Bird Book, Bird Nests, and Cozy Reading

 Last weekend was perfect reading weather. Storms raged over our area making this the wettest rainy season on record. After feeding the animals I decided to take a break from packing and brew a pot of tea for my husband and myself. He settled down to watch a show about chefs and I settled down to read this beautiful book The Bluebird Effect* by Julie Zickerfoose while I sipped tea from this cup by Pip *. I found this tea / coffee cup in a shop on the Oregon coast during a short get-away with my husband. I will always remember that precious time when I see this cup. The cup and the book seem meant to be together to me.

 This is one of many illustrations by the author . " And each chapter is illustrated with Zickfoose's stunning watercolor paintings and drawings. Not just individual tales about the trials and triumphs of raising birds, The Bluebird Effect mixes humor, natural history, and memoir to give readers an intimate story of a life lived among wild birds."  Quoted from the flyleaf of the book. The book is quietly stunning and a good read, especially on a rainy day .

This is one of my favorite coffee cups. I know, it could be used for tea, but I prefer to drink coffee from it and as an extra treat I add real heavy whipping cream. This cup and saucer set by Furnival is a gift from one of my husband's sisters. She especially loves books and I wish we had more time to simply discuss books, authors, illustrators... maybe one day.

 It is still raining off and on , I slosh through mud to do my chores every day. My lambs look like they're wearing boots . No respectable lamb wastes a day lounging under cover when they can be jumping, leaping, and running.When my chores are done though, I am eager to escape the mud and rain and settle down with a hot cuppa and a good book.

" I live for the moment when my gaze meets a bird's - that exchange of awareness of the "who" in each of us, the spark of understanding leaping from the bright bead of its eye to mine. ~ It's that spark gleaming in the cupped hand of my own experience that I want to bring to you. I want to tell you their stories." Julie Zickafoose (  book introduction)

I have been missing my Tea Time Tuesday celebrations and hope they're still being hosted by these gracious ladies ~Bernideen's TeaTime Blog * , Rose Chintz Cottage * , Antiques and Teacups *, and Martha *.

Cozy at Home ~ Stormy Day Crafting

Tuesday tea time in November is usually a quietly busy time . It is raining ferociously outside so I am sipping hot tea as I craft indoors. Listening to the high wind gusts and knowing the huge trees surrounding Cedar Pond  are rooted in very soggy soil and prone to topple over bringing down power lines gives me cause to consider my preparation for power outages , frequent events for us during the fall and winter season.

I have water for drinking , candles, flash-light, battery powered radio, plenty of food, and crafting to keep me busy indoors. Yes, we're ready . The lights have already flickered a few times and finishing this post today is even in question if the power goes out .

I am working on a different type of Wee Little Sheep . I decided after many years of making at least a thousand little sheep I would have some fun changing things a bit and experimenting. I am giving some of them horns , spots, and different facial markings . More like my real flock of Jacob Sheep.

I have been doing a lot of spinning wool too, especially when I watch television with my husband. When I am spinning wool I can justify just sitting around because I am still getting something productive done .

The winds have picked up , I can hear them outside as I work and blog. I am going to make another pot of black tea now and shut down the computer before the power goes out. I hope you're having a cozy tea time indoors and I will catch up with my tea-time friends after the storm passes by, hopefully tonight ! I am so blessed and thankful to be cozy at home while the storms rage by. Please check out the links below as you sip your tea , cozy at home.

 Sandi at Rose Chintz Cottage. *

Bernideen ' Tea time Cottage and Garden Blog Party. *

Tea Time Tuesday ~ Prudence Olive-Egger

 I featured Prudence and her brother Cheepers in a blog post* awhile ago. There she is , a cute little chick sitting in one of my teacups.

 Prudence is all grown up now, and at almost 7 months of age she is a sleek black hen whose feathers give off a beautiful metallic green shine when the sun lights on them. Her mother is an Americauna hen who lays minty green colored eggs. Her father is a Marans , a breed of chicken noted for their dark chocolate brown colored eggs. I was excited to see the color eggs Prudence would lay. Last month she laid her first egg...

... and I am so happy to say she is Prudence the olive-egger ! Yes, she laid the olive egg in the center of the eggs I gathered on her first day of laying. I don't think I'll be bringing her indoors to sit in a teacup for any more Tea Time Tuesdays ,but I will give her a special treat of cracked corn and maybe some of the pumpkin left over from our fall decorating. I think she'd appreciate that more, but not as much as I appreciate her olive eggs.

Linking up to a new Tuesday parties ~

Sandi at Rose Chintz Cottage ~ No Place Like Home*

Bernideen's Tea Time, Cottage and Garden Blog Party *

 

 ~Thankful today for a warm home , abundant food, and my husband's love.



Boys' Snowman Tea-Party !

 Who says tea-parties are only for girls ? My husband's sister Jean hosted a Snowman Tea-Party in her home recently and the invited guests were the boys in her Sunday School class. I love the creativity that went into this party that BOYS would love to attend ! ( Jean graciously allowed me to use her pictures, thank-you Jean . )

 The boys assembled their own snowman pizzas from dough & ingredients Jean had prepared ahead of time. Jean got the idea for the pizzas off Pinterest so if you want more instructions on making the pizzas you'll find them there.

 The look on his face tells me he is pretty happy about his pizza.

 Everything about this picture makes me happy and I wasn't even at the tea-party ! Don't the boys look like they're having fun ?

I love the way the table was set for a tea party boys would enjoy.  I know my sis-in-law has a lot of experience in all things young boys enjoy since she raised three sons who have grown into amazing men with families of their own. I am going to use most of these ideas sometime soon and host a tea-party for my grandsons. ( Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery. ) Who says tea-parties are only for girls , not us !

Although I haven't displayed a special tea-cup this Tuesday I hope you'll forgive me. I couldn't pass up the opportunity to share a happy tea-party for boys. Please join the ladies listed below for a spot of tea-time celebration ...
Sandi at Rose Chintz Cottage *
Bernideen at Bernideen's Teatime Blog *
Martha at Marthas Favorites *
Ruth at Antiques & Teacups *

Where Do I Store My Teacups ?

 I store my teacups and teapots in pretty boxes ...

 ... in my crafting room. It looks cluttered I know, but I took these pictures after a few hours of needle-felting wool balls. I set my needle-felting materials near the small table which has a stack of rubber foam to absorb the sharp needles I use for needle-felting the balls. Blizzard the cat is my constant companion when I am indoors and I frequently have to stop my crafting and remove him from my work surfaces . I placed the little table & chair in front of the small t.v. so I can watch the Hallmark channel Christmas specials I have recorded for my days in the craft room. ( Easy- viewing Christmas specials with happy endings make me happy , and inspire me when I craft.)

 I sew, quilt, make rugs , scrapbook, fill photo albums , and write letters in this room. And I store my teacups here.

 

The view from my window in the crafting room. It is a fine foggy fall day, the ducks and geese are splashing in the pond, Blizzard is napping on the table .As soon as I brew myself  a cup of tea I'll remove Blizzard from the table and begin a new batch of felted wool balls.I'll show the rest of my crafting room in the next post.

 

I am joining these ladies for Tea-Time Tuesday :

Sandi at Rose Chintz Cottage *

Martha at Martha's Favorites *

Ruth at Antiques and Teacups *

Bernideen at Bernideen's Tea Time Blog *

 

Honey-Bee Tea Time on the Porch

 Autumn, my favorite time of the year. I love the crispness of sunny autumn days but this fall the weather is hot. Too hot. I took tea outside on my front porch because it was hot indoors and the thermometer said it was a cool 80 degrees in the shade on the porch. 80 degrees ? It is the second week of October and nary a raindrop in sight for most of the month this far. I am missing my Pacific northwest weather of cool rainy days , cool sunny days , and rain.

 I did however enjoy my mint tea and some cookies on the porch as I watched the birds at the feeder and my dogs snored at my feet. This honeybee cup with a lid was a birthday gift from my sister-in-law Alice * and her husband Paul.

 The cup not only came with a lid ( love this feature ! ) but it came with a strainer that fits over the cup , a plate to rest the cup on and a little hive shaped rest for the used tea leaves or tea bags. The whole set goes perfectly with my honeybee tea pot too !

 Seems like I have not been home much at all the past 6 weeks and just returned home again this past weekend.I am so happy to be back . I will be enjoying tea on my porch catching up on the magazines that have been piling up while I've been away , maybe even get some spinning and wool dyeing done this week too. Might as well take advantage of this amazing weather while it lasts.

I am excited to be back to my Tea-Time Tuesdays too and will be joining these ladies ~
Sandi at Rose Chintz Cottage *
Martha at Martha's Favorites *
Bernideen's Tea Time Blog *
Ruth at Antiques & Teacups *
Kathy at A Delightsome Life *

Summer Tea ~ Dolls Or Chickens ?

 We've had the pleasure of 2 granddaughters staying with us for a few days. They love having tea parties and I told them they could be in charge of the next tea party. Their original plan was to have a chicken tea party. I was all for this because I have so many chicken-themed things we could use for the table-settings, and dishes & cups to go along with it. But no, they meant chickens as their guests at the tea party. Dress up the chickens, serve tea to the chickens.....

 ...I am all for interacting with my chickens, but my chickens are not so tame as to sit at the table or tolerate wearing clothes. ( maybe I should work on this for next year ? ) All I could envision beyond the first few moments of the chickens looking cute was chickens quickly resorting to being chickens by squawking , pooping, and scattering all the tea things as they flung themselves off the table to escape. Or us holding unhappy chickens throughout our tea. Fortunately the girls decided to invite their American Girl dolls instead.

 The girls decided on tuna fish , berries, and peppermint tea. While I thought they were setting the tea table I spied them trying to catch the goldfish in the small pond beside our large outdoor table. They were surprised to see me snap a picture of them ( maybe because they know they're supposed to only look at the fish, not hold them ? ).

 The girls insisted on flower adorned cups & teapot.

 This is one of my Rose Chintz by Gracie China teacups. It comes in sets of 4 and I have used these tea cups many times. They are lovely and also comfortable to hold and sip tea from. The granddaughters seem to appreciate them too, always a bonus !

 Happy girls, happy dolls, happy grandma & grandpa...

...and if the chickens were capable of comprehending what they escaped, they would be happy too !

Please join me in sharing tea time with the ladies listed below:

• Sandi at Rose Chintz Cottage *
• Martha at Martha's favorites *
• Ruth at Antiques and teacups * 
• Bernideen's tea time Blog *



 

Sea Urchin Teacups & Teapot

 I saw this teapot and the teacups in an Etsy shop and knew I had to have them because what they represent is special to me. I intend to gift them to someone I love in the near future. For now though, I'll enjoy them , maybe have a sea themed tea party this summer .

 Look at the exquisite seahorse handles of the teacups. The bowls of the teacups look like the shells of sea urchins , probably because the people who make these cups and the teapot cast the porcelain "directly into a collection of shells harvested in the mid-twentieth century off the Oregon Coast " . ~Beyond Jordan Coastal Collection

 The lid of the teapot is also cast from a sea urchin and the handle of the teapot looks to me like a starfish appendage. ( Sea urchins are abundant in Puget Sound and along the Pacific Ocean coastline. They are easy to find during low tides .)

 My husband & I met each other in high school and got to know each other better during our semester in the marine biology class there . My husband originally intended to become a biology teacher, and teaching marine biology was his goal. Together we spent much time walking and exploring the beaches around  Puget Sound which was practically in our backyard. My husband knows the scientific names of most of the sea life in our area and can rattle them off easily.

 We were both still going to college and working to support ourselves and pay school bills when we had our 3 children . We managed to do this with one car and juggled class and work schedules so we could care for our own children. ( look at the detail of the seahorse teacup handle ! ) Our children spent a lot of time on the beaches with us and my husband would talk to them about the sea life. I don't think my sons remember much of this but our daughter soaked up the scientific names my husband taught her as if they were her native language.

During the time our children were very young my husband was also student teaching in a local high school that had its' own marine biology lab. Sometimes he would bring our daughter to class with him ( when it was appropriate ) and have our daughter who was barely 4 years old recite the scientific names of some of the sea life the students were learning about. The sea urchin was one of them. Can you say strongylocentrotus drobachiensis ? She could. It means , 'green sea urchin'. She knows the name for the purple sea urchin too. I could go on & on about how memories of the sea mingle with memories of my courtship, falling in love with the man I married 41 years ago next month ,times there with our children now grown , but I think you get the picture. The sea , Puget Sound, and so many other beaches where the Pacific Ocean roars on into our coastline will always hold a deep abiding place in my heart and memory.

I am linking with these ladies for Tea Time Tuesday ~ Sandi*  , Martha * , Bernideen * , & Ruth *.

Just An Ordinary Day ~ Tea-Time Tuesday !

I have been away and when I came home there was so much  catching up to do in the gardens and chicken & sheep pens. All things I love to do but sometimes the work can be daunting after I've injured myself and have to take things slower. I find myself spending more time on my porch watching the birds during my breaks. The work wears me out quickly and when I have time for blogging I decide to go to sleep instead. That's all good because sleep after a hard day's work is healing, but I have missed my Tea-Time Tuesdays.

Two of the sweet ladies who come to the Thursday Ladies' Luncheon & Bible Study gave me a most wonderful gift basket the very day I left on my small vacation over the mountains. The gift basket contained teas, an electric tea kettle, pretty napkins, tea-towels, delectable cookies, and TEACUPS ! Look at this beautiful teacup .

I made myself some of the white mint tea from the basket, helped myself to a very healthy home-made muffin , and went to savor the moment on my front porch where I could watch the birds at the feeder and the birds who'd set up house-keeping in the birdhouse near-by.

The teacup is by Victoria of England. There is no other information on this teacup that I can find except a hand painted number , and I love this teacup ! Especially because of the two ladies ( mother & daughter ) I have grown close to during our Bible studies.

There is a lot to be said for ordinary days at home, and I myself appreciate them immensely. They settle my soul and remind me of the simple pleasures we all have . Sipping tea or a cup of very good coffee while watching birds from the porch are among the treasures of just an ordinary day at home.

Thank-you Marlene & Marjorie !

• I joyfully join these ladies of the teacup for my Tuesday celebration :Sandi at Rose Chintz Cottage *, Terri at Artful Affirmations * , Martha at Martha's favorites * , Bernideen's Tea Bernidee's Tea Time Blog * ,Ruth at Antiques & Teacups *.