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Bit of a mixed up tea this Tuesday

I guess by now you all may have heard that Vancouver is under a bit of snow.

I KNOW! RIGHT!?! My poor little garden flowers…which might be made for the snow…but still.

garden1

There really wasn’t anything to do about it but go shopping and have some tea.

Actually, I should have been working and Clover should have been studying for her midterm…but whatever. 😀

anthro and tea

You all probably noticed that my child has been looking a bit blonder lately. She’s got that ombre thing happening, you know, where she looks like an alien with tin foil all over her hair and can listen to BBC Radio thru her teeth for 30 minutes, and now, the side effect of all that free broadcasting thru teeth, is that she looks completely washed out in my Chanel Coco Rouge lipstick, which she loves to nick for an evening out.

So high on C’s priority list was finding a red lipstick for evening which actually looks good on her. And for C, it has to be organic, cruelty free and affordable. So we did the lipstick run-around and when she was finished trying seventeen different shades and five different brands, she ended up looking very pink around her chin and cheeks from the Kleenex and lipstick smears.

make up

By the end of the lipstick adventure I was dying for a cup of tea and C was feeling starving so we stopped at a new cafe called Faubourg Paris Café and I ordered my Earl Gray and C a ham and cheese croissant.

tea shop

This is a lovely cafe with a patisserie where they make fabulous pastries, but the Mariage Freres Earl Gray tea they served was just way too weak and flavourless for me. And I did let it steep for a long time.

On the other hand, the cafe is lovely and bright and twinkly with loads of crystal drop chandeliers and pendant lamps, there is a gently projected movie on one wall and the chairs, with the Lucite centres and painted feathers, are lovely.

tea shop2

So back at home, I still wanted my lovely, fragrant Earl Gray and so brewed myself a cup from my super secret, only for me stash of loose tea from Fortnum and Mason and I chose this sweet little cup to have it in.

I love this frosty rose from Royal Southerland and it seems like a fine homage to this ridiculous February snow.

rose cup

So I had my tea and C got into her sweats and her cue cards and I sat down at the kitchen table to think about my personal journal and see if I could come up with a page.

C and page

You know, this page was so hard won. I loved the words “experimental genius” and tried to form a thought from among the other words on the page but it just wouldn’t come and wouldn’t come…and I’d been staring at it off and on for about a week now.

So I sat there and had a little meditation over the page and suddenly there the words were! Right there all along!

new page working

The words say: “await the experimental genius in the magnificent fabric of the mind’s eye today”

I saw the experimental genius as swirling colours. Bold and bright colours, mixing and rushing in, taking over an empty space.

But I also saw the experimental genius as small and shy and quiet and softly moving in on silent wings, and you turn around and there he is. So suddenly I was painting an owl. A Little Owl. One of the smallest owls out there.

And then I dulled down the magnificent fabric with a little bit of soft, white tissue paper, a little imperfection, so we don’t take ourselves too seriously as artists. 😀

010 copy copy

Sharing tea with Terri and Martha and Sandi and Bernedeen, and, just after I drive C to the uni to take her midterm, I’ll be around to catch up with everyone.

011 copy copy

Comments: 32

  • February 25, 2014
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    I always love to read about you and C. It makes my heart glad. Love your tea cup. Blessings, Martha

  • February 25, 2014
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    I agree with Martha – lovely posting and sharing of times with your daughter!

  • February 25, 2014
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    One sure has to have the right hair and skin tone to pull off a look with red lipstick – C looks like she had fun trying the different brands and looks nice in the mirror.
    Tea out together would have been fun – look at all the pretty colours of macarons!
    Judith

  • February 26, 2014
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    Lovely post. I always love reading about times with your daughter. I cut some of my snowdrops yesterday and put them in vases for photos. We had an ice storm and now they are blooming. They are always the first thing to bloom in the garden
    ~Clara.

  • February 26, 2014
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    Hello Veronica,
    First off I just have to say I love your journal page! I do enjoy found poetry, and you did a creative job on yours!
    Times with daughters are so precious! Your tea time after shopping is lovely. Too bad about the tea, but the atmosphere seems wonderful. How fab you have a secret stash of tea!
    I do love your vintage white rose cup! That style has always been a favorite of mine too.
    Hugs,
    Terri

  • February 26, 2014
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    Good morning Veronica,
    What fun you and C have! She’s a brave girl to wear a red lipstick. I’ve never been that brave. I enjoyed seeing all those lovely macarons. We don’t have them here. Your little owl is cute and your teacup is lovely. Thanks for sharing with us and coming to tea.

    Blessings,
    Sandi

  • February 26, 2014
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    Hi Veronica! I am entranced with your art and have enjoyed scrolling through some back posts – the silversmithing is quite beyond me but fascinating – and I am loving your pages with the words randomly coming together to say something amazing! How grand! Of course you deserve multiple tea breaks between works of art!! Looking forward to more of your work and tutorial over a cuppa!
    Joy!
    Kathy

  • daryledelstein

    February 26, 2014
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    i adore Lipstick Queen .. lovely colors and no animal testing … her hair looks lovely … and i am so jealous of your free flowing creativity .. i bought a journal i planned on collaging but cant bring myself to begin to add anything to the pages .. this used to happen to me with sketch books and ungesso’d canvases … making that first mark, soiling the untouched is very hard for me .. another reason i stick to photography …

  • February 26, 2014
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    Hi veronica,
    so nice to join you and your sweet daughter on this fabulous day. The tea room looks fantastic. Although the tea was a bit weak, the atmosphere is wonderful. And those macarons! Did you have some? And in the end your own tea inspired your thoughts. I loved to see this tea post. Thank you so much for sharing it.
    Have a great time. Best greetings, Johanna

  • February 26, 2014
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    Oh poor Vancouver with all the snow. What a strange winter we’ve been having. Berlin had just two weeks of winter this year. I love the work you are doing in old books… especially the birds from a couple of post ago. Looking forward to seeing more!!

  • February 26, 2014
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    Veronica, I know I’ve said it before–but Wow! you are brilliant!! I love that journal page, especially the intensity of the owl’s eyes. Very, very cool. The words that you came up with are quite wise–maybe that’s where the owl comes in? 😉 How ironic you were just feeling sorry for the people with snow and then you get some of the white stuff! The universe definitely has a sense of humor. 🙂

      • February 27, 2014
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        I love how silent everything is in the forest when there’s snow. Thank you for reminding me of that. That must have been incredible. I would have screamed for sure, both from surprise and the mind-boggling thrill of it. Wonderful story 🙂

  • February 26, 2014
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    Oh look at the poor flowers in the snow! Your owl is adorable / it is fun to watch your journal come alive.

    I am a coffee drinker in the morning but winter afternoons find me drinking tea and it is Earl Grey, though nothing fancy; just a tea bag : )

    Looks like a great day with your daughter …and her lipstick! : )

  • February 26, 2014
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    What a nice spot for tea. Your daughter looks lovely and, I love that journal page. Very cool!
    Sherry

  • February 27, 2014
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    You had a miraculously full and wonderful day! love those pastries and all those colors. wow!!
    As always your birds are inspiring and wonderful to see.
    ~Dawn

  • dianecayton

    February 27, 2014
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    Those glasses with the swimmer on the diving board are so wonderful! Did you buy them? If not, you should have my Dear.
    I like to shop for lipstick but it definitely gives a girl a pink around the mouth appearance. LOL Hope she found the perfect color for her sweet face. xox

  • March 1, 2014
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    You have a gift for capturing the lovely in everyday things! I love those glasses with the lady in the swim suit and the ones beside those with the lady canoeing. I love vintage too, but I am sure I wouldn’t have resisted buying those glasses!

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