Teacup Tuesday

Pansy Cup and Saucer

     Welcome to Teacup Tuesday! This is one of my Pansy teacups. I actually have an entire set of dishes in this pattern that I absolutely adore. I had found several pieces of this USA pattern here and there, but found a huge set with lots of pieces including dinner plates, berry bowls, vegetable bowls, platters in two sizes, a gravy boat, creamer, lidded sugar and of course teacups and saucers. I got lucky since it was half off and quite a great bargain at a local resale shop. I've been collecting pansy dishes for years and have other individual pansy items, but this set of dishes is one of my favorites. I like to pair these dishes with the green block optic depression glass dishes I have, they look beautiful together on the table. Not all, but some of the pieces have USA impressed into the back, so I assume they are all made in the USA, but not sure about their history, though I have googled it and tried to find out when they were made and where. If you have any idea, I love to know more about them.
    Thanks for stopping by, hope you have a most lovely and charming day! If you click on the Teacup Tuesday link in my sidebar, it will take you to the master list of participants this week.

Feeling Better, Baking and Journaling

Orange Pecan Muffins

     So far so good. I keep feeling better each day and thanks to my Mom and family, I think I'll be in great shape by next weekend for my daughter's graduation party. The morning seems to be the roughest time for me, the incisions ache then, but after some motrin and moving around, they feel much better by noon. Since I have to spend time upright, but can't go far, I spent some time baking today. Orange Pecan Muffins and a "cherry" version of Carrot Raisin Bread, both recipes featured in the October 1998 issue of "Cooking Light" magazine. Although both recipes are low in fat, I think the Carrot Raisin Cherry bread came out much better than the muffins. I replaced the raisins in the bread with dried cherries from Benjamin Twiggs

Cherry Carrot Quick Bread

and used Eggbeaters in place of the one egg in both recipes. The bread tasted a lot like carrot cake, my hubby loved it! The muffins were just ok, kind of on the dry side and not very flavorful, maybe they needed the fat from that one yolk. Still, I made an orange glaze for the muffins and that did make them better. It tired me out though, I had to go lay down after all that baking!
     I pulled out my visual journal train case full of art supplies for a while today. I worked on some of my pages in the journal I created in Teesha Moore's class. It felt good to play again. I hope to start using it daily now that I'm feeling up to it. So many things I want to do, this surgery stuff is so very inconvenient! Also need to get ready for the Wine, Food and Art show on the 21st this month. Right after my daugher's party I'll be in jewerly fabrication mode. So short post today, off to work on the "Honey-Pecan Crusted Chicken" with my mom...hope it tastes as good as it looks...

Recovery and Foodie Friday

     It is now Friday and I've been on the mend since Tuesday from my gall bladder surgery. I've been so lucky to have my mom here helping me out with everything. She is such a trooper! The little incisions were especially painful the first few days, but are just "sore" now. I'm only taking motrin, the darvocet made me feel way too woozy and loopy. Never been a fan of those narcotic type pain killers. I've spent time watching movies and sleeping, getting up to walk around several times a day as directed. I miss sleeping on my side, but won't be long I'm sure. I am itching to work on my visual journal, but the position I have to sit in just isn't conducive, same with the ATC's, so just biding my time till I can play with my stuff again too. I've been reading through a wonderful Cooking Light cookbook I have, since the gall bladder thing is what I consider a wake up call from a higher power concerned about the direction I've been taking with my diet and nutrition. So, in an effort

Honey-Pecan Crusted Chicken

to make some smarter choices in the future, I'm getting into the spirit with some great new recipes. There is a wonderful Honey-Pecan Crusted Chicken recipe I can't wait to try and another chicken pot pie recipe I know my family will love. They are pretty good about eating most of what I make, no matter what country has inspired the dish, so I'm lucky, or they are, however you choose to look at it.

     I also ordered some new spices from The Spice House, which I mentioned last Friday, I was out of tarragon and chipotle chile powder. But now that I think about it, it's Friday and that means time to mention some of my favorite foodie

places/stuffs. If you are in Traverse City, and you love to cook, don't miss Folgarelli's, Mary's Kitchen Port or Oryana, which is the local food co-op. Mary's offers some wonderful food to go, like their Ceaser Chicken Sandwich, Chicken Spaetzle soup and Maytag Bleu Cheese Slaw, all wonderful goodies. They also have some fantastic cooking equipment and great knives. And there is the chocolate case, gorgeous bon bons to give or indulge in yourself.
     Folgarelli's is another foodie landmark in Traverse City. They have the best selection of imported cheeses and Italian meats or charcuterie. They also have a great selection of olive oils and pastas and offer sandwiches to go as well, though I have never bought one myself, my hubby has and really likes them. The shop has old wooden floors and is always a fun stop, though I never get out of there without spending at least $40. But you can't keep me away.
     Oryana is the last place I'll mention. It is a huge co-op and offers lots of excellent organic and local produce as well as bulk grains, dried fruits and nuts. They have the best yogurts in town, homemade dolmas, hummus and specialty juices. I also never leave that place without spending at least $40, but I get a decent amount of food for that. Their international food stuffs are extensive too, whether I need Japanese, Indian or Mexican ingredients. And they have a lovely little cafe where you can grab a quick bite of something delicious, I love it.
     So there is my list of great foodie places for today. Hope you get a chance to check them out someday.

Scoping and Subconscious Battling

     Yesterday was filled with nothing but clear fluids and my colonoscopy prepping, so if that doesn't sound remotely interesting to you, I advise you to skip my blog for the next couple of days, since I'll be consumed by my scoping procedures and gall bladder removal. Fun stuff...
The procedure this morning, scoping top and bottom made me anxious all week, even though I heard that you don't remember it at all and feel no pain after, usually, but still, seems so invasive to me. Anyway, I was a good patient, followed the prep to the letter and arrived on time this morning at 9 a.m. They got me right in, gowned up and placed the IV port in my arm. Then I walked to the room where I would have the procedure, and was given a "shot" to knock back of anesthesia for my throat. I had to gargle with it first and then drink it. It was a clear thin liquid that tasted like anebesol, delish! Almost couldn't swallow it! There were two nurses in the room and one called the other the "bartender," the one who handed me the shot, so I told her "no tip!" Then I lay down on my side, feeling like there was a lump in my throat from the nasty anesthesia and trying to swallow anyway. When the Dr. arrived, he squirted some cherry flavored anesthesia on my vocal cords, twice, since I didn't open up wide enough the first time, and I gagged both times on that stuff...but it was at least cherry flavored right?
     Back onto my side, they hooked up the anesthesia to the IV port and I don't remember anything else about the procedure. The next thing I know, my hubby's face is close by and it is time to go home, yeah. I was sooo woozy! He had to help me big time. As soon as we got home, I went to bed and slept for at least 2-3 hours, I'm not sure. Next thing I know, my nurse is quietly knocking on my door, my mother actually, she came to take care of me this week while hubby has to work. I got up and still felt very woozy. Spent the day sitting around, trying to let the slightly drunk feeling pass, without much success. No pain whatsoever though, would never know I had the scoping done today. The results: colon is all clear (yeah!)but they found a paraesophogeal hernia and some polyps in my stomach. Of course I've never had any problems with my digestion or heart burn, save for during my pregnancies after the fourth month, so don't know what's next regarding those things.
     And now to my incredible subconscious battle. My hubby tells me that the nurse told him that because my gag reflex wasn't quite under control and that I was gagging, I was trying to get off the table! Yup, even sedated, out of my head, my body knew something wrong was being done to it and it tried to fight back. I was so glad to hear that,  you have no idea. My self knows to get itself out of a bad situation, even under sedation. I, of course, have no recollection of this insane event, me in my gown, with a plastic thing stuck in my mouth to protect my teeth, hooked up to a pressure cuff on one arm, an IV on the other, doing my best to overcome two nurses and a Dr...wish they had videotaped it. I'm so proud of me!
     Getting ready now for my 5:30 a.m. curtain call at the hospital for my gall bladder removal. Special soap I have to shower with tonight and tomorrow morning, no food or drink after midnight(I'm not a gremlin!), and then getting up with the sunrise, so that makes two from my list of four that I want to see on my list of "44 things I want to do before I turn 45." I think I'll add "have something removed from my body" too now...
     And lastly, the photo up top is the ATC card I sent to my partner this month. Created with water color, acrylics, gold leaf, collage and marker.

Berry Picking and Freezer Jam

Newly picked black caps (black raspberries)

      Still hot and humid this morning when we got up, so we were lazy about getting on the road to pick berries and got a late start. My DH and I took our youngest and headed to Putney's in Benzonia, to pick black caps, golden raspberries and red raspberries, we thought. We packed up our tray and bowls along with a cooler for our booty, so we were all set. When we got to the patch, we realized that there was only a smidge of goldens, gooseberries and almost no red raspberries left! They were so dried out, all this heat we have had just did a number on them. However, there were still a lot of good looking black caps, or black raspberries to be had, which have become my favorite type of raspberry, so lucky me! We picked till our fingers looked like we'd just murdered someone, very red and dripping with 

goldens, reds, blackberries and gooseberrie

juice because some of the berries were overripe and just burst in our fingers. My youngest made a new friend and picked a few of the other kinds of berries that were in very short supply.
     After we got home, we cooled off, because we were exhausted from the heat and humidity, and later in the evening, I made some freezer jam and then froze the rest, about 4 pints or more for later. I picked out the best goldens and made a half jar of jam in the microwave. The rest will be made into a mixed berry jam tomorrow. I love picking fruit and canning, so this would normally be a really fun day all the way around, but we were just dying by the time we finished! I hope the weather cools a bit or at least the humidity dies down a bit so we can get back out for blueberries, which are ready and black berries, which will be ready in another week or two. On my blog post with the list of "44 things to do before I turn 45," I have "can ten different" things on the list, which means that after tonight I have three down with seven more to go.
     If you are interested in picking your own fruits and veggies in Northwest Michigan, check out the pdf, Taste the Local Difference which has a great directory by county of all the U-pick farms in the area.

Foodie Friday

     So from now on I've decided to post my favorite food finds on Fridays. I had fun on facebook last night chatting about foodstuffs and it makes me want to talk about it some more of course! With my restricted diet (until after my gall bladder surgery and recovery next week), I am more than happy to just "talk" about food for now. Let me start with some of my favorite places to get "the goods." Number one is Benjamin Twiggs. They are the oldest purveyor of cherry products in Michigan. The very best dried cherries I've ever tasted, and I have conducted my own taste test to be sure, along with Cherry Festival Preserves, Cherry Salsa and Cherries Foster. The Cherry Festival Preserves are not so sweet as others I've tried and full of tart cherries, I love it on toast, muffins, between layers of cake, in cookies and with some balsamic vinegar, melted and cooked down as a sauce for pork and poultry. They have other lovely foods too, a light and delicious Cherry Poppyseed Vinaigrette, Cherry Honey Mustard and Black Cherry Preserves among other fabulous things. I love it all and send it to family for Christmas. And they ship everywhere!

     Another place I love to visit is Fustini's. They offer the most incredible selection of flavored/infused balsamic vinegars and infused olive oils that I have ever had. I currently own "Wild Mushroom and Sage" and "Persian Lime" olive oils and "Pineapple," "Cherry," "Peach" and "Ginger Honey" balsamics. These are amazing on salads, veggies, meats, desserts (the balsamics), you name it. When you go in the shop, they have "tastings" and it just blows you away, you want to drink it and bathe in it too, quite the experience.And I am not exaggerating in the least!

     Lastly today, I am a huge fan of the The Spice House in Milwaukee. They have other locations in the area, but just a couple. When I used to attend the Bead and Button Show in Milwaukee, I would stop there and load up on spices and dried herbs. My favorites from them include their Garam Masala, a fabulous Indian mixture that is unique to their shops, their own Maharajah style Curry Powder (this stuff is amazing in pumpkin soup!), the exquisite grade paprika (not always available), Himalayan Pink salt, dried Green Bell Pepper and Cocoa Nibs. They also ship, so I have ordered online whenever I run out of my favorites.
     That's it for today. Hope you get a chance to check these places out, even if you don't like to cook, they offer gifts for family and friends that do! Bon Appetit!

Blissful ATC Swap update 2

     So today my very first ATC arrived in the mail! I love it, thank you Francie!!! And guess what? I have lost my camera...I took it to a restaurant on Tuesday evening and haven't seen it since that evening. I think I left it in my hubby's rental car, which is with him, and it is probably under the seat. I called the restaurant and no camera...oh say a little prayer everyone, even though my flash is on the fritz, I do love my little camera. The photo is with my phone camera, not too bad. Our theme this month was "sisters."  The back of the ATC says "Sister by birth or by bond we travel lifes road together." It is an acrylic painting, isn't it just wonderful?!

Art o Mat

     Well if this isn't just the most amazing and cool idea! Someone has gone and refurbished old cigarette machines and turned them into "art" vending machines! Apparently they are all over the US and world. $1 gets you an original piece of art about the size of a pack of cigarettes! I see there is one down in Ferndale, Michigan, so next time I'm down that way I'm going to see if I can find it! The website has a listing of locations and a great little gallery with photos of the refurbished machines, which are fabulous pieces of art themselves! Go on, check out Art O Mat.

p.s. Just informed that the price has gone up to $5.00, but still a deal for a piece of art in my opinion!

Blissful ATC Swap update

Orange Inspiration

    I had so much fun creating my first ATC over the weekend, can't wait to see what comes in the mail this week! Our theme this month was "sisters." Next month it is "orange," a color that has become one of my favorites the older I get, isn't that strange? Orange was one of my least favorite colors for years, but over the last ten years, it has become one I love, so vibrant and happy, and it looks great with blues, purples, yellows, greens...you name it. Although I have a bazillion things to do now that I'm home, I will be making time to start the new ATC and to work in my new visual journal!!!

     I have another photo from the workshop this past weekend. One taken at Thai Chili, it is a group of students I had lunch with. I met Bailey from Paw Paw, Michigan at the workshop and we had lunch together a couple times. It is hard when you take a workshop for so many days and don't know anyone, thankfully Bailey was happy to get to know me and risk having lunch with me too...we always had good food and fun.

Home Again, Home Again, Jiggedy Jigg...

     Back from my adventures in Visual Journaling. Although it was a seven day expedition, it felt like a whirlwind escapade. Of course I squeezed in an overnight with one of my oldest and best friends Maggie, a four day stay at a lovely B&B on Lake Erie, a three day workshop with Teesha Moore and an overnight visit with my wonderful parents...I do seem to pack a lot of living into my days.

    First photo is of me and Maggie at Anita's Kitchen in Ferndale. We had some excellent food here, Greek salad, hummus and a spinach and cheese pizza, can't wait to go back again after my ridiculous gall bladder is removed and I'm all healed up! We also stopped at Utrecht's, an art supply store where I finally found a bookbinders awl. The A/C was out and I wondered if any of the oil based art supplies would suffer any "melting" or "separation." Guess I'll never know. It was just wonderful to catch up. Maggie was my maid of honor when I got married and is also my oldest son's godmother. But all my kids call her Aunt Maggie and she doesn't forget any of their birthdays, she is amazing! She has two cats that

I really like, Joey, the grey tabby, who is very young and funny and Finnbar, black and white, who is twelve and quite tolerant of the "kitten." Joey launched himself at my bedroom door after I went to bed and actually got it almost open, even with a weight leaned against it! Maggie says he likes to bring toys to bed, lol, and I needed to get some sleep. Finnbar is very cool and laid back, and they both adore Maggie. My flash is still on the fritz, so the kitty photos are grainy, but you can still get a good look at them.

          So although there is more to my adventure, I'm going to switch gears and mention one of my all time favorite shows, "Pushing Daisies." I'm watching some old episodes on Netflix for the Wii and I have to say, I am soooo very sad they canceled this show. It is so clever, creative and just plain fabulous! Why oh why is it gone now? The sets were so colorful and surreal, I wish I could live in them. And the whole "Pie Hole" shop is just so yummy, makes me want to eat pie everyday. It is such a fun and absolutely delightful show, it never fails to inspire me and leave me feeling happy and joyful. And the colors, the scenes are drenched with it, bursting with outrageous and decadent color! If you get a chance to watch one of the episodes, you'll see exactly what I mean. A delicious immersion into a world of mystery and make-believe...like Alice in Wonderland in some ways...I think I'll go dive back into another one!

Teesha, Thunderstom and Page Updates

     Day three of Teesha Moore's class and we worked on lettering and actually writing in our journals. I was still wrapped up in "collage" mode and had a hard time switching to writing. I wanted to write on my pages after I got home, when it is harder to do collage but easy to write with the time and space I have. Teesha was very kind and gave me lots of positive feedback, so I feel like I am on the right track. She very tolerantly allowed me to have a photo taken, something she does not enjoy, lol, but I can be a pain in the patootie when I want something. The woman with us is Sue. We are both staying at the bed and breakfast and met there the first night. We have been sitting next to each other in class and working on our journals back at the B&B each evening. She has taken a bazillion classes in all sorts of collage and visual journal type

techniques. She knows all the teachers and has participated in ATC swaps for quite a while and has a big collection. I really enjoyed hearing about all her experiences. A very talented and generous person I'm very glad to have met!
     I'm posting a few more photos of journal pages that I further embellished. It was fun to add the pen and marker details, though I always feel like I am not "done."  I only wrote a few things on a couple pages, so they will still develop further after I get home. If you ever have the chance to take a class with Teesha, I highly recommend it. She is a little on the shy side and does not really socialize with students over lunch or dinner, but she is very generous with her gifts and talents and shares it all. What more could a student ask for?

     After we got back to the ranch, a storm blew in over Lake Erie. It was very cool, though I couldn't catch any of the lightening with my camera. The clouds were still very scary though.  I could see the sheets of rain falling over the lake in the distance, like curtains, it was very cool. The front that came though brought a big wind too, knocking over the lounge chairs that were empty next to us. But did we run inside? No way, didn't want to miss the show of course. After the storm moved on, there was a fabulous rainbow and a stunning sunset. There is something so magical about a colorful sunset. It is awe inspiring as well as creative soul food. I wanted to swim in the colors that appeared tonight, though that may sound silly, that is the thought that popped into my head at the time.

     Lastly tonight, I finished up my first ATC, artist trading card, for my first swap, which has to be mailed out tomorrow! Talk about cutting it close. I had fun with it and will post photos next week. I have to wait till the recipient receives it before I can share a photo. So all in all, a tremendous day full of art, fun and beauty...life it good.
   

     And a Happy Birthday to my brother Rick!

Class, China Gate and Early Pages

     Today's second class with Teesha Moore was spent adding collage to the painted pages of our journals. I had cut up lots of pages and images before I left home, so I was well prepared. We also spent time learning about using various markers, pencils and Panpastels. The Sharpie Poster Paint markers are Teesha's favorites and of course I had zero of those. However, she brought some for us to work with and after class I headed over to Michael's craft store and bought a couple to use. We had homework tonight. To add lots of details with markers, gel pens, sharpies and pencils. I worked on a couple pages, but felt so fried, I didn't get as far as I would have liked. More tomorrow though.

     For lunch a few of us went to Mark Pi's China Gate, which was just a short walk from our class. The food was excellent, we all agreed. Very fresh and beautifully presented. I ordered Chicken and Snow Peas with some brown rice. The restaurant sign was really cool though. A light up mask that resembles a Mexican "luchador." My photos of the sign and food came out fuzzy, sorry about that, but my flash is not charging properly and the darker photos are not so crisp. Or I was moving when I took the photos, either way, they are fuzzy.

     I'm posting a few pages from the new journal before they have any shading, pen/marker details or words. So when you see them tomorrow, you'll see how much more was added to really bring them to life. I love this part, adding all the details and designs to modify the collage and really make it something more personal and vibrant. These should all be finished or almost finished by tomorrow night.
     A couple things about what we learned today. The Panpastels are cool, but expensive and some of the markers that Teesha likes do not write well on top of them. I have been using the Caran d'Arche Neocolor II Artist Crayons to add the shading to my pre-Teesha class journal pages with no problems adding any marker or pen details, so I think I am going to keep using what

works for me. I adore these crayons now that I have discovered then and hope to have the entire palette
someday, but they are pricey. I notice that a lot of the nicer art supplies are on the pricey side, but I really believe that for the most part, you get what you pay for.
     Teesha also talked about Derwent colorsoft pencils, which I also do not have, but will purchase tomorrow with my lucky 40% off coupon. She wasn't a huge fan of Prismacolors, although my son left his entire set at home that I could easily confiscate. Another point Teesha made was not to "overthink" the collage pieces. She works instinctively and because of that, she works fast! It was great to see how her mind was working as she created pieces as examples for the rest of us. You really have to let go of "shoulds" and "shouldn't," and just play, have fun and go crazy...

at least that is what I got out of it. This is a perfect activity for someone who doesn't like to do the same thing over and over. And there is so much potential in everything. Menus, cards, newspapers, magazines programs, you name it, you can cut if up and use it. Of course, you don't want to become a "hoarder!"
     Lastly, the rain came this evening. Lots of dark clouds rolled in and I could see the rain falling over Lake Erie in the distance, it was very cool. Then the lightening jumped in and lit up the sky. Lucky for us, no power loss or other weather related problems. Hope weather is all cleared up for my drive home on Monday...

Teesha, Thai and Sunsets

     So today's class with Teesha Moore  started with the process of bookbinding. I have never done this before and it was challenging for a newbie, a labor of love is what I'm calling it. I'm sure it will get easier each time I make one, though I don't know how many I'll make, I may just continue to create visual journal pages and bind them up at a later date in a different way, we'll see. This first photo is the front of my new journal and the second photo is the back. I don't know if you can tell, but it is very dimensional. Several of the images, though not all, were glued to foam, just plain black fun foam, and then cut out and glued to the surface. They look very cool in person, I love it!

There are several of my own lampwork glass beads dangling as charms on the side. So glad I could incorporate some of them. We also painted as many of the interior pages as we could get to in the time allotted. I got fourteen pages, front and back painted, but still have one more page left. And although I have taken these photos of the journal covers, they are not quite finished. I still have embellishing to do using some markers and gel pens. Dots, swirls and stripes...so I'll be updating these photos eventually.
     We had a little escape for lunch, headed over to a most excellent little Thai restaurant called Thai Chili. I had an order of fresh basil rolls, similar to 

Vietnamese spring rolls, but with lots of fresh basil and no red meat. With a side of rice and a glass of cool Jasmine ice tea, it was a perfect lunch. I met a very nice woman from Paw Paw, Michigan and we walked over to have lunch together with another group of women in the class. They haven't taken any time to introduce everyone, I wish they would. Although we have name tags, we don't know where everyone is from or anything about what they do, it would be nice.

     Finally, got back to the B & B, had my half sandwich from last night's dinner for dinner with a glass of Chianti and then watched the sun go down. What a gorgeous sunset!  The sun became the most intense shade of neon orange as it hit the horizon, a color I've never seen before in all the sunsets I've watched in Traverse City and Austin. It was absolutely surreal. Sue, another student staying at the B & B agreed, so it isn't just me. I hope I get to see another one tomorrow and maybe at least one sunrise? Though that probably happens on the other side of the house. We'll see if I can get my booty up out of bed at 5:30 a.m....can't wait for tomorrow's class!

First ATC Swap!

     I signed up to participate in my first ever ATC swap this week. I bought a couple decks of cards at a garage sale to play with, but when I stopped at an Utrecht's art supply store in Royal Oak to get my Bookbinders Awl, well they had prepackaged ATC blanks for watercolors and other mediums and I decided to spring for a couple packages. Since I brought most of my art supplies with me and there is nothing on the itinerary tonight, this is what I am going to work on. I also have a Bloggerette Sorority rush piece to create, so that may be what I work on as well in the evenings here at the lovely B&B. If you are not familiar with ATC, otherwise known as Artist Trading Cards, check out the Wikipedia explanation. I also have a wonderful book I mentioned in an earlier post, (at least I think I did), called "artist Trading Cards" by Bernie Berlin, that explains them very well and is full of fabulous techniques to use to create your own. The thing I love about ATC's is that you don't buy them, at least you are not supposed to buy them, you trade them with other artists. They have to be the 2 1/2" x 3 1/2" size, but can have lots of depth and can be made from any materials, isn't that cool?  I think so and hope this ATC swap will be the first of many in my future. The only thing about this one is that I have to mail it out by the 19th, yup, that is Monday! Don't you love working under pressure? I do, seriously, I do my best work then, at least that is what I tell myself...lol.

Road Trip to Teesha Moore's Class

     So I left yesterday afternoon for Avon Lake, Ohio. Spent the night in Royal Oak, Michigan with one of my best friends, got up and did some garage "sailing" this a.m. and then got back on the road around 1:30. Thrilled to see the "Welcome to Ohio" sign since that meant only another 2 hours to go. The total trip is about 7 hours. After I got on the 80/90 Turnpike, it was pretty smooth sailing. Thank goodness I rented a car with good gas mileage and A/C, it was 95 degrees! The CD player did not work, but the radio was great, found lots of stations with music I like to sing a long with while driving. No accidents or major construction, how cool, right?

     So I made my way to the lovely Sunset Shores B&B in Avon Lake and I was greeted by this lovely tree lined canopy, I just love it! Something magical about driving or walking though a canopy of trees. We try to drive along this gorgeous winding and canopied road in the fall when the colors are peak up in Harbor Springs, it is breathtaking. But enough of the fall, I'm in no rush to go there, though it is my favorite season. My room is lovely, furnished with art deco waterfall furniture and with two great views of Lake Erie. The deck is perfect to watch a sunset or sunrise, which I plan on taking advantage of tonight! Don't you wish you were here? Teesha Moore's class starts at 10 a.m. tomorrow, I hope I can sleep, I'm soooo excited!!!

Her husband Tracy Moore is also teaching a class and both are full, so I'll get to meet a lot of new artsy type people this weekend. Big thanks to Ginny of Small Studio Productions for hosting such wonderful classes this year to celebrate her birthday all year long!

Home, Kindness and Packing up

     Home is one of my latest visual journal pages. I've been practicing using some of the supplies I bought for my class with Teesha Moore this weekend. I think I may do a darker color wash over the roof, it needs it, lol. I wish my house could fly around with me, like my parents motor home, I think it is just the coolest thing to travel with your home, like a snail. I am beyond excited about my upcoming roadtrip and class with Teesha. Ginny of Small Studio Productions is hosting this wonderful class, so major bowing down in her direction. I have packed up most of the art supplies for the class, now I just have to pack up my stuff, pj's, toothbrush and those sorts of things. I hope I don't forget anything.

     Kindess is another of my new journal pages, though I feel like I have a lot more to do with this page. Saving a lot of work for the class, where I can use some new techniques to finish some pages up. Going to burn some travel CD's tonight too. If you pass a woman singing her heart out in the car next to you, it is probably me, lol, I love to sing in the car.

Teacup Tuesday

     Discovered a lovely website today with a fun "Teacup Tuesday" chance to share photos of some of my favorite teacup and saucer sets. I collect them, lol, along with a whole lot of other things! This one is from my Block Optic depression glass collection (what did I tell you?) I actually use my collection on occasion for tea. I wish there was a place here in Traverse City that offered High Tea, but alas, I have to wait until I get downstate to indulge. There something so charming about plates full of finger sandwiches and miniature one or two bite desserts. Of course, I also love to prepare high tea at home, using all my well  loved dishes and tea accoutrements. And I get to break out my Victoria magazines and tea cookbooks to make some miniature delicious treats. I don't do it often, it takes time to whip up scones, cake, sandwich fillings and sometimes soup. But when I do, it brings me a great deal of pleasure.

Green Paper Challenge and Voodoo Cafe win.

     My submission for Green Paper's Miss Mary Hayes Challenge. You can go to her website to download the PDF of the images required for the challenge here. How fun is this? I can't believe how many creative challenges abound online to keep you thinking outside the box and to help you hone your design skills, I love it. And lots of giveaways too.
     On Notes from the Voodoo Cafe blog I was the lucky winner of a very cool travel journal that Ricë Freeman-Zachery gave away last week, how cool is that? And she has such a cool blog, I really enjoy reading it since she updates just about daily. I'm turning into a blog junkie, there are so many great things to read. Ok, this was just a quick drive by posting to get my challenge entry posted! Hasta!
     And here is a link to another giveaway from Robin's Egg Blues' Blog. Quite a nice little collection of goodies if you are the lucky winner!

Cherry Fest Parade, Kiddie Rides and the Reading Parlour

Family awaiting the big parade!

     My mom and dad came up to watch the National Cherry Festival Cherry Royal Parade with us on Saturday. The weather was gorgeous and we had great seats under a tree with lots of shade. That is my mom sitting next to my empty seat, and then my daughter with the blue hat, my dad and finally my sweet hubby, who got up at 4 a.m. to put the chairs out!  My favorite parts of the parade were the Woodland School float, a tribute to Sault Ste. Marie in the Upper Peninsula, The Scottville Clown Band, The Cherry Festival Chair-y Drill Team, the Elmer's "Pink Ribbon" cement mixer, another elementary school's tribute to Frankenmuth float and another band dressed up in black and yellow stripes like bumble bees. 

Elmer's "Pink Ribbon" Cement Mixer

If you take a photo of this cement mixer when you see it and go to their website and tell them where you saw it, they will donate $2 to breast cancer research. Pretty cool, eh?

Frankenmuth City Float

We used to live in Frankenmuth, Michigan. It is a cool town to explore. My hubby is German, so we had lots of fun being immersed in German culture for about eight months. Bronner's is the largest Christmas store in the U.S. if I'm not mistaken, you can get lost there!

Woodland School "Sault Ste. Marie" Float

The theme this year for all the elementary school floats appeared to be famous or historical Michigan cities. Sault Ste. Marie (pronounced Soo Saint Marie) is in Michigan's Upper Peninsula.

Scottville Clown Band

I look forward to seeing this band every year, they are very good and having so much fun! The clown get ups are just a riot too!

Bumblebee looking marching band whose name I cannot recall!

Their gear was so striking and they were pretty good too.

Kids on the Tilt-A-Whirl

     We took the kids to the Midway on Thursday so they could enjoy a few rides. They had a great time and we had a great time watching them have a great time, lol. I was never one for roller coasters or other thrill rides, but my kids enjoy them and I like to live vicariously these days.

 




And if you are wondering how my new "Reading Parlour" is coming along, here are a few more current photos. My mom and I had "tea" in it yesterday. I made finger sandwiches and used my tidbit server along with some pretty glasses for a little dessert wine. It was just lovely!