Keep Dancing

Not my normal photo, but one I took in London and altered in photoshop.

The sculpture was found at the Chelsea Flower Show

and it just spoke to me.

The flow of the body,

the exuberance in being open to movement.

It delighted my dancing heart.

And then I listened to Leonard Cohen sing in a video,

Dance Me to the End of Love.

 And the song touched my heart.

It's all about the dance, the flow of our heart.

How even when our heart is breaking,

when our heart is so heavy,

we must keep on dancing.

Keeping our heart open,

being vulnerable.

And Dance!

No more words, just keep dancing

until your heart heals and you feel the JOY once again.

International Artist Day

Do you consider yourself an artist?

What does it take to be an artist?

 I always wanted to be an artist,

but it is a hard thing to call myself.

 Right now my art is through the eye of the camera.

 Sometimes with a little embellishment.

 No, I am not Georgia O'Keeffe, but I can dream and enjoy her art.

 I can play in the garden and create little touches of JOY.

 Or play in the studio (gardenhouse).

 Do you dream of being an artist?

 Dreaming and appreciating others talents is also a gift.

 Did I say "gift"?

Yes, we each have our gift of creativity.

We can appreciate the gift of God in nature.

Maybe it is the special touches we make to a meal

or the gift of friendship to someone in need.

Little touches of art and creativity sing to my heart.

So happy International Artist Day to each of you.

Go out and enjoy art in your soul and all around you.

You might not be able to tell, but each of the photographs 

has been changed in slight ways, except for the one

of Georgia O'Keeffe.

be the Light!

Sending Love!

Still Life

 

 

 A few weeks ago I put Lightroom on my computer,

then the very next day I signed up for a 1 year online class

with Kim Klassen to do still life photography.

Whew! What a learning curve.

Here are some of my first photographs.

A crate was recommended for setting up a still life

and I realized I was keeping my props in a crate.

Unpacking the crate I played with apples and leaves.

 

Then as a backdrop I found a vintage chalk board works really well.

One rose, a vintage vase from my mom, and a chalk board

all agreed to play with me.

 At the very end the rose dropped it's petals in exhaustion.

 

What fun I am having!

What struggles in learning!

Time consuming, YES!

But all in all, it delights my heart.

What is delighting your heart today?

Tumblr Tea Time

There is a tea party to share on another day.

Right now my computer is having a problem,

but very soon it will be fixed.

Come back to enjoy another day of tea.

In the meantime,

here are pictures from my Tumblr blog.

It is a blog where I take a tea picture and

embellish it with a tea quote and maybe

other filters and changes.

It is where I challenge myself to learn

something new about Photoshop.

Sometimes I am happy with the changes

and sometimes not.

We all need those challenges.

If  you would like to see more,

head over to:  https://www.tumblr.com/blog/marmaladys

Monday's Quotes

Darjeeling Tea Time

About 12 years ago I was given a box of Darjeeling teas.

For those that don't know, Darjeeling teas come from the region of Darjeeling in India.

With the first taste from this box, I determined I didn't like Darjeeling teas.

The box sat on my shelf for 5 or 6 years until one day I decided to toss the tea

in the garden; but there would be one more taste before I did that.

What a difference a few years made, including a more educated palate;

the tea was quite wonderful and I ended up eventually drinking the whole box.

Now my early thoughts were that there was only one Darjeeling tea.

As you will see from the following list there are many varieties depending on

the tea estate and how it was processed.

Golden Tips Tea sent me the following teas to review

and I have thoroughly enjoyed each one.

To me it is like walking in the beautiful surroundings of Darjeeling, India

and savoring the flavors of each and every estate.

The first word in the naming of the tea is the estate name, after awhile you just

know what to expect from them.

Jungpana Premium Darjeeling, fruity and delicious, the fragrance fills my senses.

Giddaphar Muscatel, from the first sniff when opening the bag I was delighted,

it was like blossoms in the back of the throat.

Arya Ruby Darjeeling, a full leaf tea,, light in color and flavor,

more of a touch of springtime, reminded me of an oolong.

Gopaldhara Gold, softness of the garden in springtime.  It took a cooler,

shorter steep to bring out the flavor.

Badamtam Darjeeling, soft scent of roses in the cup, the flavor filled my

mouth with a smile.

Halmari Gold, this one surprised me.  Coming from Assam I expected it to be bold

in my face flavor, the first sniff almost smelled of fermentation, a very nice full

bodied, smooth black tea.  Of the teas reviewed here, this is the only one I have

included that isn't from Darjeeling.

You can find these lovely teas or other teas at www.goldentipstea.com

Thanks, Golden Tips for sharing your special teas with me.

The August Break 2014 - Black - White

When I see black and white photography I love it.

For some reason I don't play with black and white;

so I loved that the theme today.
Do you like black and white photography?
Sometimes we see something different by not be distracted by the color.
 Something to think on:
In life nothing is just black and white, but all the shades in between.

The August Break 2014 - Today Is

Today is a day for exploring.

What will we see?

Something new just around the corner.

Do you take a day now and then just to explore?

Tea and Meditation

When I sit alone with my cup of tea

I give myself the gift of quiet time.

A time to reflect and dream.

A time to remember and replenish.

One of my hearts dreams and delights would be to gather

a group of like minded women to explore, encourage, and dream together.

A gathering that would allow the dreams to come tumbling out.

A time for dancing.
A time to "let the beautiful stuff out".

I wrote this post awhile ago and now visiting it this morning I am surprised
my heart is so revealed here in what I wrote.
This is still a dream within my heart, it would definitely delight my heart.
Do you have dreams of such a thing? or is it just me?

The altered photo above comes from my other blog.
What other blog you say?
I decided to do a totally tea blog with quotes and altered photos on Tumblr
just to inspire me to keep learning to use Photoshop.  Only one picture is added a week.
If you would like to visit sometime, here is the link:  http://marmaladys.tumblr.com/

Vintage Boy

 My grandson modeling for me in a baby romper with vintage stroller.
He was about 1 year old here.

Sweet stars embroidered on the bodice of this little romper.

Sitting on a vintage ice cream chair.

My little "D" at almost 20 months.

I haven't collected as many boys outfits, but there is one more for my grandson to grow into.
 It is a Little Lord Fauntleroy outfit, which he should fit sometime in the winter.

 He seems to like modeling for me and loves running to see the picture after it is snapped.
It makes me smile to see him do this, as I have seen so many other little ones that just
know to look at the picture when it is snapped.

This isn't something the older generations would have been able to do and I do smile.

As he played with his grandpa's vintage tractors, I played too.

Little ones do delight my soul.

Monday's Quotes

Oh, it's home again, and home again, America for me!

I want a ship that's westward bound to plough the rolling sea,

To the blessed Land of Room Enough beyond the ocean bars,

Where the air is full of sunlight and the flag is full of stars.

~Henry van Dyke

photo was taken on Whidby Island and for fun altered by me

Wouldn't you just love to be sitting here today?

A Rose

A rose by any other name would not be a rose.

I adore roses and anxiously await their arrival.
In the meantime there was a visit to Heirloom Roses
where the roses were in full bloom in the greenhouse.
The ruffles did abound.
The colors did delight.
Fragrance was present.
And my heart did sing with JOY.

Do you have roses in your garden yet?
Do they make your heart sing with JOY?

Black and White

Aspen's in Colorado, taken on our road trip last year.

I was inspired by an exhibit of Ansel Adams photography to play a bit with my photo.

Today is my husband and my 49th anniversary.

I really can't believe it has been that long.

Thinking of marriage or partnerships I find that life is not always Black and White.

There are often grey areas in between.

Learning to live with the differences is like living in the grey areas,

sometimes a bit fuzzy, not always fun, not always roses.

Sometimes the raindrops and clouds appear,

but we muddle through it somehow.

So today we celebrate living in the grey areas and muddling through.

Off for a day trip to our favorite beach.

I had better take a towel along to wipe off the raindrops from the bench

where we will be enjoying the view.

Monday's Quotes

Kind of a silly quote, but I like knowing the tea I drink has been touched or licked by the sun.
I definitely have a "crush" on tea.

Quotes for me have been a love for a long time.

and I thought this new series would be a great way to share with you.

For my birthday celebration 10 years ago I actually put together books 

for each of my friends, books with my favorite quotes.

When I worked for Nike my favorite boss also loved quotes,

so we started a bulletin board of inspirational quotes to share with others in the office.  

Now my Monday's will include an inspirational or maybe funny quote to share with you.

Saying goodbye to One Word Monday's I decided it was time for a give-away.

The give-away will be a gift of words: A hand written note from me on a pretty card with

a tea sachet of Harney's Paris tea, ribbon with words, and a pretty bookmark with words.

If you would like this gift of words, please leave a comment on this post.

I will announce the winner on Friday.

Come along with me and enjoy Monday's Quotes.

April Raptures

No April Words

There are no words for saying

How wistful is the push

Of April through the budding

Of a lilac bush.

There are no notes for making

A little elfin air

Of new leaves on a willow;

No phrases to compare

With tapering blue hyacinths;

The first white butterfly;

With plum trees misted sudden

Silver on the sky. . .

One may only listen--

Hand at throat-to rapture

More lyrically lovely

Than my song may capture.

from Kitchen Sonnets by Ethel Romig Fuller

As April comes to an end what JOY's have been displayed in your part of the world?

I am totally enraptured by the pink blossoms, the sway of the daffodils, the clusters

of grape hyacinths, and the return of the robins song.

Quote and A Note

 Quotes are something that brings delight to my soul.

I just LOVE them.

This week I decided to end One Word on Monday's

and will be changing it to Quotes on Monday's.

The quotes might incorporate tea, but not always.

One Word just isn't enough to sometimes describe what is lurking in my heart.

So there will be a give away to end the One Word series.

I am not sure what it will be yet, but sure there will have some tea and maybe a word or two.

On Monday I will announce the give away.

I will be looking for just the right something to honor One Word.
Come and Join the fun on Quote Monday's.
In the meantime, go out and enjoy the sun!

Making This World a Better Place

 Sleeping in the Forest

I thought the earth

remembered me, she

took me back so tenderly, arranging

her dark skirts, her pockets

full of lichens and seeds, I slept

as never before, a stone

on the riverbed, nothing

between me and the white fire of the stars

but my thoughts, and they floated

light as moths among the branches

of the perfect trees.  All night

I heard the small kingdoms breathing

around me, the insects, and the birds

who do their work in the darkness.  All night

I rose and fell, as if in water, grappling

with a luminous doom.  By morning

I had vanished at least a dozen times

into something better.

by Mary Oliver

And in my waking hours I learned to believe

there was healing in the world.

There is the possibility of peace.

The healing of diseases such as cancer and MS.

In my heart I must believe and make the world a better place.

So this weekend I will be walking for MS and supporting my daughter in her healing.

Thanks for making this a better place, dear friends!

Happy weekend!

Contemplation

 Just wondering?

What does it mean to take more than nothing?

Thinking on these things.

Do we take from what is inside us

and create something special?

Contemplation is a word that has showed up in my life this week.

Does thinking on these things, meditating bring us growth and JOY?

For me this weekend will be a time to contemplate,

to hold in my heart those things I hold close.

Happy March!

May it be a month of great JOY

and holding in your heart what you hold most dearly.

Kindly Tea Plant

"What part of confidante has that poor teapot played ever since the kindly plant was introduced among us. Why myriads of women have cried over it, to be sure!...Nature meant very kindly...when she made the tea plant; and with a little thought, what series of pictures and groups the fancy may conjure up and assemble round the teapot and cup."
William Makepeace Thackeray

Happy weekend, dear friends! Take time for a special cup of tea.