showcasing a few gifts

My Jerry's eldest son is an artist, who uses various media. This year, he made prints, very limited for family only {fourteen, entitled "Son's Potential"}. Today, we framed it and hung it. I forgot to take a pic for this post {but I'll try to remember tomorrow}.

I love his pottery, so he gave me this piece pictured here. It has a feel that just doesn't translate in pictures! I absolutely love this. And I will be using it. Often.

My Jerry's eldest child and her family gave us these handmade ornaments. I especially like the snowflake and have hung it above the entrance to the wide hallway so that it can hang there for the rest of the winter. She also crocheted some dish~clothes, which are cotton and work well as hot~pads for placing between a steaming bowl and the table. I really like cotton, so these will be used frequently!

A dear friend made me a spice~tea mix and gave me a huge jar filled with it. I'll include the recipe below. I've already used a third of it, so I can tell you that it's very tangy {wink}. It's pictured with the green crocheted slip~cover over it, with the apron and calendar in front.

My mother made me the apron, which is lovely and I've been wanting one, so it will be used often as well! She makes wine, so that's the very cool print reference. And it's a cotton~blend, so it will wear well.

Memom and I have a tradition, in which she always gives me a pocket~calendar {something I can carry easily} every year. I adore this. She's been doing this since I was thirteen. This year's is tremendously packed during the months of June through October with appointments and notes regarding my husband's wreck this summer. I always save the calendars and so I have quite a few in my file~cabinets. I especially like this new one for several reasons; besides being just the right size for notes and things, I love the design involving tea and gardens and such.

Here's the recipe my dear friend included in her card for me.

Spiced Tea Mix

One pound jar Tang Drink
One package lemonade
Three~quarter cup instant tea
Two cups sugar
One teaspoon ground cloves
Two teaspoons ground cinnamon

Mix all ingredients well, place into jar, and cover tightly. To serve: stir two teaspoons mix in one cup boiling water. Yield: thirty servings.

I like it a bit stronger so I use two tablespoons per mug. Also, I'm fairly certain that you could use sweetner, such as Splenda, in place of the sugar. Since it is primarily instant powders, you might cold simply mix it with cold water and serve over ice for a change of pace. Since it's been cold here in Mississippi {last night got down to fifteen degrees}, I haven't tried it iced and have only drank it hot in large quantities {like an entire teapot at a time}.

Enjoy!