A Fractured Moment in Time with A Cup of Tea and a Slice of Pie...

Checking in to see how you are all doing. I am feeling quite a bit like my plate here. When I think about life right now, I feel split in three. Like this plate when it was whole, life was beautiful (okay super flawed but beautiful). Now, life feels to me fractured. Part of me still feels like me, the small part, then the other two parts represent the feelings I have of over reacting and under reacting in these unsettled times. I know I am better off than most, safe at home not stuck at home, yet I feel helpless like a drain on society because here I sit, unemployed, and feeling useless.

 I start doing what I usually do when I feel anxious, I putter. Ever since I was a small child, I putter, clean and just always finding something to occupy my hands. To keep busy, keep my mind active. As I was tidying up I found a card my friend Karen K sent me a few months ago. I stopped where I was and I cried, frustrated and sad but also extremely happy to find a much needed message from a friend. So I took a break from puttering, put the kettle on, cut a slice of pie, grabbed another pretty plate, and tray, and I went outside. Took a deep breath, read and reread the card, while sipping tea and enjoying the pie. The world kept on turning, it did not stop because I took a pause, so maybe the lesson here I learned is its okay to feel fractured, you can always get a new plate, you just have to be patient and wait for the store to open, and things to settle down. Put the kettle on, you are brave, you are strong and you are loved.
Thank you for joining me for a cup of tea and a moment of reflection in the most fractured of times.
I would love to hear from you and how coping, so email me hare at karenmowen@gmail.com or leave me a comment below.

Merriment and Murder by Jenna St. James & Maddy Maddison

I find it difficult to make time to read these days not because of a lack of books I have bought but due to the fact that I feel like I am stuck in a perpetual state of needing to know what is happening in the world and torn between checking my phone for updates far more often than I should.  I do however still find reading comfortable, but what used to take me a few hours to finish reading seems to take me a few days or weeks. Giving myself over to reading is something I worked at for years and I find it devastating that during this time of trauma, I feel terribly distracted while performing any task.
Now that being said, a bright spot in my last few weeks has been the ability to come back to reading the second book in the series by Jenna St. James and Maddy Maddison, this one is called Merriment and Murder. What I love about this series is that the main characters are in their late teens, it has lots of cozy feels, slight magical undertones, but mostly strong capable mystery solving best friends in a small town with a great B&B, Lighthouse and fun family run apothecary. I bought this book a couple of weeks ago on Amazon.ca, (I am not an affiliate by the way)  and appreciated the fact it is set in December, I enjoyed that sense of being in a different time and space for a short while, I am trying not to think to far in the future as I find that the anxiety I feel about how things are going with the Covid-19 pandemic is worse when I do.  So for now I do recommend picking up a book, craft or hobby to take a bit of that edge off. For me I love having a cozy mystery to look forward too. I understand from the authors that they are working on book three, I just can't wait.

A B&B Grand Opening Party...

A Dead Body...

Tons of Suspects...

When Brynn and her best friends, Peyton and Raven, stumble over a dead body at her aunt's grand opening party for the B&B, they already have plenty of suspects in mind. But when Chief Baedie threatens to shut down Aunt Aggie's B&B before it even opens on Christmas Eve, the girls, along with Jinx the cat, decide to solve the case on their own. Using the skills they acquired on their last case, they set out on a whirlwind adventure trying to piece together the one clue they found. Can the girls solve the case before Christmas Eve? Or will Aunt Aggie be singing the blues her first Christmas back in Copper Cove?

Thank you for joining me for a cup of tea and a cozy mystery, I would love to hear from you so please leave me a comment here or email me at karenmowen@gmail.com 

Tea Time With Ken and Barbie...

This week with my Amazon order I decided that naked Ken should get some clothes. I bought him a few years back for my nieces to play at my place while I was babysitting them and the Ken I bought at the dollar store came only in his swim trunks. So he was long over due for an outfit, somehow though I found a fun set of Ken sized clothes from Amazon which were a bit like a surprise pack and I am really excited with what was sent.

Now I can sew but honestly for what I paid for these Ken sized clothes I could not replicate the quality nor make the shoes they included! Such a deal!

I love how the clothing fits and how modern my Ken Doll looks, perfectly dressed for Barbie Play Time Tea.
Thanks for joining me here for a cup of tea with Ken and a look at his new wardrobe. I am truly having fun with these posts and am glad you have indulged my inner child by joining us here today.
I would love to hear from you so please leave me a comment here or email me at karenmowen@gmail.com 

A Couple of Cheerful Door Wreaths I Made This Weekend...

“In a time of destruction , create something”-Maxine Hong Kingston

This weekend I kept my hands busy creating a couple of wreaths one for myself and one for my friends door. I got this idea from a blog photo I saw on Facebook called www.createcraftlove.com 

I used only items I found at the dollar store and created something I am pretty proud of. A huge thank you to createcraftlove, for this inspiring wreath craft.

I should not go to the dollar store inspired and unsupervised. I do only go out once a week for supplies and practice social distancing. So the cart gets pretty full. 

Each wreath was created for under $10 and is bright and cheerful. I can't wait to give my friend hers. 

I would love to hear what you are doing to keep busy during these crazy times and if you are a front line worker, long haul truck driver, retail associate please know how very much I appreciate all you are doing for us all.  Thank you for taking time to stop by for a cup of tea and a cheerful quarantine craft, please feel free to leave me a comment here or email me at karenmowen@gmail.com 

A Tiny Seat in A Cozy Corner

Last week an author I love Ellery Adams shared a tiny cozy reading spot she created for herself during these difficult times of self isolation. I was quite inspired by it. I don't have a lot of space but I wanted to create a cozy spot just to sit and sip and read. Making the most of this time of solitude.

I utilized the order on line and curbside pick up at my local hardware store, these were each $10. I used some black and brown paint, added water and stained the wood. I also used an old chopping board as the seat.

I sewed some $2 bold ends of fabric, into a pillow case and placed a Walmart inexpensive pillow inside for my seat cushion. I ordered the pillow case that says Drink Good Tea, read good books on ebay a few months pack for under $5.

It was dusk when I finished and made myself a nice cup of tea. I thought I might share the view from my seat as well...

I hope you can find a cozy spot to read and reflect in these trying times.
I would love to hear from you so please leave me a comment here or email me at karenmowen@gmail.com

Happy Easter From My Table To Yours...

Happy Easter, if today is a day your family celebrates I hope you are able to find comfort and distant connection today. On Friday I had a fun idea to set up a tea party I thought my boys might enjoy, no tea just cups of chocolate and I put it all around this white charger I made for my table center piece. I used my new cricut joy and made one for myself and one for my sister, which I later delivered safely to my sister and nieces.

It took seconds to print the decal and a few more minutes for me to weed the vinyl and then transfer to the clear plastic, and then apply to the charger.

I have found it very helpful to keep my mind and hands busy creating and crafting. I hope that you also find pockets of joy this Sunday.
Thank you for joining me, I would love to hear from you so please leave me a comment here or email me at karenmowen@gmail.com

Self-Care Saturday...under eye mask?

For today's Self-care Saturday I thought I would share my first impressions of an under eye mask I thought would help me with the under eye dark circle and puffiness. I chose pixi skin treats,  DetoxifEye, you see I have been watching a lot of Queer Eye on Netflix and noticed that the lovely Johnathan Van Ness seems to get some of the participants to try these under the eye masks, so I picked up some to try. I initially went to Shoppers Drug Mart here in Canada looking for toilet paper, which they did not have, so I decided not to waste the trip and asked their beauticians for a recommendation. 

I have one side of my eyes that is always puffier than the other me trying to show you which one, LOL.

First impressions...I did not think that cucumber and caffeine would sting, okay more like strongly tingle. I left them on for the recommended ten minutes...

 It is hard to tell in this photo but I do see a difference, feel a difference too it feels a bit tighter around my eyes, the jar comes with 30 pairs so I will see how things go and if there is a cumulative effect.
Have you ever tried these under the eye masks? I would love to hear your results and tips. Remember to try new things and have a bit of fun while you are staying safe at home.
Thank you for joining me for a cup of tea and a Self-Care Saturday indulgence. I would love to hear from you so please leave me a comment here or email me at karenmowen@gmail.com