Tuesday, August 30, 2011

golden tea

my tea this morning has a golden hue
I felt like I was creating a still life when I set up this shot
in fact it would be a lovely little painting
:)
hmmmmm, paint .... what is that?



I broke the lid to my two cup teapot today
:(
oh well, a good excuse for a trip to Goodwill



last night was the last night of the county fair for my daughter's 4H cavy (guinea pig) project
we have so much fun ... and get so tired (the good kind of tired)
as you can see, all her hard work was well rewarded
now for a little shameless boasting:
two of the photographs she entered won champion and reserve champion ribbons!



I'll show you her photos in another post
she's still sleeping and put one of them under her pillow last night
cute :)


happy tea on tuesday .... the last one in august .... can you believe it?
if you have a tea post, just mention it in your comment and we'll pop around to say hi!

Sunday, August 28, 2011

observations on wrangling

whether wrangling guinea pigs ....



or pine needles .....



or wool ....



or logs with a chainsaw ....



wrangling is serious business and is never taken lightly by the wrangler
stand in awe of skill, expertise and passion
it is the power of wrangling

last day of fair is tomorrow ... and this 4h mom is just about wrangled out

Friday, August 26, 2011

it's totally fair ...

... to boss around an animal 4-10 times your size



... to stare down someone on the other side of your cage



... to express your opinion with some bumper stickers



... to have a cuter face than any supermodel



... to stand as still and be as shiny clean as your best friend



... to kiss in public



I mean, it's TOTALLY fair
:)

Wednesday, August 24, 2011

some favorite pictures from my trip

we were in the tucson area of arizona
this first picture was taken on a cloudy day at saguaro national park



this next one is in the old barrio neighborhood of the city of tucson
these old pueblo homes are over a hundred years old



and I love this one just for the memory of me saying, "stop the car! I want to take a picture of that bison!"



it's actually an antelope
I have more .... but I don't want to bore you :)

so happy to be home!

the county fair starts tomorrow and my third child is in 4H
I'll have some classic dairy country Americana pictures in the next few days
then school starts soon after that
I cannot begin to describe how forlorn I would be without my camera this summer
absolutely no time for rocks, paper, scissors ... or paint or glue for that matter
but my camera has been a constant companion ... satisfying the need to express something

Monday, August 22, 2011

vacation tea

as I write this, we are spending our last day of vacation in arizona
we have been spending time with family
relaxing with a low key schedule
reuniting with seldom seen loved ones
rejuvenating in the sunshine



mornings are spent on the porch, enjoying early morning warmth and wildlife



august is actually a wonderful time to visit arizona



the almost daily afternoon thunderstorms bring the desert into bloom



all of these flowers are in my mother-in-law's "bee and butterfly" garden



the bees are plentiful .... as are the butterflies, hummingbirds, rabbits, lizards, doves and hawks



it has been such a pleasure to sit outdoors without needing a sweater



the sounds of gentle conversation and of rolling thunder in the mountains



it has been a real treat for the senses



the time has been brief, but full
sweet in the snatches of moments and memories
we are happy to return home
... and comforted in the knowledge of many homes in many places

happy tea on a tuesday in august!

Wednesday, August 17, 2011

we are on the other side of winter

earlier this year, it took a few photos of local houses in the rain
today I revisited those same "grand old ladies"
and captured them in summertime's more flattering light

here they are side by side
what a difference!

































Monday, August 15, 2011

ok, I'm not wild about it

(shrubs, that is)



last week I made the recipe (see this post)
and this week the concoction was ready to taste
of the three that I made,
I like the cherry/blueberry one the best
and actually,
today it tastes a little better because I ran out of sparkling water and ended up using ginger ale instead
it must be my sweet tooth
it gets in the way of a more discriminating palate

if you tried making shrubs, I would love to hear about it
I'd love to hear about anything you might be having

it's tea on Tuesday

if you have a tea post on your blog, just mention it when you leave a comment
we'll pop by to say hello!

Sunday, August 14, 2011

simple goodness

here is our first humble potato from the garden




cut up and cooked in butter - that's all



when my grandmother was a young mom in WW2 France
a neighbor brought her a potato from their garden
she sat on the stoop and wept as she ate that potato raw
she wept for her hungry children inside her house
she wept for herself
and she wept for the baby growing inside her