the world's trash ...

... is no one's treasure

this is some of the plastic I collected on a beach on the eastern shore of Kaua'i:

beach plastic washes ashore after swirling through the ocean currents for several years

Hawaii's beach plastic washes in from the Pacific Gyre

where does it all come from?

let's just say it can't blamed on cruise ships or cargo ships

it's where all the world's litter ends up - in the ocean - honest to God

so I sit in the comfort of my kitchen with clean water for my flowers and clean water for my tea

I wonder:

what will change our course or change our minds?

and then I make art that tells my children and their children's children the story of it

if the subject of ocean plastic interests you, here are some good links to follow:

Judith and Richard Lang's art made from beach plastic

NOAA's web page about marine debris

Greenpeace Intl's page on the world's oceans 

recent news about plastic pollution in the Great Lakes

recent news about plastic pollution in Antarctica

And from you:
Amelia's link to artist Steve McPherson (marine plastic art)

Gayle's link to youTube video by Chris Jordan: Message from the Gyre (this made me cry)

staying in

 it's been rainy and gray outdoors

and a good day to stay in

one of my birthday gifts was a stack of hexagon quilt squares

made from vintage fabrics and handstitched

... they were just waiting for me to come along

I've set aside some of the squares that aren't being included in a mini quilt I'm working on

 they make darling little mug rugs

- the perfect thing to work on when it's so dreary outdoors -

making rainbows in spite of the weather

:)

inspiration

a recent conversation posed the question,

what do you do when you're needing inspiration?

my answer was 

getting out in nature

today, it was a 30 minute walk on the trail

and I took my camera

so, if I were to revisit that original conversation,

the more complete answer would be

getting out in nature with my camera

life has been 

T O O

hectic lately

time to slow down and take time to see

afternoon cuppa

this mug is my birthday present to myself

I'm not too sure what this creature is

a chipmunk?

squirrel?

kitty?

*

but no mistaking that the tea is Constant Comment

... and I just want to say ...

Thank You

for all the sweet comments and kind words over the last several posts

I haven't yet gotten back to everyone

but

Thanks

all the same

your constant comments are a constant encouragement to me!

*

and it's tomorrow

I'll be 

52

!

!

the "pause that refreshes"

no tea today

:)

I'm going to be taking a blog break for a little while

summer life with my family is taking up all of my time

*

I'll post my photos here and there

(like I've been doing)

but the next 2 weeks look totally crazy

I'll also make the rounds and visit folks

... my favorite late night wind down activity :)

*

here's a beautiful song I wanted to share
it's only 3 minutes - you'll be glad you took the time - sip your tea and listen along:

Sonnet 18

Shall I compare thee to a summer's day?
Thou art more lovely and more temperate;
Rough winds do shake the darling buds of May,
And summer's lease hath all too short a date;
Sometime too hot the eye of heaven shines,
And often is his gold complexion dimm'd;
And every fair from fair sometime declines,
By chance or nature's changing course untrimm'd;
But thy eternal summer shall not fade,
Nor lose possession of that fair thou ow'st;
Nor shall Death brag thou wander'st in his shade,
When in eternal lines to time thou grow'st:
So long as men can breathe or eyes can see,
So long lives this, and this gives life to thee.
-William Shakespeare

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)

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!

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

no-sun tea

I'm making sun tea on a cloudy day

it's another Numi flowering tea

(today's is Dragon Lily)

sun tea is a perfect way to brew the green and white teas

they tend to get bitter in hot water

- so making it as sun tea is gentle way to bring out the tea flavor without the bitterness -

but today is a no-sun day

nevermind

it works anyhow

:)

summer begins here the day after the fourth of July

that's what people say

and this year it is oh so true

wishing you a happy fourth - I'm sure it's summer where you are - I've seen the weather map

sharing ...

... can be as simple as passing along an idea

Tracey Fletcher King is now drying her teabags on the windowsill (just like me!) all because I shared an idea with her ... she says, "spent all day following Matt and Phoebe around and nabbing their teabags before they went anywhere.... the ledge in the kitchen is looking like the teabag graveyard...xx"

and that's all the way in Australia!

... and sharing can be as involved as sending a package international mail ...

just because I mentioned to Nancy (Bits By Nancy)

that she had quite a find there with her antique buttons and really cool garters 

... she sent me some!!!

and that was all the way from Canada!

I know

Canada is not that far 

but getting our postal systems to work together harmoniously 

makes it feel like it's the other side of the world

... and she included some Exotica Tea in this really neat handmade teabag style gift pouch ...

sharing a great idea that I will definitely repeat!

it looks really really special

I'll be having some after dinner

lemon grass and citrus peels and peppercorns

Thank you Nancy!!!

*

... and thank YOU so much for stopping by today ...

it's ALWAYS fun to share tea time with you

:)

moving targets

while my afternoon tea was steeping,

I went out into the chilly and cloudy day to see what was out there

it's only 55 degrees today so the bees are sleepy

I found 4 different bees on 4 different flowers

they were moving slow in this cool air, so getting them to pose for me wasn't too hard

back inside:

my other "moving target" has to be caught completely unaware

"mom, what are you doing?"

"taking a picture of these cool reflections in the flower vase and my tea mug"

gotcha!

*

what are you capturing today?