We are all Mad Tea Party of the brain these days.
I am soooooo thankful and excited that so many of you kindreds have signed up.
We'll have such fun!
I have been going through my cabinets and boxes of tea cups and pottery that I have made.
I made all the pastel colored pieces above a few years ago.
I have sooo much pottery I have made.
So, maybe I should use it this year?
I didn't make the gold and white cups, they are part of an antique set.
The most wonderful thing happened in the desert yesterday.
Some dark clouds rolled in with a little breeze.
This is a major treat in my neck of the woods.
I can't even recall the last time it rained?
The garden just loves it.
And the cacti take big gulps to store for later.
Plink, plop, just a few drops here and there.
I hang roses to dry.
My yearly thing as you might recall.
And, I choose a few of my own pieces of pottery to play with.
Then we head outside.
Do you know that scent, of raindrops on dry desert earth?
It's glorious.
Bewitching.
Beyond words.
Heavenly.
Tender little droplets.
A cool breeze that gently caresses your cheeks.
We walk around, saying hello to the jasmine that climbs up into the trees.
A tree branch acts as an arbor.
Droplets on hair and shoulders.
The garden gets happier than happy.
Hollyhocks sway.
The boys stand on the porch deck, looking out, wondering what's going on?
Hi there Matty 🙂
Click.
Gotcha.
Cloud shadows change the feel of the scenery.
The tone.
And, we love it.
We encase flowers in wire so that the rabbits stop eating them.
They climb up into the pots, those rascals.
Why don't they eat weeds instead of flowers, I ask?
I have lost row of zinnias.
3 times I lost lettuce and beets and radishes to birds.
Everyone (critters) thinks I run the local buffet.
Oh well 🙂
Huge crows call to each other as I snap photographs.
Birdlings everywhere.
We have gobs of all sorts of birds.
It's a mad house, for certain.
The sun has been so strong, that big fluffy clouds really hit the spot.
Perfect for strolling and pondering what to do for this year's tea party.
Pups follow me around.
I type whilst listening to Mozart.
The soft rain was so beautiful, I ran in to grab my camera again.
And just as I stopped to take this…
Every cloud floated away.
Scampering off ever so quickly.
And then, the sun.
Back as though it had never left.
Which technically, I guess it never had.
All of a sudden it was gone.
No breeze.
No rain clouds.
Like a mirage.
A trick.
Only a vague memory of rain remained.
Like a love letter from our deepest love living far far away.
A memory, fleeting.
Poof.
This is how I feel about the rain.
I long for it so.
But probably not as much as the desert does.
So, whoever one of you sent me some droplets…
Could you possibly maybe, send more?
Pretty please?
While I plan some tea scrumptiousness.
Tea cakes do beckon, I must say.
All the while…
Gobs of purple butterfly bush flowers droop.
Making perfect places for birds to perch.
The hummingbirds enjoy it the most me thinks.
As butterflies flutter in and out, at the speed of light.
Garden and tea.
Does it get any better really?
Two simple things.
Tea and flowers…
And I am happy.
You?
Back super soon.
Let's keep tea planning.
What fun!!
Loooove, V
Oh yes I have Tea Party on the brain too.I do enjoy Your garden as I use to enjoy Ours when We had the space and Were younger.I’m right there with You in spirit.You are blessed and I’m thrilled to see it.
Awwwe, thank you Denise!!!! <3
Beautiful, beautiful desert garden. Oh yes….I know that scrumptious smell of raindrops on dry desert land. The smell, the look in the sky, the feel. Then it is gone just as quickly as it visited.
Your garden is amazing. I spy with my little eye….some of the same wildflowers I have in my garden. 🙂
xoxo
Kim
Gerushia’s New World
P.S. Matty is looking so handsome and well these days. Kisses to him and Miles too!
Lovee and I were just watching home movies of the dogs last night, and talking about how amazing Matty has come back. It’s really quite surprising and miraculous really. I mean, the vets were talking about him dying any day and now he is all better a year later.
He is as ornery as ever. But we still adoooore him 😉
I got oooodles of different colors of bachelor’s buttons in my mix, did you? I mean, just a ton. And they all grew in a cluster in one place which I found ah-mazing!!
xoxo
pps: Oh oh also, some of these are just self seeders from 2 years ago. Always growing in the same place from that same seed mix <3 So, you may have some self seeders too, hoooray!
Matty xoxo. I’m so glad he made a complete recovery.
Yes! I have a bunch of different colors of bachelor’s buttons. I have mountain garland seed by the handful too. I am positive that I will have a lot of self seeders for next year.
xoxo
Hooooray!!
Blog: http://www.aFancifulTwist.com
Website: http://www.VanessaValencia.com
In a message dated 5/30/2014 4:35:18 P.M. US Mountain Standard Time,
I love the photos! We didn’t get one drop of rain, but it was slightly cooler, and that was great. xoxo
Oh garden love! Your garden photos are like heaven! 🙂 I’m wondering what I can come up with for tea party madness during my move. But it is giving me a lot of joy to think about, while I’m packing boxes and such. Guess what I’ll have when I move? A blank slate garden space! 🙂
ps… I tagged a fanciful twist in an FB post the other day. I don’t know if you saw it. It was a Marie Antoinette cake! I immediately thought of you when I saw it.
Here’s a link to the picture: https://www.facebook.com/eloisajames/photos/a.262526049853.137441.124770924853/10152386288999854/?type=1&theater
blessings
~*~
hugs & kisses to matty and miles
Amazing gardens and equally awesome weather. We are having great weather for taking photo’s for the mad Tea party. Thant is my plan for today. Words for my tea party ore on my mind too. Thank you for sharing photo’s of your fury ones. They look wonderfully happy.
I love your teacups, Vanessa! I don’t think I have anything as pretty and whimsical so maybe I will have to hit the thrift store and see what they might have in the teacup department. We are busy thinking about our tea party plans for this year, too. I’m on the “decorating committee” and my daughter is on the “storyline committee”. : ) Can’t wait!
In love with your pottery. I must admit I’ve read through your blog from beginning to end more than a few times tee hee, and every time I see those pink cups with black polka dots I swoon! They’re dreamy! This summer will be a beautiful one, we haven’t had much rain considering it’s normally such a rainy place! Must be getting a bit of that Arizona weather up here, thank you for sending it 😉
There is a word for it my lovely, it’s “petrichor” – and means “the smell of rain” or “the smell of the rain on dry earth” or “the smell of the earth after rain” – depending on who interprets it. I love that smell. We lived in high desert for almost twenty years, and I used to ache for rain. Now we are snuggled in the western edge of Oregon’s Willamette Valley and we have rain often and yet after two years I still love every single drop.
I’d sign up for the tea party but I’ve abandoned my blog for so long that it hardly seems fair to say I’m a blogger. Looking forward to it! I’ve got to start this year’s plan for my faery tea party. So much to do!!!
Funny-I had the same feelings about the sun when it finally appeared yesterday after what seems like rain for days! Perhaps we briefly swapped. Your garden is so like and English cottage garden-until the last couple of shots anyway where you can see the bigger picture.
I am hoping to be able to join the tea party this year. Up until a few says ago I couldn’t even have thought of saying that, so snowed under with work was I, but now I have done something about that and am starting to feel excited about life again. It is all too long winded to share in a comment, but the effect is a good one! I am making cups! xx
Yes yes, an English Garden up until you see towering cactus/cacti me thinks, haha! And lots of light brown dirt, soft as sand 🙂
We need lots and lots of rain, send us some?
xoxo
YES! Petrichor, of course! How romantic indeed!!
How beautiful Oregon… sigh….. 🙂
I do long for throwing on the wheel, it’s something I adore so vastly. YAY for desert weather in Canadian forests! 😉
It was I. I sent the rain. I am sure of it. It follows us around here in michigan. Indeed, water is plentiful. All around us. Under us. Above us. Perhaps I shall send some more with love from michigan. Lol ; )
Please do send more, we only get rain like 17 times a year, we are
parched!! Thank goodness for a well whose water table has not gone down
and is at the same place sine the 80s 🙂
Ooo! Lovely to see so many have signed up for the Mad Tea Party! Yay!
Oh, I am so happy you had the small burst of rain. It is so refreshing. I like to go outside and smell it in the air…like you said…there is nothing like the smell of rain. Sometimes, I twirl around outside when it is raining and lift my face to the drops. I might as well go whole hog and feel ‘right as rain!’
love and hugs
Miss Teresa
http://amagicalwhimsy.blogspot.com/
Dearest Dear Vanessa!
How lovely it is to know that so many of us are working so hard on our Mad Tea Party plans! And as for the rain, I would dearly love to send you some from here! But only if you could send some warmth in return! We are still sleeping under quilts and blankets at night and still wearing jeans and hoodies during some of the days! Reading everyone wax poetic about that lovely rainy smell brings a smile to my face as I remember what Mr. V complained about when he moved to Washington, DC to live with me. They get torrential rain there in the summertime and he said, “I have never seen such rain before! I think I’ve moved to Thailand during the monsoon season! And every other place, things smell better after the rain, but here, things just smell worse!!” Unfortunately, it was true. The dirt of the city plus the rain does not equal a nice fragrance!
What lovely pictures of your boys! And Ha-Ha! Got some good ones of the camera-shy Matty as well!
Wishing you a great rest of your weekend! I’m very excited for the Mad Tea Party!!
With hugs,
Betty
Miss Betty, i guess its true enough, too much of a good thing, aint so
good I guess? 🙂 Too much rain equals moldy smells right? We
get such little rain here, that monsoon season is like the dreamiest thing
ever. Yes, lets swap a few days. It will be 107 here tomorrow,
eeeeeks!! Pure straight sun 🙂
Your flowers make me *sigh* with adoration…so beautiful. Next year I really want to plant Hollyhocks and luckily they do well here in my zone 9-10. As far as rain goes, we’re in a weird situation this week…it pours everywhere around us and we’ll only get a light shower. Guess all of our coastal breezes are pushing the rain clouds elsewhere…frustrating because we need the rain as well. *Crosses my fingers* for both of us.
Lovely to “meet” you via Kathy and her etsy Artist venue. I shall now follow you on FB and blogger. I must review your beautiful posts. Creative Bliss…
We had so much rain here at the start of spring that I am finally getting around to planting my garden & pots.
We have very bad clay soil so it’s too hard when it’s dry & too muddy when it’s wet.
We were working all morning outside & then the rain & some thunder came through. Unfortunately, it isn’t refreshing when it rains, it just gets more humid! I’ve been tolerating it a bit better this year. I think my subconscious is still remembering the brutal winter we had & is liking the heat! A lot of our evergreens & shrubs, etc. didn’t do well this winter. There are a lot of dead spots & my coreopsis isn’t looking very promising right now. This is the first time in our 20 years at this house that I’ve seen such plant damage from the winter.
I just planted some dinner plate dahlia tubers for the first time. I hope they work out. I just have to make sure I remember to dig them out in the fall!
I must return to the Chicago Blackhawks game now! This game is the last for this series! Go Hawks!!!
I’m so glad Kathy introduced me to you, Vanessa. I had a wonderful tea and flowers visit with in in your enchanted garden. Please don’t ask me to choose a favorite, I would never be able to do that. So many garden jewels you have, but I have to tell you I stopped short when I came upon your lovely hollyhocks. I LOVE them and haven’t seen any in years. When I was a little girl, my Grandma had a parade of brilliant hollyhocks marching across the west wall of her huge garage. The colors,delightful; their height, amazing to this little girl. I truly had a delightful time and I will visit often to gaze and sip tea.
I am glad your wonderful garden got a drink. I wish I could have sent you some of the inches and inches we received last night!
I will try to redirect any on the radar this morning.
I believe I have fixed my blog glitches and have been dreaming of tea, perhaps with pirates…
Tea and Flowers, indeed!! I quite agree! I love your hollyhock heaven there!! : ) Happy Gardening ever and always!!
Absotively Magical Photography! The “boys” look so content, not minding a snap or two of your camera. I will send a message out to the Witch of the Lakes in hopes her strong gale-force winds will carry some of the rain from Port Huron, Michigan, on the Ontario, Canada border, out to you.
I have troublesome mental health, and have seldom been able to step out of my home this past year. Violence from the past broke free from the box I had buried it in, deep down in the darkest part of my soul.
I, too, once had a garden full of fairy magic. Now everything is overgrown, full of weeds, and/or simply died off.
Those wonderful photos you shared made me smile and lifted my spirits. Remembering what was did not hurt as much.
Your whimsy and beauty is a blessing to me. Thank you for sharing. I know it can be time consuming, as I have thought of blogging myself.
Keep pushing me in the right direction. Blessings to You and Yours, Susie
What a lovely garden you have….and I enjoy the creative way you weave a blog post together. I’m also a dog lover, and your dogs are quite charming!