This is my new favorite afternoon pick-me-up drink.  I discovered Mayan Cocoa Spice tea (Yogi brand) recently at the store and it was exactly what I needed.  Similar to Chai, it has a yummy spiced flavor but with chocolaty notes.  Smooth and very tasty.  Because it only has 5mg of caffeine, I added some black tea for that extra kick I usually need in the afternoon.

Here is my recipe:

1 Mayan Cocoa Spice tea bag
1 Black tea bag (I use PG tips)
agave nectar (or sugar) to taste
ice
vanilla almond milk to taste

Leave out the black tea (PG tips) if you would like less cafeine or for a warm evening drink.  So good!

The spiced tea helped me get through this painting that I’ve been working on for a few days.  It’s the hand that stumped me.  I just couldn’t get it right. I worked it out, finally.  I’ll have to think twice the next time I decide I want hands in my paintings. I guess I should have learned the first time, which also took me forever to get!

Ride

I love the idea of riding a pretty pink bike with beautiful greenery & flowers passing by, wind through my hair, free as a bird.  The reality for me is that riding my bike is nothing but cars, street lights and terror.  I am totally afraid to ride my bike on the streets in my city.  It completely fills me with anxiety and fear.  So, instead I dreamed up this bike painting.  What I visualize as the perfect bike ride. What one might feel if they had somewhere pretty and safe to ride.  My husband, an avid bike rider, will tell you differently.  He believes riding, anywhere, can be completely safe.  Maybe it is.  Maybe I just need to relax and become more confident.

I really do love bench Mondays.  I like searching for interesting benches when I’m out and about.  We found these benches at the St. Philips Plaza where the farmer’s market is held.  I love the colorful tiles.

This one I am looking down at my new summer shoes.  Vintage hurache sandals, just like when I was little.  I think I remember having white ones though.  These were bought through Etsy, of course, from the Bag Basement.  I can’t believe I bought shoes on-line and they fit like a dream!

Happy Monday!!

Summers are a hard time for us here in the southwest.  Heat, mosquitoes, low energy and boredom all contributing to a little bit of summer-time cabin-fever.   Still, we are trying to enjoy this time as best as we can.

We will be….

*working on a list similar to this one at Let’s Play.
*making some cool treats like this and convincing daddy that we absolutely need THIS so we can make some yummy treats from this great book.
*swimming!
*going up the mountain to find cooler temps (that’s where I took the pics above)
*going to see a couple of movies.
*working on family meditation and yoga (to help up remain tolerant and happy).
*organizing a kid’s bookmark swap (?)~ Super-E’s idea.

Any other good ideas would be greatly appreciated!

Check out my two new necklaces!  I love them so much!

This one was made by my friend Deb, from work.  Not only is she a fine artist, but she makes these sweet little necklaces out of silver word charms and silk cording.  She picked the perfect works for me:  mother, organic and handmade.

This dream necklace is from Christyn at Beadup.  I won it in a giveaway she had a while back.  Isn’t it so sweet and dainty?  I alternate between the two necklaces quite often.

The 6 stack ring set that I am wearing are called promise rings.  They are from Tumbleweed Bead Co. and were a gift from me mum a while back.  I just love stack-able rings. When I was in high school, I’m pretty sure I had a ring on at least 7 of my fingers!  Now I wear 11 rings on 4 fingers.

Looky at what I got.

Some great vintage undie garment patterns, a skirt pattern, teeny wooden spools of thread, lace elastic, needle threader, folding scissors and  matchbook sewing boxes filled with needles or button, etc.   I am particularly excited about the under garment patterns.  I have been very keen on the idea of making my own underwear out of old t shirts.  That must be a really odd thing to read if you are not familiar with the DIY – undies – phenomenon. All of the patterns are from 1970!  How cool is that? My husband, by the way, thinks this whole underwear business is hi-larious.

Anyway, everything is from my mother-in-law, aka Gramma Cindy. I’m puttin this post in the “thrifted” category because Gramma Cindy’s house is just like a thrift store ~ except that I didn’t have to pay for any of this awesome stuff.  Thanks Gramma C!

This is the last of the vacation pics.  It took  me forever to get them all sorted, but I feel so relieved to finally have them organized and all in one place. Well, a few places actually, for safety sake.

along the California coast up between Cambria and Big Sur

Monterey Bay Aquarium

San Fransisco

And Sequoia & Kings Canyon National Park.  A truly amazing and magical place.

Now I won’t have to bore you with my family vacation anymore after this. 

Practice: kindness, compassion, goodwill

Sunflower Bird

original

I’ve been painting, painting, painting.  Unfortunately for my family, that means taking over the dining room table.  It’s the spot with the best light and the biggest available space for all my paints.  I’m going to have to re-organize my paints so that I can work on an easy clean-up before dinner time.

Both prints are available in my shop.

We celebrated Father’s Day last Friday because I worked all weekend.  We had a jolly ol’ time.

Daddy went for a long bike ride while we painted, stitched and baked.  It was a good time, but the best part was when daddy came home and we  shared all our goodies.

Painting by I-guy, age 4

Painted frame by Super E, age 7 (almost8)
A real picture of daddy with the kids was put in the frame.

Patchwork Coasters for Daddy’s tea & water

And finally Strawberry Shortcake. (click on the picture to see recipe links)

A great way to end a very sweet day.

I’ve been itching to get back into my paint, dreaming up ideas throughout my entire trip.  Super-E is deep into Harry Potter right now (book 5) which gave me and the little guy some painting time together.

He watched closely at what I was doing and tried to follow suit.  He is so cute with his careful little brush strokes.

I came up with this~ inspired by this barn. You may have seen it. I dream about it often.  The print is in my shop now.

We are planning another paint date for tomorrow. I can’t wait!

I made a few things during the long driving stretches during our trip.  I am usually prone to car-sickness, but I did well.  Just a few curvy spots made me a little whoozy, but I managed to keep my hands busy for the boring parts of the drive (AZ & mid CA).

I forgot washcloths for the camping part of our trip which were very much needed for little sticky hands and messy faces, plus we didn’t have anything to clean up dishes or my gritty feeling face either.  So, three different cloths did the trick.  We managed to keep them straight: the square one for the boys, smaller round one for me and the big round one for dishes. They worked out well.

I also made a little sewing/needle book to keep in my purse. I’ve been needing one for a while.