Tuesday Treasures

Just had an urge to share my cute mugs and spoons with everyone. I get a lot of pleasure from using them. I bought them last week when I had lunch with the daughters and my mum at the Tea Centre cafe in Brisbane. They have all sorts of Japanese and Chinese pots and cups.

Thanks to Tuesday Treasures with Melody I can get away with non sewing posts. Go visit and see what others treasure this week.

I discovered a Friends Sharing Tea blog linky and have linked up there too.

I think linking up can become addictive :D
I have also linked up with Antiques and Teacups. She has the most delicious looking Earl Grey and chocolate cake recipe.
Maybe one or two more - Rose Chintz Cottage Tea time Tuesday

Happy Quilting

Val

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A Tuesday Treasure

A day late on my side of the world but so what! I felt the need to share my excitement. I just received my parcel of 100% wool felt pieces from the lovely Material Evidence Shop on Etsy. I have bought several lots of felt over time and they are just perfect.
This time I decided I needed a selection of colours for future imaginings. I didn't want colour to limit my ideas. She had on offer a bundle of 4 x 6 inch pieces, one of each of 60 colours. As well as the bundle she included a colour chart so I will always know what needs to be topped up.

I have two projects on the go using the felt - my wicked hop block and a cute pincushion. I will post pictures of these when they are finished.

Melody at The House on the side of the Hill hosts Tuesday Treasures. Be sure to have a look at what treasures others have.

Happy Quilting,
Val

Tuesday Treasures

I pulled out a few more of my favorite children's books when I put the others away. Both the girls loved these books. The first is Winifred's Bed by Lynn and Richard Howell.

As you can see on the cover she has a cot that is too small.

It has beautiful end papers

As you turn each page another toy hops off the shelf and into her new bed.

They push her over each time.

Until finally her cat gets in and she falls on the floor.

The second is There Was an Old Woman by Stephen Wyllie and Maureen Roffey. They are both great books to encourage young readers to join in.

All the things have flaps ...

with cute pictures underneath.

She buys all sorts of animals to stop the noise that is keeping her awake.

Why not share some treasures. Link up at The House on the Side of the Hill with the lovely Melody.

Happy Quilting,
Val

Tuesday Treasures

I went looking for The Patchwork Cat because I wanted to see what her quilt was like. It is kept in a box of my favourite story books from when the girls were little plus a few of my childhood favourites. If you have never read Knock Three Times I can highly recommend it for adults and children alike. We always called it The Rolling Pumpkin :) I still have the one I read as a child. DD2 bought her own paperback when she was a teenager.
I had seen it was Tuesday Treasure day on blogger and wondered what I could post about. When I saw the books in the box I just had to pull some out and I knew I had found my treasures to post about. Which ones to show? I love them all. Here are just three.

Keep You Mouth Closed, Dear by Aliki.
The little crocodile accidently swallows things that he gets close to and his mother is afraid for his safety. It all ends happily when he swallows the vacuum cleaner hose and all the things are sucked out.

Down in the Woods by Nicola Smee
The toy bear always has muddy feet in the morning so the little boy follows him and sees that he is having a teddy bear picnic in the woods. The little boy dresses up like a bear and joins the party. When his mask comes off he is concerned he will scare them all but his teddy bear vouches for him and they all have a good time. DD1 liked this one because her bunyip would have dirty feet sometimes and this explained it.

The Patchwork Cat by Nicola Bayley and William Mayne.
Because the quilt is dirty and torn it gets thrown away. The cat follows it to the tip then on her way home the milko sees her and recognising her he takes her home with her quilt. Realising how important the quilt is her owner washes and mends it.

Melody is the host for Tuesday Treasures. Why not find a treasure and join in or just check out all the treasures in the linky.

Happy Quilting,
Val

Tuesday Treasures

I spotted Melody's Tuesday Treasure post while looking through my reading list and thought it would be nice to join in that again. I keep looking at the buttons on my sidebar and thinking I should get back into the swing of some weekly posts. I have just spent 20 mins or so writing in my weight loss journal and I felt really happy that I have found a lovely blogger friend who inspires me not only to write my journal but to keep making positive steps forward with my health. She is very good at making regular posts about her progress and I find this a great help to me because I tend to forget about updating my journal. It feels like she is there when I need her to keep me focused.
So thank you Annie of the ruby slipperz. You are a treasure.

Happy Quilting,
Val

Tickled Pink Tuesday and Tuesday Treasures Double Up AND Tea cup challenge

I found some posts of teacups and something about a challenge so I thought it was time to show my crazy tea set. These are cup, saucer, plate sets that I was given by my mum for birthdays a long time ago.
I get them out occasionally when I have tea and bickies with several friends.
I think the tea cup challenge started at http://teddlywinksdesigns.blogspot.com/ with Liz then was taken up by Chris at http://tagalongteddies.blogspot.com/2011/06/teacup-challenge-lost-found-new-fabric.html
I actually found it at Michelle's site http://michelleridgwaydesigns1.blogspot.com/ on the post before her Tuesday Treasures.
I treasure these tea cups because they are gifts from my mum. I have to say my favourite is the dark blue one. I have the plate for the Lavender Rose set but it is in two neat pieces at present :(
What tickles me about them is that I never tire of looking at them.

Royal Tuscan set

Dimity Rose set

Heirloom set

 

Serena set

Lavender Rose set

Interested in Tuesday Treasures? Visit Melody's House on the Side of the Hill to link up to other treasure posts.
Allie-oops and Polka Dots and Rick Rack will have what is Tickling them when the calender rolls over to Tuesday in their neck of the woods.
Maybe you could pull out your best teacup set as well.

Happy Quilting,
Val

Tickled Pink Tuesday and Tuesday Treasures Double Up

Some things are treasures without me realizing it. I love having my daughters' art works on my walls.  (A mix of the 2 daughter's works. They are both very artistic.) I look at them all the time and think how nice it is to have original drawings and paintings done by them over the years. I also have some family photos hung where I walk past all day. It is nice to stop and look sometimes.

Family links are always a treasure :) 

Interested in Tuesday Treasures? Visit Melody's House on the Side of the Hill to link up to other treasure posts.
Allie-oops and Polka Dots and Rick Rack will have what is Tickling them when the calender rolls over to Tuesday in their neck of the woods.

Happy Blogging,
Val

Tickled Pink Tuesday and Tuesday Treasures Double Up

Hope you don't mind me sharing an older post about tea. I did a few tea things a while back and they are still relevant.

Today I want to make a cup Darjeeling tea. This tea is delicate and has a lovely colour.

The more letters describing your tea the better quality it is.
Generally the FTGF refers to the quality and OP refers to the size of the leaf. You can actually see the leaves easily after it is brewed. Tea bags are generally made from tea dust!

From Wikipedia:
FTGF OP - Finest Tippy Golden Flowery Orange Pekoe - Highest quality grade (Note: "Special" is occasionally substituted for "Finest", with a number 1 at the end to indicate the very finest) . Often hand processed and produced at only the best plantations. Roughly one quarter tips.

The tea industry uses the term Orange Pekoe to describe a basic, medium-grade black tea consisting of many whole tea leaves of a specific size

• Flowery - A large leaf, typically plucked in the second or third flush with an abundance of tips.
• Golden Flowery - Tea that includes very young tips or buds (usually golden in colour) that were picked early in the season.
• Tippy - Tea that includes an abundance of tips.

The first flush is more delicate and just a little less fruity than the second flush.

You need to boil the water for this tea. Warm the pot and quickly add the leaves. You can clearly see the size of the leaves in the dry tea. The paler pieces are the tips or buds.

Steep for 2 to 5 minutes. I prefer less time than more. The flavour doesn't just increase it becomes bitter.
I have used my little one cup pot from Somerton -Green. It has a charming scene on the sides. I think I bought this one in Maclean near Yamba in northern NSW.

I don't have a matching cup so I have used my Seyei Fine China cup with a wooden saucer. Seyei was a Japanese company but I don't think they are in business any more.

I started a Tea Journal a while back and first recorded drinking this tea in 2006.
The cover has coffee pictures on it since I couldn't find any tea fabric at the time.

This is a single estate tea from the Goomtee Estate in NE India.

I laughed when I inspected the photos and saw I had spilt rice on the bench at lunch time. Never mind.
I left my cat board on the bench. I love all the cute cats. My big board on the other bench has dogs.
This afternoon when I came into my sunny room I found these two arch enemies sleeping almost nose to nose in the sun. Even when they noticed each other Blacky just rolled over and went back to sleep. Seeing them this close together is very unusual!

I am linking up with Tuesday Cup of Tea at Antiques and Tea cups

on Tuesday 11th Dec 2012

Interested in Tuesday Treasures? Visit Melody's House on the Side of the Hill