Tea And More...

   So how is everyone? It was a crazy busy week since last Tuesday. I believe it was mostly in Tuesday posts that I mentioned hubby's great Aunt Betty and great Uncle Truman whom I was helping out with transportation to dr. visits, home visits and whatever else was needed especially for Truman this past year. Well, he passed away at home last Monday. It's where he wanted to be. He was 95 and enjoyed a mostly good life. Betty is the only immediate survivor (she is his younger sister) and as families sometimes go despite more immediate relations, hubby I have been  the closest to them both. The funeral was Saturday and although a brisk, cold day the sun shone brilliantly. There was a church service then a masonic and full military honors service at the mausoleum. It was all so beautiful...and very touching because Aunt Betty presented my hubby with the flag at the end of the tribute which was completely unexpected. I am ever so grateful to have gotten to know Uncle Truman well in this last year or so. Now I will be looking after Aunt Betty and doing as much as I can for her since she doesn't drive and is alone.

 The last two days I spent washing clothes, putting summer clothes away in storage :(:(  bringing out the fall/winter things, and changing/ironing curtains. I also got out some fall themed items to decorate as in the photo above. I don't do Halloween any longer. What about you? How do you change things and decorate for the season change? No choice here in getting it all done QUICKLY since the weather turned on Saturday and we had near record lows last eve. It has def. gotten cold during the day too.

 That means more comfort foods....and more tea!

 I made this Carrot Rice and Cashew dish today. It's a new recipe I tried from my Indian Cookbook. It is delicious!! Very aromatic and tasty yet not spicy-with basmati rice, shredded carrots, some onion, bay leaves, cumin, cinnamon, garam masala and cashews. Sorry but I can't post this recipe d/t copyright but you might find it on Alamelu's website if you're interested.

 And I also found turmeric tea at our local health food store today:

 Turmeric is known as "Indian Gold" and has many health benefits including having anti-inflammatory effects. I really like the taste of this tea as I prefer the more herbal ones anyway to the fruity ones (unless I drink those iced). I tried making my own but it was a pain to do. This is much easier!
This is my share for this week's T Stands For Tuesday with Bleubeard and Elizabeth.

 And since I always have to throw in some art I'll share the page of face practice sketches I did and added to my journal.

  These are practices recommended by Jane Davenport from her book on drawing beautiful faces. I love this exercise in using guidelines to vary the positions of the faces. Although it's only for practice, on the second page I added a bit of black ink and white ink (as Jane has done in some of her examples) for a bit of definition and what a difference that alone makes! I am certainly learning how the more you practice-and practice 'loosely' the better it gets.

 

 Here's a close up of one (you can see another here):

 

 

Linking this to Art Journal Every Day and Art It Friday-Show Your Face.

 My next post later this week (probably Thursday) will be about my first cold wax and oil painting :)

 Hope you all have a wonderful week!

" If you are cold, tea will warm you. If you are too heated, it will cool you. If you are depressed, it will cheer you. If you are excited, it will calm you."     William E. Gladstone