It's tea time again

Yes, it's that time again...so go ahead and make yourself a cup of tea. I'll wait for you and we'll share a few moments together.

Can you believe February is nearly over...gosh it seems like it just arrived. But on a positive note this means spring is just around the corner. I can't wait. I sure hope we can get together with family and friends...it's been way too long. I miss them. We are in the same boat...I know that in fact I thought about "Roomie" all day today because she and Dave had plans to see their daughter and grand daughter....oh gosh I sure hope they had a wonderful day...I am a bit envious.

Speaking of grands....I received a new picture of my grand "puppy ". Have I introduced you to Miss Ellie?

Oh yes I believe I did in a previous post...,,how flippin cute is she?! She's getting to be a big girl....going out alone without a leash...returns and waits at the door to come back in. What a good girl...hopefully I'll get to meet her soon. 

It's been bitter cold and snowy but we've had some beautiful sunsets.

I  never get tired of seeing them. Many of my friends post sun rises and they are stunning as well but I can't seem to get this butt out of bed to enjoy them.

My time is still being spent painting watercolors, doodling and cutting items to add to "happy mail". My anxiety level is not so high when working with this medium...very relaxing. Here is an example

A new project to try my hand at....crochet granny squares. I'm not much at crochet but recently as I scan my craft sites I've come across many with gorgeous colors and squares so I had to give it a shot. Here I go ....

this is what I accomplished in 1 weekend! 

Not very colorful but its just practice.

Here is what Jess did in the same amount of time.

I love all the colors. ! Some day!

Well I've come to the end of this post and I hope you've enjoyed our little chat. My tea is cold now so I will leave you with this. I hope you enjoy the remainder of this month and I thank you again for being here....

A Bientot!

February is here.........

Its time to sit relax and enjoy a cup of tea with me while I rant. 

Welcome, so happy you're back. What a weekend...should we talk about that Super Bowl?  Brady? Gronk? AB? I know some of you are not Brady fans...but be honest...what a guy! Even the so called professionals could not predict that outcome! 

Ok that's all I'll say about that. I should tell you about my baking experience...well not so much baking as frosting. I'm an ok baker...my daughter says "not so much" but I am an absolute klutz when it comes to frosting. Last week I made chocolate cupcakes and decided to try my hand at adding peanut butter frosting....so here is where it gets crazy. Kind of like a skit on SNL. So picture this..

1●  Frosting is all made and about to fill that little plastic bag. "Damned this looks intimidating" but "I can do this".

2● Spoon some frosting in the bag and realize i don't have the tip in. Trying to hold on to this very flimsy bag I start to remove it....oh no! Now I have frosting on my fingers and my spoon!

3● This bag sucks.....but I get the tip in.

4● Filled the bag right to the top  finally and then I find i did NOT leave room at the end to twist the bag.........

Should I go on or can you picture the rest? I had more frosting on me and everywhere else. It sure tasted good as I liked it off my fingers...after all can't have it go to waste!

So here are my cupcakes. 

I got them to look somewhat presentable but don't look too close. But all in all Roomie was right...peanut butter frosting on chocolate cake....yummy!

Speaking of my Roomie look what came in the mail....my Happy Mail

Now i can't remember the last time I received a Valentine card! How about you?

this also came in the mail along with my Happy Hooker necklace.  Gosh! I sure have some wonderful and caring friends. ❣ During these trying times I am so grateful to have you in my life...you know who you are.

Well thank you once again for sitting through this with me.....my 6th sense is kicking in so that'll be it for now. I hope you and yours are staying safe and healthy.

A Bientot for now....keep checking your snail box and remember I love hearing from you with your comments. 

👇 Below in the little box should say "comments" tap that and add a comment.

On the right 👉 you will find "followers" tap that and become one.

Donna.

Wait.....WAITING....and anticipate

Well here I am again. I hope you can sit with me a while so I can babble.

Before I go any further I must let you in on the surprise I received this morning when I checked my phone ...this was playing with a message.

 Rod Stewart- Have I told you lately that I love you. Oh my!  Imagine my joy. So throughout the day I went back and played it over and over. I hope I did this right when I added it here so you could listen to it as well.....enjoy!  Oh! You want to know who it came from? Well....I think I'll keep you guessing....you can let me know what your guess is. Hehehe.

Waiting! 

I don't know about you but it seems  that's what my life is about. Start off waiting for my first cup of coffee. Wait for the news hoping that there are no skyrocketing cases of the virus. That's not happening. So now we wait for news regarding the vaccine..... and wait till we can receive it. Its such a waiting game.

Oh wait! Today we were able to sign up for the vaccine....yippee! Of course here comes another waiting period but with positive outlook. We anxiously wait.

Actually at times there are exciting things to wait for. Like little Ellie sitting by the door waiting for her friends to come back in so they can hug and kiss 💋 her and cuddle with her. Well I am doing the same...waiting for when my Son and Daughter with grandkids can be with us so I can shower them with hugs. Its been so long since we've been together. I tell you this Covid shit is getting real old!  Oops, Excuse my French. Lol!

Being in the "Chat" room texting with my friends someone was baking bread.

You know how I am about that so I thumbed through recipes and came up with another recipe for  Anadama Bread..this one sounded wonderful.

 I knew we were having beans on Saturday so what's better  than Anadama bread to go along with. Waiting you ask?...yes waiting as the smell permeates through the house. Waiting till I can slice into it and slather it with butter or honey butter. Actually my newest taste pleaser is raw unfiltered honey. If you have not tried it nby all means do so.

Its a shame you can't  smell this.

As I come to the end of this post remember to check your snail mailbox for happy mail...no telling who may received one next. I was pleasantly surprised with a happy mail package from a very generous friend...some lovely watercolor cards. 

Beautiful and Thank You again Ms SB.

Now I bid you Adieu and hope your time with me was relaxing.

Looking forward to your comments....till the next time.

Donna

Secrets and Words

Sunday January 10th, 2021

SHhhhh! That's right....come on in and join me. I've got something to tell you.

As I begin this post I realize it's Happy Hour so go ahead and grab a drink and I'll join you. 

Let me start off by wishing you all Happy New Year! I am confident that  2021 will be a much better year. I am feeling positive about it. My SECRET?... When I woke on New Year's morning my attitude had changed drastically and I had a much better outlook and felt happy...why? I'm not sure I just know that I was much happier and it felt good for a change. I sympathize with those who suffer from depression...my heart goes out to them. Missing the people you love but can't spend time with is so difficult. I know you all understand and are going through the same...so with that said I hope you'll agree that this year things WILL be better and happier days are ahead.

About WORDS.....also on New Year's day my husband and I decided to have a game of scrabble. I think the last time we played was about 5 years ago when we lost power for about 4 days. We enjoyed it so much we play every afternoon and now it's become a fun competition. That's right I beat him by nearly 100 points ONCE and now we are tied...a fun way to spend time.

 Monday, January 11th. 

What's cooking?

Hot Honey Oatmeal bread.

After seeing what Acornhollow.blogspot.com was up to I had to take matters into my own hands. You know she is my inspiration. I found this recipe on pinterest. Happyhooligansblog.com and it turned out so good. A very easy recipe with the aid of my bread machine. There is nothing like the smell of fresh baked bread in your house. For sure ill be making this again.

Oh my what happiness and smiles. I received my very own Happy Mail this week. Roomie sent me a package with this enclosed and a lovely note.

An article on hand written notes or letters. Snail mail or Happy Mail. Some of you know or have received some from me and I hope it gave you as much joy as this did for me. When was the last time you wrote someone a note just to let them know how much they mean to you or that they are in your thoughts?

Kindness and thoughtfulness 

are what we could all use a little of right now.

Knitting..I finished up a couple more hats..the blue one for my son and the white for myself.

Now ill let you in on another little secret...I have a new "Grand dog"......I have not officially met her yet and oh gosh I can't wait. 

Is she not the picture of cuteness I ask. Oh my I want to nuzzle her nose. Hope to meet her soon.

Well my friends that's it for today...I hope I brought you a smile and a little inspiration. I know that someone out there would love to receive a little note from you. Add a little sticker or a cut out of flowers or a little tag...it will mean a lot.

I bid you A Bientot and thanks for joining me. 

Donna

Procrastination....

Procrastination Is the name of this post!

Welcome and thanks for joining me. Yes today is New Year's day...so if you'd enjoy a drink I will join you. Eggnog is my drink of choice today..but more about that later.  

Why Procrastination? Well because I started this post after Thanksgiving but never completed it. I was not really in the mood....I am not normally a Debbie Downer so I thought I'd let it drop and come back to it later...later is now.

 Hope you had a nice Thanksgiving. Ours like a lot of you was very quiet..."table for 2" was set. We enjoyed a nice meal together and even sat at the dining room table. That's not something we ever do unless we're having dinner guests and lord knows that's not happening anytime soon. Ugh!

Remember in a previous post " Its about Ewe and Me" I talked about Nash Island off the coast of Maine....and Nash Island yarn?  Well I was gifted a hank of this beautiful yarn.  A wonderfully giving friend passed some on to me. Miss T, she also added some lovely glitter yarn  I believe is silk and linen.  It feels heavenly. Not sure what I'll make with it but it will be "special". Thank you so much Miss LT. (I thought I took a photo but can't find it.)

 Playing with paints and paper I've been exploring different techniques.

Coffee or tea....on watercolor paper. I just love the texture it creates. The first one is watered down paper with loose tea...the second is wet paper with coffee and rice. The third one is coffee and loose fabric and strands of yarn. I am excited to start creating g with them. I have many more but won't bore you with it all. And speaking of paper...you got it...I 4houfht that making paper would be fun...and it was. One way to clean out the shredder. Yup, my husband thinks I'm nuts....but then he looked at my mold and deckle  and decided he could make it a bit sturdier. I just purchased a couple of art canvas frames and put them together and added some screening. Worked like a charm. 

I really like how they came out.  When dried completely they are much lighter in color. I will be making more. I used some on gift tags and on cards after painting on them.

Cooking and baking...oh yes...loose exercise clothes are my friend...NO not for exercising! For comfort! Just a few items from my kitchen:

In December I made my son a couple of tourtiere for his birthday. He loves pork pies.

My BFF "Roomie" posted that she had made some cinnamon rolls....well that planted the seed! I've never made them so I searched a few recipes and came up with these! A bit thick for my liking so the next time I will slice them thinner.

Next was a recipe for Eggnog bread that I believe came from Doreen Frost. (?)

That was yummy. 

Enough sweets for now.....hope you're still here and have not fallen asleep yet.

Keeping myself busy knitting up a storm...making art for "happymail" and whatever else strikes me. Who knows...you, who read my words here, may find Happy New Year happy mail in your snail box. Be sure to drop me a comment in the comment box so I know you were here.

I do wish all of you a very Happy Healthy and safe NEW YEAR 2021. Let us pray that life gets back to our old normal. I so miss hugging my family and friends.

Thank you again.

A Bientot! 

More Ewes......

Pam

A great big Hello!

Here I am. Hope you'll join me in a cup of tea. It's been a hell of a time...sit in wait..sit in wait! Just something else to add to this dreadful year! But all is good now and if I had to find a silver lining out of it  its that I've was able to complete a cable knit beanie in one day! Hooray for me.

Brrrr! It's getting mighty chilly...woke this morning to 20* temp. Good thing I was able to deliver most of the hats that I was knitting....they will get worn for sure. Also got to see my little ones...what a smile that gave me. Love them and miss them terribly. 

How flippin cute are those sheep in my top photo?! So they are now a new addition to my friend's family. She sent me this picture to introduce me to them. Now mind you she is not a knitter and in no way associated with any fiber arts of any sort. She found them in a catalogue and fell in love....and who wouldn't? They get to sit by her window and gaze out at the ocean all day and trust me when I say they have a magnificent view. Occasionally thy get to see the horses that come down and ride the beach. What a life!

Wouldn't you love to have a Ewe in your home? Well let me introduce you to Violet! 

VIOLET and her flock are waiting for you visit my friend  Pam. For you fiber enthusiasts they can be any color you choose. As you can see one was made using coiled strips of wool called "quillies" and Violet is sporting some fun yarn. How adorable....so check out Pam's site for prices and ideas...Ewe too can have a flock in your living room.

                      "Creativity takes Courage "~Henri Matisse 

In these trying times we all  need a little courage so let your creative juices flow!

As you know I've been keeping myself busy creating watercolor cards. My current ones are  Christmas greeting cards. I think I may also add tags. I'm hoping to sell some.

Here is a preview...would love some feedback. 

How are you being creative? Will you be courageous and creative for Thanksgiving? Can't wait to hear all your ideas.

Well Adieu...gotta run...sure hope you're all doing well and thanks so much for spending time with me...forever grateful!

A Bientot...

It's about ewe and me!

Hello! Are you there? Oh good I was worried I wouldn't have anyone to talk to.  Well, I mean someone other than my husband. Love him dearly but damn it would be nice to have someone else to vent to. Talk crafts, exchange knitting patterns, show the excitement of newly purchased yarn, (oh no! Can't do that! ) or share recipes,  you I now what I mean right? He pretends that he's quite interested but hum not so much!

I think this says it all.....this was posted on fb and had to share it here!

So speaking  of "Ewe", I've completed another hat. This one is for my youngest grand. She's a first grader and a bit of a spitfire to say the least. "No pink" she says "cause I'm not a girly girl"! Wow! So I came across this color and thought it perfect.

yes it really is bright lime green with a black pompom on top. Sure hope she likes it. Now on to my next one. This is a commissioned had....and should be done soon.

 A Plymouth Yarn "Homestead" i purchased at my LYS~The Yarn Sellar, York Maine. 100% wool. I  found it with the help of an employee and friend  Mizz T.

As a friend she is very generous in sharing her vast knowledge of anything textile..she posted a picture on fb of this wonderful fleece  purchased from Nash Island Yarns. Yarn from an Island off the coast of Maine. What an interesting read with rich history. Sheep are the only inhabitants on this island Nash-island-sheep-sheering I sure hope that I've added this link correctly because I know you'll enjoy it. The picture is of the fleece that she is spinning.  That's right she's a "spinner" as well as a "hooker". Spinning fleece is one thing I've not attempted though I would like to try....on a drop-spindle not a spinning wheele! Hell I have enough hobbies and equipment as it is!

 What a wonderful weekend...so nice to do a social distance with friends on the beach.

The weather was perfect and enjoyed a beautiful sunset.

Couldn't want for a better November so far.

Now let me ask you....was it really warm enough to go paddleboarding? No I think not!

But here you have it.....the view in my back yard

Only for the young!

I received a wonderful little momento from my favorite neighbor. She's just so thouhhtful!

 We didn't get any snow here but that's a view of things to come.

So I guess I had a lot to say...you can wake up now!! Thanks so much for being here i am so appreciative. 

A Bientot!