Medication through mail

It is too bad you are not sitting here on the sofa with me. If you were you could smell the divine smell of Echinacea Mixed Herbal Tea I am drinking and fondle the beauty of a Silkweaver Lugana.

But you are not here and it is all mine, MINE! *insane giggling*

Quite some time ago kill_the_onions sent me some "fun mail" inspired by our little conversation in the comment section of one of my FB status updates, and finally, after taking scenic route from Turkey to Finland the fun has arrived!

Teas are Turkish, but the card is from China, but beautiful nevertheless.

kill_the_onions is a tea afecionado, and I am becoming one, again (after few years of not being able to drink tea at all - it's odd how Mr. Wonderful affects my body) so what is better than be able to taste some tea from country far away? (It is even better because I have never been to Turkey.)

But lo and behold, there was more great mail waiting for me... Belinda asked some time ago at FB would someone like to have Mirabilia's "Madonna of the Garden" and I was first one to say yes!

I had been over the Moon just to have the design itself, but Belinda added her leftover beads, metallics and delicas and piece of 19'' x 26'' 32 count hand-dyed Lugana from Silkweaver!

Now I just need to win the lottery and quit working... well, I have great reason to start this design soon, right? I have beads, design and fabric... I just can't let them gather dust, right?
Actually my fingers itch to stitch it already, but it is half past five in the morning and I haven't slept in last... 18 hours - which is quite a lot when you have laryngitis and bronchitis and you should be resting (though it's difficult to sleep when you are coughing sticky mucus...).

(Though I have been surprisingly productive stitching wise while sick: I have very small projects I have been working on when I have felt like it.)

SAT epilogue, exchanges and other things

I decided to call it off for today, so here comes before and after:

      

Noticing that I only stitched it today I'm very pleased on my progress.

On scissor fobs

I checked my partner's blog and her wishlist. Can you imagine my thrill when I realised that she loves same colours as I do? I've already kitted her fob, and decided that I'll stitch design I had in mind as I'd love it over one with my chosen floss and fabric.

'Guess That Theme' Secret Pal

I just heard that my little envelope has found its way to Canada, and, as I thought, Elaine loved what I sent to her (Sometimes these things are wonderfully easy).
My theme was simply hand-dyed:

Socialising

And in the end I did met N. this weekend. He sent me SMS and asked if I happen to be around and would I like to go for a cup of coffee with him.
I was (I was on my way home) and I did, and, as usual, I really enjoyed our little chatting session. Honestly speaking he is one of those persons with whom you rarely have a silent moment. And I enjoy it.
And first bag-related compliment came from him. Good taste he has.

On hot liquids

As it's a herbal infusion I prefer not to use word 'tea'. Anyway, True Blueberry by Celestial Seasonings is good choice if you want something good and warm (I'm sure it'd make good cold drink too), but aren't in the mood for tea/coffee.

Quotes

"Do your work with your whole heart, and you will succeed--there's so little competition.”
Elbert Hubbard

"When we love a person, we accept him or her exactly as is: the lovely with the unlovely, the strong with the fearful, the true mixed in with the facade, and of course, the only way we can do it is by accepting ourselves that way."
Fred Rogers

Stitching is dangerous, you have time to ponder...

Thinking of it, what does single person need in addition of four devoted cats (sometimes I have this odd feeling that they love me just because I feed and worship them) and good ONS or two? (In addition to Sew And So I think I've fallen in love with Wyndham Needleworks.)

Stitching, of course, but that's obvious, isn't it?

Plants

I think my other chili has drinking problem. It has absorbed about litre of water today, and it hasn't even been sunny (nor warm) day. Though that silly plant is blooming again so it may explain its thirst... Crazy little thing:

   

Yes, I admit... I've been playing with my camera today. And even I say it myself that latter picture is actually quite good. I really like that contrast between clay pot and chili's flowers and raw chili peppers.

Tea

I've found The Tea! Twinings' Green Earl Grey is something... ah! Usually Earl Greys are a bit stuffy, but this one.. it may actually taste like bergamot as it reminds me of good lemon flavoured tea (not that I had ever drank good lemon flavoured tea), and as bergamot is citrus fruit (according to Wikipedia)...

But I'm off to stitch...

Ah, designer blogs

I've been reading Pamela Kellogg's blog since I found it trough Angela's blog, and even I'm not fish person myself I saw something absolutely stunning today... Go and see it yourself. Makes you want to try crazy quilting, doesn't it?
And btw, her 100 Details In 100 Days project ('fillers' for crazy quilting) is still going on, and series in question has some beautiful cross stitch and blackwork designs. For free. O_o

When it comes to blogs...

It seems to me that 800th entry will be written during coming weekend, and not in September. I've been bit chatty lately, haven't I?
Though, I think it has to do with coming autumn, and of course to the fact that there has been few things I've needed to clear up with myself.

At the moment I feel fabulous, though a bit tired, and my sleeping rhythm has normalized from from 3am to noon to from midnight(ish) to 8-9am (Actually I seem to be in such a good shape that my heart keeps its mouth shut even if I drink coffee a bit more than I should (as I can't find completely decaffeinated in reasonable price I use brand which has about half of the caffeine compared to normal coffee). I am not complaining.) and that means I can't be very messed up as insomnia and/or other problems with sleeping are the first things which refer to problems with my psyche (though I wouldn't call heartaches and scarred soul problem of a psyche in that sense, but my aspect of psyche may be a bit different..).

When it comes to autumn...

It smells like autumn outside, evenings are getting chilly (it's still over 20&#186C in daytime) and I drink tea in the evenings. All these factors equal autumn.

I don't drink tea during summer, see. Or I do, but it's rare occasion if I do.
Anyway, I've noticed that I apparently may become tea enthusiast as I dug my teapot out from the wilderness of cupboards and I use it for braising my tea. Something I've never done before as I've always thought it's too troublesome to clean...
And I'm planning to make a tea cozy for myself (and one for my mother, but that has nothing to do with autumn. She'd use one), and that's an idea which came completely out of the blue.

Now I just need few good brands of tea so I can enjoy coming darkness in an orthodox way (which is: candles, good tea, good music, sleeping cats).

35 days. \o/

Which means that my cycle is really getting shorter (*knocks on wood*), which means that either my PCOs is really getting better () and/ or that daily rooibos fix really does what it's said to do (according to some sources. Official truth is that there's not enough research about that yet): balancing hormone levels. (Though I was unaware of that accusation when I found spiced rooibos)

Though there are still those frigging hormonal imbalances I hate. Once again I had to use my tweezers in the morning to pull few dark hairs from my upper lip. In fact it wouldn't be that much of a problem if I weren't this pale (I'm one of those who you really could call white) and if my body hair wasn't that dark.
And in the end I shouldn't even complain. I've excess hair growth on my upper lip only before and in the beginning of my periods. I could consider myself as a lucky b*****d.

Topiary

I've been stitching it yesterday and today I'll continue so I can promise some progress pictures later today.

For us coffee addicts...

...Frequently Asked Questions about Coffee

EDIT 20:06:

And chanda_m found this: Tea FAQ