Tuesday Tea!

It's been so long I almost forgot about Tuesday Tea! I visited Collete and was reminded! So I'm hopping to visit the rest of the ladies after I post!

I'm enjoying a small pot of decaf black and Publix Lullaby, in my favorite hand painted Nippon cup, on my back porch and eating fresh Loquats from a neighbor's front yard!  So sweeet!

I have a question for all you tea drinkers and herb growers and users out there... I have planted some herbs in my new yard... I used to grow many more than I have now.. I grew scented geraniums, basils, mints and lemon balms... all that taste wonderful steeped in tea..

I just planted this lovely French Lavender... I know it is used in sachets and cosmetics and such... but can it be eaten? I've not read anywhere that says it has use in cooking. I've seen teas with "lavender," but I don't know if the ingredient is what I have or something else called lavender. I'd love to be able to steep some in my tea... but I don't want to poison myself either...

Anyway... It's so good to be back among my blogging and tea drinking friends! Be sure to visit them all at Kimmie's!  If I don't get around to all of you tonight, I'll be back Thursday night! Happy Tea Tuesday!

New Home... New Beginnings...

I've missed you all... It's amazing how you can miss people that you've never even met! Thank you all my friends for your greetings and concern and curiosity...

We've moved into our new home and have been trying to organize all of our stuff.... I have my own studio and my husband has his desk area off the kitchen... We have a wonderful screen porch and a lovely front entryway.  One drawback... our yard is pea gravel.  It was all the rage in the 70s when the house was built, but I've been working in the planting beds along the front of the house and the entryway.  I've planted roses and petunias, Mexican sage, French lavender, lemon balm, rosemary, savory, thyme, geranium and citronella.  I also a few varieties of basil yet to plant. My neighbor has cheerfully provided some garden ornaments for my use (they were in her trash)... a 3 foot tall Roman column and one to match, only it was broken in half... so I planted some little petunia like flowers inside it. She also threw out a short stout column that I plan to put a urn on. I also have a beautiful red mandavilla vine to plant on the tall column.  Pictures to come!

Searching...

I've been somewhat absent in my blogging and blog hopping lately. There is a good reason... A week ago a representative for my landlady (Violet) called and said that she had passed away. She was a lovely elderly woman that we've rented our home from for six years. Anyway, the trust that now owns the house has to be liquidated in order to disperse her estate to her heirs. The house is not in a neighborhood that we really would want to buy in, plus, with massive medical bills over the past two years (my motorcycle wreck and my husbands winning battle with cancer), we aren't in a position to buy, so... we've been searching for another house to rent. The agent we have knew and worked with Violet, so she knows our situation and has been showing us very comparable homes. Anyway... until we find a place and complete the move, I will be hit or miss with my blogging. One benefit for you is that, we are going to have to downsize... That means DESTASH! So when I finally do my giveaway, there will be lots of things to giveaway. So stay tuned!

Haiku my Heart....

a thrifted teapot...
assam, green, rooibos, oolong?
hmmm... which will I brew?
DDD2011

For more Friday haiku visit Haiku my Heart. 

Tuesday Tea...

Evening tea drinkers... Tonight's tea is Celestial Seasonings Madagascar Vanilla Red. It's African Rooibos with vanilla flavor.  I love vanilla.  Anyway... I'm getting ready to head south for work tomorrow... packin' my big tapestry bag.  Its design has wine bottles and labels on it.  I love that bag, and since I pack light and wear dresses that don't need ironing, it's perfect for me.  I don't have any tea related photos this evening, so I'm reposting an old digital collage... Enjoy!

Please visit Kimmie and the rest of the Tuesday Tea participants here.

Happy Valentines Day...

Hope you all have/had a wonderful Valentines Day...
It was a lovely day here...

Haiku my Heart...

For color...we wait...
For new growth... new life... we wait...
For spring's warmth... we wait...
DDD2011

For more Friday haiku visit Haiku my Heart.

Tuesday Tea...

I missed tea with everyone last week... but I'm here tonight... drinking my Tazo Rest.  It's pretty chilly outside tonight here in Florida.  I was going through some boxes this week and ran across a vintage tea pot I had forgotten about... Yeah, I know... Me? Forget about a tea pot? Well it happens once in a while. I was actually looking for my depression glass sugar bowl and creamer, which I found and "married" to the found tea pot!

They make a fine looking set... don't you think?

So what have I been up to lately? Well, I've been getting to know Geraldine...

Meet Geraldine, my new sewing machine.  She's named after my Aunt Geraldine or "Sis" as we all called her.  She was a phenomenal seamstress.  She could make anything out of fabric and thread.  When she lived in Washington state during the Korean War, she managed the Eddie Bauer sewing department.  Her husband, my Uncle Jay was over there serving in the Army.  The troops were having problems with their faces, mainly eyelashes, freezing.  She did some research and found that Badger fur did not freeze.  So she designed a parka with Badger fur around the face portion of the hood.  It solved the troops problem with the cold... and earned her a bonus... $500 I think, but back then that was a good amount of money... Still is for me...

I'll post what I've been making with Geraldine later this week.  Don't forget to visit the other Tuesday Tea participants. You can find them at Kimmie's.

Withdrawing from OWOH...

Due to reasons I don't wish to go into, I am withdrawing from the One World One Heart event.  I apologize to those that have visited and left comments, but I'm deleting my OWOH post, so that there will be no misunderstandings.  I welcome you all to my blog anytime and I hope to see you again. For those that are my followers, I will include the two paintings in my own 100 followers celebration later this week. Thanks so much for being here.
Sincerely,
Dianne

Thank you!

I have been working a lot and I set up at the wine fest yesterday, so I haven't been posting. I'll be playing catchup later today, what I've been working on (I've been playing with my new sewing machine) and small stones that I have in my notebook (and on small scraps of paper).

I just wanted to say a quick thanks to all of you, my blogging friends! Thank you for all of your support and comments and for just being my friends. I love the fact that this community of lovely people represents so many different parts of the world and at the same time represents shared interests and a closeness of spirit that sometimes astounds me.

I haven't forgotten my giveaway either, so stay tuned for that! I love you all!

Dianne