The Journey Continues With Tea & Friendhip

Good Morning Everyone.

Today is the 1st of February. Time for me to pick the next card in my Journey of Self - Care, that I have undertaken this year,

The card I picked for this month is Friendship. The wisdom on the back of the card reads

“Call a Friend”

“When you’re mirrored with love, you see yourself clearly”

Today’s Teacup Tuesday theme therefore will be Tea & Friendship.

What better way to suggest friendliness and to create it - than with a cup of tea.

…J. Grayson Luttrell (1930)

I set my tea table for two - A cup for me and a cup for you. This set is a wonderful set I picked up at Tuesday Morning and had in the China Cabinet in my Office when I was teaching; for impromptu tea parties with other teachers and/or students.

The heart shaped teapot and plates are what caught my eye when I first saw the set - the pretty pink roses were the deal maker - I just had to have it. Since I retired it has been retired as well and today felt like a fitting day to dust it off and share a little friendship.

In the Language of flowers the pink rose symbolizes gratitude and appreciation. It depicts elegance and grace with a touch of gentleness. Some say in these modern times it has replaced the yellow rose in denoting the care & closeness of true Friendship.





There is an old Chinese saying that says “Tea is the bridge of Friendship” So let us lift our teacup and offer a toast to friends old and new, near and far.

Thank you for joining me today -

“We need old friends to help us grow old and new friends to help us stay young.” … Anonymous

Hugs,
Penny

Mancat Monday

Hello evffurryone,

Well here it is Monday again; and I thought I'd share a few of my favorite quotes with you.

And God said to Adam, "Thou shalt have dominion over every living creature that moves upon the earth ... that is, of course, except for the cats."

"To mew or not to mew, that is the question"

The other question is not whether you bowl is half full or half empty; but rather when will it be filled."

"Take time to sit and stare - the human will always blink first"

And Remember.

It's not easy being charming dignified and amusing but someone has to do it and I'm up for the challenge. Are you?

Purrs,
Genghis


Dang - Did you get a load of this frilly background stuff Pellie put up? - It's downright embarrassing for a cool Mancat like me. Well I guess I'll be nice to her and let her keep it up for a little while anyway.

Funny Friday

Hello everyone,

First off I want to thank everyone for the advise they offered me with my problems - consider yourself hugged.

A good friend told me they thought my blog was a bit impersonal, so after much thought and deliberation, I decided to offer you a more detailed look at who I am and what makes me tick.

But............ I need to do it my way. Which is a bit low key and maybe even weird; but then so am I. Weird, that is. I don't think anyone would ever describe me as low key.

To quote Sarte "I think therefore I am"; and I am the best me I can possibly be. I am me, type A Personality, Wife, Daughter, Sister, Mother, Grandmother, Friend, Laundress, Keeper of the house, Nurse, Clown, Teacher, Crafter, Collector, Renaissance Reenacter and Wanabe Artist.

While I was teaching I would give my student a little joke or some thing funny that related to what we were studying to make the learning environment less stressful - so I decided to make Fridays - - "Funny Friday" and leave you each week on a lighter note yet offer you an insight into who I am by what I think is humorous.

Top 10 Reasons I Became A Nurse

1. Pays better than McDonalds (though the hours aren’t as good)
2. Fashionable shoes (not in my lifetime)
3. Sexy uniforms (Really?)
4. Get to play with Needles (tis better to give than receive)
5. Confidence in reassuring patients that all bleeding stops eventually (well it does!)
6. Opportunity to expose yourself to rare exotic and exciting new diseases (ain’t that the truth)
7. Interesting aromas (we won’t even go there)
8. Courteous and infallible doctors who always leave clear order in perfectly clear handwriting. (as long as you understand hieroglyphics)
9. Enough charting to navigate around the world. (cramped fingers are so much fun)
10. Celebration of holidays with all your friends (at work.)

Layman’s Medical Dictionary

Adenoids - Space creatures that are keeping Elvis alive on Pluto
Artery - The study of paintings
Autopsy - The hood of a car
Bacteria - The back door of the cafeteria
Benign - What you are after you be 8
Blood count Dracula
Cardiac - Someone crazy about old cars
Cat scan - Looking for kitty
Coma - A punctuation mark
D&C - Where the capital building is
Dilate - To live long
Enema - Not a friend
Fester - Quicker
Gargles - Quasimodo’s friends
GI Series - Military baseball game
Hangnail - Coat hook
ICU - Peek - a- boo
Labor Pain - Getting hurt at work
Morbid - Higher bid
Node - Was aware of

Hope you enjoyed this edition of "Funny Friday" and you'll come back for more.

Hugs,
Penny

Begging for your help!!!!

Hello everyone.

I have a couple problems and I need your Help.

You see two months after I started blogging - I had to get a new computer and it's a great computer - but I am no longer able to comment on blogs that embed their comment section below the post on this computer. I type my comment - indicate goggle account and the thing just jumps and disappears. No comment left. The other computers in the house allow me to post on those blogs - so I never worried about it. But here is the rub. Sir Knight's computer has been at the repair shop more than it has been home for the last 3 month, The old computer we keep for the Grandchildren to use is down in the basement and when I had pneumonia in December - I was unable to navagate the stairs real well or stay down there in the cold & damp for any length of time. So visiting a lot of my friends was a real challenge. Now thant I'm feeling better - going down in the basement isn't a problem - but I want to know - so I don't have to worry next time.

What the heck is my problem? My Computer Is a Dell 64 bit with Windows Vista as it's operating system. I use Mozilla Firefox as my internet browser - but I did try using Internet Explorer and it did the same thing.

My husbands computer as well as the one in the basement are both HP and they both use Windows XP as their operating system with Mozilla, Firefox as their internet browser.

Is it something about Vista?

Help I am so frustrated!!!!!!!


If you would all be so kind as to let me ask another question as well.


How do I give a hyperlink to someone - to a specific post? In particular one I just posted. When I had to give the link for my post to Frosted Petunia, I just copied the URL for my blog - so needless to say as I continued to post - that particular post was pushed down and any visitors from that link had to search for it. So. - How do I get it right for next month?

I know most of you are more computer literate than myself - so I appreciate any help you can offer.

Thanks.

Hugs,
Penny

Wordless Wednesday

Thoughtful Tuesday

Hello Everyone,

It's cold and overcast this morning as I sit here at the computer - a perfect day for a cup of hot tea, good friends, and some thought provoking discussion

So with teacup in hand and teapot ready lets begin.




Teacup Tuesday with Martha and Terri and I wanted to share this cup with you. I picked it up along with a few more at an auction last November; because I loved the vivid color of the roses with the gray tone leaves. I also like the fact that the saucer has the full size floral spray on one side and a smaller spray with two little buds on the other side.

Bone China, Queen Anne, Made in England. Patent # 8621

We have neared the end of January and February 14th looms ahead of us so let us give some thought to Love.

Love doesn't make the world go round. Love is what makes the ride worthwhile.
- Franklin P. Jones
so true - so true

Love does not consist in gazing at each other but in looking outward together in the same direction.
- Antoine de Saint Exupery
again I must agree

Come live with me and be my Love; And we will all the pleasures prove.
- Christopher Marlow
oh those romantic renaissance men - just make sure he doesn't have anything you can catch

Many a man has fallen in love with a girl in a light so dim he would not have chosen a suit by it.
- Maurice Chevalier
same hold true for us ladies - the light in bar rooms is not the best for finding Mr Right.

Lost in a memory
I sit here, content.

The warm glow of us
engulfs me.

You are there and all
seems well with the world.

My gallant Knight
you are always there.

You stir me to an awareness,
I feared was long forgotten.

You have given me true love,
and I love you back in equal measure.
- Penelope Plum

Hope you are all staying warm . Have a great Tuesday

Hugs,
Penny

Mancat Monday

What!! It's Monday already!

Well that's too bad - none of my teams won their play- off games so I ain't getting up off this couch.

At least not yet.

Purrs,
Genghis

Sharing Saturday.

Hello Everyone,

The temperature around here is mighty chilly - I decided it was the perfect day to rearrange my jewelry box .

I was absolutely giddy when I realized how my collection of Cameo's had grown over the last few years. I was given my first by a very close friend when I was in my forties and I fell madly in love with this beautiful jewelry. Now in my sixties I am constantly on the look out for them, buying whenever I can afford it.

It's no secret I am a frilly, girlly - girl, but I guess I do need to confess that I am a closet Victorian and have been most of my life. At one point in the eighties - I was at one with many others, and Jessica McClintock knew my hearts desire - but time moves on and different styles become popular - so I am once more kind of the odd man out in my preferance for the look and charm of the Victorian Era. I can still be seen wearing my high neck ruffled blouses with my cameo at my neck.

It is so much fun to grow a collection , whether it's teacups or cameos. Am I addicted to collecting?

Uhmmmmm! Yes, maybe.

So that's my story and I'm sticking to it.

Hugs,
Penny

Stay warm everyone and have a wonderful weekend

National Hugging Day

Hello everyone,

What a great day it is today!

Today is National Hugging Day. Although not really National as that would require an act of Congress (and in my humble opinion our Congress is way too busy fighting among themselves to worry about hugs and how good they are for you); it is a movement that since it's creation in 1986 by the Rev. Kevin Zaborney in Caro, Michigan - has spread around the US and into Canada, Australia and some parts of Europe as well.

This is an awesome opportunity to give, as well as to receive. Give a hug, and you will automatically receive one in return. Sure, there may be a few who might not hug back. But really, how often does that happen?

Hugging is a form of emotional release, and it is very good for our overall health and mental and physical being. Even though complete scientific proof might be difficult to come by, most doctors will tell you that they are very therapeutic.

Let's celebrate today by giving hugs to family, friends and loved ones. You'll love the warm fuzzy feeling you get and they will too.

Hugs,

Penny

Almost Wordless Wednesday

I can't believe I ate the whole thing.

Snow

Hello everyone,

As for my neck of the woods - we missed most of the weekends bad weather - it went south of us, this time. We are suppose to be blanketed with the cold white stuff for the next three days, but you never know.

The snow about which I want to talk about today is the artful kind. The theme for the the January Blissful ATC Swap was snow/white.

My partner for this month was Courtney over at the Cajun Hillbilly Housewife. Her blog is so awesome you really should check it out. Her art is super cool as well.



This is the card Courtney sent me. I just love it. Thank you so much Courtney.


She also sent along a few goodies - can't wait to figure out the perfect project to make use of these.


Here is the card I sent to Courtney. Since I am a big fan of Hans Christian Anderson's 'The Snow
Queen"; I knew this was the perfect time to artify my favorite book. Using watercolor paper as my main base - I printed out my text part on the raw paper. I then cut my card to look like an open book - yet still kept it within the parameters set for a standard ATC. Then I proceeded to color in where necessary to achieve that book feel and look. To give my pages a cold feel I blended two different shades of blue watercolors and painted around my text and gently through the text. I added a cut out of a winter sprite blowing cold into the air. Next I quilled a snow flake, blinged it with glitter and added a small sketch of the Snow Queen to the center of the snow flake. Then I added a few plastic snowflakes to finish it off. I really like the way it turned out.



Then I made a card to send along with it and sent a funky snowflake ornament.


Hugs,
Penny
(who was safely playing in the snow in January)

Dragon Appreciation Day

Here in the primordial mist I am aware of my existence - yet I know not what I am.

Soon the Creator sang into the mist and my soul moves and swirls - dancing with matter particles. The song fades, the mist clears and I stand tall as a physical being.

I am DRAGON . All cultures will know me - some will fear me and in the far future none will remember I existed. I will be the most awesome creature that never existed.

Yet in the here and now - I am here - I do exist. Not mammal but reptile - I roam the earth with the other large inhabitants of this land. I mate - have off spring - raise them -protect them the same as any parent - I teach them how to use their wonderful gift of fire.

Time moves on and soon the world starts to change - the weather is erratic and cold soon is the prevailing temperature - Myself as well as others of my kind move to the bottom of the bottomless lakes and oceans. Our fire is useless here in this watery realm - but we get by.

Soon the lands warm again and we are able to leave our watery homes and sun our selves on rocks - Our previous companions are gone - probably succumbed to the climatic challenges ravaged upon this land during it extreme cold period. While a few stay hidden and safe in the watery depths - some of us grow weary of the water and we start moving to different - favorite habitats - some to the forest - & some to the lofty mountain tops. We are free and it feels good to feel the wind on our wings and the sun on our face.

The creator has restocked this land with abundant food and we live a life that is pretty much unchallenged. Till once more change is upon us. MAN is here. At first he is no threat to us - but as his numbers grow and grow - they soon cover larger and larger areas of land. - We fight for the same food source - they take the animals roaming free and raise them in pens and begrudge us any morsel - so we fly in with our fire and for awhile we are able to scare them into sharing with us. But that time too is past and they hunt us, to extinction - killing each and every one of us in our time.

But while they may have killed my physical body - my soul remains free to roam this land. I am Dragon.
I was a powerful force to be reckoned with. And I did exist.
You may feel my soul sometimes as you take your time on this land and you too will know without a doubt that I existed.

**************

Hello everyone,

Today besides being Sir Knight birthday - is Dragon Appreciation Day - As awesome as he is I am sure he must have been a dragon in another life.

I have always been a dreamer of Dragon’s, Faries and Magical places. While most children start out as believer - few reach adulthood remembering the joys of magic. That my dear friends is one reason why I will never grow up. I will always believe.


So in preparation for this day I took the test - What Kind Of Dragon Are You. And here is what I came up with:

You are 53% green healing, wise, intellectual, destiny searching and fulfilling, sought out dragon. Though you have the potential to be power in body, you prefer to pursue that of the mind.
You are 20% strange, mysterious, black night loving -dragon. Nobody not even you know what you are truly capable of. The sky’s the limit.
You are 20% blue, wimpy, quite shy, scared ice breathing dragon. You hide yourself and your skills.
You are 7% red fire breathing no intellect, destructive and feared dragon. Your body is strong, wings are great and your breath is so hot nobody gets near you.


I also wanted to share a few of the more famous dragons with you.

Custard - the dragon from the “Tales of Custard the Dragon” by Ogden Nash
Draco - the last of the dragons in the Movie “Dragonheart“- also the name of a constellation.
Elliot - invisible cartoon dragon, that can be seen only by his best friend Pete, in the Movie “Pete’s Dragon”
Falkor - dubbed as the Lucky dragon from the Movie “The Neverending Story“.
Puff - a magic dragon who was friend and companion to Jackie Paper in the song “Puff the Magic Dragon”
Saphira - the blue dragon of Eragon in “Inheritance Trilogy” by Christopher Paolini
Smaug- the gold coveting beast in the book the “Hobbit” by JR Tolkien

Do you remember any of these guys? If not maybe this is a good time to get to know one or two of them.

If you know of others please let me know - so I can get to know them.


Well I got to fly. Meeting up with a few dragon pals.
So I’ll leave you with just a few of my favorite dragon quotes.

Job 30:29 I am a brother to dragons, and a companion to owls.


John Lennon - “ I believe in everything until it it’s disproved. So I believe in Faries, the Myths,Dragons. It all exists, even if it’s in your mind. Who’s to say that dreams and nightmares aren’t as real as the here and now.”

C.S. Lewis - “ I desired dragons with a profound desire.”

Hugs,
Penny

P.S. Happy Birthday Sir Knight! hope you have a great one.

N.B. I also want to thank Sir Knight for making me that great Dragon Puzzle shown in the picture above.

Wordless Wednesday

Teacup Tuesay

Hello everyone,

Guess what? It's Teacup Tuesday, with Martha and Terri

Back in early December before my lungs started to gurgle and froth, I went to an auction and managed to get this wonderful tea set. I use the word set loosely as it came with 9 cups saucers and cake plates as well as two creamers and sugar bowls. I'm not sure if it started life as a service for 10 or 12 and some piece have been lost over the years or why it is a service for 9 (to me that is a bit odd)

I loved it inspite of it's odd number of servings. Those white roses just kept calling to me - so how could I resist? - I couldn't so they all came home to live with me.


It is Queens Royal Bone China. Made in England and bears a crown logo. I really haven't had the energy to do much research on it - but I just had to share it with all of you, anyway.

Each cup of tea represent an imaginary voyage.
... Catherine Douzel

Thank you for sharing this voyage with me today.

Hugs,
Penny

Up & Out of Bed

While I’ve been sick and laid in bed -

With many pillows to prop my head.

I slept and read and watched TV

While my sweet Genghis was across my knee.

We hardly played at any thing;

Just dreamed of better times ahead -

And the things we’d do when out of bed.

I’d craft and sew and make many things

maybe I’d even give some of them wings.

I’d visit with all of my wonderful friends,

and to my poor neglected blog I would attend.

Sir Knight said that would be just fine

But first we had to give me time

To recuperate and mend

Yet it feels like this illness will never end.

(My sincerest apologies to Mr Robert Lewis Stevenson about this, my parody on his great poem - " The Land of Counterpane")

Hello everyone,

Just a short note to say my lungs are finally starting to clear up and I am able to spend a little more than a half an hour out of bed at any one time. So we are hopeful that we will be back to normal soon.

I would be amiss if I failed to thank Genghis for all his extra love, attention and snoopervising to make sure I was alright - whenever I left the confines of my bed.

I want to also thank Sir Knight for taking such good care of me and never once complaining about the added work load especially during the holidays. You are truly my Knight in Shining Armor and I am blessed having you as my husband.

* * * * * * * *

Today we have started to finally take down are Christmas decorations and it is very sad. We always leave them up till the 6th of January - so we are only slightly behind schedule this year. But the truth be known - I would leave them up longer if I thought I could get away with it and my neighbors wouldn’t petition to have me committed.





As we remove all trace of Santa and Christmas - I put up my snowmen and decorate - for winter.

Snowmen with their happy smiling faces always seem to lift my spirit even on the gloomiest - snowiest days. I guess that’s because snowmen fall from the sky unassembled and in each snowfall there is the possibility of a couple happy snowmen. (Not from me - at least not this year.)

The mind is willing to stay up and visit some more - but the body is still weak - so I think I will head back to bed.

Hugs,
Penny

Almost Wordless Wednesday

With more of this coming. . . . .


I plan on doing more of this, with Pellie.

Purrs,
Genghis

The journey ahead

Hello everyone,

The New Year is upon us and as I start to write the 61st chapter in the book that is my life - I feel compelled to reassess priorities and unclutter not just my home but my life as well.

One of the Gifts I received for Christmas was the deck of Self Help Cards by Cheryl Richardson, you see above.
These cards deal with 52 different concepts to increase ones awareness of themselves . The artwork on these cards is just awesome and certainly a beautiful and vivid way to remind me what particular concept I am working on.

My first thought as I opened my cards was that I would work on one idea a week since there are 52 cards - but as I thought more about it - I decided that life changes don’t happen in a week. - I felt that a month seemed a more appropriate amount of time, and of course I am always free to change that time limit - If I find I am having trouble fulfilling the necessary change.

As the ball was dropped at midnight - I shuffled all the cards up and picked my first card.

I picked “Decisions” and I felt the touch of Karma, as that seems to have been in the forefront of my mind lately. Very Uncanny.

On the Back of the card the prompt is
“ Honor your top priorities. If it’s not an absolute yes, than it’s a no.”

I made a few copies of my card and placed them around the house in strategic locations so I have a visual reminder of what it is, I want to achieve.

Increasing my creativety is also an ongoing goal for 2011 - yet Sir Knight challenged me to not create just for the sake of doing it, but to create with purpose. And it certainly stands to reason that if I am to unclutter - I must not make clutter.

I have joined a year long purse challenge hosted by Anna over at Frosted Petunias. For this first month, January 2011 - we were to construct and embellish a purse by playing with paper.

Sooooooo; Needing to have a cute reminder of my monthly goal - present in my Craft Room - I decided that this little purse would be the perfect media. (Thus meeting the challenge - and having a purpose. )



I constructed my purse using a template-I found on the web. ( Look here under Hand Bag Box ).

I was also working on my ATC for January, which has a theme of Snow this month, and I was still in a winter frame of mind. So I used white glitter Scrapbook paper for the body of my purse - used a aquamarine glitter paper for the top trim - multicolored paper sting for my handles and embellished with my decisions picture. - I altered the color saturation of the picture to a more aquamarine range so it would blend better with my decorating scheme in here and cut it in the shape of a heart. Then I added a small gem flourish off to the side.

Now is the hard part -I think it looks wonderful - simple but wonderful. - yet part of me wants to embellish it to the max. Following the wisdom set forth on the card - if its not an absolute yes, then it’s a no, I will stop here. At least for now. It maybe in the future my muse will come up with a must have embellishment that both my brain and my heart will agree with and we will go with the yes but for now it is what it is.


Hugs,
Penny