Hi Friends!
Happy Tuesday and avast me hearties! It’s Talk Like A Pirate Day today. If I had planned things better I could have had a pirate themed page but I can only show you a photo of the sea (and the beach) and let’s pretend that’s a pirate ship in the distance and not the ferry! LOL All our good weather is gone to be replaced with wind and rain and cold (12C). I still managed to check out the beach at the weekend in between rain showers!
I had to give in and light the stove last night and the kitties were very happy about that. One flops down immediately in front of it and the other takes up position on top of the bookcase where she catches the hot air rising – smart girl!
Before we get started I thought I should update you on my currently reading list as it’s been a while. I read absolutely nothing in July due to some health and other issues. I have included the August and September books (so far) below. A couple of rereads in August, one because I was in a sci fi mood and the other because I needed to refresh my memory as I read it a year ago and it will be part of a discussion soon. I enjoyed most of them with a few exceptions – Stranger in a Strange Land went off in a weird direction I didn’t care for and The Ferryman was a huge disappointment.
Currently Reading . . .
This is my current read and I’ve been looking forward to it all year. It takes place in the Slow Horses universe but is not part of that series.
Two years ago, the Monochrome inquiry was set up to investigate the British secret service. Monochrome’s mission was to ferret out misconduct, allowing the civil servants seconded to the inquiry, Griselda Fleet and Malcolm Kyle, unfettered access to confidential information in the service archives. But with progress blocked at every turn, Monochrome is circling the drain . . . Until the OTIS file appears out of nowhere.
Genre: Spy Fiction
TOTAL for 2023
97 books
September Books so far – 3
95. Robert A Heinlein – Stranger in a Strange Land 
96. Justin Cronin – The Ferryman
97. Jodi Taylor – The Good, The Bad and The History – Chronicles of St Mary’s #14
98. is my current read
AUGUST
89. Jo Nesbo – Killing Moon – Harry Hole Book 13
90. Andy Weir – The Martian
91. Bonnie Garmus – Lessons in Chemistry
92. Dawn O’Porter – Cat Lady
93. David Gatward – Silent Ruin – Grimm Book 14
94. Genevieve Cogman – Scarlet – Scarlet Revolution Book 1
(re-reads in bold)
Today’s Art . . .
Today’s art is another page for my theme on Art Journal Journey for this month – Books, Cats and Tea, which are three of my very favourite things. So far I’ve made 10 pages for my theme, you can check them all out here. I hope you can join in the fun this month!
This page uses a large card that I made back in August 2019 for a challenge, but has spent some time sitting in a box like the others I am sharing this week.
The background of the card is tea stained. Then stamped with the tea party elements – cake stand, teapot, teacups, and all the cakes, all of which were coloured individually and highlighted with glossy accents. The Mad Tea Party is of course a reference to the Alice in Wonderland book. Don’t you just love the tiny carrot on top of the carrot cake? All the little cakes etc are all individual stamps.
To blend the card in to my page, I covered the rest of the page with some Alice in Wonderland scrapbook paper and two AIW journal cards from the same paper pack. At the bottom of the page there is an extract from the book as well as the book title, also from the paper pack. The background was that off-white colour but I decided to change it with a blue neocolour II crayon.
On the inside, I used a book candle label peeled off an old candle that also had Alice in Wonderland as its inspiration.
T Stands For . . .
Well I guess it stands for all of those teacups and teapot in the above page! But I also have another photo to share with you of my kitty coffee mug with a little extra kitty on the side..
Let me know what you think in the comments. As always, thanks for reading and Happy Journalling!
***btw as I mentioned a few days ago, the spammers are still visiting so the recaptcha thingy is still switched on for commenting.***
Ingredients
my landscape watercolour journal, old card from 2019, AIW paper, journal cards, neocolour IIs, glue, distress ink,
Challenges
Art Journal Journey – Books, Cats and Tea
T Stands for – teacups and teapot on the page, decaf coffee and cup
I LOVE your mad tea party, Elle. Your tray of cakes and scones remind me of the High Tea I recently attended. It is beautifully colored, too.
Nice you made it to the beach. It is HOT here, so the cats and I won;t be starting a fire anytime soon.
That new cat on the side of your coffee cup is fabulous. Your coffee sounds delicious, except I want full caff (grin). Thanks for sharing your time at the beach, your amazing new entry for AJJ using your theme, and your coffee and mug wit the new kitty on the side with us for T this week, dear Elle. I really AM trying to play catch up, dear.
wonderful the posting with Photos and journal page!
Hug Elke
Some like it hot, and cats certainly do! I have read lots of the books from Jodi Taylor, I love her strange stories! Love the Kitty climbing on the cup! Happy T Day, hugs, Valerie
A bakery here makes people-sized carrot cakes with a little marzipan carrot on each slice. Your little image makes me want to go have one.
best, mae at maefood.blogspot.com
Your Tea page is perfect for T and what a fun page. No one had done a high tea theme yet…I wouldn’t mind sitting there and having a little bite of something with a big cup of tea. We’re around 12 degrees C here this am so a hot cup of tea would taste great. And your 2 starred books are also favorites of mine: The Martian is great, isn’t it? And I loved Lessons in Chemistry. For some reason this
It poured buckets and was rainy for my first day on Enders Island so I didn’t get to the beach yesterday. Hopefully today. Your Alice in Wonderland tea page is just delightful. I love the Tenniel illustrations. The kitty on your mug is very cute. Have awesome T Day
Arrrr, I could send you a pic of the pirateship-lamp we have 🙂
Wow, you live by the ocean? How wonderful, even in such cold.
Love the Alice page… and the cute cup!!!
I would like to join, but I have no cat and little reading time…