September Tea Swap 2014 - Part 1

Don't you just love it when you receive old fashion mail, and the letter takes you down memory lane as the contents just make you smile?

In the September swap I was partnered up with Josie, who send me this card in fall colors. Wow bulrush - I haven't seen those since I lived in the country side, where we had water holes on our grounds and lots of bulrush was growing at the edge of the water holes. In the fall they sometimes exploded of exposed to too strong a sun. I remember that as one of the coolest things that nature could do to a plant. Bulrush and sunflowers mixed together in a vase - part of the fall traditions in my parents house.

 

The tea: ginseng and red ginseng tea from Korea - the very same type/brand of tea that I brought home with me when I visited in South Korea 4½ years ago - what is the chance of that happening? Already had the red ginseng while browsing some of the photos that I took in Seoul during my trip out there.

Thanks Josie.

My Own Toothbrush

Naturally, I have my own toothbrush - but it would be so cool to have my OWN toothbrush :o) 

Confused? Well Jordan has a competition locally (Denmark), where the first prize is a trip to New York and 100 uniqe toothbrushes with the winner's design... and I could not resist making my version of a cool toothbrush:

My contribution: Bricks

Pattern of the handle, is the photo of bricks that I shot during in England my sailing trip this summer.

Well the MS has me ship wrecked when it comes to creative things at the moment, so a moment of creative "me-time" when doing this.......

Farm Fresh

Source: Pinterest

While eating my breakfast this morning, I started thinking about the eggs I was eating. Not brought home from a store, but eggs bought at a farm close to where one of my colleagues lives. Eggs from chickens who live the old style country way - they simply taste that much better!!

From age 7 to 18, I lived in the country side and we had a huge garden with every type of berries and vegetables that can grow in our climate, the land was a former apple plantation - where the apple trees were still producing loads of various types of apples - adding to that trees with nuts, plums, cherries, pears etc. I never get tired of apples and vegetables are so much better homegrown or farm fresh compared to the produce grown in masses to go to supermarkets. We had everything canned, made into fruit syrup, frozen down or put into storage. I miss that place since my parents are no longer living there as they moved to a smaller house when my dad retired from work.

Eggs were purchased at the next door neighbor, and meat (from cows, pigs or chickens) was purchased once a year making our kitchen look like a semi-slaughter house while my mum and dad prepared the right cuts etc of the meat and then freezing it down. Not only did we save a lot of money, but got food with a much fresher/richer taste. Need I say, that we actually traded apples for the yearly Christmas tree with one of the next door neighbors?

One of my colleagues passes farms along her route to work and after-work activities and are keeping me and some other colleagues informed about current produce available - so this week I have fresh apples, corn an eggs. If I had a car, I think I would take a scenic drive during the weekends and make sure to locate farms that sell produce at the road or at their barn. I like to support local produce.

You might wonder: Why doesn't she just go to a farmers market? Well there is not any close to where I live - if there was I would go to them as often as I could.

In the meantime I will fetch an apple and enjoy the richness of flavour.

Happy..... National Comic Book Day

Do you have any favorite comic books or characters??

Donald Duck/Mickey Mouse, Mutts, Peanuts, Calvin & Hobbes, Rose is Rose, Gary Larson's Far Side, Garfield, Tintin, Asterix and the list is actually longer, but you get the gist: I love cartoons and always have. Unlike the collection of books on my shelves, I only have a few comic books on the shelves - to be honest, I do not know why that is.... it just is.

So when signing up for the September card swap over on PaperDigitalArt, I just had to pick this holiday for my theme - so this is the card, that I sent to my swap partner Mary.

Yarn Over Murder

 

 

Downside when having an MS attack is that you worry that this might be one where you can not regain the usual power in the right foot/leg - but I chose to see some positive things while waiting for the effect of the attack medicine to kick in like reading. It is frustrating not being able to go on my usual photo walks but luckily the pile of books that I bought has kept my mind busy with plots and murders, that needs to be solved.

Maggie Sefton's book from last year, Close Knit Killer, left us with the cliffhanger reminding one of the season finale of a good tv show where you put at a loss, since you have to wait for the new series - in this case book. Actually, I finished reading the book a month ago, but one book took the other and never got around to blog about it - until now.

During the annual Wool Market news breaks that there is a wild fire very close to Fort Connor. Jayleen's animals and farm is in danger, so the Lampspun gang and friends gather and do everything they can to help. While they are fighting against time and fire, they witness a nasty argument between Connie and Andrea where Connie blames Andrea of stealing her husband. Andrea is found dead and suddenly they must muster all their little grey cells to find clues that proves that Connie did not do it.

Maggie Sefton was inspired by the 2012  High Park Wildfire, and it shows that the fear and worries are "close to home", making it a book you do not want to put down for two reasons: you want to find out who the murderer is and if the wildfire will stop it's havoc soon.

Happy Belated..... Chocolate Milk Shake Day

 

 

Actually, Chocolate Milk Shake Day was September 12th, but did not receive the card until yesterday. It is from Monique my secret September Card Swap partner over at Anything Goes.

Nice detail where she uses thick see-through plastic as the glass, and look there is a red cherry on top - well it is not really a milk shake unless you get that red cherry :o)

August Tea Swap 2014 - Part 2

August's theme: Let's color images this month!!  Take a digital or stamped image and color it with water colors, Copics, Blendabilities, Sharpies, Prismas, markers, or crayons, etc. on your card! inspired me to once more color this aviation boy.

He is daring to dream about new destinations and seems very fitting for my swap partner, Kim, who dreams of visiting her daughter in Europe.

Found a very colorful magazine page and made an envelope to go with the card and the tea samples, that I selected for Kim: CEYLON TEA from COOP and HAMPSTEAD TEA GINGER GREEN.

Dr. Sleep

REDRUM - Do you know where that is from?

Here are some hints: It is both a book and a movie. One of the movie's stars is Jack Nicholson. One of the classic scenes is when the boy, Danny, riding his tricycle and meeting two scary twin girls. Yes, "The Shining" and REDRUM is "murder spelled backwards. Stephen King wrote the book and finally last year the sequel "Doctor Sleep" hit the book stores.

Little Danny is now a grown-up, still haunted/marked with the childhood event at the Overlook Hotel and a drunk like his dad. Coming to a small city he is joining a local AA-group to regain some control of his life, and finds a heartwarming use of the gift of the shining at the hospice where he is employed: with the aid of a prescient cat, Azzie, he spends the last moments with the person offering a peaceful departure with this world.

He connects with the teenager, Abra Stone, who through her shining ability sense the horror of The True, a group of paranormal people that feeds on shining childrens' steams. The True has zeroed in on Abra's gift which is the strongest one  encountered so far and they start a scary hunt.
.....

The prescient cat - well that is not fictional. There must be more between Heaven and Earth, as I have read stories about both cats and dogs that has the prescient gift and seeks out people that are about to leave our world in both hospices and nursery homes. Their mere presence seems to calm down the dying so they meet their fate in a relaxed way - maybe because the animals does not talk or ask questions, they are just present in the moment.....

August Tea Swap 2014 - Part I

August tea swap's optional theme was Colored image in any color!! and look at this beautiful beach card from Kim. Anybody that knows me, knows that I love the seaside - but only few know that I am actually fascinated by the 1910s and 1920s - just look at the boys clothing :)

Just tasted the tea that Kim sent me - received the swap 1½ week ago but the MS attack medicine temporarily deprived me of tasting anything, so waited until the taste was back - RASPBERRY & WHITE DECAF TEA and STRAWBERRY POMEGRANATE HERBAL RED TEA both from STASH. Yummy treats.

Thanks for being my swap partner Kim.

Closed Door

  

The other day, I passed this doorway like so many other times before that - only this time I noticed the light through the closed door. Grabbed my phone with a sigh to photograph it, as I realized that it spoke the thoughts in my head.

I had just come to turns with the fact that a new MS attack had come my way forcing me to get some nasty additional medicine for a couple of days. I have no doubt: It is my body reacting to me being on board a yacht for 38 days just to return to my office job behind a desk... My body/brain had tried to tell me for weeks, that that sudden end of the adventure of a lifetime (mine) was not acceptable.

Odd fact - the day I left the yacht marked the 12 year anniversary for my MS diagnosis and a few hours ago the boat hit a milestone when they reached Boston, USA after a successful Atlantic crossing - the first day with attack medicine after my trip. I had tears in my eyes when I read about the others reaching Boston - not tears of sadness but of joy as I know that this is such a big achievement for them... crying like I did when reaching Lisbon the end of my journey realising that I have done something extraordinary.

It fills me up with questions about my own future: Will I get through this attack as the previous ones returning almost to normal conditions? Has my part of the sailing adventure taught me that I should to something else than a desk job? Trouble is: has no idea what it should be and I need income to pay rent and food. Has this journey set too high a bar for future adventures awaiting me? On the trip I have learned that it is OK to ask for help or say "No" if the MS hands me those conditions and yet, who should I ask for help other than myself when it comes to future plans?

One thing, I will NEVER regret, is having the courage to sign up for something like that sail trip. It has given me a lot of somethings but also a lot of questions. But guessing that it is just part of life, that one sometimes have to take a chance. Otherwise how can you find new interesting places?

StreetArt: The Face

I do not know the artist's street name nor do I know what this character is called but have spottet him several places now - some captured with my camera others only memories, as have spotted them along railway tracks during train rides.