♥ February ♥

here we are in February already…

heart month…  I have accumulated a bit of a he♥rt collection over the years and even have a “heart” category on my blog…

something very precious to me is a stool Mr Magpie made many years ago and my mother painted with intentions of giving it to me (the apple tart is from the shop in the photo above with the ♥I wheely like you♥ sign…they sell wonderful organic farm bread too)…

my mutti found the stool so useful (she wasn’t quite five feet tall) that she had it in her kitchen for many years before it came to me…

each speckle adds to the patina and charm of so many years in her pantry…

wishing you a Happy T Day along with everyone over at Elizabeth’s Altered Book Lover where all you need to join in the fun is to share anything related to a drink (guess what! I found a way to post photos again that can be clicked on for a closer look = hoorah!)…

as an aside a few of you have asked from previous blog posts what was inside the Paris box I have shared in photos…all is revealed above… (I was content with just the box but the candle is very nice too!)…

“February, a form
Pale-vestured, wildly fair,—
One of the North Wind’s daughters,
With icicles in her hair.”
~Edgar Fawcett, “The Masque of Months,” c.1878

Grateful and Hopeful…

Erika’s theme of TELL ME A STORY over at Art Journal Journey this month is wide open to interpretation…

back in 2009 I created a December art journal that is still fun to look through (my angel cover below)…

since then I have wanted to do a January art journal so here I go (this time I glued some pages together in an old book as I found working in a spiral book not that easy by the time I got to the end)…

as it happens my first January spread has a couple of kinds of tissue included which also fits the theme over at Try it on Tuesday…

I used Matte Medium to adhere the newspaper photo of trees to my painted pages and it worked nicely for the tissue papers too helping them melt into the surface…

everything has a story…

“Acknowledging the good that you already have in your life is the foundation for all abundance.” -Eckhart Tolle

coming to the end…

joining Elizabeth’s T Stands for Tuesday with a little look back over the year as I try to get back in the swing of things after such a long disconnect…

life goes on for everyone and I know you have all been busy creating and blogging and I have missed so much…

my creativity shifted from art journaling and creating to making decisions and plans for all the changes we’ve had going on here at home for the last many months…

our kitchen remodeling is finally complete and we are enjoying it very much…

after adding cabinets to the side of the room where the computer once was we decided to move the main computer upstairs and out of the main flow of things…

with only a cell phone and typing with my pointer finger I felt a bit limited and was not able to visit blogs or update my blog (one finger typing worked OK for short exchanges on Facebook)…

blogging has been a part of my life for so many years I have missed connecting with friends all around the globe…

thank you all for a wonderful year of connection and inspiration…

~*Wishing you Brightest of Blessings in the New Year *~

~* Sending Best Wishes Always *~

Hello dear ones … so much time has passed since I was last here…

I think of you often and hope you are well…

 

Full Moon Blizzard 2016

anyone that knows me well knows how much I enjoy snow…

there is something about the purity and hush that freshly fallen snow brings turning everything sparkling white…

Winter Storm Jonas got lots of press before Friday when the snow and wind finally settled in for 36 continuous hours…

here near Dulles Airport we got 28.3 inches of light fluffy snow (Mr Magpie took the above photo which shows the heated birdbath resting on top of the wind blown snow)…some fresh tulips were a necessary part of my blizzard preparedness…

it took Mr Magpie lots of time and patience to use his electric shovel to help carve a path from our back patio around the house to the front driveway…

I made sure he stayed well hydrated…

bringing him a snack or two as well…

snow is SO photogenic and appealing to me…

I could not resist taking oodles of photos…

it was fun playing in the snow with the traveling tea cup…

even the tulips ended up out in the snow for a bit…

I must confess I have been in a continual state of excitement since last week especially with words like “epic” “monumental” and “historical” being used to describe this storm…

it was one for the history books for our area…

the light and shadows are so beautiful with the snow and sunny skies…

we enjoyed the full moon from our back porch too (you can see it below at the top of the center photo)…

on Monday some energetic high schools boys helped dig us out further (BIG thanks to Isaiah and David who are two very cheerful and hard workers!!!)…

it will be a couple more days until schools and businesses and mail delivery are up and running again…

hoping that you are safe and well as I join everyone over at Elizabeth’s Altered Book Lover for T Stands for Tuesday…

 

a touch of color…

this time of the winter I crave fresh flowers and treated myself to a bunch of tulips and ranunculus which were not my first choice in color but I had to work with what the market had available…

I give them a drink of water each day and they are lasting a long while… it is fun to see the tulips “growing” in the vase too…

another treat is a steaming hot cup of Yogi tea which makes an excellent hand warmer…

I do not add anything and leave the tea bag in while I drink it (pressed up against the side of the cup I give it a final squeeze at the end to get out the last yummy drops)… “richly luscious and soothing” just as the box says…

I find it especially nice after dinner since it is caffeine free and tastes a bit like dessert…

here’s wishing you a Happy T Day along with every one over at Elizabeth’s T Stands for Tuesday…

“For I would ride with you upon the wind, Run on the top of the disheveled tide, And dance upon the mountains like a flame” -W.B. Yeats

Utah “Life Elevated”…

our son moved to Colorado a few years ago and we have been lucky enough to get to fly out and spend Thanksgiving with him each year…

 

it is always exciting to visit new places but I must admit I was not totally prepared for the majesty and splendor waiting for us on this trip…

we chose to explore Moab, Utah…

sunset at Island in the Sky, Canyonlands National Park was so beautiful it made me cry…

Colin gave his father a break from driving and drove us all over Colorado and Utah showing us some of his favorite places…

he had hiked and camped in this area several times before…

 you can see Mr Magpie and Colin holding our traveling tea cup in the photo above…

as you can imagine we went wild snapping photos with so much beauty all around us...

the drive out to Red Cliffs Lodge for a delicious Thanksgiving buffet offered breathtaking views along the mighty Colorado River…

on our last day in Moab we woke up to freshly fallen snow which charmed and excited us anew…

as we headed back to Colorado our son took us on a bit of detour through the Colorado National Monument with even more snow and awe inspiring beauty…

I have a Flickr folder with a few more photos HERE …

thank you very much for stopping by as I join everyone over at Elizabeth’s T Stands for Tuesday

and wish you a very happy first “official” Hot Tea Day too

Winter Dreams…

 time for something different…

inspired by Diana Trout’s video here…

I could not resist the chance to play and go a little wild…

letting go and making marks without censoring…

as I was working away in my upstairs art room I spied a beautiful rainbow just outside the window…

back to my art journal… I doodled the words “Winter Dreams”…

and using my Judikins “Klimt Sisters” (2677H) rubber stamp I stamped twice onto plain paper using two different sized round paper punches making circles to add to my pages…

lots of layers and doodling went into my crazy dream pages that I am linking to Art Journal Journey’s Winter Wonderland challenge…

“What good is the warmth of summer, without the cold of winter to give it sweetness.” -John Steinbeck

like the moon…

two more pages in one of my gesso journals inspired by the Artchix girl…

paper punched trees with layers of gesso and pencil and the winter moon…

joining with Art Journal Journey’s Winter Wonderland…

“Spring passes and one remembers one’s innocence.
Summer passes and one remembers one’s exuberance.
Autumn passes and one remembers one’s reverence.
Winter passes and one remembers one’s perseverance.” -Yoko Ono

Revolutionary Tea…

 a few days after we returned from our trip out west we headed to Williamsburg, Virginia

to celebrate my early December birthday…

we drove the scenic back roads enjoying the almost four hour ride…

it is a place I have always wanted to visit and seeing it all decked out for the holidays was really special…

I was drawn to the gardens even though they were mostly at rest for the winter…

we had lovely weather and it was so photogenic at every turn…

we did bring the traveling tea cup along for the fun…

there was lots to learn in that bustling 18th century living history museum…

getting to talk with artisans busy at work

as if we were back in the 18th century…

so I raise my traveling tea cup joining in with everyone over at Elizabeth’s Altered Book Lover for T Stands for Tuesday today…

wishing each of you a holiday season that is merry and bright…

I appreciate your visits here SO very much oxo

 

 

distracted T…

what with one thing and another…

I am feeling a bit scattered and distracted…

but it is not a bad thing and I am okay with it…

 last year I treated myself to some small live orchids over the winter months (the various blooms were irresistible and they were reasonably priced costing less than a cut bouquet of flowers)…

the blooms lasted a nice long while and then I kept the bare plants watered being careful to not over or under water them over the winter months (closest thing we have around here to a pet *ggg*)…

I was thrilled and delighted that two of the five orchids decided to repeat bloom which is proof that good things are worth waiting for…

our snow is almost all melted and I found the first tiny sign of spring out front yesterday…

wishing you a very happy T day full of nice surprises along with everyone over at Elizabeth’s Altered Book Lover...

Frozen T …

a mixed weather event for the beginning of March here in the Washington, DC area made for some nice photo opportunities…

our snow layer glazed over after some freezing rain…

the Lavender turned into “crystal”…

when ice covered branches began thawing in the sunlight I was delighted to notice some ice shards that had fallen creating interesting spikes in the snow…

Mr Magpie is getting lots of use out of his Yaktrax this winter which work like a charm to help ensure safe footing  (my photos were taken from our front and back porch and with the help of our zoom lens we have a closer look at the Mourning Doves and resident Mockingbird)…

hot drinks really hit the spot…

here’s wishing you a very happy T day along with everyone over at Elizabeth’s Book Lover...

playing in the snow T …

we finally got a nice amount of snowfall on top of a bit of snow we already had…

perfect weather to sport my wonderful Swiss swan mittens that a sweet friend surprised me with (they are connected with a string)…

Mr Magpie got to take his electric power shovel out for a whirl…

 I am content most days to enjoy the snow from the indoors…

Mr Magpie made me a little snowman to decorate on the back porch so I got busy adding some Maple tree seeds for hair… Lunaria seeds for eyes… a sunflower seed for the nose… a bit of Thyme for her smile and Fennel sprigs for her arms…

she measured about ten inches tall including her hair (25,4 cm)…

and began to look a bit like Edvard Munch’s THE SCREAM as it warmed up outside which is a gentle reminder that nothing lasts forever…

last night there were two rabbits frolicking under our blue bottle tree in the back garden…

here’s wishing you a very happy T day along with everyone over at Elizabeth’s Altered Book Lover 

~♥~  hope you make some time to play ~♥~