Tuesday 4 and Wedneday Hodgepodge

Welcome back to Toni Taddeo's Tuesday 4.

Books are such a big part of many people's lives. Maybe we should talk about that.

1. Do you have some books in your home? If so what subjects are they? Which is your favorite?

I used to have 3 bookcases filled with books at my last two homes. When we moved to our current home, I had to downsize my books. My nephew took a lot of my classics for his library. I donated some to my church library. I kept my favorites. Those are the one in the bookcase below. Those are my different study bibles, faith journals and Bible journaling Bibles. I have a smaller bookcase that has gift bibles and various books from classes I have taken. I need to let go some of these books next.

2. Do you enjoy browsing around bookstores?  Do you have a favorite you like to go to? I do like bookstores and there is a used bookstore in my city I go to. Our library has a large used bookstore that I like to visit. If I am on vacation and there is time, I like to find a bookstore. When I went to Oregon last year, we visited a city that in bookstores? had a wondaful used bookstore that had a lot of faith books, Bibles and some classics. I do like to collect bookmarks from places I visit. 

3. Do you think real books are clutter or do you just love having them around you? 

I try to keep my books organized. I don't see them as clutter, just one of my favorite collections.

4. What is the oldest book you've read and what is the newest book you've read or are reading. 

I have a book that my Sunday School teacher gave me about 60 years ago. I have read is my mom's copy of Gone with the Wind from the 60's. I have read it 7 times over the years. I also have a Bible that belonged to my grandma that my mom gave her. I also have a Bible from both of my grandmother's. I have several Bibles in different versions. I like to read the study notes with the extra large print. The last newest books I have are a set from Call The Midwife. I have 2 sets of series book in my collection. One of the Left Behind series. I am on book 12 now. I also have a set called AD Chronicles that I want to read again. Oh, I just remembered that I still have my Trixie Belden books and those are from the 60's.

1. What are you currently juggling in your life? 

I don't feel like juggling anything, but my plate is full right now with my classes and groups. We also had all 4 grands over on Friday and two through Sunday. Grand dogs too!  Most of the groups I am in are breaking for June and July. One ends. I won't be making a kit for my Bible journaling group for July, but we might still get together.

2. How often do you buy new clothes? What was the last piece of clothing you purchased? 

I don't buy clothes to often. I went shopping for both Easter and Mother's Day and the women's tea, but I end up using what I already had. The last thing I got was probably a t-shirt from Love and Faith. I wore one today when I went to lunch with my friends after our study.

3. What food festival would you most like to attend? If you need help here are links to some of the bigger and more popular food events around the world This is a loaded question! 

We used to go to the International Street Fair in Old Town Orange CA. There are several blocks that set up booths from many countries and it happens on Labor Day weekend. We haven't gone in years because it was so crowded!

I chose one main place for each of the links listed.

-Ten Food Festivals Worth Traveling To Find    I chose the Big Apple BBQ. We are going to Hawaii in April of 2024 and we will have to try something new. I do like Helena's authentic Hawaiin Food.

-The US2024 Best Food And Drink Festivals And Events In The US   I would like to try the Original Lobster Festival in Huntington Beach (Orange County CA) this September.

-20 Popular Food Festivals Around The World In 2024 For Your Unconditional Love Of Food

My husband and I like to try new places when travel. I prefer a sit-down dinner at a nice location.

We have been to the Garlic Festival in Gilroy CA. I would like to go to the Maine Lobster Festival.

I did have a great lobster roll in Kennebunkport Maine in 2008.

4. May is the 5th month of the year. Tell us something you remember about your 5th grade year. 

We had two classes. For half the day we were in the resource room. We had a tub that we pulled out of a shelf unit and the container fit into our desk. Music, science, history, art and conversational Spanish were taught in the am by two teachers. After lunch we went to smaller class for English and Math. The 6th graders went to the larger class. The room was also a cafeteria. They planned it all really well. All 5th graders had to do a state report and mine was on Nevada.

I did not like English and Math, though I did like reading. I liked all the other subjects in the big class. The biggest thing I remember during this time was my parents driving me to the new university that was being built in Irvine and they said they wanted me to go there. I graduated from UCI in 1977.

5. What are your favorite five words right now? Trust, Faith, God, Family, Friends

6. Insert your own random thought here. Last Saturday(May 18) my daughter and granddaughters and I attended a garden themed tea at our church. It was so nice! The food was great, the music and speaker were too! It meant a lot to me to have my girls there with me. I helped to put on many spring and Christmas teas over the years while I was on the board from 1995-2006. I have also hosted teas for a charity event called Crystal Roses. It was really nice to go to an event and just enjoy it. I know how much work it takes to put on an event like this one.

Friday Fave Five & Saturday 9

Click on the link above if you want to participate in the Friday's Fav Five.

This is a list of things I am thankful for this this week.

1. Thankful for a fun Christmas party for the seniors at your church. They provided a dinner, hot chocolate and coffee bar, dessert and candy. There were fun games and finally the gift exchange. Every year each table sings a part to the 12 days of Christmas, and it ends up really funny. We also sang Christmas carols which I love. 

2. On Tuesday I finished up my crafts kits for Wednesday. I also got some presents wrapped. Thankful that I am almost finished with my Christmas shopping!

3. Thankful for the nice Christmas tea our lifegroup had. We usually go out to a teahouse each year, bit prices have really gone up. Our outgoing leader decided to host it at her house. Everyone brought a food item. Everyone brought a gift to exchange. I did the craft before lunch. I used to sell these Nativities years ago. When my friend said she would love to have a craft, I volunteered. I also made a bookmark.

Wearing the dresses our friend Lucia gave us last year. She is in the middle.

Most of the hats once belonged to my mom and I inherited. 

She got some of them in New York and they are from Betmar.

 I have Nativities of all sizes in all the rooms during Christmas.

4. Thankful for a mother who loved hats and now I can share them with others for our teas.

5. Thankful to be able to get over 8 hours of sleep the day after the event! I sure needed it!

This is my Hannukah display. It ended Thursday evening. I could not light the candles because of my allergies, but I still said a prayer.

Saturday 9: The Christmas Blues (1953)

Unfamiliar with this week's tune? Hear it here.

 

1) In this song, Dean Martin sings that the streets are white with snow. Do you anticipate a White Christmas this year?

No, I am in So. California. It rarely snows here and when it does, it is on the hills above us or one of the mountain areas around us. It takes us an hour to two hours to get to the snow.

2) He tells us he's done plenty of window shopping this season. Do you find you're influenced by a retailer's window dressing and store decor? Are you more motivated by price? Or do you do most of your shopping online, making holiday decorations irrelevant? 

I have done about half my shopping online. I like the display at Kohls in the Christmas section. 

 

3) Dean was born in Steubenville, OH. Though he rarely returned to his hometown, it was in his thoughts during the holidays. Every Christmas he made like Santa and sent toys to hospitalized children in the Steubenville area. Are there toys on your shopping list this year? 

Yes, I bought 5 of them for the younger great nephews and nieces. I call them niblings. The rest got gift cards. This is the first year I did not buy any toys for my own 4 grands.

4) He had fast hands when it came to cards and before he was famous he worked as a dealer in Atlantic City. When you play cards, what's your favorite game? I rarely play cards. I think I last played Uno.

5) Dean Martin was an avid reader ... of comic books. Especially in bed when he was on the road and couldn't sleep. Much as he enjoyed comic books, he was embarrassed by them. What do you do when you can't sleep? I like to play Words with Friends. It is like Scrabble and you can find it in the App stores. I play it on my I-phone.

Now let's have a few holiday-specific questions:

 

6) Every year, the United States Postal Service introduces special holiday stamps. Do you purchase them? Yes, I do.  I don't send out as many cards, and I hope to finish mine this weekend.

7) Do you have a funny/ugly holiday sweater? I have Christmasy clothes, but nothing ugly.

 

8) Do you wrap your presents or use gift bags? Both.

9) We're doing Christmas karaoke! What holiday or winter-themed song will you perform? 

Hark the Herald Angels sing.

Update & Tuesday4

I leave tomorrow on my vacation to Texas to visit our friend. I am still not completely well yet. The doctor put me on antibiotics. I could have a combo of things since we are in allergy season. We had a lot of rain and it was predicted that allergy season would be bad. 

Saturday was a busy day for me. We went to our granddaughter's performance, She takes voice and keyboard lessons at a place called Rockstars. Her teacher Devon had a showcase of her students. Audrina did 5 numbers. She started with Lauren Daigle's I Don't Want to be Afraid.

I don't want to be afraid

Every time I face the waves

I don't want to be afraid
I don't want to be afraid
I don't want to fear the storm
Just because I hear it roar
I don't want to fear the storm
I don't want to fear the storm

Peace be still

Say the word and I will
Set my feet upon the sea
Till I'm dancing in the deep
Peace be still
You are here so it is well
Even when my eyes can't see
I will trust the voice that speaks

I'm not gonna be afraid

'Cause these waves are only waves
I'm not gonna be afraid
I'm not gonna be afraid
I'm not gonna fear the storm
You are greater than it's roar
I'm not gonna fear the storm
I'm not gonna fear at all

I also met my friends for dinner. Then my cousin Joanie and I went to Target and I got a few more travel/cold items. We went to church on Sunday. I worked on another Bible journaling page and then colored my hair.

Today I have finished packing, prepared my medications and my granddaughter Jazzy did my nails. She was happy to earn some money. I am not taking my laptop, so I won't be back on her until the 8th. 

Since I have been so busy, I am sharing a page that I did a few years ago when I hosted a table for a charity fundraiser. You can find it by tapping on the card below,

I will be back in week.

Tuesday 4

Hello! Glad you are back for more of Toni Taddeo's Tuesday 4..   If you knew Toni you would know that coffee was one of her great pleasures in life.  So friends, let's talk about those two popular drinks tea and coffee. Okay?  Let's go....

1. What is/are your favorite coffee? (brand or flavor)  If you are a tea lover, which tea is the best for you? We buy Folgers 1/2 decaf, 1/2 caf blend. I have to limit my caffeine intake. I use to drink a lot of tea. I can't have mint anymore. I drink more tea in the winter in the evening. I like a honey chamomile blend.

2.  How do you take your coffee or tea? Sugar, cream , flavoring? I do like to add creamers to my coffee. I really need to cut back on my sugar now. I added a vanilla sugar free syrup today with vanilla oatmilk and I enjoyed it. I do like my tea sweet and I add a bit of local organic honey.

3. Do you go out for coffee/tea with friends?   Ever enjoy a real tea room or a  tea party? Yes my friends and I have coffee together at our weekly Bible study. We also go out to tea one to two times a year a teahouses.

Spring 2021

Xmas 2021

I have also hosted a lot of women's teas with different theme. Here is the link to my Minnie themed tea.

4. If you could design a coffee shop or even a coffee/tea station in your home, what would it be like?

 Welcome to Tuesday 4 the legacy of Toni Taddeo, kept in her honor and memory.

Let's discuss tea parties.

1. Do you invite people over for coffee or tea? Prior to Covid I was having a small group of ladies come over to craft. I would serve lunch too.

2.  Entertaining is a good way to serve others. The bible encourages it in talking about how to be a good person:

Isaiah 58: "“Is not this the kind of fasting I have chosen:to loose the chains of injustice and untie the cords of the yoke, to set the oppressed free and break every yoke?      Is it not to share your food with the hungry and to provide the poor wanderer with shelter— when you see the naked, to clothe them, and not to turn away from your own flesh and blood? "  My pastor read this verse on Sunday because he has been doing a series on serving.

Do you entertain often? Not often. We are in a small house and I can't have a large group. In the summer we eat outside.

3. What kind of refreshments do you offer to guests? That would depend on the weather. I make coffee or tea in the winter and infused water and tea in the warmer weather. I like to have fresh fruit and veggies or a salad. I will make tuna salad sandwiches. Dessert also depends on the season.

4. Do you enjoy tea and/or coffee? How do you take it? I can't drink caffeine anymore so I drink decalf and I like flavored creamer in my coffee. I like herbal decaf tea and add honey if I want to sweeten it up.

If it is in your power to entertain friends and family, do so often. People get lonely and need to be with others. You have more to offer than you know! Giving of your time and self is priceless.

Last year my Lifegroup went to a tea house in Orange California. I brought my mom's hats and the women picked one out to wear.

We had planned to have  garden spring tea when Covid hit last March. This is the group I went away with back in September. We have not met in a few weeks but we keep in touch with a program called Group Me.

I have hosted many teas in my life. Here is a link to my Minnie themed table. It was a fund raiser for Crystal Roses. They provide comfort bags for people going though cancer. Alex Trebek received a bag.You can read about Crystal Roses here. My friend Julie formerly of Bear Essential Graphics also received a bag and she lives in Australia.

Tuesday 4

Welcome to Tuesday 4 in honor or Toni Taddeo.
Today's topic is Being Sociable
1. Do you bring a gift when you are invited to someone's home? Yes sometimes I do. I like giving gifts.

2.You've invited other bloggers for an old fashioned tea party. What are you serving for tea? I enjoy tea parties and I have everything needed for one. I have organized and hosted many tea parties at my church. So what would I have? I would make several types of sandwiches. Cucumber and cream cheese, chicken salad and tuna and place them on one of my tiered plate servers. I would have a salad for those that are vegetarians. I would have a scones, lemon ,almond and maybe blueberry. I would have something with chocolate and something that has a cream cheese filling. I have several teapots and I would serve a fruited tea, an English tea and a spiced tea. I would also have iced sweet tea. I have an assortment of teacups too. I would also make some sort of favor that each woman could take home with her.

My lifegroup friends went to a tea house last spring. We also went to one at Christmas time. We were going to have a garden teaparty on March 27th, but it was cancelled because of Covid19.

3. Do you enjoy entertaining company in your home? My home is small so I can only have a small group of women of 8. I would like to do more, but my husband is not a social person like me. He is okay with our immediate family, but we can't have all my family here.

4. The 4th of July national celebration will be in South Dakota at Mount Rushmore. How will you celebrate America's birthday? I love to celebrate on the 4th. We usually go to our city's 4th of July parade but I am not sure they will have it this year. We have a BBQ for my family and they go in the spa. Later they go to a large park to see the fireworks show the city puts on. Not sure they will have that either this year. I have a lot of patriotic themed bandanas I used on a wreath last year. I might have to make mask with them!