all volumes).
Books on Buddhism, Hinduism, novels, mysteries, biographies, physics, crafts,
knitting and crocheting, mythology, fantasy.
We have two book cases filled with cookbooks.
In fact, if you are interested in a book, you might try here before you go to the library!
There are books stacked everywhere.
I've quit trying to put the books in their place because I'm not sure that place exists!
There are books stacked everywhere.
I've quit trying to put the books in their place because I'm not sure that place exists!
But the books I love the most are old children's books.
The library has a book sale every year. We don't always make it as it seems to be scheduled when the Rice University Baseball team has a game.
We hit the jackpot the year we did attend.
We came home with this 10 volume set of books: Journeys Through Bookland by Charles H. Sylvester. The beautiful leather bindings with the words: Imagination, Wisdom, Character, Truth, and Beauty written around the edge.
In the words of Mr. Sylvester, "This series of books is the result of earnest efforts to present to boys and girls the best literature in such a way that it will appeal to their imagination, interest them, and lead them to read for information, enjoyment and inspiration.
It is reading outside of school hours that really fixes the taste of a young person, and if he is left wholly to his own resources, nothing is more natural than that he should read merely for his present enjoyment and for the excitement that the short-lived, modern stories furnish so abundantly. A youthful reader loves to learn, and it is necessary merely to suggest new lines of interest to lead him to follow them joyfully."
The first copyright date is 1909 and the last, 1939.
Then there are the amazing illustrations!
Jackpot!
So, as we enter August and temps of 100 or greater (or as a local television anchor woman says UGHust), my plan is to sit down every day and starting with volume one, read a little to see what I missed in my childhood! Reading Cinderella, Hansel and Grethel, Jack the Giant-Killer, The Lion and The Mouse, Nursery Rhymes, The Wind and The Sun and on and on and on.
I hope you have plans for how to spend dog days of summer!
Joy to You!
Saturday, July 31, 2010
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)