the jackpot

I'm always on the hunt for beach glass

and while on a family outing today we found a bonanza of it

(it helps to have extra eyes on the lookout)

bonanza 

noun 

1. a source, usually sudden and unexpected, of luck or wealth 

2. (Mining & Quarrying) US and Canadian a mine or vein rich in ore 

[from Spanish, literally: calm sea, hence, good luck, from Medieval Latin bonacia, from Latin bonus good+malacia dead calm, from Greek malakia softness] 

beach glass and pottery shards

about a pound of it

wow!

cities on the water have old dump sites where the glass and pottery is plentiful

years of tumbling among the stones wear them down

and this fella could have cared less

:)

he's just happy to have a sunny day

lavender

I used some of my dried lavender today for something a little different

using a 3 inch square piece of a book cover

(heavy tagboard would work)

I glued down the buds .... going round and round .... adding more and more

It needed a focal point, so I added a piece of beach glass to the center

at first I used hot glued, but it quickly fell off

wire wrapping the glass and threading it through the book cover did the trick

 I added lavender stems as a border

(about 3 stems wide)

it's awfully small - I may use it in a larger art piece

or perhaps small is good

something to think on before moving ahead ....

flower tea

a friend sent me some flowering teas

this is what they look like before steeping:

in the package is an assortment of four flowering teas from Numi Tea

dragon lily

flower jewel

emerald sun

&

midnight peony

the one I chose for today is "flower jewel"

it's a White Tea scented with jasmine and amaranth flower

I'm drinking it now - and it's really quite delicious

very grassy like a green tea - but flowery too - it's nice

I thought you might like to see some more flowers

... flowers of the garden variety

:)

it's beginning to feel like summer around here

I really felt it when I said, "not until you've had your breakfast, made your bed and gotten dressed."

Summertime,
And the livin' is easy
Fish are jumpin'
And the cotton is high

Oh, Your daddy's rich
And your mamma's good lookin'
So hush little baby
Don't you cry
[ Lyrics from: http://www.lyricsmode.com/lyrics/g/george_gershwin/summertime.html ]
One of these mornings
You're going to rise up singing
Then you'll spread your wings
And you'll take to the sky

But until that morning
There's a'nothing can harm you
With your daddy and mammy standing by

- George Gershwin

still juggling

... but thought I'd share these photos from a field trip

this picture is from a few feet away:

this is much closer:

it's a giant sea snail

probably about 8 inches across

it was an extremely low tide so he was unexpectedly exposed for about an hour

people at the beach took turns shooing the birds away from him

*

field trip yesterday

field trip this morning

talent show this afternoon

retirement dinner tonight

(nobody you know)

and tomorrow is looking like a blank slate - wee hah

I'm looking forward to making the rounds to say

"hey, how are ya?"

finding it hard ...

... to juggle this week

(nothing bad - just end of school year stuff)

I'll be back in a few days

until then I am

finding

and hope to soon "see the forest for the trees"

(whatever that means)

sharing ...

... can be as simple as passing along an idea

Tracey Fletcher King is now drying her teabags on the windowsill (just like me!) all because I shared an idea with her ... she says, "spent all day following Matt and Phoebe around and nabbing their teabags before they went anywhere.... the ledge in the kitchen is looking like the teabag graveyard...xx"

and that's all the way in Australia!

... and sharing can be as involved as sending a package international mail ...

just because I mentioned to Nancy (Bits By Nancy)

that she had quite a find there with her antique buttons and really cool garters 

... she sent me some!!!

and that was all the way from Canada!

I know

Canada is not that far 

but getting our postal systems to work together harmoniously 

makes it feel like it's the other side of the world

... and she included some Exotica Tea in this really neat handmade teabag style gift pouch ...

sharing a great idea that I will definitely repeat!

it looks really really special

I'll be having some after dinner

lemon grass and citrus peels and peppercorns

Thank you Nancy!!!

*

... and thank YOU so much for stopping by today ...

it's ALWAYS fun to share tea time with you

:)

out and about in seattle

for my husband's birthday

we went on a food tour downtown

(Savor Seattle)

*

our tour guide has the pink umbrella

which came in handy because it's like a river of salmon on the sidewalk

I always have to get a picture of the market signs while I'm there

they're my favorite icon that says "you're in seattle"

we saw several wedding parties being photographed

- it's an atypical backdrop of alleys and graffiti -

but I think it works

but at the gum wall?

I don't know .... ewww!

and the food?

o

m

g

fabulous!

my favorite?

Tom Douglas' Serious Pie: woodfired pizza with morels and truffle cheese

or maybe

Yellow Leaf Cupcake Co.: pancakes and bacon

or was it

The Pike Brewing Co.: Kilt Lifter Ale with Uplifter Cheese from Port Townsend

?

flower prints put to use

last week I made some flower printed paper

(see THIS post)

what to do with it?

I made these mini books

(3X3)

the pages are teabag paper

(swoon)

one photo : two pictures

I took this photo from the car:

and made it into 2 separate pictures:

"Magenta Catches Slate's Eye"

and:

"Aerie Repast"

*

today I was in the city to see the

Ancestral Modern Aboriginal Art Exhibit 

(Seattle Art Museum)

"Bush Hen Dreaming"

-Abie Loy Kamerre

"Concrete Forest Dreaming" 

- Kim Andersen

moving targets

while my afternoon tea was steeping,

I went out into the chilly and cloudy day to see what was out there

it's only 55 degrees today so the bees are sleepy

I found 4 different bees on 4 different flowers

they were moving slow in this cool air, so getting them to pose for me wasn't too hard

back inside:

my other "moving target" has to be caught completely unaware

"mom, what are you doing?"

"taking a picture of these cool reflections in the flower vase and my tea mug"

gotcha!

*

what are you capturing today?

flower prints

this is a fun project

what you will need:

2 pieces of heavy paper (watercolor paper or card stock)

flowers (pansies and poppies work great because they're juicy)

rubber mallet

old towel

sandwich your flowers between the paper and pound the heck out of it

sandwich your sandwich in a towel - this helps contain everything

after a first go around, have a peek to see how it's looking

add more flowers and repeat if you want to

your end result is a flower print like this one

some of the flower detritus sticks to the paper

I like that

now - what to make with this?

maybe a journal cover?

or a collage background?

hmmmm ......

flowers don't last

...  or do they?

there is a particular beauty in dropped petals

and over several days time, 

they have varying beauty

I'm just letting them fall