Giveaway Winner And Lovely Things

Hello everyone! I admit that I am bit late in announcing the winner of the giveaway for my Mad Tea Party, but then what would a Mad Tea Party be without always running late? Anyway, through the use of a random number generator, a winner has been chosen. And that person is......comment #10, our lovely hostess herself, Miss Vanessa!

Hooray! I can think of no one better to win than the lady who made this mad party possible, can you? Miss V, you win the tea cup, saucer, and dessert plate, as well as your choice of tea from Chantilly tea room! Here is a link for a list of all of our teas: http://www.chantillytearoom.com/pages/teas.html I am not sure how recently that has been updated so we might have others if you have a favorite that you don't see on there. Thanks again for being such a great hostess!

Now on to photos of pretty things from the last few weeks.

My new desk/drafting table!

My pumpkins.

I found a lot more Lewises on my orange tree. This is just one little guy.

Amazing Arizona storms.

Tea time, of course.

Well that is all for now. See you soon!

Javelinas And Thank Yous

We had one pumpkin left after Halloween that we hadn't carved and it was still sitting out in front of our house until....

I realized what was happening because Mal was super restless so I thought he needed to go out. When we got to the front walk I noticed that the pumpkin was gone and I could see little wet hoof prints (it had rained). I made Mal go back inside because he freaks out around javelinas and then went back out to spy on them. They were so cute I didn't mind that they were having my pumpkin for dinner! They stole a neighbor's pumpkin too, that is why there are two in the photo.

So I have two huge-tastic thank yous to say today! One is for Cameron who helped me freshen up my blog. You may have noticed my new header. Isn't it great?! She was nice enough to make it for me!! (it probably didn't hurt that I bribed her with tea and stuff). Anyway, I love it! Thank you soooo much! I will probably change the background and colors and such eventually to go with it, but I don't think it looks too shabby with what is already there.

My second thank you is to the awesome Theresa. I won the giveaway for a great tea cup over at her blog. I was so excited about just the tea cup, but when the package came there was so much more!

Holy smokes! I was delighted. I love every bit of it! I am wearing the lovely necklace right now. And the tea cup is perfect for fall and fills a hole in my collection because I didn't really have any good fall ones. Thank you!

<3 Alia

Blueberry Muffins And A Winner

I am ever so happy because the monsoons are here at last! Yesterday the power even went out (unfortunately it wasn't dark enough out to need to use candles, oh well). I am even watching a big storm outside my window as I am typing this! It is sooo nice to get some rain, for me and for the plants. I hope you all had a nice 4th, lightning was my fireworks and that is just fine by me.

Here are some photos of the sunset after the storm.

The other day I had a random desire to bake. I discovered there were some blueberries in the freezer so I decided to make muffins!

It was just your basic blueberry muffin recipe from my Better Homes and Gardens cookbook, but I had some cream cheese frosting so I decided to bake some of that on too.

Unfortunately it just sort of melted off the top and formed a hard candy shell on the pan.

They were still delicious though!

Mal wanted some....

...but I said no, so he pouted.

And now to announce the winner of my Mad Tea Party giveaway for the place markers (four of them), and the winner by random number selection is....

......Zoe from Blessed Bee! Please email me your address and what your favorite kind of tea is (for a little extra something)!

Thanks to everyone who commented, I wish I could give presents to all of you!

Tea Party Madness And A Giveaway

Ho hum, it is such a boring day. Don't you long for some adventure? Perhaps we can find a rabbit hole to fall down.....

Oh yes indeed, someone says it is time for a tea party!

Of the mad variety of course!

But do we dare to eat and drink?

Oh what harm could come of it really? And there is so much delicious looking food, do let us partake my friends.

And feel free to choose a tea cup, there are plenty to go around.

The March Hare has already chosen his. Could you help him out with a sip?

And there is the Dormouse....

and Alice too!

My, my, the gang's all here...but Hatter has stepped away momentarily. You can try on his hat while he is gone, but don't let him see you or he might get...MAD...teehee.

This really is a lovely party.

Would you care for another cuppa?

This tea is delightful.

Or perhaps some condiment for your scone?

There are so many sweets!

I am not sure if it is a sugar rush or just general madness, but the March Hare sure is acting funny...

Is it just me or do we seem to be growing? I am sure that teapot and bird cage were not so small before.

Curiouser and curiouser.....

Ooph are you feeling woozy too? Maybe we better have a bit of a lie down.

......yawn.....and here we are back home again. Well even if it was all a dream I certainly had a wonderfully mad time, did you? It must have been a dream, and yet as I closed my eyes I swear I saw a vision and that nearby tree winking at me.....

For more tea party madness head on over to A Fanciful Twist!

I am happy to say that I will be giving away the place markers from the tea party! There are four white place markers which you can write on with dry erase pens and so use over and over. To enter just leave a comment on this post. You do not have to be a follower, but if you are mention it in your comment and you will get a second entry.

ps. there is a good chance that a couple other goodies from the tea room where I work will find their way into the package as well, so don't be shy!