Pirate Inspiration

I want to thank Donna O’Brien for her inspiration, she is hosting a Swashbuckler Soiree tomorrow. I might be adding my post for the event later tonight. I had a peek at the artists who have joined in the fun, and I am sure the inspiration will be incredible. When I went looking for my inspiration the other day...

10 AM
Yo Ho Ho and a Starbucks coffee, I am off to visit the Pirate Museum for inspiration. I am playing hookey and being Peter Pan for the day. Donna O’Brian has invited all of us to her Swashbuckler Soiree on May 3rd...is that amaaaaaaazing or what? Even her badge is an invitation to fairyland. I checked the list of people who have signed up, OMG I can only imagine the creations on that day. “I can fly, I can fly, I can fly!” Come on Tink.

Where did I find Pirate inspiration, hmmmm Salem, Massachusetts was on my map, and I was not disappointed. Well, I’ll save my pirate finds until Saturday, but lookey here what I found...



Fence posts screaming history lead the way down tree lined streets, and historical old homes. There were gardens to peek into, and the houses are quaint and so charming.



Gorgeous historical Salem is the most charming of towns, especially in the Fall. Yet, Spring really tells a tale as well. Here are some lovely places, I walked down cobblestone walks that were lined with old homes, picket fences and New England charm.



I stopped at quaint doorways and embraced each and every wreath, blossom and flower.




6 PM
Sweet Dreams
After my day off as Peter Pan, I am home again, putting my Wendy outfit back on and busy making dinner for the lost children. I found my music to serenade my dreams of Tinkerbell and creating something special for the soiree.



I wish you sweet dreams... and a bit of fun! Perhaps you should take a Peter Pan Day tomorrow. All I know is that I had a great big smile on the inside following my playdate, as my family thought this grownup was only food shopping “arrrrrrrgh”, and doing errands today.

Until I can return to my Neverland, I will dream about pirate creations,











Shhhhhhhhhhh, our secret, remember, “you can fly, you can fly!” You remember how, sprinkle a bit of fairy dust, think of something happy and just follow Tinkerbell...the second star to the right...

The songs for this post are from Peter Pan. If you stopped by in search of your treasures that I was showing on my show and tell post, just browse below maties.

Show And Tell

My creation, originally uploaded by bluebirdsandteapots.

When I was in Kindergarten I just loved Show and Tell. I find that it is so much fun still to show and tell the many wonderful finds in Blogland.

show and tell, originally uploaded by bluebirdsandteapots.

Kathy of Kathy's Cottage makes beautiful things for her Etsy shop. I just peeked at a brand new post and she has created another wonderful creation. I just love how she photographs her beautiful things on her Etsy shop. I recently bought this lovely bluebird for my mother. I plan on giving it to her on Mother's Day, but for now she sits on my creative baker's rack for me to enjoy.




Kathy also sent me these lovely tags, which I added to my Garland of Creativity. The Garland of Creativity was created to hang across my Baker's Rack to fill me with inspiration as I am reminded of all the artistic spirits that live in Blogland.



Here is my inspirational garland...while I am in the kitchen and I pass by, it is a reminder to create something every day.





Now hold onto your socks...Natasha Burns has recently been designing these wonderful creations. She prints her beautiful dress designs on Vintage sheet music and sells these beauties on her boutique. OMG, it is sooooo gorgeous.



She also included this lovely card, which so matches a favorite cup and saucer with my daughter Sarah's prom corsage, which is so perfect near Natasha's prom dress creation.





Donna from Donna's Art paints beautiful things. I bought this wonderful bird painted on a wood with a built in easel. He sits on my mantle near the window next to all my nests and bird collection. Her Etsy shop has great artwork, and it looks like Donna loves to paint incredible creations on many different surfaces.



I love my garland that hangs across the baker's rack in my kitchen. Here is a beautiful tag and embellished key that I bought from Louise of Beachy Cape Cod Cupboard. Besides creating wonderful photo challenges for all of us to enjoy, her creative treasures are just beautiful on her Etsy Shop.



Linda from Hedgerow Hollow creates beautiful tags and cards and other treasures on her Etsy shop called Among The Hedgerows.



I couldn't resist when Wendy of Windy Angels was opening up her new Etsy shop called Angels Dreams. Here is her lovely blue ATC card, which I hung on my garland.

Doesn't it look sensational next to Natasha's creation? She included lots of wonderful blue papers and gave me a beautiful cards as well.



I couldn't leave this post without sharing some gorgeous new creations my sister, Susan is selling on her Etsy Shop. The cutest ever cupcake hats for babies, which she named Angel Food Cake and Pink Icing Cupcake Hat. She really has a gorgeous post about it on her blog called One Knit One Purl.

And




My friend Judy of JuJuz Beads on Etsy has added a bunch of new bracelets to her shop.







The name of this song is Please Don't Eat The Daisies, sung by Doris Day. She sung this in one of my favorite old movies.
Here is a clip for that movie:

Rainbow Promises

Rainbows, originally uploaded by bluebirdsandteapots.

I was driving home late yesterday afternoon and I spotted this huge rainbow. I couldn't quite get the entire rainbow into view to photograph the whole thing. In some spots it looked like a double rainbow.


So I shot pieces of it and stitched it's magnificence into a mosaic.



I could not believe how long this rainbow lasted. I drove to two different locations around the lake to photograph it best. As I stood in amazement of how long it was still in the sky, these words whispered into my memory.

"God's Word endures forever, So, His promises are forever too."

Rainbows always make me stop, and remember it's promise. So, I am sending you Rainbow promises for your day.

Blessings, Karen

Faith Hill sings Over The Rainbow so beautifully, she touches my heart with her voice.

WORDS

This is another favorite place I love to sit and read, especially this time of year when the windows are open and the Spring breeze is so lovely. My cat Mittens is eighteen years old, she is an old world traveler. She was born in Princeton, New Jersey then moved to our first home in Hong Kong and to our second home near the beach. She moved to Oakville, Ontario and then to Toronto to enjoy a large home with our late dog Twinks. Mittens moved back to Princeton to our tiny condo, with the family and nine hamsters. Now she is finally settled in our home of five years with our two dogs Samantha and Cocoa. She still loves it when I read. She used to snuggle when I read to the girls, or when my husband and I would read in bed, there she would be. When you open a book, Mittens the bookworm is very nearby to listen to the words spoken, or to relish in the peace found in the silence of words read.



I love to collect words. I keep them in journals and computer files and on scattered bits of papers found in books and calendars. I tuck notes safely in special places in my home and car, just in case I might need encouragement along the way. When words are strung together in just the right stream, poetry is born. Awesome speeches ring in the ears of millions, a beautiful story is told, we learn a fact that changes our lives. Encouraging words become a thought that dances around an otherwise hopeless situation.

Words...we wake up to them speaking to us in the morning and whispering to us before we fall fast asleep. Words can warn us, as we hear words that contradict the truth in our hearts. Words can change a melody into a grand praise celebration, or a melancholy lyric can make us feel sad. Lovely words dance in our minds and paint encouragement, inspiration and dreams. Words are the gift that was meant to receive and give away.

Words encourage us to march on, or deplete us of our energy. Words warn us of impending dangers or entice us into trouble. Words enchant the brokenhearted and mend relationships of every kind. Words can paint a picture, they can make us cry or create a new invention or give birth to a new idea.




Words are a special gift from God to manifest our reality. It is our choice how we use our words. We can listen to the small inner voice and take part in the whole of creation. Whenever I am around people who speak negative or critical words, I replace those words with positive, uplifting ones to find my balance.



God gave us his word to teach us and to encourage us. We can continue to create beauty and love, using our words as our paint brush, to plant a word seed that will bloom into a positive blanket of inspiration.

Words can make us better people, encouraging us to reach our dreams. Careless words spoken and taken to heart can keep us from becoming what God intended us to be.

Words are so powerful, here are just a few:

imagine
dream
believe
hope
love
possibility

Let these words dance in your mind without experiencing a dose of joy romping within your heart. Breathe in the oxygen and power that they are meant to give, to use as stepping stones towards attaining your heart's desire.

I pray every day for God to guide my mind and my mouth. To use the gift of words to encourage, love and support those around me. I ask God to help me not to be careless with these treasures. Most of all I thank God every day for giving me the free will to use the gift of words to manifest the truth and to create my life.


I think that Miss Mittens is a very wise cat, as she rests waiting for someone, anyone to open up a book so that she can snuggle and read along too, or just purr amongst the peace.


I know that we can create a wonderful place for ourselves and those around us by giving the gift of words. I love reading poetry and those incredible authors that make the words that they string together seem like a melody. Maya Angelo, who composes glorious streams of words in her poetry for the world to savour and enjoy said it best:

“LIFE IS NOT ONLY TO BE LIVED, BUT TO BE CREATED."

I want to create my life with beautiful words, words to dance with and words to share, and most of all words to use to inspire others. The song for this post is Thankful by Josh Groban. When he wraps his beautiful voice around the words of a song he celebrates words, and as I listen he takes each word and comforts my soul.

Just Who Will You Be?

When I came home today, the package was waiting for me. My mother always has perfect advice for me, and she said that after hearing Maria talk about this book, she was convinced that she sounded just like me. Sentiments about redefining who I am, now that this chapter seems to be coming to an end. She said that I must read this book. So I listened.

One year ago I set out to redesign my new life before empty nest hit my nest. I have loved being a stay-at-home mother and have been blessed to do it living in exciting places. I am a city girl at heart, and being able to live in New York, Hong Kong and Toronto made the job of being at home easier and certainly very exciting. I had opportunities to continue working at my art and computer skills. Having had a lovely career in Manhattan before I got married and had children made it easier for me to embrace motherhood, but did challenge my identity. Now twenty years later and my identity was being challenged once again. I asked myself If I am not a career woman, ex-pat, or stay-at-home mother who am I?


The Thinker Baby, Yuppy, Dreamer, and Mother

So, I set out to create a list of goals that I wanted to achieve aside from being a mother, wife, daughter, friend or sister. I wanted to create something for myself that was strong enough to stand the test of criticism from my husband, family or children. I say criticism because the people around us many times don't want us to change, they want us to be the same. Even though they are out discovering the world, they want us there just in case they need us. I was not satisfied with this role, so I set out to find a new one. I found in return that when I stopped looking for their approval I was happier and in the end I got their approval anyway. I remember having two close friends in Hong Kong who always made me feel wonderful. They would look at me with such approval that I would often wonder what it was that they were seeing. At fifty I vowed to myself that I would discover who that was that they saw and to love myself without needing anyone's reflection.

I have been revisiting things that I had abandoned and finding new joy in creating art again. Letting go of people pleasing, standing up for my boundaries, and being happy in just being me. It was very lonely this year because I had to let go of some old things that weren't working in my life in order to make room for the new. I had to stop feeling comfortable in old groups, and step out and try new things and meet new people. I had to accept that my girls didn't need me in the same capacity anymore and reinvent our relationships.

After I opened up the package from my mother, I decided to have a browse through the book. I poured myself a cup of coffee, sat down and found myself reading the book from cover to cover. It's a small book, but it is filled with a very deep and soul searching message. A message that made me cry to know that someone else felt similarly and coming from someone who I admired made it even better. This book is so wonderful and I love how she touched on so many important issues about who we want to be. All the things that allow you to just be you. This book so made me cry, but that good kind of cry that says "me too" and seems to validate all the reasons that you are reinventing yourself once again at the beginning of a new chapter. Maria asks the question "Just Who Will You Be" a question that I have thought of this year a great deal. Instead of looking backward and missing my girlish figure, my girls when they were little, living an ex-pat life abroad, or being able to climb mountains in Tai Tam, I wanted to look forward, I wanted to still be able to dream. I wanted to give myself permission to dust off the old parts of myself and rediscover who I am and who I want to be next.

This book should be on every woman's nightstand because it speaks to that very special place that we sometimes suppress, when we are just too busy nurturing everyone around us. It is a reminder and offers such insight and words of encouragement to still know that we are unfinished, not done yet, and no matter what age we are, we are able to dream of what we want to be when we grow up. The message that encouraged me to still dream about tomorrow beyond the horizon of my loved one's definition of who I am to them. I have found I can still be that and take time to dream my dream as well.

My mother was right once again, she knows me so well. Perhaps because she too took the time to reinvent herself so many times I lost count, when chapters were coming to an end for her too. It takes wisdom to let go of a chapter, especially when you loved it so much. It takes courage to sit down and write a new script which explores the question, "Just Who Will You Be?" As Maria Shriver says so well in her book:

"What matters most to me now is what I expect of myself.
What matters most to me now is that I know myself, what my heart feels, what my inner voice is telling me."

It seems my wonderful Sonific music will be going off-line as of May 1st, which means I will be using a different format, but there will always be a song to compliment my post. Like today and Over The Rainbow. Perhaps my new chapter needs a new soundtrack.

The-Sweet-and-Savory-of-Yummy!

La Tea Dah of Gracious Hospitality has invited us to post wonderful recipes that we love to serve with tea. This week's theme is The-Sweet-and-Savory-of-Yummy! You must stop by her beautiful blog all about tea and see the wonderful recipes that she has posted.

I have found this delightful link, which lists skatey-eight recipes for scones, under the heading Best Scone Recipes. The main site is called A Cup of Tea Please, which resides permanently on my sidebar because I use this resource all the time. They have a category for Tea Breads and Muffins as well as a page of party appetizers.


There is a little crooked house in the center of Windsor, it is one of the oldest buildings and it slants a bit, but the charm doesn’t slant one bit. The delicious tea served at The Crooked House of Windsor is a truly memorable event. If you would like a peek at this incredible menu for tea, here is the yummy and savory delights. So, if you are visiting Windsor Castle, you must stop here to have a spot of tea. A proper tea would not be complete without lovely Scones and Clotted Cream.



Whether preparing finger sandwiches, savory appetizers or scones and sweets, there is something so inviting about these delicious foods when served with a good cup of tea. I have grown accustomed to having clotted cream with my scones. I have a lovely scone recipe, which is in one of my favorite illustrated cookbooks. I received this lovely little book when I was first married, it is called A Proper Tea by Johanna Isles. She is from Scotland. What I love about this cookbook are all the wonderful watercolor illustrations. Here is her recipe for Scones.

Scones
(makes about 12)
8 oz. self-raising flour
1/2 tsp salt
2 oz. butter or margerine
1 oz caster (superfine)sugar
1/4 pt. milk
milk for glazing

Preheat oven to 425 and lightly grease a large baking sheet ( or two small ones)
Sift the flour and salt. Rub in the fat(butter) until the mixture looks like fine breadcrumbs
Then add the sugar. Mix to a soft dough with milk. Roll out the dough on a lightly
floured board to 1/2 inches thickness and cut into rounds with a 1 1/2 inch cutter.
Put on the baking sheet(s) and brush with milk. Bake for 10 minutes.
Cool on wire rack.

Serve with clotted cream and jam (yum)


Watercolor from A Proper Tea


I am fortunate enough to find Devon Clotted Cream in a nearby green grocer. Here is a link to learn where to find it and how to create clotted cream.

If you would like to participate, add your link, or enjoy the many blogs who are taking part this week in sharing recipes for The-Sweet-and-Savory-of-Yummy!, please stop by Gracious Hospitality for the list of links.

The song for this post is Maybe Someday. I chose this song because it is so similar to the Kenny G music that played in The Tea House at Hong Kong Parkview Suites. The Tea House was in the complex where we lived in Hong Kong. All this talk of tea has led to so many lovely memories of sipping tea with friends in the Tea House. Such a romantic chapter...maybe someday I will sip tea there again.