Day 51

This lesson is from Saturday.

My boyfriend was making us dinner, and while I was waiting, I was going through my art and crafts bin. I had pulled that out, so I can take some crafts to do with my niece when I was babysitting her last week. I kept it because I wanted to do some crafts myself. I took out some of my colouring and my pencil crayons and started colouring. I picked out my Alice in Wonderland colouring book. I love that movie.

I love that colouring has an ability to calm me, and relax me. Colouring is so soothing. I will definitely be making more time to do crafts this week, especially since it’s almost my boyfriend’s birthday. I also have a lot of colouring books.

Today, I will focus on ways to relax and calm me. Which can be easier than one think. Colouring, and doing arts and crafts are a good way to relieve stress. I personally love to colour. Finding healthy ways to relieve and cope with stress is easier than one might think it is. We just need to think about it more creatively.

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Top Ten Tuesdays #23 – February 2nd, 2021

Top Ten Tuesday was created by The Broke and the Bookish in June of 2010 and was moved to That Artsy Reader Girl in January of 2018. It was born of a love of lists, a love of books, and a desire to bring bookish friends together.

The rules are simple: Each Tuesday, Jana assigns a new topic. Create your own Top Ten list that fits that topic – putting your unique spin on it if you want. Everyone is welcome to join but please link back to http://www.thatartsyreadergirl.com/ in your Top Ten Tuesday post.

This week is all about books that were written before I was born. I was born in 1994, so I actually own a lot of books that were written before me entering the world. I would love to see what kinds of books were written before you were born.

  1. Alice in Wonderland by Lewis Carroll, 1865

The famous story about a young girl named Alice who falls down a rabbit hole, and all of her adventures. I have been wanting to read these books for so slow. This book contains Alice in Wonderland, and Alice Through The Looking Glass, among other tales as well.

2. Gray’s Anatomy by Henry Gray, 1858

A medical textbook, which is still used today. It is about the anatomy of the human body. I really enjoy reading it. Fun fact, the famous Grey’s Anatomy TV show, got its name from this book. I bought this book because I thought I wanted to be a nurse, but I later changed my mind.

3. The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald, 1925

This story was inspired by Fitzgerald’s romance to a socialite, and the parties he attended in 1922. The story follows Jay Gatsby and his love interest to Daisy.

4. Little House in the Big Woods by Laura Ingalls Wilder, 1932

I was first introduced to these books because my mom used to read these books growing up. She ended up buying me these books for my 13th birthday. I was so excited. Her and I started reading them, but unfortunately our lives have gotten too busy to continue to read them. But maybe her and I can make some time later on to finish them.

5. Charlotte’s Web by E.B. White, 1952

The heart felt story about friendship, love, and death. I loved this book so much, I read it in the seventh grade, and I remember begging my Mama to buy me this book, and the movie for Christmas, and she did. I remember watching the movie over and over again. I can’t wait to buy this book for my niece.

6. A Little Princess by Frances Hodgson Burnett, 1905

This is a sad story about how a little girl losing her mother, and her father goes to serve in the British Army. Her father sends his daughter, Sara to a boarding school in London. He gives the Headmistress extra money so she can have own room. Despite her fortunes, she is genuine, and sincere. She becomes friends with another girl, and the errand girl. It tells the tale of Sara Crowe. My sister and I used to always rent this movie from the video store, all the time, that and Matilda. But I have not read this book, yet. There is a movie based on this novel. Frances Hodgson Burnett also wrote The Secret Garden.

7. Matilda by Roald Dahl, 1988

Matilda is a girl who loves to read, and has an amazing imagination. The problem is that she is a lot different from her family members. They love watching TV, and they hate reading. Matilda soon discovers that she has magical powers. I loved watching the movie with my sister, but I haven’t read the book, yet. I can’t wait to read it.

8. Anne of Green Gables by Lucy Maud Montgomery, 1908

Anne is an orphan, and she was sent to a pair of siblings, who were looking to adapt a boy, so he can help them run the farm at the Green Gables. But the adoption agency made a mistake and sent them Anne instead. The story tells the adventures of Anne has at the Green Gables. I plan on reading this book this year.

9. James and the Giant Peach by Roald Dahl, 1961

It is about an orphan boy who enters a magical peach, where he meets seven garden bugs. This was one of my sister’s favourite story, but I have never read it, or seen the movie. I can’t wait to read this book and watch the movie. Dahl wrote this story for his daughter, Olivia, who passed away a year later after it was published.

10. The Outlander by Diana Gabaldon, 1991

I am currently borrowing this book from the library, so I haven’t gotten to it yet. It is about a girl named Claire who is celebrating her second honeymoon with her husband after World War II, but she suddenly becomes an “Outlander”, when she is magically transported into 1743. I want to read the books, so I can watch the show on Netflix. I always prefer to read the books, before I watch the movie, or show.

Peach Ginger and Dandelion Tea

It’s Tuesday, which means it’s another edition of Tea Tuesday! Today’s tea is Peach Ginger with Dandelion. It is infused with vitamin B6, which helps boosts your metabolism. It has other benefits such as prevents cancer, helps unclog arteries, helps with eye diseases, and promotes brain health.

This tea is a herbal tea, with no caffeine. It is super healthy, too. What I like is that you can taste more of the peach, and the ginger isn’t too powerful.

Here is my mug, well actually it’s a tea cup, for the day. What I love about this tea cup, is that it is yellow, which is my favourite colour. I love the flowers, and how elegant it is. It reminds me of a tea cup from Alice In Wonderland, or a tea cup from Great Grandma.

Top Ten Tuesdays #12

Top Ten Tuesday was created by The Broke and the Bookish in June of 2010 and was moved to That Artsy Reader Girl in January of 2018. It was born of a love of lists, a love of books, and a desire to bring bookish friends together.

The rules are simple: Each Tuesday, Jana assigns a new topic. Create your own Top Ten list that fits that topic – putting your unique spin on it if you want.Everyone is welcome to join but please link back to The Artsy Reader Girl in your own Top Ten Tuesday post.

This week’s topic is Characters I’d Name a Pet After. But I’m not a big pet person, please don’t hate me! But I’m just not a big believer of having any. I grew up with a dog that my parents had before I was born. After he died, my sister wanted to her own dog, but my dad recommended that she tries to look after gold fish first. Unfortunately those fish died very quickly. Once my sister thought that if she feed the fish a lot one day, she wouldn’t need to feed them the next day. But she learned the hard way, that wasn’t healthy for the fish to overeat.

So, I put my own spin on this, and changed it to Characters I Would Name a Child After. Even though I don’t really want children either.

10. Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone

Harry Potter’s mother name was named Lily Potter (nee Evans), and I have always loved that name, and I would love to name my daughter that. My great aunt was named Lillian, and she holds a special place in my heart. I would name daughter Lily because in the book, she belonged to the Gryffindor House, which symbolizes bravery, courage and determination. She loved her son very much, and tried to do everything she could do to protect him from danger.

Another reason why I like the name Lily so much is it means pure, passion, and rebirth.

I realized that I didn’t have a lot of boy names, so I thought about it. I thought that I would like my son to have Albus as his middle name. It means white in Latin. But in the book, Albus, who is the Headmaster of Hogwarts demonstrated leadership throughout the series.

9. Time Traveler’s Wife

I haven’t read this book yet, but I loved the movie, so I am really excited to read this one. But in the movie, I loved Clare a lot. I can tell she has morals, and good manners. She comes across as a girl who has a very traditional lady, which I admire.

I also like the name Henry, too. It means ruler, and it is quite a royal name.

8. The Notebook

Sorry this book was a bit hard to photograph because of the material of the book cover.

In this book I really liked the name Allie, which in the book is short for Alison. She finds her true love, and they make it work for many decades. That is what I would hope my daughter finds. And today is Rachel McAdams birthday today.

7. Anne of Green Gables

I haven’t read this book yet either, but it is on my To Be Read List. I have always liked the name Anne as a middle name. If I name my daughter’s middle name Anne, she would have half of my name, which is Julianne, so that would be a cute tribute. The book is about her struggles of one foster care to another, and having to take care of younger children. Until she finally gets taken care of Matthew and Marilla Cuthbert. She must have developed a lot of strength to overcome those foster homes.

6. The Longest Ride

I also liked the name Ruth, when I started reading this book. I think it’s the perfect middle name. I liked that it was old fashioned, but elegant at the same time. I don’t want to say much about this book, but it is really sad. It’s one of my favourite Nicholas Sparks’ book. It is making me want to watch the movie again.

5. To Kill a Mockingbird

I loved this book so much! I would totally give my son the middle name of Atticus. To me, Atticus symbolizes morality and heroism. He provides his children with a lot of wisdom throughout the novel. He is an attorney, and can see the good in others. I just love his character a lot. I also like the name Harper, as well. It would be a cool middle name, too.

4. Safe Haven

I loved this book, as well. The name that I loved the most was Katie. I have always liked the name Katie. In this novel, Katie has demonstrated strength, and bravery, which is ironic because those are the traits of belonging to the Gryffindor house. I don’t want to say much about the book, because I don’t want to spoil it. But I would recommend it.

3. Alice in Wonderland

I love Alice, she is one of my favourite Disney characters. I love how imaginative she is. She is very curious, and loves to explore things to find out. She prefers books with pictures in them, instead of a book that just has words in it. Alice is Old German for noble.

2. The BFG

I have adored the name Sophie. She is a little girl who is in a Orphanage when the Big Friendly Giant takes her on an adventure in the middle of the night. She also is brave, and kind-hearted. Dahl’s first granddaughter is named Sophie.

  1. Charlotte’s Web

I first read this book in the seventh grade, which was about 14 years ago. I remember bagging my mama to buy me the book and DVD box set, which she did. I just loved it so much. Which probably explains why I love the name Charlotte. She has shown a lot of heroism throughout the novel.

Halloween Fun in the Time of Covid-19

Tomorrow is Halloween, which falls on a Blue Moon (which means that it’s the second full month in one month, it happens so rarely), and when I change my clocks forward, so we technically have an extra hour of Halloween. Yay!

I was tagged by the wonderful Helen, she is a lifestyle blogger, who loves to knit. I enjoy reading her blog, and I think you would, too. Be sure to check it out, here, https://crispyconfessions.com/

Rules

  • Thank the blogger who tagged you and link their post
  • Put the rules after an introduction, then answer the 13 questions
  • Tag 13 more bloggers to participate in the game
  • Use these same Halloween questions, or create new ones of your own
  1. What’s your favourite thing about October or Halloween?
    Where I live, October signifies Autumn, the change of colours of the leaves. It can get fairly chilly. I like those chilly, foggy nights, because I love the spookiness it has when I watch scary movies. Because I live in Canada, we celebrate our Thanksgiving, so I love eating turkey, and mashed potatoes, and anything pumpkin. It’s like my favourite holiday during my favourite season.
  2. How much do you spend on Halloween?
    Definitely not a lot. We don’t have any cool decorations, so I save a lot of money that way. We don’t really hand out candy, we just eat a bunch of candy ourselves. I love eating chocolate and candy. We’ve probably spent about $10, maybe $15 on snacks. We don’t dress up anything, so more money for chocolate.
  3. What do you think the average person spends on Halloween goodies and does it match what you spend?
    I think maybe the average person spends probably $50, between the costumes, candy and decorations. Maybe a bit more with accessories. And no, this doesn’t match what I would spend.
  4. Does social media influence how much you decorate for Halloween, causing you to spend more?
    No, not really. I’m not one to decorate for Halloween. I never have. I actually don’t decorate at all for any holiday, the most I do, would be for a birthday, if anything.
  5. Do you buy or create your Halloween costumes, and what was your favourite costume so far?
    I normally buy my costumes, or just buy an outfit. But my favourite costume was Alice and Wonderland, and my boyfriend was the Mad Hatter. I’ve had many people tell me that I like Mia Wasikowska, who played Alice in the 2010 remake. Photo is below.
  6. Share a trick you have played on someone at Halloween.
    I probably just snuck up on someone, and that’s probably much it.
  7. Do you have a favourite Halloween treat?
    I like Reese’s, Kit Kat and Wonderbars.
  8. What is something you can do with a pumpkin once Halloween is over?
    I throw mine away.
  9. Do you consider pumpkin a fruit or a vegetable?
    I used to think pumpkin was a vegetable, but surprisingly they are a fruit.
  10. What is the scariest food you’ve ever eaten?
    Probably sushi with my boyfriend during one of our dates.
  11. Do you have a favourite Halloween drink?
    Probably a latte, or a bottle of wine.
  12. People usually spend money on Halloween, but have you ever made money related to this holiday?
    No.
  13. Have you ever read Frankenstein by Mary Shelley or another frightening book?
    Yes, I have read it in school. I enjoy reading scary books.
My boyfriend and I as Alice and the Mad Hatter
The bottom of my dress with my stockings.
And this is what Mia Wasikowska looks like when she played Alice in the 2010 Tim Burton’s remake of Alice in Wonderland.

My Questions
I’m going to keep the questions the same.

My Nominees
potterheadaanya.in
https://halfmelody.wordpress.com/
https://chatswithchels.blog/
https://simplyadda.wordpress.com/
https://potbellybump.wordpress.com/
https://virginfoxy.wordpress.com/
https://pilgrimage.studio/
https://vanyawryter.com/
https://theclockworkgirl.wordpress.com/
https://wriveller.wordpress.com/
https://astronomicalpoet.com/
https://myartenthusiastics.wordpress.com/
https://biancaworld.wordpress.com/


Thankful Thursdays #15

I’m posting this a day late, but that’s okay.

This is where I gather up and talk about what I am thankful for throughout the week.

  1. I am grateful that I have lots of time to read. I find it really relaxing and fun.
  2. I am thankful that my decluttering mission has inspired me to write a story. I am extremely happy for myself.
  3. I tried a new recipe, and it was amazing! I will definitely be making it again. I made French Onion Pork Chops. Recipe to follow.
  4. I’m thankful that my boyfriend and I got to celebrate Mad Hatter Day by watching Alice in Wonderland (1951) movie. To be honest, I have only seen the Tim Burton’s remake. I really enjoyed watching that film
  5. My boyfriend and I had a midnight take out, which is always fun. We don’t get to do that a lot, so it was a nice splurge.

Mad Hatter Day

Today is October the 6th, which is Mad Hatter Day. This comes from the numbers on his hat 10/6 which translates into October the 6th. Today, I am going to use my Cheshire the Cat mug and make myself another Movie Night latte, so I can watch Alice in Wonderland to celebrate this day. 🙂

Who is your favourite from Alice in Wonderland? Mine are Alice and Mad Hatter.

Credits: Google Search

Sticky Rice Oolong

I’m doing Tea Tuesday on a Wednesday.

I picked my boyfriend’s favourite tea – Sticky Rice Oolong. It smells exactly like sticky rice. It tastes amazing!

This is the mug I picked for today. It’s a Cheshire the Cat mug from Alice in Wonderland.

When the cup is hot, Cheshire begins to disappear. Leaving just his smile.
The other side of my mug.
I enjoy this tea with milk, and it makes it that much more delicious.

Oolong tea is a traditional Chinese tea. It is semi-oxidized tea, and is withered under the sun. It is then twisted and rolled. Oolong tea used to be called Black Dragon Tea since it was long and curly.

It has many great benefits similar to black and green tea benefits since it comes from the same plant as green and black tea. Drinking Oolong teas can help boost your metabolism, decrease your risk in getting type 2 diabetes, decrease your risk of heart disease and stroke. It also strengthens teeth and bone density. I would definitely recommend trying Oolong tea not just for the great benefits, but for the great taste, too.