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 

The Kemp's Ridley Sea Turtle

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?

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

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.

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.

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

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 ...

cover page

(click on picture to enlarge)

I have been working on the cover page and realized that I'd given no attention at all to the men who lost their lives. They were good men just going to work that day. It's all so similar to the Upper Big Branch coal mine disaster in West Virginia ... that was on April 5th .... just 2 weeks before this. Twenty Nine men lost their lives that day. In both cases safety was at issue. Lack of safety and overt greed. 

Where is our modern day Charles Dickens?

"Charity begins at home, 

and justice begins next door." 

"I have known a vast quantity of nonsense talked about bad men not looking you in the face. 

Don't trust that conventional idea. 

Dishonesty will stare honesty out of countenance any day in the week, 

if there is anything to be got by it." 

"The civility which money will purchase, 

is rarely extended to those who have none."