High School Photos

Here's some high school photos for those of you who've been asking. :-) I will attend my high school class reunion this Saturday night - 15 years. Wow.

This is my Sr. photo. These were the days of big hair and guns-n-roses. :-)

This photo is of me and Sasco Rocket. One of the most beautiful animals ever, in my humble opinion. My Dad and I started his training together. When my Dad passed away, I continued it with help from my Mom and dear friends Besty, Mike and Barney and Anne. Sasco was a tempermental animal, but when he was "on" he was really on! Selling him was one of the hardest things I ever had to do, but it was a lesson in letting go. He helped pay for college. I miss him!

The Cereal Saga

It started last week, when I was explaining to my team at work about my excitement of going to the Cereal Barn, a new restaurant in town. The Cereal Barn offers 30 different types of cereals. You can mix and match. Plus, they have "mix-ins"....fruit, nuts, granola and sadly, even candy. They also offer PB&J sandwiches with freshly-ground peanut butter. I was planning to visit the Cereal Barn last week, but didn't make it. I was excited b/c we're not big cereal eaters around here. Our cereal adventures tend to stick with the healthy kind - grapenuts being the favorite. The DH does make a lot of oatmeal...the chewy steel-cut kind.

So, all this build up with the Cereal Barn discussion.....then the "grapenuts incident" yesterday. :-) I was closing up a box of grapenuts, and I was smooshing the air out of the bag. I happened to move my head over the box at the same time, and I poofed a bunch of grapenuts dust into my eye. It really hurt! I rinsed my eye and didn't think much of it until ~30 min later when I looked in the mirror. My cornea was really swollen. It scared me, so I was diligent yesterday about icing my eye on a regular basis. That seemed to do the trick, and my eye is pretty much back to normal today.

Well, to round out this story, we did walk to the Cereal Barn this morning. I had a small bowl with Corn Flakes/Life cereal and strawberries/walnuts as add-ins. (The basic bowl includes 2 cereals and 2 mix-ins.) The DH had grapenuts (the nerve!) and honey grahams, with bananas and strawberries. We split a PB&J with honey-roasted nuts and orange marmalade. I thought it was great fun, but the DH wasn't all that impressed. His comment: "I could make this at home." Very true, except that we never buy Corn Flakes or Honey Grahams! >-)

Yummy Tea Biscuits

Thought I'd better get back to the "tea" part of the blog. I've been mostly writing about the "world around it." :-)

Here is a recent discovery. I picked up this pack of Tea Biscuits at my local grocery store. The package cost less than $1. The biscuits (cookies) are very simple and a perfect partner for tea...both green and black. The cookies are lightly sweet and crisp. Each is stamped with the phrase "Special Teas." Very yummy, in my opinion.

Away, But Not So Far...

Photo from the "weekend away" with the DH. We stayed at a B/B here in town.

We had dinner at Puccini's (Italian)...very good!

At the B/B... the DH has trouble smiling for the camera. :-)
(Click on the image to see it full size.)

10 Years

The DH and I celebrate 10 years of marriage today! It has been an incredible adventure. I'm a very lucky (and spoiled) gal. Here's the sweetest gift:
The DH grew these stargazer lilies because they were in my wedding bouquet. And, they bloomed on our anniversary!





I posted this photo last year, too, but it's my favorite. I love the sense of movement and celebration in the image. We had just been married by my Grandfather. My parents surprised us with the horse and carriage. The old farmer who drove us promised to take us again on our 50th anniversary for free.

We'll celebrate this weekend by staying at a B/B and having a nice dinner out.

Rainy Day Blues

Drinking Imperial Jasmine tea out of my Blue Rice teacup and teapot on this perfectly rainy day. Can you see the reflection in the pottery below? This teapot is one of my favorites. The DH found it for me in 1997, during a trip to the thrift store. This teapot, along with a few other items, kicked off my collection passion. >-) Presently, I'm on a plan that ensures I have no net increase in my china. If something comes in, I have to make the very painful decision about what will go. This teapot is never in question.

By the way, you can find this teapot and the corresponding matching items all over the place in Chinatowns. It's not rare - it's just pretty and sentimental. It is delicate. The rice shapes (which don't show well in the photo) are thin and translucent.

Terms of Endearment

From the DH (Dear Hubbie) this weekend, after I had performed some entertaining bit of physical comedy (aka klutziness):

"Oh, honey! I'm so glad we entertain each other. It's a lot cheaper than the movies."

In a way peculiar to the DH and me, this statement tells me he loves me. And it makes me laugh. After 10 years together (on Thursday), life with the DH is still fun.
>-)

Pretty, peaceful things

OK, my last post prompted so much concern from my mother and friends that I thought I'd best share some restorative and peaceful photos to show you that I really am OK! The busy days come -- and then they go and I am resilient. :-) Sincerely, thank you for your concern!

Elephant ear caladium at my back door, with dew.











To get a sense of the size of these plants...of jungle proportion! Also, you can't tell it in the photo, but the DH (dear hubby) has peroxided his hair to an orangey-red...at least, the parts that weren't already "silver."