Every Day In May - May 31 - Eggs

An egg shortage?  According to the sign at Whataburger, yes.  So I went to Costco and bought a carton of 18 eggs and paid a dollar more than usual.  Last year there was a shortage of peanut butter, also with a corresponding increase in price.  The year before, chocolate.   What will it be next year?

Every Day In May - May 30 - Bird Feeder

This is my hummingbird feeder, which I just refilled and hung above our hummingbird bush.  It is not only non-leaking, but pretty too!

Every Day In May 29 - Faucet

The slightly rusty water faucet in my kitchen garden. . .

Every Day In May - May 28 - Yard Ornament

All things grow with Love

This is in my front garden - it's a little bird perched atop a rock.  I found it at Target several years ago.  I love the truthful sentiment.

Thursday Tea Time - Another visit to The Steeping Room! Cocoa Spice Pu-erh

This week - The Steeping Room Cocoa Spice Pu-erh  

Cost: $8 for 2 ounce
Caffeine:  Yes, medium
Type of tea:   Pu-erh
Steeping time:  3 minutes
Mix ins:   Plain or just a little bit of honey  Honestly, this is really sweet enough to drink as is.
Fragrance:   sweet chocolate and coconut
Ingredients: All Organic - pu-erh, cocoa nibs, dandelion root, yerba mate', coconut, long pepper, cardamom, vanilla.
Opinion:    I had read about this tea in The Steeping Room restaurant reviews, wherein it was the accompaniment tea.   I don't know how I overlooked this in the sales display -- it has everything that rings my bells - Cocoa, coconut, chai, yerba mate, vanilla.   And it it does!  I had brewed mug and got distracted, so I poured it plain over ice for iced tea - WOW!   Hot, I like it with a little splash of Califia Vanilla Almond Milk and just a little bit of honey.  (Those seeds Clint at Hooked on Acupuncture put in my ears to help reset carb and sugar cravings really, really work!).  It has a nice chocolate flavor and then gives you a warming kick...And a nice buzz for awhile.  A tea to enjoy in the present and to get things done later!
Rating:  4.50

Every Day In May - May 27 - Something Fuzzy or Furry

Every Day In May - Something Fuzzy or Furry -- I snapped a picture from my garden of the Milkweed (Asclepias) pod seeds readying to take flight.  That could be more fluffy, but I'm using it for fuzzy.

Every Day In May - May 26 - "What's your sign?"

(actually the prompt was a sign...)

I am a March Aries, but always felt I had a good dollop of Pisces, too.   Since aquamarine is my birthstone, I wanted to give the astrological symbol a watery gemstone look.

Every Day In May - May 25 - an apron or something you use to cover when doing messy things

This is my favorite apron I use for baking (and cooking, too!).  It is an apron styled from a 100 pound  bag of Imperial Sugar.  The City of Sugar Land, Texas outside of Houston, was named because the Imperial Sugar company headquarters and  factory, or vice versa.

Every Day In May - May 24 - Key

Easy-to-find Texas flag key!

Every Day in May - May 23 - Interesting Building Detail

The door knob in Herzstein Hall, Rice University

Garden Update - Raspberries!

Evidently we are growing a new strain of Moonflower,
evidenced by the purple veins and stems
in the lower right corner 

I love to poke around the yellow-tagged Clearance/Reduced plant racks at Lowes -- and today I scored two Canby Red Rubus Idaeus raspberry containers marked down to $8.49.    Per the label we can train it to grow along the fence and/or in the space recently vacated by our hacked-down 50 foot Hackberry tree.  Even if we have to fight off the birds and squirrels as we do for the dewberries, it will make for very attractive landscaping.  And who knows, with a little help from the birds and the bees, we may even come up with a new berry, the Dazzle Berry!

Every Day In May - May 22 - Something that is attached or hangs from the wall

Our third generation living room clock.  We've been in our house for almost 30 years and this is the third clock we've had in this space.  The first was a schoolhouse clock, a wedding gift from my grandmother which wound with a key, then a pretty verdigris ivy wreath clock and now this, which we found at Tuesday Morning.

At least it has the Roman numeral for 4 as IV.  Have you noticed that lately clocks and watches have IIII instead?

Every Day In May - May 21 - Where I sit to read

...at this funky painted table in Galveston at Mod Coffeeshop, enjoying an Almond Joy latte with almond milk.

Thursday Tea Time - Yogi Goji Bear-y

This week - Yogi Green Tea Goji Berry 

Cost: ~ $4 at Kroger.   You can probably also find it at Target and Whole Foods.
Caffeine:  No
Type of tea:   Green, Herbal
Steeping time:  3 minutes
Mix ins:  Nothing!
Fragrance:   Fruity-raspberry
Ingredients:  Organic-green tea leaf, green Matcha tea leaf, cherry flavor, blueberry flavor, raspberry flavor, natural Lotus Flower flavor
Opinion:   This tastes wonderful without any sweetener.  The perfect, light blend for summer, iced or hot.  And the goji berry is a good support for your immune system, liver and circulation.
Rating:  5

Every Day In May - May 20 - Wallet

Marc by Marc Jacobs wallet.  Thank goodness it has a zipper, sometimes it's like trying to zip shut a suitcase full of receipts and loyalty cards.

Every Day In May - May 19 - Cupcake

Vanilla Crave Cupcake. . .
On our Noritake "Volcano" stoneware plate.
Made in Japan, purchased in Japan by a handsome young Marine officer, once upon a time.

Inking

I love shopping the clearance and red tag sections of art supply stores.  I find things I never knew I needed!

Like Talens Drawing Ink. . .

As I'm checking out, the clerk said he knew not to warn me not to use this for tattoos.
Huh?  Haha!  Nice kid.

But that probably explained why the Black and Indian Ink Black colors were already gone. . .

I grabbed six 11 ml bottles (Neutral, Sepia, Cobalt Blue, Yellow, Scarlet, and White-which was opaque) marked down to $2.25 - and apparently got quite the deal as when looking online, they are priced around $15 each.

The colors are very vibrant and pretty.
I just thought they would be cool to play with for watercolor fun.
On paper, not skin.

Every Day In May - May 18 - Lipstick

Le Rouge

Every Day In May - May 17 - Something you use to measure

My Dritz Point Turner and Button Gauge.  I've been painting things which have meaning or connection to me.  This could be considered "vintage," as I got it when I learned how to sew at age 10.  It's quite handy and I still use it!

Fig Update

Lots of rain this week and weekend...they need some sunshine to get ripening.
(Manicure:  "Mint Apple")