Once in a Blue Moon

Ever wonder where that saying came from - once in a blue moon? Well, visit Heart and Hand's blog to find out the history behind it.
I always remember my grandmother saying that- "that happens once in a blue moon..."

Tomorrow night, it will actually occur!!! The full moon of New Year's Eve will be that blue moon. My husband always swore, in his years on the police force, that the night of a full moon was when all the "crazies" came out!! I bet he's glad he's not working this New Year's Eve- the holiday, combined with the full moon, and a blue one at that - will probably make for a record night for the local constabularies!

I missed yesterday's Tuesday tea - but am making up for it today with some homegrown sage tea!!! I read about sage tea on someone else's blog (can't remember who), and decided that was what I needed this morning to take the chill out of my bones!!!

I spent 2 frigid hours in the barn this morning, with the farrier- a half hour of preparation prior to his arrival - feeding haying, mucking, halters on, sweeping out the entryway. I could barely write the check, by the time we were done - my fingers were frozen!!! I still have my many layers of clothing on - the thermostat inside reads 68 degrees - even tho the woodstove is burning. DH is not home - and I don't want to play with the stove to try to get it to burn hotter!!!

So, several cups of sage tea - altho I would really like a hot toddy!!- a egg sandwich cooked on my old cast iron pan, and some crocheting of wool squares to get the blood flowing back into my fingers.

I found some wonderful goodies at the thrift store yesterday, including a vintage test tube(!) filled with 27 metal English and American made crochet hooks of all sizes!!! I don't imagine they are worth very much - but to a beginning crocheter like me - they are a gold mine!! Some have the original price stamped on them - 25 cents! The really small hooks come with little metal caps to slide over the ends-very cool!! One appears to be very old - with a tiny hook at each end.This hook reminds me of the story an elderly German lady, named Irma, told me years ago, of her life during "the war". Luxury items were quite scarce- and people would save string to knit/crochet socks out of. The one end is so tiny, it could only crochet sewing thread!
I have been needing new crochet hooks - and I am so excited with these!!!
I need to figure out how to store them - so they are easily accessible in numerical size order. Sticking them in order, into a square of styrofoam would probably work - but wouldn't be too attractive!!

Well, enjoy some scenes from our snow laden farm and pix of my "new" crochet hooks!!! I am going back to the couch, with some more hot tea and my wool squares!!!!

The Best Christmas Ever

The best Xmas present I ever got - 26 years ago tomorrow........

Happy Holidays to all!!!!!!

Etsy Warmers!!!

Some neckwarmers and other goodies make great last minute stocking stuffers!!! Some adorable and snuggly warm hats will be listed tonite!!!

Click here and pass the word!!!!

Tea on Tuesday

First of all, I bet you didn't know that today is International Tea Day??

You can go to this website to read more about it - www.cec-india.org

In a nutshell, I believe the idea for an international day was conceived in the hopes for fair trade and to protect the interests of small tea farmers and their laborers in the 3rd world countries.

Here is a blurb from that website:

"On every 15 December all tea producing countries across the World observe International Tea Day to draw attention of governments and citizens on the impact of tea trade on workers, small growers and consumers. The decision to observe the International Tea Day on 15 December was taken after deliberations among various international organizations and trade unions during the World Social Forum in Mumbai (‘04) and Porte Allegre (‘05). Subsequently, the International Tea Day is observed in major tea producing countries like Bangladesh, Nepal, Sri Lanka, Vietnam, Indonesia, Kenya, Malawi, Malaysia, Uganda,India and Tanzania."

It is worth checking out.

Today, I raise my new cup (from my friend Teresa) to those hard working farmers, who allow me to drink such a wide variety of wonderful teas.

This mug is an early and surprise Christmas gift from my friend - with a lid and infuser. I am steeping a cup of fresh ginger. Thank you, "T"!!!!


Since the holidays are almost upon us, I thought you might like to see this lovely little feather tree adorned with tea ornaments!!! So cute, it has inspired me to be on the lookout for some tiny teacups in the coming year!!!!

I have several little teapot ornaments, including one that a friend gave me last year- with a winter scene, complete with red barn (like mine)! This teapot stays out all year 'round, hanging on my kitchen window.

This blog has the cutest original design artsy teapots - check it out!!!

Please join us for Tea on Tuesdays - see Kimmie for a list of participants. We have a new one amongst us - drop by and visit her- it's a good read!!!

Sunday Postcard

With a cute little girl found on Graphics Fairy I made up this little postcard. Today's theme for the Sunday postcard is The Holly and the Ivy. She's Holly, and her pup is Ivy!!!!

The girl carries her puppy and a wreath of holly, and I stamped ivy around the border- hard to see in the photo. The snowflake and ribbons came in my little stuffed matchbox from my swap partner. Added some stars and more snowflakes and accented it all with my pigma and glitter jelly roll pens.

Ok, now what will I do with her?? Anyone want her- she's up for adoption!!!!


(Oh, and my postcard is linked to Brag Monday at the Graphics Fairy - I think!! I am not so computer literate - I did manage to get her button to show at the bottom of my blog - but you can't link to it. If you want to see other "braggers", go here-she also has a cool giveaway!!)

Christmas Goodies

This little face gets to see the light of day only once a year!!!!
More than 10 years ago, I was trying my hand at sculpting art dolls. I may get back to it, who knows!
This little pin head Santa was a favorite!!! I was using the name pinheads, long before Bill OReilly coined the phrase!!!!! LOL

The other goodie is one of several quilter clipboards that will be in my Etsy shop by tomorrow. It's called a Stitchers' Tote, measures 7" x 10" and is a perfect fit for your purse, sewing basket or tote bag!! It has a mesh pocket, with floral print backing, and a loop to hang. The reverse is perfect for leaning on to write or sketch, with a clip to hold patterns or pad, and a magnetic square to catch needles and pins!!
What a cute stocking stuffer for only $4.99 plus postage!!

Now, I am off to try my hand at felting some of the wool hats and scarves I made last night!!!!!

Good Things....................

............come to those who wait, and good things come in small packages!!

My matchbox swap came in the mail- Woohoo!! What a wonderful job Donna did!!!
I took way too many pictures - but presentation is everything - and I wanted you to see what she did - step by step!!





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Donna managed to squeeze about 50 items in this little box - I took a side view so you could see how CRAMMED it was!!!! I already have plans for the little red hand, the hinge, and the stork scissor charm!!!



Thank you, thank you - and I hope everyone had alot of fun with this swap - and I'm planning another after the holidays. A group swap and maybe a couple of individual swaps are in the making.

Tea on Tuesday

I am actually on time, and early today, in posting my Tea on Tuesday!! Yay!!! I am sipping a lovely mug of Arizona Pomegranate Acai tea, while awaiting our next blast of snow!!!

If it snows, the perfect thing to do, would be to sit in front of the fire, with a hot cuppa tea, and Jason's new tea book to keep you warm!

I discovered Jason Witt's tea blog shortly before he closed it down!! But, now, we can have more of Jason, because he's the author of a new book!

Here is his bio and a little about the book- courtesy of Jason:


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

Tea is God’s Blessing for your mind, body, and

spirit. The three are inseparable and none is most

important; tea is God’s Gift to your whole person. It

will first give you Peace of Mind, reducing the stress

that could kill you at a young age, and grant you

better focus.



Then tea keeps you young as the Fountain of

Youth. Stress would otherwise age you, along with a

number of other factors, ending with the major

diseases. Tea is known to potentially prevent all that.

And it is spiritual virtue to come to God like a child

(who doesn’t age.) It’s worthy of Paradise .



Finally tea is revealed as the Tree of Life. It’s

the healing Food of Heaven, now available here on

earth for these current generations. And pu-erh tea

shows itself enlightening as a particularly spiritual

tea, a blessing upon those who enjoy it faithfully.





Bio:



Jason Witt…has God as his Significant Other.

Jason…is an expert on the Spirituality of Tea (with a Western perspective.)

he…likes tea-themed music of all eras.

…is a good listener.

…eats a low-calorie diet.

…has overcome a lot of addictions, including to wine and women.

…doesn't ever want to own a car again or buy his own house (so he's also

green.)

…lives the simple life without gathering many possessions.

…nevertheless drinks a lot of tea.

…now resides in Saint Paul , Minnesota , USA .

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

Jason would like everyone to know his new book is now available on Amazon and he has a website, Spirituality of Tea



Please join us for tea on Tuesdays - visit Patty and Kimmie for a list of participants- we hope to see you next week!

Etsy and eBay-Shameless Promotion.........

End of year closeout on the inventory in my eBay store! You can find me under seller name "iiithreat" - Store name is "ooglebloop's treasures"

Re-opened my Etsy shop with just a few items - I will be putting more in each day. Since I am on a creative roll and the woodstove is stoked up, I might as well!!!!

The neckwear pictured here (and more) are now listed in the Etsy shop!!

That's where I am headed right now- down to the studio, at the crack of early, with a cup of hot tea, and a head full of ideas!!!

Snow Daze

For a seemingly endless amount of snow pictures from today, please visit my other blog

Christmas- A Little Bah Humbug

The "Bah Hum" Bug got ahold of me this year.
I was not really in the mood to drag out all the decorations, and get a real tree, or unearth the faux!!! Maybe when I have grandchildren!!! LOL That could be a while.........!!

I grabbed two of my small primitive faux trees, and decorated the larger one on the dining room table, and the smaller one by the tv. I used what I had on hand, and what was most accessible, to decorate, with a couple of traditional must haves, that come out every year.

One must-have is a gilt framed picture of St. Nick, the other is a string art Christmas tree that my daughter did when she was in elementary school. I had it framed, and that is hung every year.

The other must-have, is a quilt that I did, in 1992!! It was a Xmas block swap, with the Countryside Quilters of Sterling, Va. I think it was machine quilted by Anne Weber of Ashburn, Va. There might even be a block on there by "our" own Pat Sloan - I'll have to go check!!! My block is the candle block in the top center. I kept the worst of the candles for myself!! LOL My appliqueing has improved greatly since then!!! The flame is a little less than smooth!!!

The place settings are hunt themed dishes I got a couple of years ago in the thrift store, the Frosty ornament was a gift from a former neighbor, and the huntsman and hounds was also a thrift store find. Christmas is not complete without one of my Santas, and the Hallmark Frosty, who will play and sing ad nauseum, if allowed!!!!

I'm sure as the days go by, I will drag out some more holiday memorabilia and decorate, but for now - I'm done!!!

Snow Day

Since it was a snow day (and still is...!), and the husband was working on the new wood stove in the studio/basement, I started playing catch up on alot of the little projects that I started and never finished!!!!

Patty had done a challenge using corrugated cardboard. When she posted about it, I thought I might give it a try - it's been weeks, but snow allowed me to finish!!! I used a shoe graphic from Art Chix, sandwiched in between 2 pieces of cardboard. Added a pair of grommets, twine, tile words, and a vellum quote from Shakespeare. It is about 6 3/4" x 4 1/4". If you are a lover of all things "shoe", then this would be for you!!!

I started (and finished) another little one- the glue isn't even dry in the picture!This was a cardboard hang tag from a pair of jeans- corrugated on the back, smooth on the front, came with the twine and bead tie. It measures 4" x 3". The vellum words say "risk it" "I feel worthy of every kiss" "forever more"

And, started working on another matchbox, and the larger matchbox that will hold all the smaller ones from the swap!!

And, I believe it was Linda, who, when I posted a pic of my newly organized arts table, commented it wouldn't last long- well, she was right!!! This is what it looked like today!!!!

Sunday Postcard Art

I stumbled on this blog
not too long ago. Every Sunday is a new theme - so I thought I'd take a stab at it, with what I had on hand.
ATC's and creating with paper are not my forte, so I don't have alot of materials to work with- but this is what I came up with.
I think the Santa came from Graphics Fairy, there is a Mary Engelbreit napkin behind the St. Nicholas words, and a Peace on Earth Stamp from my small stamp collection!
Be sure to check out Sunday Postcard Art 's blog and see all the fab St. Nicholas postcards!!!!

It's Snowing!!!!!

Just a quick post to yell YAY!! It's snowing!!!!!!

And, to say HAPPY HAPPY Birthday to Patty
at Magpie's Nest, and LINDA
at the alpaca farm at Fiber Fabrications!!

Click on their links, drop on over, and bombard them with b'day wishes!!!!

Having done that, I am getting the camera and going outside to get some snow pix!!!!!!

Matchbox Swap

Well, the mail-by date has come and gone. I hope everyone has received their matchboxes stuffed with goodies!!!!

This was soooo much fun - and I thank everyone for participating!!! I hope we can do this again after the holidays, so if any of you thought about doing it, but were not sure - you will get another opportunity!!!!

I am always up for individual swaps - so,if anyone wants to swap with me, just let me know!!!

I have temporarily misplaced the list of emails and links of everyone who participated-so if you have a pic of your swap- please leave a comment with a link, so everyone can see!!

I will look for the info today and revise this post with the info - organization is not my specialty!!! LOL

My swap partner has a tea blog - so I thought I would make that the theme. I had trouble stuffing all the items I wanted to into the box - so there may be a bit of variation from what is pictured! don't remember now, but I think I got about 23 or 25 items in there. I used vintage rickrack on the sides, a "Candies" jeans button for a drawer pull, and put a little door on the front with an Artchix graphic inside.

Here are the pics of what I sent my swap partner- they may not be in order - I have trouble with blogger- getting the pix to be where I want them to be!!!

Tea on Tuesday

Following Kimmie and Patty's lead, "T" is for............TARDY!!!!!! That is what I am for posting this soooo late again.

I must remember to pre-post - since it seems like Tuesdays get away from me lately!!!!

"T" is also for "true blue" - the color of my heavy, primitively handmade pottery mug - another thrift store find - the artist made it his own Starbucks mug - by incising that name on it before firing! Today it is filled with some Bigelow Lemon Lift tea.

"T" is also for "turkey" - the leftovers are FINALLY finished, and the two of the wild ones just marched across my front lawn on their trek to the river!! Just before Thanksgiving there were 7 in that march - I hope the other 5 did not fall prey to the Thanksgiving Day hunt!!!!

"T" is for "tired - what I am after partially cleaning the paddocks! Did you know 3 full wheelbarrows of horse manure = 1 full tractor bucket and one sore back??????

"T" is for "trained"- what the horses are when they see their leather halters. They know they are going outside of their now brown paddocks to graze in the still green hay fields. Wait a minute, WHO is training WHO!!?!!

"T" is for "tarry" - what I am doing right now- sitting on the mounting block, in the sun, keeping the horses in my peripheral vision, while writing this post.....................

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Be sure to visit Patty and Kimmie (altho' you probably already did yesterday!LOL), and join us, won't you????

Thanksgiving Repast

My daughter was the chef for Thanksgiving this year. She did a FABULOUS job!!! The turkey was stuffed with lemons, and with fresh lavender, sage, rosemary and thyme (no parsley! LOL) from the garden. She made a spice rub, and coated the outside and under the skin.

Caramelized corn with mint, mashed potatoes, and sweet potatoes balls, were among the veggies she created.

The sweet potato balls were made with a fresh baked sweet potato, then mashed. She took a giant marshmallow, coated it with mashed sweet potato, and rolled that ball in crushed walnuts. Yum, yum, yum!!!!

All the veggies were home grown - something to be thankful for.

The trifle dessert lacked one thing - a suitable clear glass pedestal bowl to display the concoction! It was made up with my featherweight pound cake, with alternate layers of chocolate pudding, home made whipped cream, and shaved chocolate and chocolate chips. I've had 2 or 3 servings so far, and haven't even cracked open the pies yet!!! This year, the pies were store bought. May have to freeze them for future use!!

We are thankful for our family, our home grown bounty, and another year gone by.......

And, since my daughter was the chef this year, I am the clean up committee, so I had better get cracking!!!!