Muddie, I Love You Bushels

Okay, I understand that I am posting a lot about things that happened back in August when it’s now mid-September. What’s up with that, right? The problem is I have not been living in the 21st century these days…the heart of the little computer down at the corner of my screen has hardly been beating. No sign of internet life. Comcast was suppose to come bless my house with the gift of cyberspace, but they completely forgot about us. Thanks again dude for leaving me waiting all Friday morning… But anyways...that's not what I am here for. What I really want to say is that the tea party wasn't the only reason I took a visit to Chico. I had other agendas well. For instance, Granny Beasley’s 100th Birthday (everyone gasps and spits out a few “Oh MYs”). Crazy, I know. It was quite the occasion. Granny is the gift that keeps on giving. We would be bored, less kind, and less sugared without her. She’s the best of treats. For Granny’s birthday bash, family came from all around. Granny enjoyed bragging about her amazing life, that I am so jealous of, and we got to hear her stories one more time. It was the best. Did you know the lady has been picked up by a tornado! Seriously…blows me away every time. The fine lady of the hour received some flashy presents of the gardening genre (right up her alley), a Benjamin (one hundred years of hard earned cash), candy (which is more like a restock of groceries for her), and a new bottle of her favorite “smell-a-ma-good” (aka White Shoulders perfume...paints a great picture, huh). We also played a game called Who Knows Granny Best?. You had to answer questions on the ins and outs of granny’s life. The winner of said game won the rickety wooden ladder that was bribed away from Granny after she was caught using it to prune her pomegranate tree (much taller than your average pomegranate “bush”) . She’s a live wire. Anywhoo...I just want to use my blog to give Granny B a shout out. I love you bushels! Just so you know who you're dealing with.

Give Me Your Milk

C'est encroyable! Je peux gouter l'hostilite! Les enfants sont impressionnants.

By George, I do Declare it's Tea Time

The end of August went down smoothly, kind of like a warm cup of earl grey tea...Speaking of tea, the last days of August brought us the eagerly anticipated Aunt Maggie's Annual High Tea, held in honor of my cheeky nieces. Invitations were sent out prior to the great event, of course, to get the little nieces pumped with excitement, it worked. I read up on tea parties before hand and it was clear that invitations are mandatory in tea party etiquette. I hand-made the invitations, but I didn't snap a picture so just imagine the most grand card you can think of, (insert image here), and consider me an amazing craftswoman. So the day of the party came on the 25th of August. It began with the baking of pastry delicacies. On the menu for the great event? Eclairs, Raspberry Cake, Strawberry Croissants, and Sugar Cookies. So I slaved away making these "sugar cookies", which weren't really your conventional sugar cookie, just a cookie with a lot of sugar. They have chocolate chips, white chocolate chips, and a lovely surprise of caramel tucked in the center. The fine people of Raley's slaved away making the rest of the afters. We also had loads of chocolate covered strawberries, who can go wrong with that. Grandma Sousa's decadent China finally got some show time, a great addition to the ambiance.

Honey (my mom's grandmotherly title) got the girls all dolled up and they got to come down the stairs like little debutantes. While we were finishing the food preparations, the girls indulged in some present opening and games. In the gifting department were some new clothes, paintings and necklaces. Here's the shirts I finished for E, so my first go round at baby making apparel is complete. I did a little painting for K, too. Coal Umbrella also was selling skeleton keys that caught my eye, so I nabbed some of those and made little necklaces for the girls. They were supposed to be magic keys, turns out the are. K's a believer after she managed to locked D's bedroom door with it. Then for games, we opted for the obvious choice of croquet, not as obvious as cricket, but still very respectable. A took to croquet like a Brit takes to fish n' chips. The fun escalated when D started up some musical games. She is a pro at those. Some took these games more seriously than others. Then the girl sat down for tea after this, but the tea was substituted with chocolate milk, obviously. They even practice proper lingo like "mademoiselle". Then when tea time had commenced they moved on to swimming and painting. And of course, everyone knows I would never throw a party without some psychedelic trip, and that's where the bubbles came into play. Seriously, it's impossible to look at this picture with K and her giant orb bubble and not think, "Donny Darko, how existential...". All in all, it was a smashing day govna' with heaps of fun. So, don't be ashamed, I know next August you'll all be anxiously hovering around your mail boxes waiting for a High Tea Invitation like you waited for you invitation to Hogwarts when you turned 11. I understand, but like Howgarts, all the best things are exclusive.


And Z wants to let all those foxy ladies out there know that he is single and looking, but he makes no promises. All he asks in exchange for his snuggles is some assistance in the hygiene department, an offer no one can refuse.