Getting Outside?

I don't know about you but I am taking the whole please shelter in place thing quite seriously and do my best to not go out more than once per week in the public. Taking late evening walks and lots of naps but I really have not spent anytime just outside.

 At first it was the rainy weather and the last few days here have been sunny and warm, true spring like weather. I live in a dark by choice, cozy suite, and I will be honest, I did not make getting the vitamin D a priority. Part of it is guilt. I feel terrible I can't do more to help, I am not working and well the news is terrifying. But a friend texted me and reminded me I needed to get out side even if it was for a few minutes.

I took her advice and spent several hours outside, gardening and sprucing up my little area.
I don't really have a green thumb, or at least I did not think I did and yet I could not be more proud to announce that my beans and peas are growing, measurably! I think my largest excitement came this week when I noticed my tomato seeds sprouted!!!

On a tight budget and with a bit of reluctance, I picked up supplies at the dollar store a few weeks ago and my seeds and soil at Canadian Tire. Today I spent time re-potting and reorganizing my stairs. I even built a tea themed gnome garden by my front door, something I have always wanted to do.

As much fun and hard work as that was it was nice to be outside in the sun and not think about anything but what I was doing. When I was almost done, I remembered one item I picked up for $1.25, side walk chalk.  I saw on Facebook people were talking about "Chalking their walks" and I have seen a few fun drive ways in my area that have done just that, one said please send wine, one was done up like candy land and one was a snakes and ladders game.  I don't have a ton of "walk to chalk", and almost no one is going to see my area, so it made it easy to just have fun and go with it.

I am glad I took my friends advice and spent a few hours outside, I am thrilled with how it all came out and got some ideas about gardening I want to follow up on. I hope you can get out where you are or at least plan for when you can. Thank you for joining me for a cup of tea and a tour of my outdoor area. I would love to hear from you so please leave me a comment here or email me at karenmowen@gmail.com

The Cricut Joy...my favorite impulse buy.

I am having a great deal of fun, "joy in pockets" they call it, between the bouts of over and under reacting to what is going on in the world. I recently impulse bought the cricut joy when I was at Michael's getting much needed sanity supplies (I was masked and it was in and out) when I was standing in line  (6-8 feet social distancing from others sanity shopping as well,) I thought oh I hope they have a kit kat.  Where they normally have the kit kats they had the cricut machine and it was a split second decision that I am thrilled I made. Tuesday I personalized my machine with this adorable tea decal I made from a free image on the easy to use site. I am not being paid or sponsored by cricut, I just honestly bought it on a whim and am crash coursing my way through the process.

 There are a few really easy steps to making these personal stickers and labels.

I honestly have been very impressed, only slightly frustrated as I did not know about the weeding tools and the scraper so I ended up ordering them and a few other supplies on Michael's website and they got delivered in just a few days. 

I made a new sign for my gate as the first beautiful one I decoupaged got wrecked in the rain. It is not as colorful but it made me smile and it looks cute on the gate, while I figure out how to make the old one look new again.

 Using a dollar store chalk board sign and the white vinyl I am thinking this will hold up better. 

I have even started to make over my door, though I need to order more purple to go over the rectangles. This is removable so I am not wrecking the door!

I am really enjoying this fun new tool. If you have experience with cricut or you have a cricut joy as well please let me know, I would love some tips and tricks. 

Please know that I am taking the situation of being  temporarily laid off and helping my boys with their home learning, that there are moments in the day where I am full of anxiety and stress, but I am also making sure that I have time for joy, that I make time to turn off the social media, turn off the news and focus on being creative, getting out of my own head. 

I hope you can make time too. Oh and if you have a spare kit kat send it my way I still have not gotten one. 

I would love to hear from you so please leave me a comment here or email me at karenmowen@gmail.com 

A Tea Time Trip Through Memory Lane and Indulging My Inner Child...

Spending time at home during this difficult time, I have decided to indulge the doll lover in me, with a little help from my orders for household items on Amazon. I am not an Amazon affiliate and am not trying to advertise for them. When I ordered my laundry soap, I noticed that I needed to round up for free shipping and as I had been looking at Barbie items, this outfit popped up and fit the bill perfectly, literally and figuratively. I also loved that it was over night shipping so I did not have to wait long to have a bit of fun. I am rationalizing this as it is my Birthday month and as a gift to myself I have indulged in a few new Barbie accessories... 

I have always loved dolls, Barbie dolls are something I still get excited about and love to look at. One of my calming methods when my anxiety is high is looking at Barbie Instagram, if you too like Barbie as I do you would be amazed how realistic and how much fun other adult doll lovers have photographing their dolls. 

I love my Wonder Woman items and finding a Barbie outfit with this print made me even more pleased. I had fun dressing up my doll and sipping tea. I have decided I liked this so much that my container of naked Barbies I have hung on too since I used to look after my nieces, should also have some new clothes. I will share more of those with you next week.  I hope that you can find ways to boost your joy during these trying times. I was able to connect with three of my nieces over Face time and show them this outfit, we had a quick virtual hang out and my middle niece even said she would like to learn how to make Barbie clothes for her birthday in May. 

Thank you for joining me here for a cup of tea and some Barbie play time fun. I would love to hear from you so please leave me a comment here or email me at karenmowen@gmail.com

Gardening Update!

"There are no gardening mistakes only experiments" - Janet Kilburn Philips

Today I am sharing a successful update. My seeds have germinated and some were ready for replanting, though I am still keeping them inside for another week, I was able to transplant what I labeled, though am not quite sure are carrots, the beans and peas!

I did label with sticky notes, each seed line but I am very dyslexic so either I transplanted carrots or cat nip, either way they grew the tallest and fastest!

Next up were the peas and beans, now I have never in my life done these steps so I have no idea if I have done it correctly. So please feel free to comment and let me know.

I am grateful that my friends mom told me to peel away the netting, I would have had no idea about that!

I am hopeful that my experiment with container gardening will be a successful venture. I am also thrilled I put my Rae Dunn watering can to work! This was a post Christmas splurge, which I picked up for less than a cup of coffee at Starbucks from my local Winners Store. 

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

Cinnamon Sugar Blueberry Banana Bread...

“Imagine all the wondrous things your arms might embrace if they weren’t wrapped so tightly around your struggles.”-Sheila Burke

Saturday I made this blueberry banana loaf from a recipe I was directed to on a friends Facebook page. Now  I used to bake everyday and I have not in quite sometime. I am also very conscious of using supplies I currently have on hand and rationing things so that I do not waste. I had three bananas in need of use and all the ingredient on hand so I proceeded with the recipe from  Crazyforcust.com

This recipe surprised me in that it only used two eggs and no baking powder. Also it did not have brown sugar in it either. It is a very dense and rich banana bread and one I am sure I would make again.  
For the recipe from the website crazyforcrust.com please click here. 

Thank you for joining me here today I would love to hear from you so please leave me a comment here or email me at karenmowen@gmail.com

The Cozy Corgi Cozy Mysteries by Mildred Abbott

The Cozy Corgi Cozy Mystery series is currently free on Amazon.ca kindle, however I bought this a few weeks ago when it wasn't and I am so glad I did. I am more than slightly excited about the idea of having corgis, two actually. During this time I have found it very hard to read, nothing keeps my attention for very long so it was delightful to read something that I could not put down. The first book in the Cozy Corgi Series is called Cruel Candy. It was a truly delightful read. I actually did not find this to be easy to figure out and I was just as interested to learn about the characters in this new to me series as I was to figure out how this mystery was going to unfold.  If you are looking for a well established series and a wonderful read I suggest downloading the first three books today!

Estes Park, Colorado: picturesque mountains, charming shops, a cozy bookstore and bakery… and murder.Cruel Candy: Book OneWinifred Page and her corgi, Watson, move to Estes Park to hit the Reset button on life. Fred is about to open her dream bookshop, but before she can begin her new life and put her plans into action, Fred and Watson have to clear her stepfather of murder.

I am not an amazon affiliate so if you click the link I don't gain anything, so to find the book please click here for Amazon.ca 

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

Grateful Saturday Moment

Hello my friends and welcome back. It is Saturday and already 1 pm here on the West Coast. I am thrilled to report that for the first time in as long as I can remember I had a really good sleep and a nice dream. Which is much needed in these most trying times. 

How are you spending your time if you are not working the front lines? For me it has been a mixture of emotions from guilt to glee and back again. I hate the feeling of not being in control or on top of this virus. I am learning to take back moments of control and I hope you can too.

I have spend much of this week in pockets of time where I felt in control of my environment, and I spent almost equal times of feeling guilt for not being on the front lines. What we are asking of people to put their lives ahead of their own and their own families is extraordinary. The vital role that we all play in this is nothing to feel guilty about.

It is my hope that as we all do what we can to help stop the spread of the virus, that we learn more about the resiliency of ourselves, our neighbors and our community. That we come out of this more compassionate and understanding. That we learn and take the time to thank others for the rolls they play, we all play in society.

If you find yourself struggling in moments, take back the control. Slow down, take down that cup and saucer, put on the water and make yourself a cup of tea. Sip and savor the tea and give thanks for the moment and put yourself back in the driver seat of your own life. You are not stuck at home, you are safe at home and the sacrifice we make to do so is as important as the front line workers. Light a candle in the darkness, phone or write a friend, I would love to hear from you, so please email me at karenmowen@gmail.com
Thank you for joining me here for a cup of tea and a grateful Saturday moment.