Well I should have started this item much sooner than later. When I went outside to my front yard to pick some flowers, most were dead and gone. Oops, what a difference a few days make. I guess Autumn is right on my heels. I can tell because I actually use blankets at night. Thank goodness it is ending. These days over 100 degrees are brutal.
I did have some roses and a few hydrangeas left so I grabbed those to press. I remember as a teenager taking flowers and pressing them between wax paper and putting them into our encyclopedias. God I remembers those brown volumes of knowledge. Back in the day, before the internet, you either went to the library to look stuff up or if you were one of the fortunate few you had a whole set of these books. Today I can hardly remember my life before the internet and cell phones. As a kid you made sure you had enough coins to call home, you just had to find a phone booth. When you wanted to find a phone number you pulled out those big phone books and flipped through the pages looking for that cute boys number or the local restaurant.
Ok back to pressed flowers. I got a fairly large pressed flower set off of Amazon. It is big enough to do large flowers or multiple layers of flowers.
In my enthusiasm I forgot to take pictures of the hydrangeas.
It takes about two weeks to get the flowers pressed right. So now we wait.
Depending how they turn out, I was thinking of a bookmark, card or mini lantern. I am leaning towards a bookmark but it all depends on what happens with the flowers.
Stay tuned for an update on this crafting adventure.
I am very close to finishing my bucket list. Just in time to start my Halloween/Autumn list. Lol. These lists help me keep focused and actual do something interesting during the season. I can easily slip into the boring life of work and home chores without doing anything for the season. My life is boring enough and these little tasks give me a little joy.
One of the things I noticed on Instagram was people free hand drawing flowers. Oh how I admire those who can draw freely. I know it takes practice but I was at a loss on how to begin. I did watch a you tube video and it looks feasible but videos are hard. Because you need to keep stopping and starting. One of the YouTube creators actual had a book. I ended up buying the book from Amazon. So glad I did as it is a great book.
There are 50 flowers to learn which are rated 1 to 4. 1 being the easiest.
Don’t these look cute. And so “do-able”. The instructions are so easy to follow.
I definitely need to practice, but with the guides in the book makes the structure so easy. I don’t expect to be perfect first time out but with practice I should be able to draw these more at ease.
I noticed on Amazon that The Republic of Tea has some Ice Tea with some yummy flavors. I decided to buy a few and taste test them.
The five flavors that I tested are as follows:
Blueberry Lavender
Strawberry Basil
Blueberry Hibiscus
Pineapple Orange Guava
Hibiscus Sangria
In order of least to most favorite
#5 Strawberry Basil
I found the flavor was weak. Perhaps it did not brew as long as it should. The instructions on the canister said 2 minutes, whereas the others said 7 minutes. Perhaps I should try again. It lacked any flavor and basically tasted like water.
#4 Blueberry Hibiscus
I was expected a real punch on this one and it just wasn’t there. I enjoyed the tea but it was not great. I could taste the flavor but no wow favor. Good ice tea should have a refreshing quality, this was sorely lacking that component.
#3 Hibiscus Sangria
This had a lot more flavor and was refreshing. Definitely would buy again. Had a burst of flavor that was nice. Not sure what to expect from this flavor but would make a great tea on a hot day by the pool.
#2 Pineapple Orange Guava
Very flavorful and tasty. It had that good refreshing flavor when you drink a glass of excellent ice tea. I would recommend this one. I accidentally left it to brew for a long time. Don’t know if this made the difference. At first it was too strong due to overbrewing but then the flavors took over.
#1 Blueberry Lavender
This was my favorite out of the five. It is very flavorful and refreshing. I remember the first time I tasted it, I thought “dang this is good”. The beautiful blue/purple color made it enchanting. I should try some lavender syrup with it next time. I have made this a few times and it still remains my favorite. Highly recommend.
I tend to romanticize tea as there are so many flavors that hot water brings to life. Of course there are more tea makers out there than I can taste. I ordered a few new brands to try out. I had seen several advertisements on Instagram and decided to take the plunge.
Snarky Tea – so many ads with unusual tempting flavors. I got the three month subscription and the first package came. It appears that the blackberry raspberry is very popular on their website but I am planning on making the clementine flavor first. This was the ice tea collection. There are many samplers packages and some with “snarky” themes. I hope it is enjoyable.
The next tea I bought is from a company called Magic Hour. These are expensive teas that are prepared to order. The packages are gorgeous and the themes are wonderful. Watching the short videos from the owner, I get the feeling she is a self proclaimed witch (in a good way) She does a lot of healing tea. I bought the ice tea sampler and the tea names and flavors combinations sound amazing.
INGREDIENTS
Dragonfruit Lychee: Organic Sencha Green Tea, Lychee Flavor Extract, Freeze Dried Dragonfruit, Organic Monk Fruit
Blueberry Cheesecake Oolong: Organic Sencha Green Tea, Organic Ti Quan Yin Oolong, Organic Blueberries, Butterfly Pea Flower, Organic Madagascar Vanilla Beans, Natural Blueberry Extract, Natural Flavors
Butterfly Blue Coconut Cream: Organic White Tea, Organic Desiccated Coconut, Organic Butterfly Pea Flower, Freeze Dried Bananas, Organic Vanilla Powder, Natural Flavor Extracts
Vanilla Lavender: Organic Assam Black Tea, Organic French Lavender, Organic Vanilla Extract, Lavender Essential Oil, Organic Calendula
Watermelon Mint: Organic Peppermint, Organic Hibiscus, Watermelon Juice Powder, Watermelon Fruit Extract
Passionfruit Green with Roses: Organic Green Tea, Organic Rose Petals, Blueberries, Organic Goji Berries, Natural Flavors
Guava Pomegranate: Organic Black Tea, Freeze Dried Pomegranate Juice Powder, Organic Roses, Guava and Pomegranate Flavor Extracts
I also got the September birth month tea since it is my birthday month. This tea sounds amazing. It is starting to get a bit chilly at night so I think I will have a cup tonight. Let’s hope it has true magic.
So I went about looking for a summer limited edition ice cream for my summer bucket list. I was having such an issue finding something and then it dawned on me, ALL ice cream is summer themed. The whole point of ice cream is “licking as fast as you can before it melts on your cone” season.
I checked the website of my local grocery stores to see what brands and flavors they had in stock. There are so many new brands of ice creams out there, I had no idea so many new ice cream companies were out there. There was a brand that caught my eye called Jen’s that looked promising. Going to their website I noticed that there were a shop that made such good ice cream the decided to share it with us non locals.
On their website they mentioned a summer treat called Lemon and Blueberry Partfait. They say it is a tart and uber creamy lemon with from-scratch blueberry jam in fresh cultured buttermilk and cream. Yum! That sounds perfect. So off to Vons to buy some ice cream.
Somehow I was expecting a lemon colored ice cream with blueberries. Don’t get me wrong, this was a delicious ice cream but I had preconceived ideas. Lol.
As Summer winds down, I will miss ice cream, but heck I live in Southern California where the sun shines every day. Ice cream season is every month here.
This year I decided to make a patriotic quilt. Generally when I make quilts I tend to lean toward Halloween (of course) and Christmas. So when I saw this pattern I really wanted to make it.
Since this quilt is basically a patchwork style pattern I knew I could make it in one weekend. The hardest part was finding red, white and blue charms packs (5×5) fabrics to make this. I found stuff in my stash and had to order a few more charm packs.
Once I had enough charms I went ahead and started to sew the star parts of the quilt. But once I got to the red and white stripes I ran out of charms. Crap. I dug thru my stash again and hit pay dirt. The quilt sewed up very fast but got a little heavy as I connected the rows together. My sewing area does not have the space to spread out a large quilt so it was a challenge but I did it with a bit of creativity.
Here my brother is holding up the finished quilt so you can see it. If you look carefully at the bottom you can see his dog’s foot. Oh that silly dog has to be in the middle of everything.
Now I have to get it quilted. I was thinking of a bright blue grunge backing. I can get it in the extra wide size so I don’t need to piece it together. For the quilt pattern I wanted something with stars or patriotic looking. I usually send my quilting to Missouri Star Quilt Company and they had this pattern which would work great.
or maybe this one
I am leaning towards the star spangled banner design. Quilting is expensive so I need to budget the cost. I usually put my own binding on to save money but it is not my favorite part of quilting.
I will post a picture of the finished quilt when I get it completed.
Every year in July/August the Earth passes through debris — bits of ice and rock — left behind by Comet Swift-Tuttle, which last passed close to Earth in 1992. Because it is so consistent each year it is easy to remember to catch its wonderful meteors shooting across the sky. From July 14-August 24 with a peak of August 11-12th you can catch the show.
The best time to look for meteors is in the pre-dawn hours. The peak viewing days are typically your best shot to see the sky speckled with bright meteors. To see the meteors, look up and to the north. Those in southern latitudes can look toward the northeast to see more meteors. If you are lucky enough to live in an area of little light at night you can see up to 100 meteors an hour.
Sadly I could not catch any this year as I live in an area with a lot of light. It is best to go drive out somewhere in the country or desert to avoid the harsh lights.
My Father worked at Jet Propulsion Laboratory and was very aware of celestial events. He would bring me pictures of nebulas and interesting stars taken by NASA. One year we drove to the desert to spend the night looking up at the stars. I laid down on a cot and looked up all night. I had never had such a clear view of the sky. I remember asking my dad what that cloudy structure in the sky was. He looked at me like I was a dullard and said The Milky Way. He probably never realized I had never seen it before. I listened to coyotes howl while falling asleep under the stars. Being with my Dad I felt safe. Not sure if he got a good night sleep but it was a nice memory. I would like to do that again.
When I look at the sky, I always remember the quote from Carl Sagan which they used in the movie Contact. When asked about the possibility about other life out there, he said “The universe is a pretty big place. If it’s just us, seems like an awful waste of space.”
Carl also use to say there were billions and billions of stars out there. So it cracks me up with the classic Far Side cartoon about Carl when he was just a child. A child’s point of view is so small. As Earthlings, I think our point of view is very small also.
I for one, believe that there is life out there but may be something we could not recognize. People I know have seen unusual flying objects in the sky that are not “normal”. But so far no one admits to seeing other beings. Maybe they are amongst us. Who knows.
I enjoy making playlists in Spotify so I can listen to tunes while driving in the car. I usually make a themed playlist for my favorite holidays but this is the first summer list I have done. I asked friends on Facebook what songs remind them of summer and also asked my siblings so I could get a good mix. I am not a summer person so I needed assistance in the proper summer feeling songs.
I think I came up with a pretty good playlist that was a mix of oldies but goodies, songs I listened to growing up and newer tunes that felt like summer.
I admit I am partial to the old 1940-1950 songs but there is not a summer playlist out there that does not include The Beach Boys.
It never hurts to have a playlist of snappy, happy tunes to make your day great!
I think this should really be called a virtual walk thru the redwood forest. The beauty of YouTube is so many content creators make videos for all of us who want the experience but no longer have the ability to do this type of activity. I have watched videos of town/city tours, Halloween at Salem, walking tours of nature and even videos of watching streams babbling away. Most providing a sense of calm, or the awe of nature. I will have to add a tour of New England fall foliage and covered bridges for my Autumn bucket list (better write that down before I forget).
The video I chose is called Treadmill Virtual Hike-walking-Redwood National Forest Hike – 60 minutes ASMR. I chose this one because I find redwood forests so cool and calming. My soul feels replenished when I walk amongst the trees. I have been in Muir woods many times when visiting San Francisco, California.
Redwood trees can grow very tall, some up to 200-240 feet tall and can be very old. Some of these trees are at least 2,000 years old. The base of the trees can be 14-15 feet in diameter. Some of the biggest trees are up to 350 feet and 20 feet in diameter.
On this walk you can see the height of the trees although the view can make you dizzy. There are massive clusters of trees which create very shady spots on the trail. Although in some cases the sun is peeking thru open spots in the tree tops. There are beautiful green ferns growing in the shade of the trees and the hiker will stop at bridges and babbling brooks so you can enjoy the view. In one section there were several trees that had fallen. Based on their size, the park rangers cut a walk thru so you can continue on the path. So we were able to walk under several fallen trees on the path.
There were several walkers on the trail during the video. Most were respectful, but I am always amazed that a lot of people feel compelled to talk all the time. Stop talking, and feast your eyes on the beauty around you.
The video does not have music but you do hear the footsteps of the videographer which can be distracting. You also hear the water rushing when you get near streams, birds in the trees chirping away and the wind whistling thru the trees. I really wanted to take off my virtual walking shoes and dip my feet in the cool water when he stopped at the streams of water. Some places along the trail have benches to rest and admire the view. There are also some little pockets of interest where some fallen tree has created a fairy circle or a miniature hideout.
I recommend checking out this or other videos that take you on a walk or tour. For the active viewers you can do a stationary bike or walking machine. For the couch potatoes out there like me, you can watch while doing a cross stitch project.
I saw a short on YouTube on a beautiful violet color lemonade tea drink called Lavender Butterfly Pea Lemonade. It looks so beautiful to drink and admire.
I have never heard of Butterfly Pea tea. When I made it, it was such a vivid blue color. It almost felt fake because it was so intense like a beautiful lake high in the mountains.
But what makes this tea so interesting is once you add lemon, it changes from blue to violet. If you add the lemonade slowly you can have a two color look to your drink.
To make it more special I added the lavender syrup and edible glitter. A sprig of lavender and you have a refreshing and colorful drink for the summer. I did add the lemonade too quickly and it mixed it too much, but it was still a pretty drink.
The recipe was easy
Steep a cup of Butterfly Pea tea, let cool
Add ice into a pretty glass
Add the tea into the glass and slowly add in lemonade making sure you do it slowly so there are two colors
Add a teaspoon of Lavender Syrup (you can add the syrup to the tea before adding in lemonade if you really want to separate the colors)
Sprinkle the glitter into the glass and garnish with a lavender sprig
I fondly recall going on a wine trip with my sister and her husband where one of the wineries had a grove of peach trees. They recently harvested the trees and we bought some white peaches. I have never tasted anything so wonderful, juicy and perfect as those peaches. Since then, I have craved those peaches.
I recently bought a box of white peaches from Sam’s Club and have enjoyed eating a bowl of peaches for breakfast during the week. I am not sure why white peaches taste better than yellow. Maybe it is tied to my memory of that wine trip.
I wanted to make a peach dessert using peaches. I ended up eating a lot of those peaches from Sam’s club so I had to use can peaches for the dessert.
I made a Peach Crisp that I found on Instagram.
It was a pretty easy recipe. We decided to have ice cream with yummy warm peach crisp.
Ingredients
45 oz canned peaches, drained (about 4 cups sliced peaches)
