Friday Haiku...

I'm parched...

(photo source: livedynamite.com)

Prayers grow skyward...
trunk, limb, twig, leaf, flower... then
seeds of zen rain down...
DDD2011

Fill you heart with haiku here:
Haiku my Heart

Tuesday Tea...

I missed last week's tea... but I did get all my pretties into my hutch. Charmaine and I had a great time unpacking and placing... It was like Christmas!  So... as I sit here with my iced blackberry sage tea, I'll show you how it turned out.

Here it is from the other side of the table... Sorry I can't show you the entire hutch... it sits on tapered legs and has 3 drawers under neath.

My grandmother sits proudly on top with a few vintage pieces...

The top shelf holds my McCoy midcentury modern sets an art glass egg and lady's head vases...

my grandmother's silver glazed English pot, souvenir glasses and her cobalt crystal vases... Sorry about the glare... the middle doesn't open and the glass is curved so the glare is unavoidable...

Here are the other McCoy set and lady's head vase... Also throughout the hutch is my mother's Capodimonte porcelain flower collection.

The middle shelf holds various Asian teapots, including my Yixing pots from China and my grandmother's mayonnaise dish. Behind these are my antique dresser trays.  This one my great great aunt painted. Her initials are on the back with the year... S.E.B '93... That would be 1893!

This pot I got on Ebay and then later saw the same pot at a thrift store... before I moved here, Charmaine's friend had bought it for her... so we each have one! More Capodimonte roses... these are candle sticks. This dresser tray was on my grandfather's dresser...

More pots on the middle shelf... my little duck Yixing pot is here, as well as one of my childhood teapots. The painting was done by my late, sweet mother-in-law. It was in my husband's grandparents' house and she gave it to me when they went into the nursing home.

The lower shelf holds some very special stuff.... Here is a very, very delicate bone China tea set. Even the cups have little feet and the fluting on the tops is so pretty... There are no markings on this set, it is obviously hand painted and gold trimmed. It was passed down to my grandmother, who passed it down to me. Her crystal wine glasses are here too.

Here are all the violets! The cigarette case and ash trays, candy dish and coasters were handed down from my grandmother as well... The little round lustre vase is my hubby's and I found the taller one at a thrift store and bought it for him to match the other.

This tea set and fruit compote with saucer was purchased over a number of years from Woolworths by my grandmother. Service for 8 was bought a couple pieces at a time... including dinner, salad, bread and dessert plates, bowls, cups and saucers, fruit compotes and saucers, the tea set, gravy boat, serving bowls and platters... Have I forgotten any??? The labels on the back of these dishes range from "Nippon" to "Made in Occupied Japan" to "Made in Japan." When Charmaine and I had tea and unpacked everything, I used the cup and saucer from this set. Of course... this shelf is rounded out with more Capodimonte flowers... My mother loved them!

I hope you enjoyed your tour of my China hutch! Happy Tea Everyone! Please visit Kimmie to see what everyone else is up to this Tuesday!

Friday Haiku...

(Photo by Paul Williams - visit his website here)

morning mist settles
heavy on crystaline wings
grounding dancing flight
DDD 2011

for more Friday haiku visit Rebecca at Haiku my Heart

Tuesday Tea...

Just before we moved a few months ago, the little tab on the skeleton key broke off in my hutch lock... So... the door has been locked with no way of opening it. When I packed everything up, I had to use a bent up coat hanger to retrieve teapots and such from the right side of my hutch, as I can't reach all the way across the front of it from the other door... Just this past week, the hubby was able to get it opened... of course by cutting the bar, but he was able to do so without damaging the door any further.

So... here's my empty hutch...

Tomorrow I plan to invite my neighbor over for tea and finally unpack my teapots, sets and other "hutchables" and place them in their places of honor...  I'll be sure to get photos of the process and of the hutch with all it's belongings...  So Happy Tea Tuesday! I'm going to have to brew more Rooibos for ice tea.. It's quite refreshing and has no caffeine, so it's great for evenings.

Don't forget to visit Kimmie to see what the other Tuesday Tea-ers are up to!

Butterflies from Heaven...

A paper butterfly for "The Butterfly Effect Project."

Please see my sidebar for the link or click here.

These 3 are painted in oils on gessoed scrapbook paper. They are about 3 x 6 inches.

My plan is to have them matted together as they appear here.

The one in the middle is a Zebra Longwing... the state butterfly of Florida. The others are longwings too, but I would need to look them up to tell what they are. Enjoy!

Friday Haiku...

Photo by Paul Williams

from wooded cover...
doe-eyed curiosity...
boldly approaches...
DDD2011

To read more Friday Haiku visit Rebecca at Haiku My Heart.

Experimentation...

I've seen such cool paintings lately of birds and flowers against a collaged and/or "modern" background, so I decided to experiment with it. Meet the "Red Knight." Titled for the pages decoupaged and peeled on the hardboard support.

I then mixed clear gesso with a sage green acrylic paint and washed the background with it. The paint drips, smudges and circles are acrylic paint and the Knight himself is done in oils. I wish I could get all his wonderful colors in the photo... but that's something I need to work on. He has violet, plum, lavender, orange and yellow highlights. I'm thrilled with the bird, but the jury is still out on the background.

As for the water damage in my office... Thanks so much for your words of encouragement. Actually I was lucky in that my files, computer and personal things survived... Well most of it anyway... I had a Van Gogh poster (The Iris Garden) that apparently didn't survive... It's just gone... and I can't find my college diploma. It was hanging on the wall along with my planning certificate, which survived undamaged... so I'm hoping that my diploma was packed away by the restoration contractor along with my wedding picture that was hanging below it. The grandchildren photos on my desk survived... so again, I'm hoping my diploma is just packed away somewhere. My art dolls and other artwork survived as well... also my little Airstream trailer model (my retirement motivation) and the teapots that I had there are fine.

Unfortunately... on my way home, after moving files and such to a temp office... I was waiting to turn left into my neighborhood and someone pulled out from a stop sign and hit my poor little "Black Olive" car. This time... it's undrivable... Sheesh... A couple months ago, I hit a street sign and landed in a ditch to avoid hitting a bicyclist (in a hard plastic neck brace no less... he couldn't turn his head... do you think he even could have seen me???)... hence the "poor" little car.  I love my little car. Is there no end to my bad luck???? I feel like Schleprock!!!

Mr. Jay

I don't think he's finished yet... but here he is...

This photo doesn't show his wonderful colors...deep blue hues (of course), violets, lavenders and yellows too. I think he's very "painterly," which is what I've been trying to achieve. I'll get better photos later... maybe after he's finished.

For now... I have to head to my office to salvage what I can from the water damage. 

Tuesday Tea...

My holiday weekend was extended! I got a phone call from work yesterday saying that my building had water damage due to a malfunctioning sprinkler system. We aren't to return to work until Wednesday! Paid administrative leave! How cool is that! It was great for me, because I was sick in bed all weekend with an ear infection. I was finally able to get to a doctor today... So... I went by the bookstore and found this book...

I am enjoying it so much I'm more than 1/2 way through already! It's a wonderful read... especially if you love gardening, cooking, magic and hope! So I'm drinking iced Rooibos tea and reading... It's been a lovely afternoon... and I won't give away the ending of the book... I can't... I haven't finished it yet!

Happy Tuesday my friends! Please visit Kimmie to see what our other Tuesday Tea drinkers are up to! I'll be visiting later... but for now I'm getting back to my book!

Friday Haiku...

Haiku My Heart....

Photo by Russ Hanson

Bright but silent horns
await the winged symphany
of a feathered song...
DDD 2011

For more Friday haiku, visit Haiku my Heart.