Friday, July 30, 2010

sidewalk art

(outside the Bellevue Art Museum)


can you believe the love going into this?
soon to be trampled on, rained on, blown and washed away
... and the crowd he gathered as he worked was
... children ....
fellow experts in the medium of
sidewalk chalk

***

my other blog has a haiku for this


Tuesday, July 27, 2010

tea and taking flight


I'm going on a trip next week which includes some air travel time
... and not much in the mood for a knitting project ...
so I'm bringing along some hand sewing
in the form of quilt squares


it will be a quilt for my oldest daughter
I'm feeling much the same way I did just before she was born
you see, she's grown up so much in the last few months
she's virtually changing before my eyes
I just want to wrap her up in love and comfort
stitches of thoughts and prayers and hopes and love
quilting a metaphor of shelter and protection
I made quilts for all my girls before they were born
... I can see myself making them all quilts before they go into Junior High ...



and about my trip next week
I'm an Island girl at heart
I'll come back with loads of pictures
this trip is a gift from the Sweet Husband for my 50th birthday
where am I going?
Kaua'i
.... aaaaaaah ....
I'm hoping to swim with the turtles
and - I will be unplugged - so enjoy next week's tea with me!

*
for more of THIS week's tea, please visit the Tea Blogs listed in my sidebar


Sunday, July 25, 2010

take me out to the ball game

it was a beautiful, warm, sunny evening
(Seattle Mariners v. Boston Red sox)


Ichiro was there



some interesting body art


a beautiful sunset


a beauty adjustment


2 of Ichiro's biggest fans


and our home team won!

(it was 5-1)



Saturday, July 24, 2010

honu



"honu" means "sea turtle" in Hawaiian

This sea turtle is about one inch square.
I formed it with my needle nose pliers and 20 gauge copper wire,
then I hammered it on the hard surface of my garage.
I chose the garage floor because I don't own an anvil and the garage floor cement is relatively smooth.
Plus, I knew I wouldn't get in trouble if something went awry with the hammering.

*
Tonight we're going to a ball game
Seattle Mariners v. Boston Red Sox
I'll bring my camera - I'm hoping to get some good people watching in
- oh, and game watching too ;)



Wednesday, July 21, 2010

kemp's ridley hatchling


here's the little guy
I've decided to focus on the turtles for the rest of my series
they tug at my heart the most.

to read more about this particular sweetie pie
here are a couple of good links:
and

For how the oil spill is affecting them:



Tuesday, July 20, 2010

"T" and ... the 20th already?


I can't believe how fast July is flying by!
My tea today is definitely "on the go."
I've discovered this delicious red bush tea from TJ's.
All I do is keep a tea bag in my water bottle for the day -
it flavors and scents otherwise nondescript H2O into something spicy and exotic.
Yum is all I can say!

*

Saturday was our town's summer celebration parade.
This picture of the bride is my favorite out of the bunch.
I would so love to have a little retro car just like this one :)

*

Here's the H.S. band .... not looking too enthusiastic I must say

*

Pirates .... really scary to the little kids ... I saw lots of alligator tears :)

*

The politicians were out in full force .... it's an election year .... but when is it not?

*

This is the sauerkraut band ... pretty hilarious .... and they sound great too!

*

... and my daughter walked with her best friend and the park's department.
They were all dressed as trees!

***

I hope your Tuesday the 20th is a good one!
Enjoy these summer days while they last 
For more good tea and good friends, please visit the other tea blogs listed in my side bar!



Thursday, July 15, 2010

treasure


on a recent trip down to the lake shore 
(Lake Washington) 
with the kids
I came home with the usual pocketful of discovered treasures
... funny thing about this collection though ...
out of 8 things in my pocket
7 of them are man made.
3 bottlecaps
4 beach glass pieces
and
one rock with an interesting orange stripe

I made one of the pieces of glass into a necklace
it had a perfect hole running through it


***


this is an interesting bottle cap
session beer is a brand - but also any beer that is 5% alcohol or less
meaning that you can drink more than one and have a "session."
or you can play
rock
paper
scissors
with your six pack I guess


***


you may have noticed that I've taken a break from the oil spill animal series
I must confess that I am completely over the top depressed and discouraged about this whole mess
I've been escaping and goofing off
watching parades
drinking tea
pocketing bottle caps

I may be at a standstill 
because
the next animal on my list is 

I am devastated by his plight

he is the smallest and most endangered of the seven types of sea turtles
and the gulf of mexico is his home

It has been reported that the turtles are being incinerated with the oil in the vicinity of the Deepwater Horizon. They get caught in the booms that collect the surface oil - and even though it is evident and obvious that they are there - rather than rescuing them, BP is burning them and everything else caught within the booms. However, there is a $50,000 fine that comes with killing one of these turtles. Do you think that is a deterrent to BP?


Tuesday, July 13, 2010

Today's "T"

I don't know if you've ever tried this ...
I love teabags because they're so easy ...
and I get little tea bag thingies so I can make my own.
The tea bag thingies are called "t-sac's" and you can find them HERE

(loose tea: exotic fruit sencha tea)

***
My lovely oldest child made these cupcakes yesterday.
They're so easy to make, even a 12 year old can do it :)



Here's the recipe:

1 yellow cake mix (you can use gluten free if you want)
1 small box instant vanilla pudding
1 tsp. nutmeg
2 T. poppy seeds
3/4 c. oil
3/4 c. tawny port or sherry
4 eggs

Mix all ingredients together and pour into a well greased bundt pan 
(or cupcake tin).
Bake at 350 for 45 minutes 
(25 minutes for cupcakes).
Dust with powdered sugar when cool.

It's a recipe from Sweet Husband's bachelor days.
I guess you could say it's also so easy, even a Sweet Husband could make it.

***
These are some of Sweet Husband's roses ...
I know you'll get a kick out of the names :)
Eden Climber

Graham Thomas

Abraham Darby

Just Joey

Love and Peace


Jude the Obscure

I hope your Tuesday is a good one ...
Please visit the other tea posts listed in my sidebar for more Tea on Tuesday


Monday, July 12, 2010

goofing off

it's summer time
and the livin is easy
Saturday we were at Nana and Grandpa's
to see this crazy little small town parade


we have another parade this coming weekend
in my own small town


the sun comes out for more than a couple of days
the temperature goes up by about
30 degrees


... life basically
slows down
and the fun revs up


"Never put off until tomorrow
what you can do the day after tomorrow"
-Mark Twain

... and, with that, I'll leave you until tomorrow's tea.



Thursday, July 8, 2010

the words


this story needs words
I've taken the words from each blog post
they were pretty good
and
 "in the moment"


I drew a zentangle all around them
it looks a little bit like a coral reef
or a tide pool


I was freaking out at the beginning
I thought I was ruining the simplicity of it
... but, the key is to just keep going ...
it (the art) has to grow

the cover of my sketchbook has this reminder:

"do not fear mistakes,
there are none."
-miles davis



personally, the only thing I think this applies to
... is art ...
and coming from Miles Davis
I think that's what he was talking about.

this whole disaster could be qualified as a series of mistakes
very very bad mistakes.
intentional?
maybe.
something to fear?
maybe.

"I have learned over the years
that when one's mind is made up,
this diminishes fear;
knowing what must be done
does away with fear."
-rosa parks

what must be done?
(so a disaster like this one doesn't happen again)
I think we know the answer(s) to that.



Tuesday, July 6, 2010

hello summer

if you live up here (Washington State)
you know what I mean
:)


July 4th was winter
yesterday was spring
today is summer


if you can believe it 
I wore a parka
to the 4th of July BBQ


today's sun tea 
is really 
sun tea




red zinger to be exact

hello tea
hello tuesday
hello summer

***
for more "tea on tuesday" posts, please visit the blogs listed in my side bar



Friday, July 2, 2010

vacation pics

we took the kids for a quick little 2-day break to Lake Chelan
the sun is shining over in Eastern Washington
the air is warmer too
it's only a 3 hour drive
... one we should make more often ...
















the water is so clean
... no oil here ...