awesome
wool ring
My sister made it for my mother. Pretty crazy but cool huh! I want one :)
Game
The last Easter photos. We played Monopoly with other characters than the ones that come with the game. I was the owl (which incidentally was made by great aunt Namiko). Much more fun :) There were a few extra incentives around the board of mini eggs and chocolate nuts, like an egg hunt in minature.
Postcard Teas
I first heard about Postcard Teas from my father who really likes fine green and black teas. As I had just run out of the sencha that I was using at work I placed an order for a green tea and a black tea to try it out. I chose Wazuka Sencha and Yunnan Red Cloud:
Wazuka Sencha is the epitome of a fine Japanese Sencha. From Wazuka in Uji where the imperial Sencha is grown, this sweet grassy green tea is blended by Hidekazu whose family have been in the tea business for over 100 years. Brew with water cooled to 70˚C and a teaspoon of tea per cup.
Yunnan Red Cloud is a hand made Yunnan black tea made from ancient wild tea trees up to 800 years old. This sweet fruity tasting black tea is best brewed with water just off the boil (95˚C) and a large teaspoon of tea per cup.
They are both completely delicious and I could keep sniffing the tins all day. They are like the descriptions, the sencha is a lovely sweet fresh tea, and you really get the fruity scent from the black tea. It is not cheap but I consider it a reasonable cost as I will enjoy these several times a day every day. The packaging is great too. I am looking forward to trying out some of their other teas.
Inauguration
Good luck USA!
…to all those watching tonight from beyond our shores, from parliaments and
palaces to those who are huddled around radios in the forgotten corners of
the world - our stories are singular, but our destiny is shared…
*******************
That is us! As a non-American I think it is important to say how this whole election has also been followed so closely and keenly abroad. We arranged to be in New York during the election and it is so wonderful to be finally watching the inauguration. I am watching now on the BBC as our day is coming to the end here and the day is just beginning in the USA. Good luck everyone, there is a lot to do, it won't be easy, but I hope that you have the right man for it.
Let me know if you have also contributed to this project and I will list you:
A Wrung Sponge
I Have Mom Hair Now
No Apathy Allowed
Yat-Yee Chong
Daily Vignette
Shutter Sisters
Sarah-Ji
But Wait, There's More
This Life Is Worth Living
Mother May I
Amanda Churchill
In The Meantime
Peculiar Momma
Bamboo Sticks
And thank you Melissa for coming up with the idea.
Ps. One of the BBC commentators seems to be wearing Earbags!
Let's blog on Tuesday
Iffley Village, Oxford. Not too far from my house.
Melissa has had a great idea, here let me quote her:
I had an idea today about something that could be done next Tuesday—Obama's inauguration day here in the US—amongst a few or several bloggers around the world.
Basically, I was thinking that it's very rare to have an historic event taking place that so many people in every country are excited about, and that a great way to commemorate it might be for each blogger who participates to take a photo on Tuesday that for them is emblematic of hope, optimism, or a new day. It wouldn't need to have anything to do with the inauguration itself, just something that speaks to them on a personal level. Then post the photo along with 44 words about it or the day itself. (Obama will be our 44th president.) A fairly simple idea.
This is a fabulous plan, I am going to do this for sure. I will take a picture and write 44 words about the day. Who else would like to do this? It would be great if you would like to join in. If you know anyone else who would be interested do spread the word. Please let us know if you are so we can come by and see you.
***
I am signing off for a few days as we are going on a small adventure. I should be back in this space on Tuesday with my contribution to the idea.
Catalogue Cards
(Via Freckle Farm)
Have you seen this free application with which you can make your own old-style catalogue cards? I typed my to-do list but I am sure you could think of more inspired things to do with it. Pretty cool.
1 2 3 4 and War Horse
I was tidying away my Southbank pictures and I found another that I liked, look that man has blurred away his leg! I have been to the Southbank twice in the past few days and this photo reminded me of a few things I wanted to talk about as they are both awesome and other people might want to know about them.
First I was there for the world premiere of 1 2 3 4 at the British Film Festival, and as I said before is really good. Fingers tightly crossed that it gets full distribution as a lot of people would enjoy it. You can see the trailer on the website and the writer/director who I know has been blogging about the whole process which is an interesting view into that world.
The second thing I was there for was the play War Horse at the National Theatre which also is brilliant! The horses are created with large puppets, there are some pictures here. The story is set in WW1 in the trenches. I was totally welling up at the end. You forget the horses are puppets and get swept along by the story and actors.
So if you get a chance to see either of these things go go go as they are both great, makes you feel glad that there are such creative people out there :)
