tea is good, but cats are better

driving here and there to fix my computer took us to augusta georgia, then over to aiken south carolina where we found a lovely yarn store. i am quite bad at remembering to take photos, but i did manage to capture this pretty bloom that was right outside the store.

when i arrived back home it was to a waiting box of tea yumminess. since coming home i've tried den's tea, and now ippodo tea to get my sencha and genmaicha fix. i had visited ippodo while in kyoto, so i felt comfortable ordering from them. their website is so whimsical, with illustrated instructions for brewing the different types of green tea.

meiko decided the box would be a comfortable sleeping spot. she often puts me in mind of a muffin top.

zzzzz...

gratuitous pet photo.

purses, pincushions, fabric, oh my!

i adore and am constantly being inspired by the creative work of australian artist tara badcock. her pieces are not only quite aesthetic, tactile, and gorgeous, but entirely useful as her talent takes the form of pincushions, tea cozies, purses, and pillows. her embroidery pieces are divine, excellently crafted and oftentimes bare a deeper meaning of complex social and world issues that affect her.
i've had a photo of a colorful and zany pincushion she created saved on my computer for quite some time, and finally decided to ask the artist if she still had it. luckily for me, she did, and we struck up a wonderful series of conversations. ultimately this led me to acquiring not one, but two of her lovely pieces! i was also able to feed my fabric stash with many soft and cozy cuts of wool from waverley woollen mills of australia.

as you can see, it wasn't long before meiko decided she was going to help me sort. actually, help may not be the right verb here; sabotage or hide may be more apt.

sleepyheads

they had a bad day. it was their yearly visit to the vet. they went in for a checkup and came out with microchips embedded in their shoulders. poor babies, mommy surprised them with the new technology. but they're recovering well, irregardless of what the look on nala's face says.

what would you take?

ever wonder what you would take if you had to leave during a weather emergency? we had tornado scares last night, so i went through my belongings and grabbed what i felt i could not leave behind. luckily we did not have to evacuate as the storm system moved north of us. it's strange seeing in the light of a new morning what i think is important. besides a folder of paperwork like checkbooks, paycheck stubs and insurance papers, i grabbed:

a maruschka doll from my great aunts
a small photo album
a new dress that i bought for a wedding that i have not worn yet
jewelry
calculator (it was in among my checkbooks)
my two resin dolls
cat food
a small kaleidescope glass ball
my portfolio
my flash card
supplements
stamps in a box i have been collecting for years
underthings
baby blanket

strangely, i forgot to pack my book of passwords, my toothbrush and toothpaste. weird. i also put halters on my two cats, nala and meiko, and would not let them leave my side until the danger had passed. the photo above was taken late in the day, the color of everything was really pink and the air felt heavy.