Hello Friends and Happy Tuesday!

Hope you are having a great week.  Last week was not so great for me, still struggling with the back issues and lack of computer time, if I didn’t visit you last week, my deepest apologies but it’s hard when you can’t sit down.  I was able to do some things on my phone (photos, Insta etc) but not blogging.  Last night I was able to make a journal page while lying down, so that was a definite improvement. Things are a little easier today so I will try and catch up while I can and the journal page will have to be a separate post as this one has a lot of photos already, re the garden and the coffee maker and I can’t sit for much longer!

today’s art . . .

is my Day 21 offering for ICAD 2022 since today is the 21st, as well as being my weekly catch up for ICAD.  If you missed the first seven days you can see that post here and Days 8-14 here.  Three weeks in and I am still sticking to the daily prompts with a hint of kitty art.

ICAD Day 21 – Solstice

Today’s prompt is Solstice and wouldn’t it be lovely if for the Summer Solstice we actually had beautiful blue skies and sunshine like in my drawing?  Unfortunately that happened yesterday and today it’s raining!  Boo!
I used a combination of Tombow markers and Posca paint pens for this one.

icad CATch-up  . . .

Days 15-21 are in the slider below, it will flip through them automatically or you can scroll through them using the arrows.

 


kitty update . . .

Here’s Miss P living her best life LOL. I tried showing her the fake grass from last week but she treated it with complete disdain like only a cat can.

garden update . . .

My strawberry “harvest” so far only three have ripened but they are very easy to spot in a sea of green, so I was able to pick them easily (without bending too much).  We just need a whole lot more sun for the rest of them to start turning red.  Like most things you grow yourself, they taste so much better than what is sold in the shops.
We have yellow irises next to the pond – here’s a short of Miss P making her way around the pond to see what I was doing in her garden.

The irises came from my neighbour who split some of hers a couple of years ago so I put them on the edge of the pond. You can also just make out some blue water forget-me-nots in the background. All the plants around the pond basically take care of themselves with not help from me.

Another of the peonies is in bloom, just in time to be battered by wind and rain!  I had to take some photos quickly before that happened.

This one is called Bowl of Beauty, and there is also a pink version…

I love it’s frou frou frilly centre!

The potatoes are doing well in the bags, but no sign of any flowers so far, so it will be another couple of weeks before I will have delicious new potatoes to eat.  In front of the potato bags we have some Borage growing, the bees really love those blue flowers.

Finally on the patio table, some nasturtiums, sweet peas, mint and coriander (cilantro).

t stands for  . . .


Still trying to test out the coffee machine!  I was not able to buy any decaf coffee ground or beans last week as the prices have all gone up to more than I am willing to pay for it (£4+) and there were no specials for decaf, so I got this Starbucks blonde roast which is a level 3 but quite mild tasting – still full of caffeine of course but I was hopeful it wouldn’t be too much for me.  As you can see in the photo, the machine has a selection of different coffees it can make listed along the top, and as if that isn’t enough choice for you, there is another button the right where you can select even more options, some of which I’ve never heard of and will have to google lol.


It also has a milk frother attached but I haven’t tried that yet.  The disks above are what it does to the coffee beans, pretty neat how it makes them into little flat disks for easy clean up.  Since the whole thing is run by an annoying computer that tries to tell you what to do, I have started talking back to it already haha.
“empty the drip tray”
(shut up),
“add more water”
(shut up)
“close the service door”
(shut up)
It does make pretty delicious coffee so far, but I have discovered that my tolerance to caffeine is not great so one cup is my limit otherwise I am shaky and irritable all day.  It’s shocking to see just how much caffeine can affect your whole body when you haven’t had any for a while. I used to drink a whole pot of coffee every day with no visible side effects.

Happy T Day!   As always, thanks for reading, and have a great week!

Ingredients
as mentioned above

Challenges

Altered Book Lover – T Stands for

 

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13 Awesome Comments (btw comment moderation is on)
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pearshapedchris
June 21, 2022 11:47 pm

I adore your ICADs! Loving the garden pics – hope you get more strawberries . We descaled our coffee machine and now it won’t work – back to instant or cafetiere coffee!

Kate Yetter
June 21, 2022 11:44 pm

Your flowers are beautiful, especially the peonies! I only got two strawberries this year and they didn’t look as pretty as yours.
Your kitty inspired index cards are adorable. Sorry to hear that your back is still bothering you and interfering with your ADL’s. It’s no fun to have to be in one position all the time. Wishes for a fast recovery.
Happy Tea Day,
Kate

C J
C J
June 21, 2022 9:33 pm

Your ICAD cats are so charming. I just saw Valerie’s comment calling them ICATS ?Miss P’s garden is beautiful. I don’t drink coffee so had no clue there were so many different varieties. Happy T Day

Carola Bartz
June 21, 2022 9:01 pm

Your garden looks lovely, Elle! I love peonies, but mine are long gone. I think it’s too hot for them here and the winter is not cold enough. The potato plants look very healthy. And gosh – your cat art, it is so delightful!

deb
deb
June 21, 2022 8:05 pm

Elle how lovely to see Miss P spread out in all her glory..lol She looks very happy.. And your garden is lovely.. LOVE the yellow irises.. always nice when a neighbor shares plants.. so friendly.. 🙂 I think your coffee machine would be intimidating. uuughhh.. I’d be telling it to shut up all the time too.. lol Great great post Elle! Hope your back gets to feeling better soon! Hugs! deb

Kathy
Kathy
June 21, 2022 4:31 pm

Good morning, your garden is beautiful and by a pond a bonus. we had ponds at our woods home
I discovered quite a few years ago that my body does Not like caffeine I even have to be careful with the dark chocolates. your machine sounds fun for coffees I buy more and more now online since I can find things less expensive.
Love your ICADS Happy T

Nicole/DVArtist
June 21, 2022 4:04 pm

So sorry you back is not better. I so hope you can resolve it soon. Very nice post, art, kitties, flowers and food. Take care.

Divers and Sundry
June 21, 2022 3:57 pm

I know something about back pain and wish you relief from it [hug]

Your garden scenes are lovely.

I like easy coffee lol and am not sure I’d have the patience for that many steps. Happy T Tuesday

Bleubeard and Elizabeth
June 21, 2022 3:41 pm

LOVE those ICADs, or as Valerie suggested, ICATs. They are very clever. I am not following any prompts, but love that you do and have a theme within a theme, too.

Your Miss P is looking like she is enjoying herself. Had to laugh at how she also didn’t care for the fake grass.

I would die and go to heaven if I had that coffee maker. I grind my own beans each time I make coffee, then I make coffee, then I clean up the mess of ground beans. Yours is so cleverly done. I drink at least two pots of coffee a day and I know when I need it because I start getting an edgy headache. Yes, caffeine is my drug of choice!

Thanks for sharing your ICADs, your lovely flowers around the pond and on your patio table, and your to die for coffee maker with us for T this Tuesday, dear Elle.

Linda K
June 21, 2022 3:31 pm

Love seeing your charming cat cards- they are all delightful! I do love your ode to the summer solstice:).
Your garden looks beautiful in bloom- and three homegrown strawberries are better than a handful of shipped and store bought ones.
Had a laugh about the coffee maker- I’d be talkin back at it as well:):). Hope your back gets to 100% real soon. Happy T day!

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