Word for the Day - 2020

  Petrichor

"the smell of earth after rain"

Wikipedia: Petrichor (/ˈpɛtrɪkɔːr/) is the earthy scent produced when rain falls on dry soil. The word is constructed from Greek petra (πέτρα), "rock", or petros (πέτρος), "stone", and īchōr (ἰχώρ), the fluid that flows in the veins of the gods in Greek mythology. 

Tomorrow is the beginning of September and my heart is beginning to think of cooler, rainy days.

In the past I have been sad to see summer go, but this year I anticipate wrapping in a cozy quilt with a good book and warm pot of tea to savor the Autumn weather with raindrops on roses and the fragrance of the earth as it soaks it all up.

 This is a new word for me and one I hope to incorporate into my vocabulary as we approach the days of rain.  But first I think there will be a bit more summer to walk through on ground that is parched from the lack of water.  May we savor the days, embrace them whatever the circumstances are around us.  For it is up to us to walk with delight with our eyes wide open.

Are you anticipating the rain and cooler weather?

Happy new week, dear friends!

Teabag Art

In 1985 I graduated from design school and went to work as an apparel patternmaker.

During design school I learned to move watercolor paint around the paper.

After I started to work and was also raising a family there was no time for painting,

so my paints dried up and others "borrowed" my art supplies.

Well during the pandemic I decided to take back what supplies I could gather together

and then ordered some new paints and brushes to add to the stash.

What made sense to me was to combine my love of tea by using the used teabags

as my painting palette and make cards.

It has been great fun to send them to friends.

The paintings above are works in progress.

It seems like I have about 5 in progress at one time.

The second picture is three that inspired me from a vintage tablecloth.

Most often I like painting from nature.

Sometimes there is a bit of whimsy.

And sometimes I like tucking something in a bag. This one has dried tea leaves.

Here is where I work while I can also gaze out to the back yard.

The artbox on the table was mine from school and still works for me today.

 It's felt good to be moving the paints and pens over the paper again.

Happy weekend, dear friends!

Word for the Day - 2020

 

 From Wikipedia:  Trust (social science), confidence in or dependence on a person or quality.

 Trust can be a tricky word for me.

It is hard to even share that last sentence with you and trust it will be OK.

Yes, I trust myself, but because my father deserted his family when I was very young it is hard for me to trust others. It took me a very long time to realize that. I am very self-contained in many ways. Now as I am getting older, as I am meditating during my walks, I think about having to someday rely on others. Trust is a tricky thing for me.

Looking at the description from Wikipedia I see it even goes to quality. Do we trust the quality of the purchases we make, do we research them to make sure we are getting a safe product? Do we trust?

My mind is still playing this word "trust" over, it tumbles in my mind.

How do you feel about this word?

Tea in the Garden

Realizing that summer is fleeting I decided to take tea in the garden on a couple occasions recently.

As I sat exploring a very old book on local wildflowers I sipped Kim Tuyen black tea

from Harney and Sons.  It is a lovely morning tea grown in Viet Nam. I quite like it,

but sometimes hard to find. Oatmeal cookies was the perfect addition to the sipping.

Recently I found the Lemon Cyprus tree at Trader Joe's and it just had to come home with me.

Don't you think it will be pretty at Christmas with miniature twinkle lights?

                              The second tea time was sitting near the garden house in the garden.                         For that tea time there was pineapple upside down cake, a favorite of mine since I was a young girl.

 The tea was another lovely black tea from China this time. It was Wild Lapsang from Wuyi Origins.

 Both of these teas are fairly new to my stash and will satisfy my tea craving as we head into Autumn.

As the weather cools in September I may need to move into the garden house, but for now outdoors delights me.

The wicker table is a fairly new find at the local antique mall.  It normally sits in my studio/office.  I thought it was perfect for tea in the garden.

 What are you doing to celebrate the waning days of summer? Is there an adventure in your garden? A walk in the park? It seems like we need to be creative these days. Go out and soak up a bit of the outdoors this weekend for soon we will be dancing in the rain.

Happy Weekend, dear friends!

PS : Ugh! The formatting is a real pain these days on Blogger. Hoping it gets better soon.

Word for the Day - 2020

 Walking

from Wikipedia - Walking (also known as ambulation) is one of the main gaits of locomotion among legged animals. Walking is typically slower than running and other gaits. Walking is defined by an 'inverted pendulum' gait in which the body vaults over the stiff limb or limbs with each step. This applies regardless of the usable number of limbs—even arthropods, with six, eight, or more limbs, walk.

I find great joy walking with my grandson, but most of the time he is running ahead. I am amazed I even found a picture of him just walking and not running.

During this pandemic I have found walking to be both good for my body and meditative.

Most often my walks are in my neighborhood. This is a house I love walking past. The lavender smells so good and I just love admiring the ascetics of the garden and even the paint choices on their house.

 These are my adventures staying close to home.

Walking just satisfies my soul.

Yet, with the hot weather lately I do try to avoid it, I know I must walk.

What are you doing to satisfy your soul?

Off to the Sea

Last week we escapes "off to the sea", the Pacific Ocean

with our daughter and grandson.

For all of us it was just a time to "be" and "rest" by the sea.

And for one energetic 7 year old and one energetic "grand-dog"

it was pure delight to be able to run free for awhile.

                      The Oregon coast is full of rocks and trees, not many actual sea shells.

                        Each day we walked on the beach, we walked through the trees for amazing vistas.

               The Octopus Tree was fenced off with a sign to protect it. My grandson loved seeing it.

There was fire on the beach with roasted hot dogs and smores on one evening.  This was something we hadn't done in many years. Though it was fun to do this once, I think I have passed the time where a hot dog cooked on a stick tastes that good anymore.

                                I loved watching for the sunset each evening from our cabin door.

                                           When the tide went out we went in search of sea life.

On one evening I heard a little girl state on discovering starfish and sea anemone, "this is the best day ever since COVID19 began".  We all had to smile because indeed that was so true. Best day ever!

                                                                            Frolicking!!

                                                           Another view of the sea.

                                        Have a best weekend ever, dear friends!

Word for the Day - 2020

 Hand

From Wikipedia: A hand is the part of the body at the end of an arm. Most humans have two hands. Each hand usually has four fingers and a thumb. On the inside of the hand is the palm. The five bones inside this part of the hand are called metacarpals. The wrist connects the hand to the arm. The hand has 27 bones including the wrist bones.  An adult hand weighs about 1 pound.

Such technical information when a hand is so much more than the technical.

    In the picture I noticed the hands touching, the hands loving, the hand working at holding something, and the hands gesturing. 

A hand serves so many different functions. 

The picture is my daughter and grandson, plus their dog at the beach this past week.

My hands were part of the hugs, the preparing of food, the picking up rocks on the beach,

and the hands in prayer.

 

Word for the Day - 2020

Beach

It has been way to long since I have ventured far from home.

The beach is my happy place.

So this week I am taking some time off to go to the sea, walk on the beach,

and soak up some fresh air.

Not sure if there will be a lot of sun; but whatever the weather is, it will be a delight.

So if you don't see me online this week

you can picture me walking here. 

Have a most delightful week, dear friends!