Diamond Jubilee (yesterday)

Sixty years for Queen Elizabeth II! Time to celebrate!

 Cecil Beaton's photo from 1952.

Tea and biscuits in commemorative tins from Patty!

Edible!

My dear friend Michelle over at EverydayMe is super talented. Talk about turning the everyday into something extraordinary. Here are a few samples of the school lunches she makes for her daughter.

"Heart Worm"

"Monster Mash"

"Black Widow"

and "Monkey" lunch!

And there's lots more on her blog. I'm proud to say she's been my friend for over 40 years and I have been the recipient of some of her amazing creations over the years, starting back in high school like this one.

Winter in the PNW.

I had a crazy week. There wasn't much time for blogging, but it was a beautiful week and I did snap these pictures....

Sunrise while waiting for the morning bus.

Sunrise from my office (museum construction in foreground).

Landing at the Bainbridge ferry terminal yesterday.

Sunrise this morning.  It's going to be another nice day!

Happy February!

I made huge progress on all of my TAX/FAFSA/CSS paperwork and I'm very happy to turn the calendar to February!  The days are obviously getting a little longer here in the Pacific Northwest, not so much the mornings yet, but the next few days are suppose to be up in the balmy 50's and sunny.  I can't wait!

Working on my taxes...

No time for creativity right now! Unfortunately. I'm trying to get my taxes done so I can file the FAFSA by the first of February, but I'm also in the middle of crazy stuff at work. My daughter is in the middle of finals. It couldn't be more stressful around here. Well, it probably could be so I must say I'm grateful for my job, my daughter, the helpful people at the TurboTax help desk, and the so many things that make my life easier!

Lusting for Liberty (fabric that is).

Well who wouldn't?!!! This is so gorgeous, as is the whole collection.  First saw it over on this blog.
Happy Friday everyone!

Link love...teabag cookies.

Oh my, look at these cookies...they're teabags!  My friend Kate sent me the link. You can find them here. Now I just need a recipe.

Surprise!

On Monday whilst waiting for the doctor to see me I was thumbing through the latest issue of West Sound Home and Garden magazine when I saw one of my custom cards! I was indeed surprised, and proud that they felt it worthy to include in their article on "The Lost Art of Thank-You Notes" this month. Below it's on the third page up in the right corner...the custom monogram for Georg Syvertsen. (Click on images to enlarge if you want to read it.)

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Oscar Nominations!

The nominations were announced this morning!  Here are the top categories.  

Best Picture: 

War Horse, The Artist, Moneyball, The Descendants, Tree of Life, Midnight in Paris, The Help, Hugo, and Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close

Best Actress:

Glenn Close, Viola Davis, Rooney Mara, Meryl Steep and Michelle Williams

Best Actor:

Damian Bichir, George Clooney, Jean Dujardin, Gary Oldman, Brad Pitt

Best Director:

Michele Hazanavicius for The Artist, Alexander Payne for The Descendants, Martin Scorsese for Hugo, Woody Allen for Midnight in Paris, and Terrence Malick for The Tree of Life

For a complete list, go here.

I still have to see The Descendants, Albert Nobbs, The Artist, The Iron Lady and a few more! Then I'll give you my picks.  : )

Happy Lunar New Year!

It's the year of the dragon!

Be prosperous!
These new stamps come out at the post office today.

Library book.

This fabulous book has to go back to the library today. I've already renewed it the maximum three times. Better put it on the wish list.

Dreaming...

...of having more time to quilt. Picked up this gorgeous Kaffe Fassett book at the library this week. The quilt on the cover is called "striped city" and the other is "barcode." Lovely!

Snow pics.

Yesterday was absolutely beautiful. I took a long walk and snapped a bunch of pics. Not sure when it's all going to melt, but I heard warmer temps are moving in later today and it should turn to rain. We'll see...

Blue dawn.

There's this amazing blue light at dawn when it snows. 

 It's a beautiful morning here, hope it is where you are too!

Snow day.

As long as we don't lose power, I'm so happy catching up on stuff on this unplanned day off. Thank you Mother Nature!

Golden Globes

Did you watch the Golden Globes last night? I watched it at a neighbor's house where I'm house-sitting. Nice and quiet, no interruptions or distractions...a little getaway for me. I thought the show was a little boring overall and I didn't see all the movies so I can't be much of a judge, but I was so happy to see Michelle Williams win for "My Week With Marilyn."

And I thought this guy should have won over George Clooney....

But I was so happy to see this guy win for his performance in "Beginners!"

Academy Award nominations come out on January 24th, show is February 26th.

Happy Friday!

Have a great weekend everyone! Especially you lucky ones with three days off. We're looking forward to snow in the Pacific Northwest. We'll see...

a little watercolor by my daughter when she was in 2nd grade

Clever!

Oh my goodness....how cute are these? Little chairs made from champagne tops. Saw them over on the Watson Kennedy blog, one of my favorites! I happen to have a few tops I saved from the New Year...I think I'll give this a try.

Red sky in the morning....

This morning when I opened my blinds it looked like all of the houses across the water were on fire! Well because I face west and they face east this is actually the reflection of the sunrise in their windows...and I can't see any of it yet from here. What I can see is really beautiful! What you can't see is that it's frosty everywhere...a super cold morning. Have a great day everyone!

Pattern.

I inherited these scraps of paper from an artist who died a few years ago here on the island. There were no heirs except a sister that needed to be in a care facility so the community stepped up to sell her belongings and had an art auction to raise money to support the sister. There were a lot of things left over like these wrapping paper scraps. None of them are large enough to wrap anything except maybe a small jewelry box, but they'll look great in a collage! I love the patterns!