Scrap inspired

Bits and pieces laying around came together for me yesterday.  

Wish that happened more often.

 

Postcard Challenge week 21

After weeks of absence from Darcy's postcard challenge, I have finally found my characters. 

Apparently they had been spending some time together in the English countryside. 

Their relationship has definitely made some big changes. 

Maggie writes:

Thadeus,
  The past few weeks have been like a dream. I pinched myself this morning just to make sure. I miss you already. I thought this painting would remind you of our week in the country. The stonewalls. The picnic. The inn.
Hurry back to me....
           Always- Maggie

Ah... the excitement of new love. 

This weeks page is pretty simple. Aged papers and doily scraps.

 

Ruffle scarf and rainy days

I finally got a half way decent picture taken of my latest scarf.

 It's so dark and dreary that my usual photo op spots just wouldn't work.

We are definitely out of the drought...

I dumped 4.2 inches out of our rain gauge this morning...and it's raining again.

I've started on a blue one for Little J. I was surprised at her choice of color...usually she's all about the bright and wild colors. Her newest thing is to wear two different colored socks. I'm glad she marches to the beat of her own drummer!! I'm like that now but definitely wasn't as a kid.

 

Soup for Tea Tuesday

After working out this morning I was hungry. I didn't want to completely ruin my workout by having a lot to eat.  I made my favorite quick go-to light meal these days. 

Miso soup with tofu. I found this great instant miso. Just 1 TBSP to 1 cup of water. I add some chunks of tofu and it's good to go.

No, I'm not going vegetarian.... I just really enjoy miso with tofu. 

I had my soup then went to knitting where I finished another scarf!

I'll take pictures and share tomorrow. 

I need to get outside and plant the rest of my flowers. 

Plus stop by Kimmies and see what my friends are up to today.

What's keeping you busy today?

 

Meet Gracie...

We adopted her yesterday.

All we planned to do on Saturday was pick up some more fish for the tank and we ended up applying to adopt a cat.

Crazy how things work sometimes.

She's almost 2 yrs old. She had the name Grace but we thought Gracie sounded a bit cuter.

Both myself and J have cat allergies but only to certain cats.

We had J pet the cat then rub his hands on his face. In the past, if he's allergic, he'd start sneezing and getting itchy eyes almost immediately. 

No reaction.

I also didn't have any reaction.

It was meant to be.

She has very pretty markings.

This is what she's been doing most of today...

basking in the sun, watching the birds and bugs fly around.

Pretty simple life...

The really strange thing was, in the adjoining cages there were cats named Halle and Tika....not very common names!! I have a cousin named Tika. It would have been just to strange to take that pair home...plus if they were anything like Tika and I, they'd have gotten into a lot of mischief. :) 

 

Garden and treasured tea

It's that busy time of year. 

Getting the garden prepped and planted. 

I started with my herbs that hang along the deck. I was able to over winter both a thyme and a flat leaf parsley this year. Additionally I started seeds early this Spring and picked up a couple small plants at the greenhouse yesterday. 

We love having fresh herbs in our food.

I have 12 tomato plants this year of 4 varieties that I started from seed back in mid-March. 

Six live here... along with some green onions and basil I'm hoping will sprout.

The other six are in the "big garden". They are sharing space with green beans, snow peas, kohlrabi and jalapenos.

I got the fence up immediately this year so  the wildlife wouldn't get any snacks from me.

This morning I saw that one of my book purses was this Etsy treasury.

Just had to share...makes me happy when something I've created is appeciated.

Lots of fun stuff was featured....

Are you gardening this year?

Thanks for stopping by for Tea Tuesday with Kimmie and the gang.

 

Journal pages

Over the weekend I was inspired to do a bit of art journaling. 

Not sure that it will actually become a "project" but it was nice to play.

 

Ruffle scarf and knitting success

I completed another ruffle scarf yesterday while at knitting group.

Thank goodness I was there because I was knitting away and came to the end of the skein without realizing it. My "teacher" Pat had to do some "tinking"...which is knitting backward...to fix my mistake. 

Isn't it pretty?!?! 

It's going to be a gift but I know she never visits me here. :)

 

I also learned...or re-learned from Pat...how to cast on stitches with regular yarn. 

When I got home a watched a YouTube video on how to purl so now I can do this!!! Hooray!

I still need to learn to keep my stitches looser but I just so excited that it has finally clicked for me. 

Tea with gifts

I was a very fortunate girl this year. 

I received so many unexpected but certainly appreciated birthday gifts. 

The first which was an early gift from my in-laws. Its a floating tea infuser and birdie lemon squeezer.

The floating tea infuser works really slick! 

Cutting the lemon to fit in the birdie was a bit of fussy work but I can't complain about how nicely it squeezed all the juice right into the cup. 

The day before my birthday I opened a sweet little ATC book from my dear friend Elizabeth. 

Here's a link to the post she wrote that has wonderful scans of each page.  

Thanks Elizabeth!!!

  

 
 

My daughter made me this card...

The front said Guess what day it is?

Inside was a nibble of chocolate from her Easter candy stash and a coupon "good for one chore done by Little J" 

How sweet is that.

 

When we got home from shopping and picking up sushi...YUM!....I found this plant on the front step with with a note that said:

" Happy 40 day "  and was not signed.

Lucky for me my neighbor doesn't have a very good poker face, so when I asked if she had any idea who dropped it off, she gave her hubby away.

I also got a double-decker plate of Special K bars from a friend of the family who's know me from birth. I don't have a picture because I knew I had to share the wealth of those very quickly or I'd be spending extra time at Curves working them off my butt. The neighbors teenage boys helped devour them in short order.

Oh yeah and some spending money from my mom. WOO-HOO...who doesn't love cash!

Like I said, I was a very fortunate girl.

What are you doing today? 

I know I'm going to pop over to Kimmie's blog to have some virtual tea with my friends. 

Care to join us??

 

It's my birthday....

another big one! 

Time certainly does speed up the more years that go by.

I haven't had some weird mid-life crisis such as wanting to take up sky-diving or get a motorcycle. 

No tattoos, although I did dye my hair pink for breast cancer awareness last October.

Later we are going to have 

my favorite meal...

SUSHI !!