TEA ON THE HIGH SEA.....

The setting at this

FABULOUS HIGH SEA TEA
*

I looked high and low for a beautiful TEA CUP

but, ALAS.....

THIS one was the finest I could find...

HOWEVER, on a bright note...

EARL GREY TEA is one of my favorites...
*

THIS is where I sat with my afternoon TEA...one of the prettiest "tea rooms" EVER...

watching ORCA WHALES blow and dive, showing their big beautiful tails...

(more to come on that subject)
*

A beautiful view from inside our state room, looking out

the sliding glass doors, leading to our balcony.

(now, I was PROUD to have that wonderful balcony...a PERFECT spot to enjoy a CUP OF TEA !!)
*

The food, on a cruise, is OUT OF THIS WORLD good....

these were NO exception...

Wonderful with TEA..!!
*

Plates and plates of dedicate sweets...

kept me on a SUGAR HIGH the entire time !!

;-)

Fresh fruits abound....

OMGOSH
*

Yes....TEA on OUR ship went much better than on THE TITANIC...!!
*

...aren't they adorable !!
*

I LOOKED high and low for

LEONARDO...

but he was no where to be found...

BUT...

I thank YOU for coming by to have

TEA ON THE HIGH SEA....

LINKING WITH

TEA WITH THE LADY

TEA FOR TWO

TEAPOT AND TEA THINGS

THANK YOU FOR HOSTING..!

SOME FAVORITE RED, WHITE and BLUES....reposted to correct photo..:(

RED, WHITE and BLUE...

A HARD COMBINATION TO BEAT....
*

PHOTO by bj

KETCHIKAN, ALASKA

**

This is one of the prettiest little towns we saw on our cruise...

So clean and crisp....and just breathtaking.

I took this photo from our balcony aboard the SAPPHIRE PRINCESS.

The top couple rows of balconies are the ones you want to try to get if you go on a cruise...the rows are angled out so that some of them are not covered...

We were on top...our balcony was covered and NO ONE COULD LOOK DOWN AND SEE US...:)..Not that we were gonna do anything that we didn't want anyone to see but...you know...privacy !!

It did rain one day at sea and those below us couldn't use their balconies..but WE COULD...:-)
**

ISN'T SHE A BEAUT !!

**

More

RANDOM RED WHITE AND BLUES...
*

Grands sitting in UNCLE DAVID'S new boat parked outside my cottage...

Well....a year old but that's still NEW...:)

They were just coming back from the lake to have dinner with all of us..
*

It is really a cool boat...

and all the kids and grands can wake board, surf, ski...I think the newest is a WAKE SKATE..

OOO....they can DO IT ALL !

"THANKS, DEEDS, for wearing a blue shirt ...:))
*
LOTS of Red White and Blue here...

THIS was the most incredible helicopter ride....
more to follow on this subject..;>)
***
These are those cute fabric STRAWBERRIES that the sweet and multi-talented
KATHY from
KATHY'S COTTAGE
made for her ETSY shop last summer
and
I BOUGHT THEM !!
They are so colorful and sweet in their reds and whites...
and look great in my blue and white vintage dish....

THREE grandgirls...only 3 days difference in their ages...
ANDREA (twin)
BRYNNA (cousin)
BAILEY (twin)
**
YEP...back 12 1/2 years ago, MR. SWEET and I had
THREE BRAND NEW LITTLE TINY GRANDDAUGHTERS IN THREE DAYS....
ain't life grand !!

TOP:

LACEY AND BRYNNA...next is BRYNNA and ANDREA...all our BEAUTIFUL and SWEET grandgirls...

DID I mention, at any time, that we have SEVEN of these beautiful grandgirls...
and 3 of the most HANDSOME grandboys ? Well...we do ! We are blessed !
**

BOTTOM:

LACEY JEAN

and her handsome and sweet dad..our son, DAVID KEITH...

the thing about them....they are ALL beautiful in their hearts ....

*huge SIGH
************
Part of this last photo just SLID off the page and I don't
know how to fix it....so I am adding it AGAIN..

***********************************

I am linking at the following WONDERFUL memes...

MOSAIC MONDAY

BLUE MONDAY

RUBY TUESDAY

OUTDOOR WEDNESDAY

REDNESDAY

OOO, and never could I forget another of my favorite

RED WHITE AND BLUES !!

THE GOOD OLE SUMMERTIME....

So as not to BORE everyone to absolute PIECES,

I am adding a photo or two of OUR CRUISE TO ALASKA to several of my posts.

*

We flew to SEATTLE a day before we were to board ship

and the above photos are at the SPACE NEEDLE.

It was so AWESOME and we enjoyed seeing it all so much.

*

I was standing beneath the Space Needle taking this shot in the first photo...

the second is a shot of the GIFT SHOP below us...

the third..the beautiful city of SEATTLE, WASHINGTON..

***

NOW ON TO MY REGULAR

PINK SATURDAY POST..

;-)

MIZZ CATE, the great- grandluv, seems to be having a good summer....

One thing, FOR SURE.....she loves the water !!

Won't be long until she can get outside and "help" Daddy mow....

SHE loves her doggie, CLIVE..

(isn't that a cool name for a dog !)
*
Awww, she's sharing something with Clive...
*

:-)
*
SPEAKING OF TURTLES................
*
A granddaughter, BRYNNA, is making us the

BESTEST thing to romance our SWEET TOOTH.....

(Beverly..I hope the PINKNESS of her young skin will work for you !) :))
*

ROLO PRETZEL TURTLES

Small pretzels
ROLO Chewy Caramels in Milk Chocolate
Pecan halves.

Heat oven to 350.
Line cookie sheet with parchment paper or foil.
Place one pretzel for each pretzel treat desired on prepared sheet. Top each pretzel with one ROLO Chewy Caramel in Milk Chocolate.
Bake 3 to 5 minutes or until caramel piece begins to soften, but not melt. Remove from oven; top with pecan half. Cool completely.

O HONEY !!

This recipe is from TINA that lives over in CHERRY HILL COTTAGE. Not only does TINA have some fabulous recipes at her cottage, her cottage itself is SO cute..She and her Cherry Hill Cottage have been published in several really great magazines...You'll love her blog. Would you kindly tell her that bj said hey?

.....then, fix yourself and your honey some of this WONDERFUL Sweet & Salty treat !

I am linking with PINK SATURDAY and, because SOME OF MY FAVORITE THINGS are Grandgirls, Great-Grandgirls and CANDY, I am linking with LAURIE..

My thanks to you sweet ladies for hosting each week.

SISTER IN THE BLOGGERETTE SORORITY...

Let me tell you this is going to be a really FUN EVENT, going on right now, in Blogland...
A SORORITY.....

isn't that great ?
*

KAREN is hosting this on her delightful blog,

SOME DAYS ARE DIAMONDS...

*

As in ALL sororities...there is a thing we've all heard of that is connected to a SORORITY....

RUSH

*

I was in a hurry to get my post up and ready for today's RUSH....

but please know that YOU CAN JOIN IN AT ANYTIME....

Just stop over at KAREN'S and join the fun....
*********

We had to do TWO things for RUSH...

*

#1. we had to take the ADORABLE photo on the above button

and make something CREATIVE with it..

OH DEAR...

I am SO not creative but....I wanted to join this BLOGGERETTE SORORITY sooooo bad !!
**

SOOO, I thought and thought and thought some more...

"WHAT can I do that will be GOOD enough that THEY won't toss me out on my olden ear??"

*

THEN...I saw my large, thrifted WHITE platter, surrounded by the

BEST black and white checked border....

UH HUH.....I LIKE IT..
I just printed up that cute photo on PHOTO PAPER

and glued it to my platter...NOW...I KNOW this doesn't REALLY qualify as a CRAFT, but....

IT IS SO CUTE, I CAN'T STAND IT...
*

It really does look much cuter than I ever imagined,
sitting all SASSY there on my dining room HUTCH...

I left enough room AROUND the precious photo for SNACKS..so those cutie potooties would show...

So cute to serve COOKIES on....

BUT....now I need to paint it with SOMEthing to protect the photo...
******

I have NOT A CLUE as to what to use but...
HOBBY LOBBY will know.....right ?

Aren't these girls just the cutest !!!
*

THIS is the way I will use it most of the time...

Just displayed ....

I can already tell that it is going to be a piece that makes me smile....:))

I guess it doesn't take much to make me smile, hu !!
*

I just can't wait to see what all the other SISTERS did with their photo...

It will be a lot of fun to see, so be sure to swing by them all...

KAREN has the list posted right there on her SIDEBAR...
There's going to be a lot of blogging activities going on in this SORORITY...

So PLEASE go over and join up...

THANKS SO MUCH FOR COMING OVER TO SEE ME TODAY....


oh, yeah...

the SECOND thing we had to do was show our project with a photo of our silly self....!!

AIN'T LIFE GRAND !!

;>)

I TELL YA...I am having so much fun blogging...

I JUST LOVE IT ...EVERY BIT OF IT !!

MR. SWEET'S HAPPY FATHER'S DAY BRUNCH...

One of his favorite breakfasts/brunch is ORANGE CINNAMON ROLLS, HAM, FRUIT and JUICE...
He's so EASY !!

Keeping the table SIMPLE, just a small pot of SUNFLOWERS and Mr. Sweet's picture with our kids...
I SHOULD have added a CANDLE....what WAS I thinking ?

It's time for another family photo..

this one is about 8 yrs. old....

He actually prefers a THICK slice of Country ham but we
had thinner ones on this morning..
*
*
I love this BLOOM effect I sometimes use for my photos....
These are my much loved VINTAGE flat ware.
My mother gave me her set many years ago and
just a couple of years ago, I bought more of the vintage flatware on Ebay...
I actually would LOVE to have a little more.
When we love something, it seems we never really have ENOUGH of it...
*
As you can see, I used my new OLDEN cheery CHERRY dishes..

I have searched high and low for some more of these pretty dishes and...NO LUCK...I am thinking they have been discontinued from the COVENTRY dish line...BUMMER !!
*

and also using the brightly colored place mats that were on clearance at WALMART...
Most of the time, I don't care much for Walmart...but sometimes,
they have some cute things on sale that I really love.....like these place mats..
*

I really love these little bright and cheerful dishes...ESPECIALLY at breakfast time.
Just a great way to start our day.
*

He had a great FATHER'S DAY..
our kids and grands came over the day before to watch all the ALASKAN photos..
then we all went out to eat at ROSA'S MEXICAN FOOD...
So good...
*******
Mr. Sweet and I realize how blessed we are to have such a large and loving family.
They are all living close to us...we are able to go to all the grands games and be a big part of their lives.
Believe me when I say that we NEVER forget to thank our sweet GOD for the blessings
HE has showered on us.
Sometimes, my heart is so full of thanksgiving, I just burst out crying...
and it's a cry of thankfulness and love.
*
I am also so thankful for all of YOU...It never once dawned on me, when I started blogging,
that I would fall so in love with all my fellow bloggers....but I HAVE !!
Have a wonderful day....
****
Linking with TABLESCAPE THURSDAY
VINTAGE THINGY THURSDAY
FOODIE FRIDAY
FRIDAY FINDING BEAUTY
SHOW AND TELL FRIDAY
FABULOUS NEST FRIDAY
My thanks to all these fabulous hosts....