Tea with a Blogger/Friend

beth at Be Yourself, Everyone is Taken

graciously shared tea from the Traveling Teapot

this evening.  What a lovely visit we had

over a cup of Tao of Tea's Tulsi Rama.

It was evening near Madison, Wisconsin,

so the Tulsi was just perfect for allowing a

good nights sleep.

Our pace of travel now slows a bit

and we are looking forward to many visits with

dear friends and family along the way.

It is these visits that make a road trip extra special.

Roadside Attractions

Now you would think that as we drove through South Dakota today

we would have stopped to see the Badlands.

No time to make that stop, must keep driving.

But, oh yes! - We did stop at the Wall Drug Store

to take a picture of the Traveling Teapot and then in

the afternoon at the Corn Palace.

Have you heard of these roadside attractions?

Our children were young when we drove through here another time.

How fun to see these crazy roadside attractions once more.

Another Day from the Road

 We stopped today in Sheridan, WY

where Buffalo Bill once lived.

There were many beautiful statues throughout the downtown.

I particularly liked this because they were dancing!

I hope you are taking time to dance.

 We stopped in the small town of Dayton, WY.

This is the gateway to Yellowstone and the Tetons.

Oh how we wished they were open, but we were too early.

Breakfast in a small town cafe is always fun to see

the towns people. 

 I am going backward here, as early in the morning we

were still in Montana.  It seemed to take forever

to drive through that state.

I had heard about this sign on Sunday Morning recently,

so it was fun to see it on the road.  We saw three of them

A man is hoping to make signs all around the country

of each states Capital building with the Govenors name.

I just had to include this, as much of yesterday and today

our travels looked like this.  It was either snowing,

raining, or an occasional sighting of the sun.

Another day from the road and now in Rapid City, South Dakota.

 Leaving Portland on Thursday morning, we drove

in our red CRV past Multnomah Falls

 On Friday we drove by many lakes and trees from Spokane, WA

to Billings, Montana.  This lake was the most beautiful lake

of Couer de Laine (sure I am not spelling this correctly)

Need to get back on the road.

Along the way on Thursday we had the wonderful opportunity

to share tea with my first tea friend from Gracious Hospitality.

On the road again!  Happy Day!

Traveling Teapot goes Traveling

 

Sunday morning the sun was just beautiful here in Portland.
For the first time this year I ventured out to the yard for my morning tea.
The Traveling Teapot had this last venture in Portland before being loaded
in my car today.  It is traveling with me on a Friends and Family Road Trip.
My husband and I will be traveling this year in the USA.
We decided it was time to see a bit of our own country.
For the next three weeks we will be on the road
and our son will be feeding Joey and keeping the home alive with the sound of music.

My blog post may be more sporadic, but maybe not. I am not sure.
I haven't traveled with the computer before and posted from the
road; but hope to share along the way the adventures of the
Traveling Teapot, my husband, and myself on the road.
Love reading your comments, but the may be slow at adding.

Take care and will see you down the road.

Somethn' Special!

 

At the beginning of the year I shared my Vision Board.
What I didn't tell you is placed on this board a dream for a grand child.
When I saw this picture, it took my breathe away.
I know it would represent in my heart the dream of a grand child.
Now both of my children are around 40 and I really hadn't expected this to happen.
But when I saw this picture, I just knew.
Secretly I placed it there and put the word "Friends" above it just for safety.
The very next week I found out a baby was on the way.
Now isn't that amazing?!
Monday my husband and I were thrilled to be included in the visit for
the ultrasound and saw for the first time this little precious one.
Oh yes, we also saw that this little one is a BOY.

Thrilled beyond words!

NEW: Child's Vintage Apron Pattern

 

 

Introducing Marmalady's new Child's Vintage Apron sewing pattern.
The women's vintage apron has been available for 3 years
and there have been quite a few requests for a child's apron to match.
The pattern is taken from a vintage apron I found many years ago.
Finally it is packaged and ready to sell.
There are four sizes included in the pattern,
so you would find something to fit size 4 to 14.
The child's apron is proportionately longer for more coverage.
What I love about this pattern is "no ties", just comfy.
It is so hot off the development table that it isn't even on my website yet.
You can email me directly.
Cost is $10., plus $2 shipping.

This is Lily modeling the smallest size for me.
I thought she did a great job as my model.

One Word

 

Reach

A Special Find

 

Storage is always at a premium in my 1950's house.
Recently I realized my collection of vintage tablecloths were not being
enjoyed and just stuffed (really) into a very small cupboard.
Venturing off to the antique malls around town I searched for something
to put them in and fell in love with this old cabinet.
I can just imagine it attached to the wall on a back porch long ago.
The doors have screens instead the normal glass for inside the house.
Could home canned fruits and vegetables been stored here?
It is fun to imagine.
Now it has been brought inside my house and I am loving it
and in return it is shining with my treasures.

How do you display special collections?
Do you collect something that requires a special way of display?

Tea Accoutrements?

 

As I sat sipping my morning pot of tea today I began wondering if other tea drinkers
pick a certain cup or teapot for the particular tea they are drinking.
I thought about sharing the wonderful Tiekuanyin from Muzha, Taiwan that I was drinking.
Then I looked at how I had chosen to serve it with an English teapot, a cozy
made by my daughter, and a glass handleless cup sitting on a metal leaf.
Had I chosen the right accoutrements to serve this special tea?
Tea enthusiast may say, NO! I should have used the appropriate gaiwan or gong-fu style
Asian small teapot and cups.
For me this works for my morning tea.
What is important is the enjoyment of a special tea no matter how it is served.
After all, isn't it fun to just shake up the traditions a bit?

A Magical Garden

 

A fairy garden was planted last Fall in my yard.
It is a circle of daffodils and tulips surrounding a small plum tree.
I knew it was magical.
What's not to be magical when through the brown ground comes such beauty in the Spring.
What I didn't know is that a fairy would be dancing here.
As the flowers were shining in their gorgeous glory,
a fairy made her way to dance.
Come and dance with her.
It truly will bring a smile to your face and JOY in your heart.

One Fine Day!

 

Driving along in my car the music was playing.
Often I don't really pay attention to the words,
but then a song came on and said "one fine day".
I looked around at the clouds over head, but
still there was sunshine and I realized,
it was "one fine day".
Sometime we have just got to stop for a moment
and notice what we notice.
Have a "one fine day"!

One Word

 

Ride

Colors of Springtime

 

A local antique mall has seasonal shows and
last week when I stopped by I was struck with the color.
Usually there is alot of white and yes there still was beautiful soft colors and white.
However, this particular spot in the show just made me smile.
The colors of Springtime were definitely shining here.
I just wanted to take a colorful cushion and chair and sit among the flowers in my garden.
Are the colors of Springtime singing to you?
What colors are shining in your garden and your heart?
The two ducks here look like they are enjoying the sunshine and a chat.
Take time this weekend to sit in the sun and chat with someone special.

Traveling Teapot

 

Let me introduce you to a special teapot.
Really it looks like any other ordinary teapot.
The color of this teapot is plum.
It holds 6 cups of tea.
It pours rather nicely.
So you say, what makes this teapot special?

This is the Traveling Teapot.
It is just beginning it's journey.
It is an adventure of those on a yahoo/facebook group
called Afternoon Tea Across America.
Well the group actually includes those in other parts of the world now.
The journey has begun with the one that organized this adventure
and I am the first recipient.
What stories this teapot will tell as each month it will
travel to someone else throughout the US, Canada,
and even to France.
If you would like to follow the teapots adventures
you can read about it here http://ataatravelingteapot.blogspot.com/

Easter Tea Delights

Pea Sandwich (sorry picture is a bit blurry)

Radish and Goat Cheese Sandwich

Pineapple Upside Down Cakes

Dark Chocolate Dipped Strawberries and Pavlova Orange Flavored with Milk Chocolate

Spring Salad

Carrot Purses with Shrimp

Child's plate

Mushroom Quiche

Sausage Rolls

My challenge this year was feeding a young child with allergies
to wheat, eggs, dairy, almonds, and peanuts.
As you all know, afternoon tea involves alot of wheat, eggs, and dairy.
On the child's plate I made a rice flour pastry to wrap around the sausage,
a radish mouse instead of the sandwich, and gluten free bread for the pea sandwich.
I love a challenge; so this was quite fun to figure out.

We also enjoyed fresh scones from the oven with Devonshire Cream and a final
jar of Marmalady's Triple Sec Orange Marmalade.
Ending the tea was marionberry sorbet served in egg cups.
The two teas served were Tiekuanyin Oolong from Taiwan and Tulsi, a herbal tisane.

So there you have it my Easter Tea for 2012.

Easter Traditions?

When my two children lived far away I told my husband I didn't want to cook a big ham dinner just for the two of us.  That year I made a simple afternoon tea.  He worried that he would have enough to eat,
but on completion he said, "let's make this our new Easter tradition".  So each Easter since then I have
done an afternoon Easter tea.  It actually is alot more work than the ham dinner, but I have fun planning
and completing it, then enjoying sharing with family and friends.  This year there were 10 adults and 2 little girls having tea on Easter afternoon.  There was a small chocolate frog hidden under each persons napkin.  The place cards were tied to little farm animals I had spray painted chocolate brown.
The centerpiece was a chicken feeder with grass, eggs, and little yellow chickies.
And I always love the opportunity to place my grandfathers china on the table.

Do you have a family tradition for Easter and Springtime celebrating?
Tomorrow I will share a peak at the food I prepared.

One Word

 

Life

Celebrate with Flowers

Spring just makes my heart sing with the arrival of new life and flowers.
Some of these beauties will come inside as a gentle reminder that I must notice
the flowers of the field.  They totally delight me.
They teach me to sing and dance.
They cause my heart to celebrate.
Grab an arm full of delight, dance, and celebrate Spring and Easter.

Happy Easter and Springtime to each one of you.
Pictures are flowers in my neighborhood this week.

Tisane or Tea?

 

Not long ago my husband realized he could no longer drink caffeine.
He was not happy with this discovery.
He loves his tea each morning and afternoon; so the exploration into the world of tisane's has begun.
Tisane is the actual word for herbal beverages.
They really are not tea, as tea is from the camellia sinensis plant.
This beautiful pot of tisane was just fresh mint leaves steeped for awhile and quite a nice one.
In the summer I like to steep fresh lemon verbena for a cool refreshing tisane.
My husband has begun exploring and trying different tulsi's or holy basil
and quite enjoying them.

Have you explored the world of tisane's?
What have you found that you love?

Fire

Fire
What makes a fire burn 
is space between the logs,
a breathing space.
Too much of a good thing,
too many logs packed in too tight
can douse the flames
almost as surely
as a pail of water would.

So building fires
requires attention
to the spaces in between
as much as the wood.

When we are able to build
open spaces
in the same way 
we have learned
to pile on the logs,
then we can come to see how 
it is fuel, and absence of the fuel together,
that make fire possible.

We only need to lay a log
lightly from time to time.
A fire
grows
simply because there is space there,
with openings in which the flame
that knows just how it wants to burn
can find its way.

The Sea Accepts All Rivers
by Judy Sorum Brown

Passion burns as if a fire. 
We need the air and space to grow.
Rest and be at Peace.
M.Miller

Passion

 

Relyn at Come Sit by My Fire is sharing Passion this month and since it is my word for the year I will try to
share a few of my thoughts on Passion throughout the month.

Awhile back the Parade Magazine in the Sunday newspaper had an article on "Track Your Passion".
It always fascinates me that when I am paying attention to a specific word it pops up in the most
unexpected places.  Here it was right in my Sunday newspaper.
They said that identifying your passion is a methodical process.
What do you think?  I am not sure.
Their list included:
1.  Notice if you are on a cold, or joyless, trail.  They suggest checking your memory to find what has given you joy in the past.
2. Recall a hot track.  Are there times that you forgot time was passing because you were loving what you were doing?
3. Spot the patterns.  Are there patterns in what you love and are drawn to?
4. Warm up your life.  Examine your schedule.  Are there some things that don't bring joy,
can one of these be eliminated and choose to add something that brings you JOY?
Would doing this allow you to feel more passionate about life?
Track these things for awhile and evaluate.
It's the small things that can end up setting you in a direction that would add more Passion.

This is primarily what the articles said.
So I have been looking and found I love and am passionate about being outdoors.
Walking at the sea shore and watching a beautiful sunset bring great passion into my heart.
It totally delights me.
It makes me smile.
And I can feel the PASSION.
Just off the top of your head, what one thing pops into your head when you think on these things?

One Word

Pink