tea and 45 more days ...

... til Christmas!

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a gift of warmth

(harris tweed (click here for pattern) button down scarf)

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and a gift of cheer

(smocked fingerless mitts (click here for pattern) and hot apple cider)

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Christmas always seems to broadside me and the result is a near nervous breakdown on Christmas Eve. My strategy this year: make a bunch of fudge with my sister to package up and tie with a bow ..... and knit small things here and there from my yarn scraps and stash. We spend a lot of evening time in front of the tv at this time of year - and knitting is perfect for that.

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Wishing you a warm and cozy day!

Please visit these other Tea on Tuesday blogs to see what they're up to:

Pat

Patty

Christen

Judy

Jean

Jason Witt

work or play?

I thought I'd be real transparent and show you my work space

we are friends, right?

so I know you won't be horrified at the mess

sometimes I have to thank God for doors that shut

and a table to call my own

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My work space is in a corner of the family room.

That is a huge improvement over where it used to be.

... in the laundry room ....

(my very 1st blog post about that).

The cupboard was a wedding gift from my very best friends in the whole world.

They must have had an instinct that I would one day NEED a cupboard that is off limits to everyone but me .....

"ask me first before you go in there looking for tape, glue or a stapler!!!"

jolly good

I've been working on some ideas for my etsy shop ...

maintaining my shop is always a struggle for me.

I guess I just want to play and "the shop" seems like work.

What do you think about this little jolly good fellow?

If you saw him in your wanderings, would you want to snatch him up?

Would $5 seem too high?

Just curious .....

tea and happy mail

Today's tea is Numi Puerh Tea sent to me by Patty. We recently played in a a teacup swap and as luck would have it, I drew her name and she drew mine. Of course, she sent more than just a teacup - and the teacup is not just a teacup either ..... isn't it beautiful?

She also loaded me down with all kinds of other goodies ..... like honey soap, fun ephemera, gorgeous postcard art, bottle caps (I love bottle caps) ....

.... a really cool altered sea urchin shell, a wonderful german beeswax ornament, and look what she tied the packages with ..... altered twist ties: "real life" and "happy go lucky"

Isn't that just such a cool idea?!

I think she must have included some of her Virginia sunshine too ....

look at what a beautiful day it is promising to be!

No rain in the forecast until Thursday! Yay!

Thank you Patty :)

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For the other tea on tuesday bloggers please visit:

Patty

Christen

Judy

Jean

Pat

... and cheers!

merry halloween!

... there's a swap that I'm in that I've been putting of and putting off ...

I just didn't have any ideas!

.... the job was to alter a mousetrap ....

argh! you try it! it's a unique and puzzling challenge to say the least!

.... now I just wish I hadn't put it off so long.

I want to spend the rest of the day making loads of these for my friends ....

before Halloween is OVER!!!

B-O-O

H-O-O

a mini junk drawer?

28 tiny things that all fit into a matchbox:

I found an interesting photo pool on flickr ......

The International League of Championship Matchbox Stuffers.

I had to give it a go myself :)

Just a bit of fun ..... on a small scale.

Check out the link - there are some amazing pics!

hello sunshine

Dried grapefruit slices hanging in my kitchen window ....

... a fun way to have sunshine indoors all winter long ....

.... when we bring in our fir tree in December,

I'll festoon the branches with these golden orbs ....

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Here's the "How To:"

Slice your grapefruit into 1/4 inch slices.

You should be able to get about 6 slices per grapefruit.

Place a paper towel on a cookie cooling rack and place your slices on top of that.

Bake in the oven on super low (I set it to 170f).

After about 1 hour, flip the slices over.

Continue baking until nicely dried - but not brown.

About 4 hours total.

You can do this with lemons, limes, giant pomelos, yellow grapefruit, ruby grapefruit, even tiny kumquats would work. It makes a lovely and natural home decoration, gift tag, tree ornament - you name it!