Spring Delights

Dear Spring, you delight my soul

My heart jumps for JOY 

After the darkness of Winter

All the snow, rain, and cold can go away.
Bring on the flowers,
so I can sit and sip in the garden
Yes, I have said all this before
so many times;
but my heart just soars in Springtime delights.
What tea would you sip in the garden?
What flowers in Springtime delight you?

Today I am sipping Yunnan Gold,
one of my favorites.
It is roasty and a slight chocolate background,
a lovely black tea.
The flowers I see just outside my window
are daffodils swaying in a light breeze.
It is going to be a beautiful day
when started with a good cup of tea and flowers.

Happy Weekend, dear friends!

Another Farm Adventure

 It just delights my heart to take D on a farm adventure.

What fun to greet:

baby chicks

a baby lamb

a baby goat

a dog

2 cats

Grown up lambs, goats, one llama, and plenty of chickens.

 But the real joy is getting to run and play and climb

with his cousin.

Oh those two are like peas in a pod.

 This picture tells it all!

Mud puddles and making a bridge to walk over.

 A bit blurry, but you get the picture.

There was much movement and holding of baby chicks.

 And this barn at the back of the farm.

There were so many places to explore.

 I was going to say this sings to a little boys heart,

but to tell you the truth I have such memories

when I was a child.

Oh how I loved crawling in the dirt,

climbing trees,

farm animals,

and playing with cousins.

 We ended the day with a bit of jumping and

wrestling with big cousin on the trampoline.

Now what could be better than

a day on a farm.

Salute to Spring

In the early morning hour I lifted a salute to spring

with a cup of Dong Ding Oolong from Floating Leaves in Seattle.

The cherry blossoms were blooming in the Japanese Memorial

along the Willamette River.

You see the Steele Bridge in the background.

Oh a good cup of tea outdoors is pure delight.

The petals of the cherry tree gently floated to the ground

while a petal or two landed in my tea,

I sipped.

It's funny, but usually I like a floral oolong from Taiwan.

Recently the more smoky oolongs have enticed me.

So this wonderful Dong Ding Traditional Oolong

was a perfect way to salute spring in the outdoors.

Turning in the opposite direction there are more

blossoms and the Burnside Bridge.

The blossoms and tea time did sing to my heart

in the early morning hour.

Walk with Me - Portland's Japanese Garden

Yes, I have walked here before, but couldn't resist

sharing these beautiful gardens again.

Above is the ceremonial teahouse in the gardens.

Last week I shared tea time in the Japanese Gardens,

but after tea time there was a lovely early spring

walk in the gardens.

Looking for signs of spring is a particular 

pleasure for me.

Do you love watching for signs of spring?

Even this squirrel was out looking for spring.

Often at this garden and our Lan Su Chinese Garden I see

these beautiful koi, but don't seem to get a picture I enjoy of them.

I sort of enjoyed this one of them enjoying the movement of the

water from the waterfalls.

This falls seems to be the most  photographed spot in the garden.

Oh camellias!  Surely a sign of spring!

And daphne too!

The tree below had just a tinge of pink.

Hopeful signs for sure!

Isn't the pink camellias beautiful in contrast to the gnarly tree trunk.

I just loved the contrast.

Again today I will be walking and searching for spring.

Have a delightful day, dear friends.

A Special Hat for Tea

 Yesterday I headed to the Japanese Gardens
at Portland's Washington Park.
I had a plan for tea and wouldn't miss it for anything.

 As you can see there is a lot of new construction.

 The construction crew were diligently working.
Even in the 2 hours we were there we could see results.

With a peek through the bamboo I could see the new teahouse.

I was excited to have tea on their first day, a soft opening.

Officially they don't open until April 2nd.

 Hard hats were the attire of the day, plus a shiny vest too.

With me is Chloe, the manager of the teahouse.

Stepping inside my "live-in gardener" and I were greeted

by a wonderful staff and serene surroundings.

 Below is my friend, Dana.

If you visit the teahouse, tell Dana hello.
Both Dana and Chloe are members of the
WuWo Tea Ceremony group I belong to.

Our waitress was Melanie and she did a great job!

 First I ordered Sencha green tea, which came with cake.
Not being a green tea fan, I found the Sencha to be a bit
grassy for my liking.

 Then there were these delicious Chikara bars with nuts and fruit.
Chikara means strength in Japanese.

The seaweed wrapped rice was Onigiri with Hijiki seaweed.

 A second tea, Hojicha, was a delicious roasted Japanese green tea.
I did enjoy this tea quite a lot.

And along came another treat with bean paste in the middle.

Just sitting in the teahouse in beautiful surroundings brought
back memories of a time long ago when my grandmother
took me to the Japanese Gardens in San Francisco for tea.
I was about 12 or 13 years old and it made me feel so very grown up.

Of course, there was a walk through the

gardens once tea was finished.

What a perfect mini-vacation adventure in the middle
of the week.
Do you sometimes enjoy a couple hours "mini-vacation"?
I love it when that happens, especially in a
lovely place like the Japanese Gardens.
If you come for a visit to Portland
plan on tea at the Japanese Gardens,
a vacation for sure and you won't have to
wear a hard hat and vest.

Linking to Bernideen at http://blog.bernideens.com/

Sunshine at Last

Tears touch my eyes

I sing Hallelujah!

It is warming again,

A glorious Spring day

Sunshine is peeping out of the clouds

My heart rises in JOY

Delights in the day

Daffodils greet me

Budding blossoms give a song to my heart

Oh the JOY of Springtime

A gift to me and you

A pause to smile and laugh

What is making you smile and laugh today?

Expect the unexpected, Look for it!

 Recently I have been addicted to watching

chef shows on Netflix.

 It amazes me to see the detail and extent they

go to in presenting amazing meals.

 Most often they work with the grower to  produce

the perfect vegetables and fruit, or meat and poultry.

Only the best will do when serving their customers.

 One particular chef on Chefs Table intrigued me

with his creativity and thoughtfulness.

He is a true artist.
He even had one of his chefs develop an edible
sugar balloon that floated in the air.
Amazing!

He said, expect the unexpected.

He loves surprising people and revealing the magic.

Be open to the present in order to find the unexpected.

The pictures are all things in nature that I found

in unexpected places and in just noticing what I notice.

Do you love the surprise and magic of the unexpected?

Take time to notice.

World Poetry Day

Just this morning I learned it is World Poetry Day today.

Often I love to share poems and the following one

has been sitting with me for a few days.

Can you just imagine a duck laughing?

Look and See

This morning, at waterside, a sparrow flew

to a water rock and landed, by error, on the back 

of an eider duck; lightly it fluttered off, amused.

The duck, too, was no provoked, but,  you might say,

was laughing.

This afternoon a gull sailing over

our house was casually scratching

its stomach of white feathers with 

one pink foot as it flew.

Oh Lord, how shining and festive is your

gift to us, if we only look , and see.

From Why I Wake Early

by Mary Oliver

Not a duck, but these gulls make me smile.

Enjoy some poetry today!
Take time to "look and see"