Project: Coffee::Good Morning

Hazelnut cream beans and Sweetwater Organic Good Morning Blend

My favorite afternoon coffee pleasure comes from fresh ground hazelnut cream flavored beans, but for breakfast this morning I ground Sweetwater Organic Good Morning Blend. The Sweetwater website description states: "Good Morning (Medium Roast) Harmonious Breakfast blend of new crop Central and South American shade grown beans in a Full City Roast. Sweet, milk chocolaty and bright, with a smooth, nutty finish. 100% USDA Certified Organic, 60%+ Rainforest Alliance Certified™, 50%+ Smithsonian Bird Friendly, Shade Grown."

The Sweetwater blend is new to me - a wonderful gift from my brother in law who lives in Gainesville (the home of Sweetwater) and knows of my affection for coffee. Thank you, John.

It was chilly and rainy on Pollywog Creek today. Tomorrow promises to be even colder, but dry and sunny - a perfect day for coffee and books and a quilt and a nap on the backyard swing. It was two weeks ago, that I last mentioned coffee and books in the same sentence. Our lifegroup was just beginning to read Unpacking Forgiveness by Chris Brauns. We have now read through chapter 3, and I must say the discussions have been lively and good.

Emily and I are reading Crazy Love by Francis Chan. Life-changing. Emily introduced me to the teachings of Francis Chan a little more than a year ago, and now that I have an iPod, I subscribe to his podcasts(go to media and then "get a sermon") and listen on my walks around Pollywog Creek. His recent series entitled "Living a Life that Matters" is outstanding. Both Crazy Love and Unpacking Forgiveness were reviewed by Tim Challies and are on his list of "Top 8 Books of 2008".

Emily just finished When Character Was King: A Story of Ronald Reagan by Peggy Noonan. I read this Reagan biography years ago and loved it. So did Emily. Emily has decided that she wants to read a book by or about all 44 United States Presidents. Do y'all have any suggestions?

Saturday Photo Hunt and Project: Month of Coffee::Chipped

Because of its large size and sturdiness, this pink chipped coffee mug on the chipped wooden picnic table is my hubby's favorite. The rose is likely to be the last bit of natural color found on Pollywog Creek for a while. This week's hard freeze severely damaged most, if not all, of our tropical foliage. This mug is also chipped, but I've disguised the chips with paint and filled it with basil where it sits on the chipped tree stump under the oak tree by the pond. The lizards don't seem to mind the chipped and splintered pieces of wood fencing. In fact, they seem to be their favorite places to catch a few sun-rays and maybe a fly or two. And the water in our backyard birdbath Thursday morning looked a lot like chipped ice to me. Blessings to all my photohunt friends and a great big thanks to TNChick, for hosting the Saturday Photo Hunt every week. For "chipped(s)" photos from other Photo Hunt participants be sure to click on the Photo Hunter Banner or the Technorati PhotoHunt tag below. The theme for next week's Photo Hunt is: furry.

Technorati tag - PhotoHunt

Project: Coffee::A book and a gift

Last night at lifegroup (a fancy name for a small group of Christians who gather for food, fun, fellowship and study) my friend Julie gave me a new coffee mug that says, "Be Still and Know that I am God." Julie did not know that blue is one of my favorite colors and that coffee is my current photography project. Isn't that cool? Beginning next week, our lifegroup is going to begin reading and discussing Unpacking Forgiveness by Chris Brauns. I've already read and been inspired by large portions of most of it, but I'm looking forward to reading and discussing it with my closest friends. What about you? I'd love to know what you are reading over a cup of coffee (or tea or hot chocolate) at the moment?

Project: Coffee::Fashion Statement

My month of coffee seems to have turned into a month of coffee cups. Probably much more realistic for someone like me who lives in a rural community an hour from the closest starbucks. I had to laugh this morning when I realized my unplanned fashion statement: a coffee mug that matched my sweater, my pajamas and my tablecloth. My "U.S. Merchant Marine Academy MOM" mug is one of my favorites. Our son Nick graduated from Kings Point in '05 and our whole family benefited from his 4 years at the Academy. Nick was appointed Regimental Commander (leader of the student body) his senior year and marched in the 2005 Inauguration parade, and Emily and I were gifted a trip to D.C. to attend the Inauguration events. We sat with the military in bleachers during the parade and froze our buns, but the entire experience was one that we will always treasure.

Saturday Photo Hunt - Aftermath, Part II

Emily reprimanded me for not including the most important aftermath of the year thus far in my previous post, so here is Part II... It's great to be a Florida Gator!!! I was looking at photographs from the game on Sports Illustrated when I took that photo of my Gator coffee cup and Tim Tebow yesterday morning.

Project: Coffee::Gator Nation

Anyone who knows me, will not be surprised at my coffee photo for today - afterall, I might not want to post it tomorrow (we might be eating humble pie with that coffee) - but if I do, there is more where this came from - and an orange mug, too. We'll see. For today - GO GATORS!!!! It's great to be a Florida Gator. (With weak apologies to my readers from Oklahoma and Utah.) =)

The letter for today is "C"...

  Coffee - black, at the picnic table by the pond at sunrise.
  Caterpillar - beginning to spin her chrysalis in the basket of tomatoes ripening in the garage.
    Cicada - shell left behind during molting.
    Cardinals - at the backyard feeder.
    Cream - a second cup of coffee with cream.