September Sunshine

I have September sunshine:

...... in a cup of red zinger tea .....

..... on my little girls face ......

..... and on my sticks .....

My little girl is smiling so big because she loves the sweater I made for her.

She says it's her "I Love You" sweater.

Now I'm making one for her sister.

I had some glorious September sunshine yesterday ....

not so much today ..... but it is changeable season.

I hope today's Tea on Tuesday finds you healthy.

If you're not feeling so good - why not take a break and go make a cup of tea? There are a lot of nasty bugs out there - stay well!

Please join these other tea (and coffee) friends:

Patty

Christen

Pat

why go shopping?

why go out and buy a trophy when you can make one?

I'm hosting a chili cook-off and wanted to have a trophy for the winning chili.

My first thought was, "where is that trophy place I always see from the highway?"

My next thought was, "screw it - I'll make one."

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start with one can of beans ..... (emptied of course)

add a bunch of western style, nostalgic, fun junk

including the S O L bottle cap I found yesterday

(which if yours is the winning chili, you are not S.O.L. - but a STAR - like the Sun!)

(see this post from my other blog)

p.s. here's how I attached it to the wood base:

I hammered a long nail through the wood so it sticks straight up.

Then I stuck the can on the nail (the metal is easily pierced)

Then I stuck a cork on the nail to give the can a snug fit to the wood.

Easy as pie.

bottle cap project

I had another "imagining" about the bottle cap project ....

.... I imagined a South American workshop/shed with artisans pounding out and embossing all sorts of tin.

Turning one persons trash into treasure.

The sort of thing made with humble hands and then sold in upscale boutiques in America.

That part of the story is yucky to me.

I'm certain the humble hands only hold pennies in return for their work.

I embossed a blackened piece of tin,

lightly sanded it and then filled in the crevices with yellow paint.

A technique I also used for THIS project.

I have humble hands too ....

... but I'm an American who doesn't need to do this in order to eat.

It's a strange world we live in.

cuppa joe on a tuesday

It's coffee for me today :)

- well it is every day -

that is, when it's 6 am

I've recently cut back to one cup of coffee.

I use this cool french press to brew it - delicioso!

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I use locally roasted beans - tons of choices here in Seattle.

This is "Millstone" which is roasted in Everett WA.

I ALWAYS buy organic, fair trade, shade grown coffee.

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This is my front porch view today at 6:30 am ..... they say it's gonna be about 86 today .... I hope they're right !

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And as I was uploading photos from my camera,

I came across these from the weekend.

It was my mom's birthday.

Here she is showing the girls how to make their own pizza.

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And I just had to take a picture of this lovely lovely dish of clams in a tomato and herb broth that she made. I would show you a picture of the clam shells too - but the picture just looks like a slimy pile of mollusks .... too early in the day for that :)

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Happy Tuesday!

Happy Tea (or joe)!

Please visit the tea cohorts:

Pat

Patty

Kristen

*jean*

Judy

***cheers!***

Happy Birthday to the Bagginses

Today just so happens to be Bilbo and Frodo Baggins' Birthdays -

as well as the autumnal equinox.

The Road Goes Ever On
The road goes ever on and onDown from the door where it began.Now far ahead the road has gone,And I must follow, if I can,Pursuing it with eager feet,Until it joins some larger wayWhere many paths and errands meet.And whither then? I cannot say.
JRR Tolkien

round

I've been trying to get myself "un-stuck" creatively.

Some people call on a "muse."

This is what I think: there are seasons and you gotta work with it.

I've knitted a sweater for my little girl, thrown 2 birthday parties, made 2 "from scratch" cakes, painted a bedroom, gotten the kids back into a school routine, started writing in my journal again .... definitely a very productive time .... just not any art stuff.

Today I'm turning to Mixed Media Monday (one of my favorite weekly challenge blogs).

It's definitely NOT Monday .... but I was inspired by their prompt.

In fact the inspiration came to me in the middle of the night - usually my inspiration time - it's very much like simply having a dream.

I imagined myself:

Assembling all of my collected "street and sidewalk" bottle caps from the summer.

Hammering them nice and flat.

Piercing holes in the edges to thread wire through and connect them.

And then .... I don't know what.

It will be an ongoing project.

What knitters fondly call WIP's (works in progress).

A little bit at a time - in the midst of life.

It's that kind of a season right now and I gotta work with it :)

15 bottle caps collected this summer

Found here in Washington and in Eastern Australia

This one is my favorite.

Just wondering if the beer was any good ....

tea and fresh paint

This image is deceptively serene :)

Today's tea (Chai) is perched on the window sill of #2 & 3 daughters' room featuring the ONLY wall that has been Completely Repainted. One out of 6 walls that is.

A brief moment of zen: chai tea and something Complete.

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Here's the chaos ......

paint supplies

... a spackled, partially primed and test patched wall ....

(the girls aren't babies anymore ..... awwww)

.... and the Dad's very non-zen sense of humor :)

Thanks for dropping in on Today's Tea ...... I hope you're having a peaceful day in spite of any chaos. Please also visit the other Tea on Tuesday gals: Pat, Patty and Christen.

8 years ago

we had a newborn baby ....

blessing on your day as you celebrate life among you

yet another stash

This may not look like much,

but it's treasure to me.

It's the remaining elements of my Disintegration Project from last winter.

I try to do my morning pages faithfully

- but have somehow let them slide All Summer Long!

I've turned over a new leaf

- and made myself a new notebook.

It's actually a mini-notebook.

Filling 3 pages a day is not quite as daunting (or visually ugly) as a yellow legal pad.

What is the Disintegration Project?

(click here for my part in the collaboration)

What are Morning Pages?

Tea and Free Speech

I got to listen to President Obama speak to schoolkids because I have a computer.

I'm going to rant now.

What is the good of free speech without the ability to hear it?

We have the cheapest cable pkge we can get.

I could not find his speech anywhere on tv.

We're not poor, but we have the cheapest pkge.

Lots of cartoon channels, shopping channels and televangelists.

No news unless it's network news.

We have enough money to have a computer.

That was the only way I could get a transcript of the speech (I'm seriously doubting it will be printed in the newspaper).

That was the only way I could watch the speech.

My kids don't start school until tomorrow.

Will they watch it at school?

Probably not.

I wrote a very nice e-mail to the principal strongly encouraging him to show it to the kids.

"Your kids will really get it. He's talking right to them," is what I said.

And what does President Obama say?

Discover what you're good at.

Don't give up or quit.

There are no excuses.

You make your own future.

Set your own goals for your education.

Resolve. Commit. Work.

Being successful is hard.

Don't be afraid to ask questions.

Don't be afraid to ask for help.

Don't ever give up on yourself.

I expect you to get serious.

I expect you to put your best effort into everything you do.

Make us all proud.

God bless you.

God bless America.

another kind of stash

..... did you know some vegetables LOVE cooler weather?

.... I made space behind the strawberry patch for carrots, broccoli and lettuce.

... I'll be pulling out carrots all winter long. The ground is no different than the refrigerator.

the stash is put to work

The stash (see previous post) doesn't really need any enhancing or beautifying - it's treasure in its own right - but what lovely canvases and embellishments they make!

zentangle rock and shell fragment

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puzzle piece with a beach glass bird's wing

what do you do when you're...

.... feeling stuck and that creative feeling is on vacation?

I sort my stash .....

shells, rocks, coral, beach glass and bits of plastic from "down under:"

bottle caps found on sidewalks, streets and parking lots all summer long (northern & southern hemispheres):

beach pottery sent all the way from Scotland:

shells, rocks, and beach glass from local waters:

... what helps you feel better about a little down time creatively?

tea and knitting

Still enjoying iced tea .... it may be September 1st, but summer isn't off the calendar for 3 more weeks .... so let's clink our icy glasses together and toast a lovely sweet summer!

I love the tag on this tea bag (Good Earth: White Tea). It says: "Art is either plagiarism or revolution" - Paul Gauguin. Interesting statement coming from you Paul. I'm sure you were confident you were on the revolution side of things. Not hard to feel revolutionary by living in French Polynesia among the natives and painting whenever and whatever you damn well pleased - with no thought to paying the rent.

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Knitting won't pay the rent either - but for just $12 I made this beachy sweater this summer. I brought it to Australia and was glad to have it in the evenings.

... and I had this project in my travel bag ...

The pattern is called "Love Braid." Do you see the braided hearts?

It's about 2" wide and I plan to inset it in pillowcases as a luxurious edging.

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Thank you for popping in this Tuesday for tea :)

Please also visit

Ooglebloops

Magpie's Nest

Christen

... teatime regulars :)

If you'd like to participate and link back to your blog on Tuesdays for tea - just let me know and I'll add you next week. Cheers!