tea and toast

(and what I mean by that is: I'M toast!)

my cuppa is hot peppermint tea (Stash Merry Mint) on a chilly rainy day in Washington

... and still in jammies!

The fair is over 

- for us at least - 

our other 4-H neighbors (chickens, dogs and cows) are still down there

(and the moms who are almost toast)

(it was a wonderful 5 days with all of these folks)

the kids are all so special

we're so glad to have found 4-H

not only have we made new friends

we also know how to take better care of our cavy.

my animal loving girl is learning confidence, responsibility and a world of possibilities

(there's my girl in the red shirt and looking straight at the camera)

... and the rewards that go with being dedicated and motivated

(lots of ribbons and a trophy for: a poster, photography, a costume contest, a quiz contest, fitting and showing her pig, and a special award for being an enthusiastic "primary")

And her older sister wants a rabbit so she can do 4-H too. 

(I think I can do this - if I allow myself to be toast once in a while)

***

thank you for enduring the week long saga of The Fair!

I'll be back with art after the dust settles around here :)

In the meantime - enjoy a cuppa with my fine blogger fiend listed in the Tea and Tuesday spot of my sidebar!

and Happy Tuesday!

the kids are alright

Funny name for a post - but it was all about the kids today

everywhere I went, the kids were the experts

totally in control

or just totally in love

and always good natured

***

and these kids were alright too:

(Wenatchee)

(Moose)

(competing cavies)

judgement day

a big part of the fun is bringing your best stuff to the fair for judging

there are actually big prizes for the winners ($$)

every year I think I should enter my best "mile high biscuits"

or one of the Sweet Husbands roses

I may just do that next year

especially if I'm looking at a second year of being down here for a week

with my Cavy Girl and her 4-H club

(fleece)

(flowers specimens)

(canned goods)

(baked goods)

Today is the day the little piggies (Cavies - aka guinea pigs) are to be judged

our little pigs are definitely "pet class" with their tattered ears and broken coloring

but - believe it or not - the competition is stiff if you have a true show pig

*

(more pictures to come ......)

sweet faces today

it rained the WHOLE day - so we cruised the barns in our off time

the rabbit mama in the bottom photo reminds me of my blogger friend Elizabeth

(she's a mom bearing a burden too)

.... more pictures tomorrow - promise!

going to the fair ....

... with these little guys:

One of my girls is a 4-H'er with her cavies (guinea pigs) 

and we'll be at the fair for the next few days.

I promise to have lots of fun pictures of country life from our very old fashioned fair.

When we were down there today for pre-fair stuff, 

we saw lots of cows, geese, ducks, chickens, goats, etc. 

all being brought to fair in their varying degrees of pick-up truck apparatus.

We saw a bumper sticker:

"Beef - it's what's for dinner"

It made my girl sad.

That's why we do cavies.

They're only for dinner in Peru.

"t" is for tattoos

a tattooed rock and shell

with my sweetened iced tea today

(Tetley's British Blend - brewed with sugar added)

... and from here I see that my maple has color.

tattooed leaves?

wouldn't this would be a high priced - but cool - tattoo?

***

for more delicious summertime tea, please visit the tea blogs listed in my sidebar

cleaning up

(the rubbermaid solution)

about a week and a half ago I had to pack up my art cupboard for a flooring project

I could have unpacked everything DAYS AGO

.... and the last couple of days I've been at loose ends ...

.... wondering why I'm borderline depressed .....

argh!

I hate that feeling of impending doldrums

could it be that I miss my art supplies?

I haven't been inspired to create anything

so there has been no rush to clean up

(the cupboard is nearly bare)

"never put off until tomorrow what you can do the day after tomorrow"

-Mark Twain

(that wasn't so hard)

well, it must be that "day after tomorrow," Mr. Twain

this is my cupboard

isn't it cool?

it was a wedding gift from very good friends

I like to imagine how they must have known I would need my own space

all I need is a lock on it :)

I painted it myself

I know that's anathema to paint on vintage stuff

much less clean it up

but I did both

leaving my mark I guess

***

and now I have rediscovered some things that have given me new inspiration:

(shells and rocks awaiting a zentangle tattoo)

(rubber for carving my own stamps)

(my alphabet inchie project - only about 12 more to go)

wishes and fishes

I brought this little watercolor journal on my recent trip to Kaua'i. It's another Moleskine journal, but this one has watercolor paper and is in a landscape format. I really liked the size of it, and the paper is really high quality. It has the feel of a hot press paper and takes the paint very smoothly and consistently.

I also brought this portable paint set that I've had for a couple of years. It's made by Windsor Newton. All I needed to go with it was a set of small brushes and a bottle of water.

The colors are very basic, but with some mixing it's not too hard to get what you want. The pan is removable with an additional pan space beneath it, but I never needed to use it.

* * *

These are the paintings I did while I was there:

(the cottage where we stayed)

(plumeria on the grass)

(the beach at Salt Pond near Port Allen)

I wish I had done more 

- but as I said about these journals in an earlier post - 

no point in kicking myself about it.

"If wishes were fishes, I'd cast my net in the sea ...."

tea progression

not too many days left to make suntea first thing in the morning around here

our weather is expected to change back to our normal marine type of weather

(cold, cloudy mornings)

we've been having a bit of a heat wave the last few days

(4 days to be exact)

... in the 80's ...

I know that doesn't really qualify as a heat wave

... I truly LOVE it ...

it means I can go all day without getting a chill

:)

these 2 pictures are a time lapse of my suntea

(for the special photo effects: I boosted the contrast, color saturation, definition and sharpness)

enjoy these summer days while you have them

I do hope you're not melting though!

*

for more wonderful summertime tea, please visit the tea blogs on my sidebar

moleskine

before my trip I got a moleskine journal book

this one is the small pocket sized one with plain paper

I have a problem with sketchbooks and journals

I have so many of them that only have the first 4 or 5 pages are sketched

... the rest is blank ...

I remember hearing as a mantra in drawing class:

"draw something every single day"

and then there's the "morning pages" (Julia Cameron: The Artist's Way):

"write 3 pages every morning"

what is my problem?

here is the one and only drawing I've done in 3 weeks:

I drew it on the plane over there

filled with thoughts and dreams of swimming with the sea turtles

(I did see one from atop a cliff - if the turtles don't feel like finding me and swimming with me - that's o.k. - I don't want to be demanding - it is their ocean home after all)

and as for filling up this journal

... whether it be words or art ...

I am not going to be kicking myself about someone else's so called mantra

pictures

we've been unplugged since Wednesday

(we had a little bit of work done on the house)

but we're all back to normal now

I have my pictures from my trip sorted

and have plans to come around and visit you guys

:)

p.s. the photo of the old plane from a couple of weeks ago was taken at our local small town airport - and no that wasn't the plane I took to Hawaii (tongue in cheek)

tea and sorting

my tea is black, hot and strong

... Breakfast Tea ...

back to reality I guess

I'm posting this very late

I think I must still be on Island Time

(it's only 8:45 a.m. in Kaua'i)

I collected shells and things from every beach we were on

It's fun to sort them and remember the places they are from

shells from the North Shore
(Ha'ena Beach)

bits of plastic from the East Shore
(Lydgate Beach)

shells from the South Shore
(Poipu Beach)

teeny tiny shells from the Southwest Shore
(Waimea and Salt Pond Beach)

Today I'm working on sorting my photos

Kaua'i is an amazing place

in the past I've been to Maui

(which I love too)

both places are just so DIFFERENT from each other

Kaua'i is very unspoiled and natural

we had a beautiful beautiful time

I would go back every year if I could

*

I hope your day, your week, your summer is sun-filled, warmth-filled, beauty-filled

I just love this time of the year!

For more summertime tea from all around the country 

- and the world too - 

please visit the tea blogs listed in my sidebar

see you

... in a week ....