I've Been MIA and Here's What I've Been Up To!

I have been missing in action from my blog this past month and ACTION is the operative word here!  I have been so busy this month but have missed my blog and faithful followers!  It's amazing how fast the hours in a day fly...the next thing you know a week has passed, then the next thing you know....a month has passed!  It's just that time of year for me...a lot like the weeks before Christmas.  The end of school is always busy with year end activities and with spring creeping in a little faster this year, yard work, planting flowers, and other spring projects have to be worked in with everything else.  So....with that being said I thought I would share with you what I've been up to during the month of April!

April started out with a celebration at my house!  On April 5th my precious little Sophie Annabella had a birthday and of course that calls for a party!  We celebrated Miss Sophie's 2nd birthday in style.  She is such a blessing and so much company for me.  The perfect little companion while everyone is away.  Of course we had to have cupcakes and as you can see here, she really enjoyed it!  Doesn't she look precious in her pearls.  She is the perfect little southern belle, although her manners while eating her cupcake left a little to be desired!



Miss Priss in her pearls!  What a true southern belle!



You may remember back in December I had a giveaway for one of my magnetic picture frames.  I have been busy filling orders for these cute little gifts and I have 15 more to make!  If you like them and would like to order one you can email me at sweetteaandpearlsblog@gmail.com.  They make the perfect Mother's Day or Graduation gift.



The buttons are magnets that hold the picture in place.



I love baking cookies.  The problem is....I love to eat them more!  It works out good when someone orders a batch from me because then I only have a few extras I can munch on instead of the whole batch!  These little gems are delicious and light.  They are Rosemary Cookies.  I baked these for a friend at school.  You wouldn't think of putting rosemary in cookies but it's delicious.  Did you know rosemary means "remembrance"?  I have given rosemary plants as end of the year teacher gifts because of the symbolism that goes with the plant.  When my dear friend Nan married a couple years ago she had me make 100 little cellophane bags with 2 cookies in each bag as her giveaway at the wedding reception.  They turned out so cute...I attached a little card with a ribbon on each bag. The card had a graphic of a rosemary twig in the shape of a heart...I put their name and wedding date in the center.  It really turned out very special!  Look for a blog post soon about using savory herbs in sweet concoctions....I have several yummy delicacies I'd love to share!

Well, ya'll know it's springtime and I could just spend all day in my yard.  I love the smell of dirt and fresh cut grass so I've been spending lots of time getting my flower pots filled and gardens weeded.  Here are a few flowers I have planted in my yard.  It's a work in progress that I seem to work on constantly but to me it's not work...I love being outside.

Peonies are one of my favorite flowers!  I have over 50 blooms on my plants and the first one bloomed today!  I think it's just beautiful.  I wish I could keep them blooming all summer.  Peonies remind me of my grandmother.

Remember the post I did in February when I prunned all the limbs off my crepe myrtles?  They're back and will be beautiful when they start to bloom in June!

I love the sound of water, and I love my fountain.  It's so relaxing to sit on my screen porch with a book in one hand and a glass of sweet tea in the other hand.  The potato plants I have planted at the base will cover the whole ground around the fountain in just a couple of weeks.  In fact, I will have to prune it back almost daily in mid summer!

Of course I had to get some sewing in and have been promising a new pillow for Brooke's apartment.  I made this pillow out of ivory canvas and monogrammed her initial in the middle.  I made piping for the edges out of cording covered with bias tape.  It was very easy to make so look for this sewing project in a future post!

I have been doing calligraphy for about 30 years.  I am self-taught so I don't really know what you'd call my style...maybe a type of italic.  I have developed my own style of lettering and it has evolved over the years into what you see now.  I love doing wedding invitations! Receiving an invitation that has been scripted in calligraphy is like getting a special little treat!  It makes your first impression of the wedding that is to come a litle more exciting!  I did 185 invitations in 3 nights!  That is a record for me.  I usually try to do 30-40 a night but pushed myself to do 60 a night to get them completed before my spring break.  I can actually say....I had writer's cramp!  After about 30 invitations I would have to soak my hand in hot water for a few minutes to loosen my joints....could this be old age creeping up on me?  I sure hope not because I really enjoy calligraphy and helping a young bride make her wedding special!

And finally.....I am a royal nut!  I love all things royal and have been consumed with all the royal wedding excitement!  I have read everything I can get my hands on, watched and recorded (so I can watch them again) everything that has been on t.v. this past month....and....I will be up at 3:30 in the morning to watch every minute of royal bliss!  Yes, I even took tomorrow off so I won't miss a minute of coverage.  I remember 30 years ago watching the royal wedding of Charles and Diana and will be perched on my sofa in the morning watching everything that being broadcast!  My daughter and several of her friends will be rising early to have crumpets and tea while watching the royal nuptials...I will be chugging my coffee I'm sure, but I think the excitement of it all will be enough to keep me awake.  I think I love all this pomp and circumstance because it's like watching a real, live fairytale.  It's so far from my lifestyle it's just hard to believe people actually live like this...now who wouldn't want to be a princess?  I know I sure would!

So, until later...I hope you all have a wonderful weekend...I will be traveling to Charleston for the beautiful wedding of Jenny Troutman and Chanan Cole.  Jenny is a college friend of my daughter's and the first one of "the group" to get married.  We are all so excited!  Blessings to you all!

                                                                                                           ~Becky