Monday, 13 July 2020

T sTands for a new challenge aT Tag Tuesday

Hi Everybody!
Have a great, new week.
The weekend was not easy health wise, but slowly I am getting back to normal, whatever that might be, for which I am very thankful. And a lazy weekend listening to audio-books is occasionally good.
This evening we will be starting a new challenge at Tag Tuesday. I am happy to say that our dear Sandie is back with us again and has chosen the theme  'The Sea'. As always, you have 2 weeks to join our challenge, and tags of all formats are welcome. I'm looking forward to see what you make! I used the picture of a sailor who used to be on the 'Players' cigarettes in England, I have no idea if they are still made. My stepfather always sent me to buy his ciggies from the tobacconists when I was a kid. I'm happy that this is no longer possible, and in spite of being sent to buy them I never wanted to smoke, for which I am thankful! I hated it when everything and everyone smelled of smoke! The other images are from Serif and me, placed onto hand-painted backgrounds:



Elizabeth also celebrates her T sTands for Tuesday ParTy from Monday evening on, so here a warm welcome to all of the nice ladies of the T Gang. I wasn't able to get out much last week after the eye op so made myself nice coffees at home:



I saw the cups on one of my walks:


Lovely pens in the stationer's shop - and a great reflection of my sneakers!


I'm not sure what I was trying to photograph here:


We had lots of dark clouds and some rain, although we still need more:






Watching clouds, boats and the ferry are all things I like:










The blackberries are starting to get ripe:




Have a great day, take care,
and thanks a lot for coming by!



79 comments:

  1. I’m sorry to read that the weekend wasn’t easy health-wise. I love that you never wanted to smoke. The outdoor pictures are lovely. That blue sky with the clouds is pretty. I hope you feel all the way better, soon.

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  2. Good morning Val, hope you are feeling really better now. Glad you rested up over the weekend, now have a good week! Love the pretty tag, I remember Player's, m uncle used to smoke them, too. I'm glad we all grew up as non-smokers i spite of it all! Love the cloud photos, always so beautiful and every changing. Have a great week, take it easy, hugs, Sarah

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    1. Thanks Sarah. Still feeling a bit groggy, but it's getting better day by day, so I will venture out again today and get some much needed fresh air. Have a good week free from chaos and catastrophes! Hugs to all!

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  3. Hello dear Valerie!
    Love your sea-theme tag and your beautiful cup with the dolphin!
    Wonderful pictures and lovely landscapes! Great sky captures!
    Have a lovely day and a happy week! Take care! Hugs!
    Dimi...

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    1. Thanks so much Dimi! You live near the sea, so you are able to enjoy it often. Have a fun week, take care!

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  4. Hope you feel better soon. Love your photos,those sky ones are beautiful.

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    1. Thanks Anesha, have a great week, stay safe!

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  5. Hi Valerie great tags love the sea theme,i also love the beautiful pics you have shared with us,glad you are feeling better,take care my friend xx

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    1. Thanks a lot Sheryl! Have a wonderful week!

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  6. Great nautical theme and tags, awesome pics as always and keep on getting better. ♥

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  7. Good morning Valerie, Queen of the Crafters. I am sorry to hear that the weekend was not good from a health perspective. Hopefully, you are feeling better now. It seems to me there was a brand of English cigarettes called Senior Service and the bearded sailor in the cap was on that brand, but I am not sure. I knew a fellow years ago who had a huge collection of cigarette packages from around the world. The skies you show us this time look very dark and foreboding. We have had much-needed rain here too, and for a while had a nice, gentle rainfall that soaked into the ground and did some good. The weeds at the front of the house certainly responded to it! You have shown this coffee cup before and it is quite wonderful. Right now I am having coffee in my University of Waterloo mug - no dolphin curving up the handle of this one! Stay well, now. That's an order from Dr. David!

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    1. Hi David! This is really the player's man, senior service had a sailing ship as their brand mark. My mother smoked them! I still have lots of cigarette cards in albums, all collected as a kid, and some albums of cards collected by my husband when he was a boy. I love my seal coffee-cups, I have a set, and as they are handmade, each one is a bit different. Enjoy your coffee, have a great day! Hugs to you and M!

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    2. At one point I had several sets of those cards, all nature-themed, and I don't know what happened to them. I remember one featured fifty birds of Britain and I think that a complete set always comprised fifty cards. How I came by them I am not sure!

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    3. Perhaps they are hidden on one of your shelves? I used to collect tea cards, too, with birds and flowers.

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  8. That's a great sea faring tag, Valerie. It has all the hallmarks of the sea, too. I've seen some of those cigarette images, but the ones I've seen are mostly flowers. You picked a good one.

    Blue is a favorite color for me, especially in the kitchen, so the blue dolphin is one of my favorite cups. And having your own cappuccino is a real treat after your surgery. Even those cups you found on your walk are lovely. Thanks for sharing them and your cappuccino and art with us for T this almost Tuesday.

    Your photos for the day are lovely as usual. As always the horses are lovely, as are the flowers. But my favorite photo of the day was the field of ripe wheat. It won't be long till it's harvested, that's for sure.

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    1. Thanks Elizabeth. A lot of cigarettes had nautical motives. I used to collect cards as a kid, and still have a lot of them. See you later at T Time!

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  9. Good morning, I remember those days too as a kid-walking up to the store to buy cigs for ad-he smoked Winstons I love this image that was on your Dad's cigs. My Dad did do me favor with those cigs-I had asked him how they taste-he says here try one told be to really inhale-of course I coughed and got really sick-and then he said and don't ever smoke when you grow up-and I never did.
    Your coffee cup with the dolphin is sooooo beautiful I really love it! and I enjoyed the photos from your walk--Happy Monday and T hugs Kathy

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    1. Your dad tought you an important lesson. I love my dolphin cups, too, they are so different. Have a nice monday, take care of yourself!

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  10. Hope you are doing better. Great tag with the nautical theme. Your dolphin cup is so beautiful and I love that color. Doesn't look like you need rain with everything looking so green. Take care and have a good day.

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    1. Thanks CJ. Things just have to get better!

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  11. I am like you: I hate tobacco smoke. Ew. Lovely coffee with that design on top. Beautiful horses in that pasture.

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    1. Yes, the smoke smells ghastly. Nobody is ever allowed to smoke in my place.

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  12. Wishing you a healthy week, we are grateful some rain is here and the heat wave eased. Beautiful art.

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    1. Glad you have some rain to ease the heat. Have a great week.

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  13. WOW! I love your header banner with the coffee mugs.
    Love your dolphin cup too ...

    Hope your week goes well and you are beginning to feel a little better.

    All the best Jan

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    1. Thanks Jan. I love my Coffee cups! Have a great week!

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  14. What an adorable cup! And I like the pastel colored ones in the store window, too. The clouds have such different moods! You get get photos of them :)

    Happy T Day!

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  15. i love water:) expecially in the lake;)

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    1. Thanks Kathy, cool water is good in summer!

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  16. Gorgeous tag with fabulous blue colors Valerie! I've never smoked either and can't stand the smell of cigarettes. Cute dolphin cup and beautiful photos today. Take care of yourself.
    Hugs, Tammy

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    1. Thanks Tammy! Glad to hear you don't smoke either! It does smell horrible. Have a great week!

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  17. I'm so sorry you had a tough week, Valerie, and I hope this one is much better for you. I do love that cup you have at home. That is art in itself.

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    1. Thanks Jeanie, I feel more myself from day to day!

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  18. Ooh what a great tag, I remember the Players guy too! One thing about having parents who smoked liked chimneys is that I've never wanted to do it myself. They've both stopped now, which I'm very thankful for. I hope your week continues to get better. Take care, Sue xx

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    1. Thanks Sue. It seems that most people who grew up with heavy smokers were cured for life! Have a good week, stay safe!

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  19. Hi Valerie, is there any way you can go back in and change your post title to add JUST YOUR name as I asked? I was hoping everyone would use JUST their name this week at Inlinkz.

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  20. Sorry you've had a rough weekend, Valerie. I hope your eye is healing well and that the worst is behind you.

    I never smoked either - except one night when I was 11. I got caught and my mother convinced me I was going to hell. I never wanted to touch tobacco again!

    Cute dolphin mug. He looks like he's going to jump right into your cup. Nice sneakers - lol.

    Beautiful cloud photos. We've had a lot of clouds and rain recently too.

    Happy T-Day! Hugs, Eileen

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    1. Parents sometimes have good ways to keep their offspring from smoking!

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  21. great looking tag Valerie!! Can't say I ever hear of "Players" though.
    Hope your eye is much improving.
    Love the mugs on your new blog header:):)But I do also love the dolphin mug too.
    Beautiful photos! Happy T day!

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  22. Lovely tag Valerie, I remember that sailor image from many years ago!
    I hope you are much better this week, sorry to hear the weekend was not so good.
    YOu have some lovely mugs for your coffee. Stay safe.

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  23. Nice theme and nice tag. The sea is perfect for July! And happy early T day. I love the coffee header even though I am not a coffee drinker. It is a lot of fun. Your weather sounds like the same as ours today, sun and then clouds with some rain. Then sun again. Hope your recovery continues to go well Valerie. Hugs-Erika

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  24. I love your new cup, that shop does have lovely displays and I loved looked in the stationers window!
    Your tag is great and a reminder of my dad, also a smoker and I too used to hate the smell of smoke, although he didn't often smoke indoors. I have never wanted to smoke either!
    Lovely photos once again! I hope your rest will have done a good job on your recovery! Yes, I did get on early today - it was becoming a bit stressful trying to get my post done when we come back from our Tuesday outings...it would have been last night if we hadn't got hooked on something on Netflix!! Happy T Day, Chrisxx

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    1. The stationer's is my fave shop here, and has been there since the middle of the 19th century, and always in the same family's hands. I know all about getting caught up in TV programmes, and always to try to work well in advance! Happy T day!

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  25. Luv that cute cup. Nice tags. Happy Tuesday

    Much🛍love

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  26. Your dolphin cups look lovely and so did those pens in the stationers shop.
    Its a great tag, my folks both smoked and it did put me off , I've never smoked. If folk tried to get me to have one as I grew up, I did take one then tear it up infront of them, they never asked me again.
    I loved the coloud photos today as well.
    Happy T day wishes.
    Yvonne xx

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    1. Thanks Yvonne. It seems that being in the company of smokers as a kid turns people off of smoking.

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  27. I hope that you are feeling better. An audio book sounds like just the thing to relax. And that cup is SO pretty and unique.
    Your tag is very nautical and I love the pictures from the countryside. Beautiful!
    Happy Tea Day,
    Kate

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  28. Terrific new theme and I love your nautical tag ~ I'm glad your surgery went well and your feeling better ~ Blessings and continued healing wishes

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  29. Sending you get well wishes! You new blog header made me smile, I'm loving those cups ...lol 😉. Such a gorgeous tag and the dolphin cup looks amazing! Love photos too, we've had a mixture of rain and sunshine too. Happy T Day wishes! Hugs, Jo x

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    1. Thanks Jo. I seem to collect coffee cups....Have a great day!

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  30. I'm late in commenting, so by now I hope you are feeling much better.
    Your home made coffee looks very professional, you even have made some 'coffee-art' on top! And the dolphin cup is very special. Yes, the cups in the shop window are lovely but it doesn't compare with your dolphin cup!
    I enjoyed seeing your photos of the clouds and the ferry and the river.
    I remember the packet of Players cigarettes. My mum smoked all her life until she was in her late seventies (not Players though). She has degenerative macula disease of her eyes, which can be caused by smoking I believe.
    Happy (belated) T-Day,
    Lisca

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  31. Great tag and I love your dolphin cup Valerie! Fab photos as always too.
    Alison xx

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  32. Hi, It's me again.
    I just saw your comment on CJ and Ink's blog. It seems you and I have had similar educations. I did Dutch, English, French and german in secondary school, and in my school I also did Latin and ancient Greek and ancient Hebrew. Later when I was preparing to spend some time in Israel (Kibbutz) I learned modern Hebrew, much of which I have forgotten now.
    I moved to Italy and worked there for 13 years, so I am fluent and now I have lived in Spain for more than 10 years so I am pretty fluent in Spanish too.
    Because I speak German and because Yiddische words are commonly used in our family, I can understand Yiddish (a bit).
    Happy (belated) T-Day,
    Lisca

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    1. We seem to have had a similar education! Growing up in a multi-cultural ambiance is a great way to learn! Have a great week!

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  33. Your tag looks great. I love you dolphin mug. Wonderful photos. I especially like the clouds. Happy belated T-Day!

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  34. Valerie, your tag is so pretty! It makes me want to play. By your photos of the water and boats, I see where you get your inspiration for a Sea Tag. Pretty drink photo. About the one you don't know what the photo is, I always have a couple of those! LOL Happy belated T day!

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    1. Thanks Sharon. I love walking along the river and watching the ships, it's always most relaxing. I have quite a collection of strange photos that I never meant to take! Have a good week!

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  35. Brilliant tag Valerie. Your cigarette story reminded me of my youth when I caught my big sister smoking and she forced me to take a puff!! Thankfully it never got a hold of me lol. Though my poor sister did smoke and died of a heart attack last year. Photos are just lovely today. Hope you are recovering well.

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    1. Thanks Pinky. Sorry to hear about your sister, that's sad. Have a great weekend.

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  36. Hi Valerie..I hope you are continuing to getting better. I had my eyelids done a few years back and my face looked like I had done 10 rounds in a boxing ring, it took ages for everything to settle down.
    I can remember the cigarettes you mentioned, my granddad smoked them.
    Fab Tag...your coffee looks fab too..xx

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    1. Thanks Sandie. I have noticed a lot of pitying looks from people who probably thought I had an irate husband who'd blacked my eyes! But I'm pleased to say it's getting back to normal!

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