Winter Dreams

So many of you are dealing with winter issues.

Snow, snow and more snow.

Cold, cold and more cold.

When I saw this snowy postcard I knew it was the one for 

Postcard Friendship Friday!

 

This is a postcard from another of the wonderful Pomegranate postcard books -

this one on Charles Addams.

Addams (1912-1989) worked mainly in black and white, using ink wash to great and spooky effect, but he turned out the occasional colorful New Yorker cover. 

"A three-time college dropout, Charles Addams was nevertheless an erudite, urbane, and - leaving aside his substantial collection of medieval weaponry - evidently quite normal man. The New Yorker published its first Chas Addams cartoon in the early thirties, and a few years later signed him on as a salaried artist at $35 a week. Nearly all of his 1,300 published cartoons appeared in The New Yorker over the course of a 50 year career.

Addams is probably most closely associated with the wraiths, ghoouls, thugs, and toadlike children who populate a desolate Victorian mansion - the characters, initially unnamed by their creator, who became known as the Addams Family. Gomez, Morticia, and their sinister servants and feral offspring gave rise to a silly but fondly remembered television show and two silly and very funny movies."

From Chas Addams: A Book of Postcards published by Pomegranate.

I'll spend the rest of the day humming the theme song to the Addams family!

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

Wishing you well, a Joy filled weekend, and some sun to warm you!

Good Morning!

I Just Can't Help Myself!

The catalogs keep coming in and I keep looking!

I found these fun tea things in the Acorn Catalog.

It is fun to let the fingers do the walking and then send the catalog on to recycling! 

The  red pot with the polka dots (I love polka dots) is a tea tower.

Dismantled, the tower becomes an 8 oz. teapot, creamer, sugar bowl, and 4 oz mug with saucer.

Stacked, it's 10" tall.

The lavender tea set is white ceramic hand-painted with delicate sprays of lavender.

Edges and rims are scalloped.

It is a 10 piece set that includes teapot, two cups with saucers, cream and sugar, and tray with handles.

I thought the cups with the dogs were fun and it's always good to Keep Calm and Carry On!

A book, a comfortable chair, a free hour or two, and your own pot of tea.

The ceramic pot is embellished with books, titles, and the names of famous authors.

It is 6 inches high and holds 18oz of tea.

I think this one may have to go on my wish list!

Finally, to continue to celebrate January and Hot Tea Month,

Christopher Hitchens has written an article published at Slate on how to make the perfect cup of tea.

There are many wonderful tea parties in the blogging world.

Teacup Tuesday (thank you to Martha and Teri), Tea Time Tuesday and

Teapot and Tea Things Tuesday are just three of them.

Wishing you well and a delicious cup of tea.

Winter Color

A life without dreams

is like a garden without flowers.

~Author Unknown

I've enjoyed images of Winter Wonderlands posted by my blogging neighbors.

I thought I'd show you what my Winter Wonderland looks like.

These images were taken from November to yesterday in Musashi's Garden

(our postage stamp backyard).

The yellow rose is called Irish Gold and was a cheapy from Sam's Club.

It is a wonderful bloomer and is doing well in a pot.

Here it is just starting to bloom and in full bloom.

There are more blooms to come!

The pink is a grandiflora (also from Sam's).

Daddy cardinal is a frequent visitor (along with the Mrs).

In the upper left corner is the first camellia bloom of the season.

The red penta made it through last years freeze and blooms, blooms, blooms.

Not bad for a Winter Wonderland!

A big thank you to Mary for being our hostess for Mosaic Monday.

Each is mosaic is different and each has a story to tell.

Wishing you well and a JOY filled week.

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!