Shine

 

Light can shine with an intensity that almost blinds.
It can sing to your heart.
It can focus on one thing such as this teapot up above sitting in the light.
It can shine in the night from the moon and the stars.
Or it can shine in the faces of a fresh blossomed flower.

This morning I sit in the quiet of the early hours while
flashes of light surround me.
A thunder storm, so rare and yet so amazing, is sprinkling from above.
Ahhhhhh................
The coolness of the morning hour delights my heart.
The light will come again and SHINE.

What is shining for you today?

Tasha Tudor's Birthday

 

Today is the day many bloggers honor Tasha Tudor's memory.
It is a birthday celebration.
Visit:  http://www.rookeryramblings.com/2013/08/tasha-tudor-day-giveaway.html
There is a giveaway there.

I was so honored to have met Tasha right before her 90th birthday.
It was a thrill for me as I had long appreciated her
lifestyle and her handiwork as a children's book illustrator,
a cook, a gardener, and talent for making beautiful things.
In my mind I can picture her writing the small notes to her children, the wren posts,
the puppet shows, walking through forget-me-knots, and painting at her
kitchen table with models of small animals and birds.
If you don't know about Tasha Tudor for sure explore and you will be captivated.
She was definitely a "Strong Woman" and one I admired.

The photo was taken from a book and not my own.

Tea and Cheese Pairing

 

 

 

Saturday I attended a tea and cheese pairing given by Steven Smith (in the plaid shirt) of Steven SmithTeamaker and Steve from the Cheese Bar (www.CHEESE-BAR.com).
Fascinating because I had never thought about pairing tea and cheese,
but I thoroughly enjoyed it.
We tasted 5 different teas paired with 5 different cheese.
#1 A cold White Petal tea with osmanthus, chamomile, apple, and pear,
paired with a goat gouda, handmade by a company in Paso Robles, California.
#2 Lord Bergomot, which is the #1 selling tea from Steven Smith Teamaker,
paired with English Montgomary Cheddar.
Montgomary, England is where cheddar was born and very different
than the yellow cheddar we are familiar with in the U.S.
#3 Red Nectar (herbal), a fully fermented in the sun rooibos with honeybush and a touch of peach skin,
paired with Gruyere de Saveur, a French creamy cheese.
#4 Big Hibiscus (herbal), hibiscus with Indian sarsaparilla, ginger, pink rose petals, and
elderflowers from Europe, paired with an aged cow's milk gouda from Holland.
#5 Brahmin, a black tea blend of Assam, Ceylon Dimbulla, and a touch of China Keemun (similar to an
English Breakfast, paired with a Spanish cheese (I believe it was Larunga Gores, but may not
be accurate).

Normally I am not an herbal tea lover, so it was a surprise to taste the herbals which I felt in
both cases brought out the creaminess of the cheese they were each paired with.

It was a fun time of sipping and tasting.

Do you ever think about pairing foods or sweets with drinks?
I have heard of pairing wine and have had chocolate paired with tea,
but this was a first for me.
A very pleasant event shared with a friend.
Isn't it fun to do something out of the ordinary?

Monday's Quotes

 

The teapot is on; the cups are waiting;
favorite chairs anticipating; no matter
what I have to do; my friend there's
always time for you.

~Anonymous

Nine Lives

Recently I shared my story with a reader here.
Yes, I am a wife, a mom of 2 grown children, and grammie to one little guy.
                     After helping my husband finish school and having my children in school                    I returned to school at 40, receiving my degree at 42 in apparel design. 
At 60 I started Marmalady's and retired at 65 from the apparel world.
But do I rest now?  I don't think it is in me to rest.
I often think I would like to be a "cat" with 9 lives.
My list is long of the things yet to come.
Oh the places I would like to go and things I would like to do.

This week I took my 93 year old aunt to see her new apartment.
She loved seeing it so she could dream of how she would decorate it.
Still she has things to do and dreams to come true.

Do you dream of places to go and things to do?
Happy weekend, dear friends!
May your dreams all come true..................

The photo is of Joey laying next to the metal box I recently found at a junk sale.

Laugh and Play

 

When I was a child this would have been me, rolling down a hill
 and running barefoot through the apple orchard.
Last week I visited the historic orchard on Sauvie Island,
the one I shared with you in the Spring.
Now it was heavy with apples and pears to pick.
There were children playing there.
There were those grown-ups playing too with their buckets for picking.
I played by walking through the orchard and admiring the fruit with my camera.
It does my heart good to get out and play in the orchard.
It returns my heart to that of my childhood.

I do hope you find time to laugh and play.
What would it be?

Open House

 

 

Open house for a new hotel in my neighborhood.
Now it isn't an ordinary hotel, as you can see.
It is a cluster of tiny houses, Caravan, the tiny house hotel.
www.tinyhousehotel.com
It's the first of it's kind and so far people are loving it.
There are only three in the cluster with a fourth on it's way.
If anyone was interested in living in a tiny house,
this would be the way to test it out.
Could you live in a tiny house?
Though the concept is intriguing to me,
I am not sure I could live this way on a regular bases.
They were fun to see.