Ahhh, sweet Caffeine!

Really, is there anything more to say?

I saw this poster and thought...."This is soooo me!!"
Hmmm....that may not be a good thing.
Guess I'll think about it over a cup of coffee :-P

Emotions?...a few thoughts (not mine)

I was meandering on the internet (surprise, surprise) when I stumbled across this little bit of information. And I thought, "Well, now I'll have a name for those feelings, if ever I have them."
Check this out:

I say boredom, you say ennui

Some emotional states only have names in particular languages. Here are some examples:

Fiero (Italian): contented pride in achieving something just for oneself.

Amae (Japanese): the sweet feeling of being dependent on someone else.

Naches (Yiddish): the glow of proud pleasure that only a child can give to its parents.

Schadenfreude (German): the feeling you experience when you learn that your worst enemy has suffered some misfortune.

Ennui (French): the sophisticated, world-weary boredom most intensely felt by philosophers and intellectuals.

This is an excerpt from an article by
Jessica Griggs is a freelance writer based in London

Teddy Pendergrass

Wow, I just heard about Teddy Pendergrass.
This is one of my favorite songs by him.

Can't We Try



Teddy, This One's For You!


Love, Laughter, Peace and Blessings!

It's still Hot Tea Month

I found this pic/recipe while meandering on the net. I haven't tried it yet but it sounds yummy.
Enjoy some tea this month!

recipe found here

Great Graffiti!!

I found these pics while stumbling around the internet.
They were taken in Brazil and I think they're just fabulous!
Someone, probably many someones, has lots of time and creativity.
Hey, if you have to have drains they might as well be colorful!






more pics to be found at DailyCognition.com

Have you written your letter yet?

January 8-12 is Universal Letter Writing Week. This is a great time to practice the almost lost are of letter writing. In this computer age, we tend to write short email messages,text messages or IMs. If we're not careful we may lose the art of writing a letter.





Everyone enjoys receiving mail. Sending a letter is the next best thing to showing up personally at someone’s door and says "I'm thinking of you." (that picture is kinda scary isn't ? but I just love it!) Don't your eyes just light up when you receive an actual personal letter in the mail? Mine do. Of course, I can't remember the last time I received a letter. Emails and text messages..yes...a letter...no. The best way to get a letter is to send a letter. So, I suppose I need to start writing. Not wanting to do this alone, I invite all of you (yeah, the few who read this) to join me in sending a few letters out into the world. Hey, maybe we can start a whole letter writing resurgence! (the post office would love us!)



IF you really want to make letter writing and receiving fun, you can make your own stationery. Using paper bags to make stationery is simple and can usually be done with objects you already have on hand. If you want to get really fancy you can actually Make Your Own Paper by recycling scraps of paper that you have at home.
You'll find information on a simple ways of making paper at home at this link

To get started right away on your letters (I know you can't wait) try making Paper Bag Stationery

Materials needed:

* Paper bags (you can use brown grocery bags or bags from department stores)
* Scissors, if you have any with decorative edges they make very pretty stationery
* Paper punches, many paper punches come in shapes (hearts, stars etc)
* Colored Pens or Pencils
* Optional - Rubber stamps and ink; stickers

How to:

1. Cut pieces of the brown bag into rectangles, squares, hearts or whatever stationery shapes you wish. The size of the "stationery" depends on the size of the envelopes you'll be using.
2. The paper will look more decorative if you cut it using scissors with shaped edges. Or you can use regular scissors to round the edges of the paper.
3. Use the paper punch to decorate the edges of your stationery.
4. Draw designs on you paper using colored pens and pencils or decorate with stickers and rubber stamps.
5. Be sure to leave space in the center of the stationery to write your letter.
6. If you wish you can cut designs and patterns from old cards, wrapping paper or fabric with plain or decorative edge scissors and then use the designs to decorate your paper bag stationery.


Now that you gone through the trouble of making your own writing paper, why not make a few special envelopes too? You can make envelopes using leftover wrapping paper or attractive magazine pages.

How to make Envelopes from Recycled Paper

Materials needed:
* Pages from old wallpaper sample books, leftover wrapping paper, magazine pages, slightly heavier paper holds up better
* An envelope
* Cereal box cardboard
* Pencil
* Scissors
* Glue

How to:

1. Search your home or your friends homes for old magazines or wrapping paper. You can also go to stores and see if they have any old wallpaper sample books. Usually they give them away.
2. Take a small mailing envelope and carefully pull the glued edges apart. Use this as your pattern.
3. Trace the envelope on a piece of cardboard (cereal boxes work well) so that you have a durable pattern.
4. Place your cardboard pattern on the paper you have chosen for your envelope and trace.
5. Cut out the pattern.
6. Fold carefully and glue.
That's it! You now have a unique envelope ready for mailing!!



For parents and teachers, Universal Letter Writing Week is the perfect excuse to get kids to practice "traditional" letter writing which also includes a little work on penmanship, grammar, spelling and sentence structure (but you don't have to tell the kids about that). Need something to jumpstart their interests (or yours) in letter writing? Check out this list of Picture Books that Inspire Letter Writing that I put together on Amazon (don't ya just love Amazon?).
One of my fave "how to" books on this list is Messages in a Mailbox: How to Write a Letter by Loreen Leedy . It's a fun book but full of all kinds of information on letter writing, some of which we may have forgotten.

Happy Writing!!!

Bubble Bath Day!

Yep, January 8th is Bubble Bath Day! And just in time!
I'm sure we could all use a nice relaxing bubble bath.
So, pour in the bubble bath and get your self a glass of wine, or a cup of tea....whatever relaxes you.

Don't have any bubble bath??? Make your own!
Here's a very quick 3 Ingredient Bubble Bath Recipe:

you'll need:
/2 a cup of light colored shampoo,
3/4 a cup of water
1/4 teaspoon of table salt

Directions:

1. Mix the shampoo and the water in a bowl
2. Add the salt and stir until the mixture thickens slightly, approximately 1 minute.
3. Pour the mixture into a clean jar. Your bubble bath is now ready for use.
4. If you wish to add color to your bubble bath: place a drop of food coloring on a plate; dip a toothpick into the food coloring and then add to the bubble bath mixture a little at a time until you reach your desired color.

Happy Bubble Bath Day!!!

Make Your Own Chai Tea Mix

January is Hot Tea Month!!

Chai Tea Mix
Ingredients

* 1 cup nonfat dry milk powder
* 1 cup powdered non-dairy creamer
* 1 cup French vanilla flavored powdered non-dairy creamer
* 2 1/2 cups white sugar
* 1 1/2 cups unsweetened instant tea
* 2 teaspoons ground ginger
* 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
* 1 teaspoon ground cloves
* 1 teaspoon ground cardamom
* 1 teaspoon ground nutmeg

Directions

1) In a large bowl, combine milk powder, non-dairy creamer, vanilla flavored creamer, sugar and instant tea.
2) Stir in ginger, nutmeg, cinnamon, cloves and cardamom.
3) In a blender or food processor, blend 1 cup at a time, until mixture is the consistency of fine powder.
4) To serve: Stir 2 heaping tablespoons Chai tea mixture into a mug of hot water.

January 6th is Bean Day!

Really! I am not making this up. Today is Bean Day!
So, in honor of this "Oh so important day" we should all do Beanie things!
Umm...let's see..Oh, okay let's all sing Oats, Peas, Beans and Barley Grow...everybody sing!
Ooops! If you don't know the words you'll find them at the end of this blog.
Moving on....

And, course there is that all time favorite bean folk tale Jack and the Beanstalk!

Aaaand....sorta last but certainly not least, we have a marvelous recipe for ...what else? Beans.

CROCKPOT BEANS AND RICE
--1 can of black beans --1 can of pinto beans
--1 cup of rice
--1 can (14.5 oz) of diced tomatoes
--1 T olive oil
--1/2 t kosher salt
--1 t Italian seasoning
--1/2 T dried onion flakes

The Directions.

--put the 1 tablespoon of olive oil into the bottom of your crockpot, and add the rice. Swirl the rice around in the olive oil, until it is coated nicely.

--drain and rinse the beans, and add them

--drain the tomatoes, but reserve the liquid in a measuring cup. I got a little under a cup of tomato juice. Add the tomatoes.

--add water to the measuring cup with tomato juice. You need 2 cups of liquid.

--add seasonings stir well, and cover.

Cook on low for about 6 hours, or on high for 3-4 hours.
It's done when the rice is tender.
Brown rice or wild rice will take longer to cook than white rice.

recipe found at A Year of Slow Cooking Blog

Happy Bean Day to all!!!

Oats, Peas, Beans and Barley Grow is a traditional British and American folk/play song.

Oats, peas, beans, and barley grow,
Oats, peas, beans, and barley grow,
Can you or I or anyone know
How oats, peas, beans, and barley grow?


First the farmer sows his seed,
Stands erect and takes his ease,
He stamps his foot and claps his hands,
And turns around to view his lands.


Oats, peas, beans, and barley grow,
Oats, peas, beans, and barley grow,
Can you or I or anyone know
How oats, peas, beans, and barley grow?


Next the farmer waters the seed,
Stands erect and takes his ease,
He stamps his foot and claps his hands,
And turns around to view his lands.


Oats, peas, beans, and barley grow,
Oats, peas, beans, and barley grow,
Can you or I or anyone know
How oats, peas, beans, and barley grow?


Next the farmer hoes the weeds,
Stands erect and takes his ease,
He stamps his foot and claps his hands,
And turns around to view his lands.


Oats, peas, beans, and barley grow,
Oats, peas, beans, and barley grow,
Can you or I or anyone know
How oats, peas, beans, and barley grow?


Last the farmer harvests his seed,
Stands erect and takes his ease,
He stamps his foot and claps his hands,
And turns around to view his lands.


Oats, peas, beans, and barley grow,
Oats, peas, beans, and barley grow,
Can you or I or anyone know
How oats, peas, beans, and barley grow?

This video shows kids performing some of the movements in the song.

For My Friends

You will always be the light of my life....no matter what!

Have a Bubbly 2010!!

Wishing everyone a Happy and Prosperous 2010!!

I just threw this next pic in 'cause it's a really cool vintage New Year's calendar circa 1910. It was posted by the Graphics Fairy.