Strawberry Tea

it is VERY hot and humid here in Virginia…

there are heat advisories for today as well…

I already miss having the windows open and being able to hear the birds sing…

but with the air conditioning on …

thank goodness we have it…

it IS enjoyable to drink a hot cup of tea again…

strawberry season is upon us…

sweet…

juicy and delicious…

Mr Magpie found out that if you bite just right the green ends are left looking like sun bursts or halos… a favorite shape of mine…

I put some in the flower press just for the fun of it…

Erdbeere….. fragola….. aardbei….. fraise….. truskawka….. ***fresa***….. jordgubbe…..

***correction frutillas in Spanish***

in any language…

a delicious treat …

won’t you join us today…you can visit Kimmie at Art in Red Wagons for more Tea Tuesday blog links

…holding up the sky

the quote …

“Women hold up half the sky”

by Mao Zedong

captivated me the first time I came across it …

it has been rattling around in my head for awhile now…

it inspired me to alter a metal tin…

I got tired of hearing myself say I missed creating and decided the only remedy was to get busy and make something…

…this Frank Cadogan Cowper lady has always been a favorite of mine with her dreamy look…

bits of tea stained lace curtain…russet colored silk…pressed fern…wired beads…a bee stamped emblem…

thank you to those of you that listened kindly and supported me as I whined a bit about feeling scattered to the four winds…

traveling and going through my Mom’s things getting her house ready to sell has been a lot going on…

creating always helps me catch my balance and feel more centered…

footnote: having the support and friendship of so many of you is more special than I can ever say or put into words…oxo

Blessings to you and you and …

Deep peace of the running wave to you,

Deep peace of the flowing air to you,

Deep peace of the quiet earth to you,

Deep peace of the shining stars to you,

Deep peace of the gentle night to you,

Moon and stars pour their healing light on you,

Deep peace and Love to you
all ways ~a Gaelic Blessing

altered a tiny bit at the end by me…for each of you oxo

WS: Nest

a few weeks ago Robins got busy overnight building a nest on a shelf on the outer edge of our back porch…

it was a nice protected spot for the birds…

but not a great spot for us so near our back door…

it felt like we were bothering them with any coming or going…altho they did not seem to mind me if I bowed my head and walked softly past…

Mrs Robin laid a clutch of beautiful eggs…the blurry photo is because

Mr Magpie snapped a really quick photo while both parents were away from the nest…wanting to get in and out quickly…

the parents took turns feeding the young and everything seemed to be going fine…if you look closely you can see the hungry beaks sticking up out of the nest…

we left town for a long weekend feeling sure we would come home to a lively scene…

we were shocked and dismayed upon our return to find that the nest was completely empty with no signs whatsoever that any birds had ever been there…

every trace mysteriously vanished leaving a tidy but very empty nest…

a visit by a snake was the only logical conclusion…

I had to shake off the upset I felt…reminding myself that Mother Nature had other plans…sniff sniff…

“Nest” is the theme at Wednesday Stamper/Mittwochstempler this week…

won’t you join us…

my journal pages were created in a Funk & Wagnalls Encyclopedia…

that I have been playing in since 2009...

I could not pass up a recent sticker sale…the bee hive/nest and bees really called to me…as did Kabir’s quote:

I altered a postcard I had made before and added it to the right hand page …

blending it in with some favorite fiber paper…

and finishing with a couple of rubber stamps …

Thanks to Jolette for the special origami Forget-me-not paper always a favorite ingredient and to the Land of Nod for the sweet blue boy image and

SPECIAL Thanks also to Dymphie for doing the Dutch translation over at WS while Hermine was away!

I have missed creating and it seems like forever since I’ve gotten to participate at Wednesday Stamper

~* May Bountiful Blessings Feather Your Nest All Ways*~

*footnote: I am entering this post in Ana’s Friday Archive Dive*

Naiv E Tea

do you know what Evian (the bottled water) spells backwards…

naivE…

that is an old joke…

we are not in the habit of buying it…but must admit that getting to visit the town of Evian was a thrill…

*the billboard says in French: Welcome to our plant*

our Best of Switzerland tour was led by the fearless and fantastic Trafalgar tour director… Dr Q …

he and our super Austrian bus driver…Kurt…guided us around

Lake Geneva to the charming French town of Évian-les-Bains…

we had some free time and did a little exploring and found our way to The Source Cachat 1789...

where crystal clear and pure Evian water flows free to all…

we waited patiently  with our water bottle and the Traveling Tea Cup (the saucer seemed to spend most of the trip in the box) while people unloaded their bags and crates of empty bottles and filled them…

we noticed a certain way the bottle filling was done….

fill said bottle(s) a little…

swish vigorously…

dump out water…

fill to the top and screw on cap…

Repeat…

again and again…

we were happy to wait…

it WAS free Evian water after all…

fun hearing people speak in other languages…

mostly French…

the town was very photogenic even with the slight threat of rain…and beautifully situated by Lake Geneva…or Lac Léman as the French call it…

we had a very nice picnic on our balcony with some local cheese…fruit…crusty bread and wine…

two lovely tartes from a bakery carefully wrapped in an open box with paper folded just so…a sweet detail in my view…

it was another wonderful day on our tour…

we enjoyed the French flavors of Evian…

along with the lovely waters VERY very much…

be sure and stop by Kimmie’s Art in Red Wagons for more T stops

Tulipan Tea

it is very wet here in Northern Virginia with back to back days of rain in the forecast…

we certainly had some gorgeous sunny days on our recent trip to Switzerland…

our thoughts keep drifting back there…

train travel is just like you hear…

very clean and it runs like clockwork…

we tagged on some extra days at the end of our Best of Switzerland tour and got to meet blog friend Margaret (and her precious family) in person… which was truly the frosting on the cake for Mr Magpie and myself…

one of the special days spent with the lovely Margaret was in the sweet 18th century monastery town of Einsiedeln … about twenty or so miles outside of Zurich…

the Monastery grounds and Baroque cathedral are jaw droppingly beautiful…

we sat inside awhile listening to the Benedictine monks chanting …

the Black Madonna is enshrined inside the cathedral…

no photography was allowed inside…

you could easily get a neck ache trying to take in the grandeur and splendor of the ceiling and every other surface of that most sacred place…

just across the square to the right was the lovely Tulipan Cafe and Bakery…

 we sat outside with a view of the cathedral and enjoyed a scrumptious pretzel…cheese and pickle sandwich (now why haven’t I had one of those before!)…

truth be told I hardly drank tea at all on our trip…

the coffee was SO delicious everywhere we went and just perfect with that gorgeous plum cake…

Mr M and I split the sandwich and the cake…best of both worlds we thought…

Margaret was beyond amazing and so much fun…

she gave us a really royal *Herzlich Willkommen*

(Warm Welcome … Herz is “heart” … Heartfelt Welcome)

she shared so much of Zurich and the surrounding area with us…

it is a time Mr Magpie and I will remember and cherish always…

Happy T Tuesday and three CHEERS for blog friends…

 visit Kimmie at Art in Red Wagons for more tea stops

…an innocent heart…

this month’s quote from my “Angel Spirits” The Art of Sulamith Wulfing 2011 Calendar is another treasure…

the pages of the calendar seem to be turning fast and furious so far this year…

it has been a roller coaster of happy and sad…

up and down and back again…

such is life…

“Each of us comes into this world with an innocent heart, longing to love and be loved.  As life’s lessons unfold, you must keep that innocence alive within you.  How is this done?  By seeing the innocent heart within all other beings and trusting in their essential humanity.” ~Spirit of Innocence, May 2011

sweet words of wisdom to our already wise and wonderful youngest son who graduates from Virginia Tech this weekend…

one of 5,000 … oh happy day!!!

oxoxo

Pan Tea

Mother’s Day at Dumbarton Oaks…

always a beautiful spot to visit in the Washington DC area…

easy to forget you are in the city in this ten acre garden…

with delights tucked everywhere you turn…

Mother Nature parading her colors…

my traveling tea cup

has done a bit of wandering recently…as some of you know…

most recently here with Pan in the lovely gardens we visited on Sunday…

a clone would be useful just about now…

then I could be everywhere I would like to be…Mr Magpie filmed the sweet bumblebee video…

trying to stop and smell the flowers as often as possible…

even when they sometimes seem a bit out of reach…

wishing each of you a very Happy T Tuesday…

be sure and visit Kimmie for lots of lovely links…

***does anyone know HOW to remove Ads by Google???  I was shocked to see them on my blog…thanks***

Good Morning Switzerland

hello dear ones…

missed you all while we were away…

here is one of the places we fell in Love with while visiting Switzerland…

truly magical and beautiful…

we are still making our way through loads of photos and sweet memories…with some really special people to thank for making our stay so memorable…