Flowers

One of my favorite quotes:

Plant your own garden

and decorate your own soul,

instead of waiting for

someone to bring you flowers.

~Veronica A. Shoffstall

I have often thought of this quote as I walk
through my garden picking flowers for the house.
Yes, all the flowers in this bouquet came from my garden.
They bring me such joy to see in the house, but
I know if I am to decorate my own soul
(bring joy in my heart)
I must do it for myself.
Sometimes I want
someone to pick me up and carry me
and decorate for me, but I am the one that must
do it for myself.

These flowers decorate my world and bring a smile on my face.

Chuckle of the Day

Silly, I know; but can't resist the comics when it has to do with tea.
Have a good day, whether you have one lump, two lumps, or none.
Smiling!

Mooncakes and Pomegranites

With the last full moon the Lan Su Chinese Gardens had an evening fund-raiser.
There were about 15 restaurants in town serving small bite foods.
There was everything from mooncakes, cupcakes, spring rolls, and tea.
I just loved visiting the garden in the evening and thought the red of the tablecloths
and the blue lanterns made for a very festive evening.
We were able to wander the garden, take pictures, but most of all nibble at each table.
What fun to sample from so many restaurants and discover some new ones we
didn't know about.
There isn't much better than good food, nice music, warm cloudy evening,
and candle light.
I will miss those summer evenings, but looking forward to what is
coming with pumpkins and goblins to celebrate fall.

Little House on the Hill

 A silly painting for The Dollhouse Project for September.

As a young girl I use to draw ladybugs in their

adventures around home.

I haven't pulled out my paints for a very long time;

so it was fun just to play a little.

I hope you just enjoy this playfulness of the ladybugs

having tea below the house on the hill.

What are you doing this week to play?

Colors of Autumn

Pears are ready to harvest here in Oregon.
The color of this pear is amazing and reminds me of Autumn.
The tomato is the largest one from our garden this year.
Both the pear and tomato tasted wonderful,
just the right flavor for the season.

What flavors are you enjoying this Autumn season?

The Porch

Welcome to Emma Wagner Giesy's front porch.

Emma, "was the only woman sent to the Oregon Territory in the 1850s

to help found a communal society."

Her home is now part of the Old Aurora Colony Museum.

I have always fallen in love with old porches and when

I saw this porch I knew I wanted to photograph it.

I have seen so many beautiful pictures of porches in magazines and online;

so my challenge was to have some beautiful flowers and of course tea while sitting

on Emma's porch.

I had a wonderful time yesterday taking pictures here and

send thanks to the Old Aurora Colony Museum for allowing

me to photograph Emma's porch.

You can learn more about the museum by visiting their website:  www.AuroraColony.com

*******************
The winner of Monday's Give-Away is: Kate at A Spoonful of Thyme
Congratulations to you!

One More Teatime Outdoors

Hiking last weekend gave opportunity for one more teatime outdoors.
It wasn't anything fancy, but it still was sipping tea outdoors.

I do believe tea taste better outdoors.
Added to our tea we had a stacked sandwich with egg salad and tuna.
Nothing special, just what we had in the cupboard.
Then we added Gravenstein apples from the Farmer's Market
and carrot cupcakes.  The carrots were from the garden.
Usually I frost cupcakes, but they were so yummy they didn't need anything on top.
There you have it, our tea party outdoors, an opportunity to celebrate the end of summer
with lovely warm pots of oolong tea and food from a time of harvest.

Don't forget to leave a comment on Monday's post 
for a give-away tomorrow.