tea and yesterday's photos

I'm sitting at my Mac this morning going over yesterday's pics

(Newman's Own Royal Tea and a biscuit with two jams)

I love taking pictures with my camera

... but what I love even more than that ...

is fixing them in iPhoto

I almost always have to straighten them:

I crop them to get out any stuff in the background that I don't want:

I fix the exposure so the colors really pop:

adjust the contrast and the sharpness to bring out details:

smile :) at the fun day we had:

adjust the color :

(this tunnel picture was really pink for some reason)

and sometimes just breathe a big "ahhhh" when something simple came out so amazing:

*

where were we?

we had a picnic at Gold Creek Pond off I-90 at Snoqualmie Pass

and explored Iron Horse State Park and the historic Snoqualmie Train Tunnel (all in the same area)

it was a beautiful sunny day up there (3000 feet)

a very overcast day at home (sea level)

sometimes it's a change in altitude for the better weather

although I'm always game for a change in latitude instead (Maui for one)

playing with skeleton leaves

earlier this week I showed you the skeleton leaves 

which were very kindly sent to me from Bridget

some were curled

and some were pressed

I decide to press the curled ones

and it was very easy to do that with a hot iron

(the one I use for paper making - badly stained and designated for messy jobs)

after pressing them with the iron

I painted them

and then I mod-podged them to tea bag paper

(mod-podge is a decoupage acrylic goopy sort of gluey product)

I am loving how they turned out

one thing just led to another

with no real plan in mind

so what will these finally become?

I have no idea

but I'm having fun

:)

when you see a lemonade stand ...

stop

and

get

some!

working tea

 except

in my case

"work" is always play

a lovely and sweet commenter sent me these amazing skeleton leaves

(all the way from Florida!)

the kindness of strangers never ceases to amaze me

 it is because of inspiration like this that my work becomes play

beautiful found objects:

smooth stones

miracle leaves

rusted metal found in a creek bed

*

special thanks to Bridget in Florida

a gift in return is my humble thanks for your thoughtfulness

that is my work for today

:)

*

I am on "island time" this summer

... late for tea again!

falls

our summer stay-cation took us to the falls

Snoqualmie Falls just outside of Fall City, Washington

the water creates a mist that shrouds everything

after a few minutes we were all wet, just as if it had rained

a happy place for flowers clinging to cliffs

tea on the steps

first of all, what I'm having:

I found a really good organic plain old black tea

it's Newman's Own: "Royal Tea"

... at my store it's only 4.99 for a box of 100 ...

(God bless Paul Newman)

my morning cuppa was on the front steps this morning

sitting next to the potted mint

(which must be potted - or it becomes the alpha plant in the garden)

the info about how to make the mint marker is HERE

and the pinwheel was easy to make out of an aluminum can

(just look for a paper pinwheel pattern and do the same thing using aluminum)

I quickly became distracted with the miniature world in my rock and shell boxes

... I'm glad the snail is more at home here than in my mint plant!

these oyster shells are from a barbecue last year

raw oysters - one of my all time favorite foods

it tastes just like the ocean in your mouth and transports me back to my body surfing days

*

and the sky this morning?

it's an oyster shell overhead

l

o

v

e

more beach glass

inspired by my beach glass and an old book cover

(devoid of it's pages)

for this piece, I used the entire book cover

I love the dimensionality the spine gives

plus, it can stand alone - or hang on the wall

the back is teabag paper and gesso .... I would love this on my walls

ingredients:

empty book cover

book text

thread

lavender

sea glass

copper wire

tea bag paper

gesso

watercolor paint

acrylic medium

*

and the sky the last couple of days ....

ingredients: 

thunder

lightning

rain

Mount Rainier

yesterday, we took a day trip up to Mount Rainier National Park

... a great place to stay-cation in Western Washington ...

The Mountain - with the beginnings of a hat cloud at the top

wildflowers emerging from the snow

glacier lily

western anemone

Sunrise Lodge with Mt. Rainier in the background

why does someone climb a mountain? because it is there

a young bear looking for better berries on the other side of the road

mackerel sky, mackerel sky, not long wet, not long dry

I just realized that Mount Rainier (Ray-Near) is spelled Rain-ier

as in "it's rainier here than anywhere"

... well not so much in the summertime ...

whoo-hoo

a real tea party

in all this time of having a "tea post" on tuesdays

I don't think I've ever had a real tea party to share with you!

I'm in a weekly quilting group

and before we break for the summer, we wanted to get together just for fun

we had "high tea" with scones, finger sandwiches and special desserts

above is the flower shaped scone with lemon curd

and below: the three tiers of treats

it was so much fun

we just sipped tea 

nibbled

gabbed

giggled

shopped

and hugged our goodbyes on the sidewalk

*

do you have a treasured gaggle of geese in your life?