The Moon, My Joy!

On the evening of July 27th my love and I went

to the Columbia River to see the Thunder Moon rise.

First we watched as the sun lowered itself beyond the horizon.
He was in his pajamas, ready for bed; so we sat quietly watching.

But the sandy beach and water were soon to much to resist 

and off he went.

Yes, pajamas were wet and feet sandy;

but we saw that Thunder Moon rise up. 

This "mimi" was creating memories for one little boy.

The river runs by the Portland airport, so at times planes flew over.

And he ran!

Was it the moon or just the heart of a little boy?

My heart was full of both.

PS  - I tried to add a video, but guess it wasn't working. Does anyone know how to add videos to blogspot?

Monday's Tea Quote

Angel came down

From heaven yesterday,

Stayed with me just long enough 

for afternoon tea.

And she told me a story yesterday;

About the sweet love

Between the moon and the deep blue sea.

~Jimi Hendrix

Late posting today, as I was away sipping tea.

Stairway to the Stars

I love finding stairs that take us to the stars.

The ones that cause us to dream of adventures yet untaken.

Outdoors, of course!

For nature surrounding us just makes the travel more enchanting.

The surprise of it all can delight our soul.

Do you know tonight there will be enchantment in the sky?

The Thunder Moon will appear in the nights darkness.

Look up and be delighted.

The enchantment is there just for you.

Raise your arms to the sky and receive.

Laugh and Dance by the moonlight.

Happy weekend, dear friends!

A Cream Tea Time for You

Come Now My Dear

Come now my Dear,

And we shall have

A cup of tea and a glass

Of reverie.

We shall sit and sip

And gossip and laugh

And sigh and sip again.

For tea brings forth secrets and

Sensibilities at the same time.

So when we drink, we will know

With assurity just where

We find ourselves to be.

~Susan Patterson

aka Earlene Grey

At the TeaFestPDX Susan was giving a poetry reading

during the afternoon cream tea in the British Tea Tent.

The scones served were from the Newberg Bakery and

made by the owner, Brenda Berg.

Brenda had given a scone demonstration in the morning

and left these scones to serve for our cream teas.

She generously shared her recipe, which I thought you would love too.

Brenda’s Scones:    

2 cups flour

2 Tbls. Sugar

2 tsp. baking powder

½ tsp. salt

6 Tbls. (3 oz) unsalted butter (if you use salted butter, cut salt to ¼ tsp.)

2/3 cup milk (or more a little at a time)

1 egg beaten thoroughly to brush on top of scones

Pre-heat oven to 425 degrees.

Mix dry ingredients together. Cut in butter (add any chips or cranberries etc.) Stir in milk.

It should be fairly dry not sticky.

Place on lightly floured counter and gather into an 8” circle patting it down and making it round. Cut into 8-10 equal parts.

To make smaller sized scones: Cut the dough in half; pat each half into a 6-7 inch circle cut into 8 equal parts.

Place on a cookie sheet. ( I like to use parchment paper)

Brush egg on each scone top.

Bake in oven for 15 -18 minutes.   (I turn the pan at 9 minutes)

Remove from tray to wire racks to cool.

Enjoy! 

Now just add a good cup of tea

and you can have your own celebration. 

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

TeaFestPDX

July 21st has now come and gone.

TeaFestPDX was a smashing success.
The day before we realized our cups would not be here,
they were stuck in customs.
So we labeled about 4000 paper cups while we waited
for the tents and tables to be set up.

 My involvement was the British Tea Tent.
Early Saturday morning the tent was made ready for 6 events in the tent.
There was room for 25 to sit at tablecloth covered tables.

Flowers were put out.
Magazines donated by Tea Time Magazine were ready to hand out.
Tea donated by Harney and Sons was also ready in the bowl
and in the teapots.

 Once ready, I took a quick walk around the grounds.
There were several potters with beautiful teaware.

 OK, I must get back to the tent, time to begin.
Our first presenter was Brenda Burg, the owner of Newberg Bakery,
giving a demo on making scones.

The second event was a cream tea with Newberg Bakery scones served.
Jini O'Flynn played her Celtic harp as we nibbled on delicious scones
and sipped tea.

The volunteers did an amazing job this year.
Michele came in her Victorian dress and hat just to serve tea in the tent.

 Others dressed for the occasion.
We couldn't have asked for better weather.
It was not too hot or too cold, but just right for a day of sipping tea.

And sipping tea was being done all around the festival
from vendor booths, classes, and tea rooms set up on the grounds.

Wouldn't this be a beautiful place just to sit and sip?

 The big tent was kept busy all day long.

 Then back to my tent where the next event was
Dressing the Regency Woman for Tea with Nora Azevedo.

More costumed attendees.

Stephanie Wilson was my 4th event in the tent.

She talked on British history and etiquette of tea.

And then Susan Patterson (aka Earlene Grey) gave a poetry reading
for the second cream tea in the tent.

I didn't get a picture of me for the final event.
I spoke on Tips for Doing a Tea Party.
Once I was finished I again visited other places on the grounds.
Here were examples in processing tea by Minto Island Farms.

Minto Island Farms grows tea about an hour south of Portland in Salem, Oregon.  They also were selling beautifully boxed tea and tea plants.

 I caught this group from The Tao of Tea ready to pour tea.
It was late in the day and they had a moment with no pouring.

Another nook just for drinking tea.

 I showed this place earlier, but now there were people in there drinking more tea.

 Everywhere was people enjoying the day and sipping tea.

And what can I say about this cute couple!
Norwood Pratt and his lovely wife, Valerie!
It was so good to see them come from San Francisco
to do a book signing.
His books are the ultimate in learning about tea
and what was recommended to me when I got into this world of tea.
I must say his hugs are the very best.

 So we can say the second TeaFestPDX is a wrap.
It was a good one!
We greeted friends, sipped tea, and enjoyed each moment.
There were many happy faces.

Monday's Tea Quote

Each preparation of the leaves has its individuality,

its special affinity with water and heat,

its hereditary memories to recall,

its own method of telling a story.

The truly beautiful must be always in it.

~Kakuzo Okakura

Picture taken at the TeaFestPDX this past Saturday.

We served Harney & Sons Chai Rooibos and Earl Grey Supreme,

plus handed out Paris tea in the British Tea Tent.

More pictures coming this week.

Barefoot and Blues

 At heart a barefoot girl in summer.

Ahhh, the warmth of the sun shining just there.

The ground warm with the heat of the day.

The grass tickling my toes.

Add to that a little bluesy music and my heart takes flight.

Does your heart swing,

does your heart fly when a little music causes you to move?

The music playing in my ears brings me JOY.

Dancing with bare toes is pure DELIGHT.

Sway, Dance, and let your heart take flight.

"Be the girl who walks barefoot and listens to blues." Anonymous

I found this quote earlier this summer 

and the images it played in my mind were so special I just had to share.

What images does it play in your mind?

My iPod goes with me to the gym, plays for me when I work around the house,

and even played soothing sounds as I picked blueberries recently.

Happy weekend, dear friends!

Assam Tea for Breakfast

Recently Lochan Tea sent me some (well actually more than some)

tea to taste and review. What a very special treat that has been.

So far I have no complaints.

Each day I am working my way through another new one.

I think it will take me the full month of July just to taste and enjoy.

This past week it has been teas from the Assam region of India.

Do you know where Assam is? Just east of Darjeeling on the upper

east side of the country near the Himalayas.

Now I have never been a big fan of Assam teas,

but I was willing to give them a try.

To tell you the truth I think my palate isn't trained to taste

the nuances of Assam's black teas.

That said I can totally understand why the English like these black teas.

They can be strong black, but with a splash of milk quite delicious.

The perfect morning tea!

Here is a list of the five Assam teas I tasted.

   Singluan TGFOP, Second Flush 2018, Assam.  I find a lot of teas from Assam to be CTC tea (crush, tear, curl) and this is one. With CTC I like a smaller amount of tea per water or I find they get to bitter. This one was not bitter at all and quite a nice smooth breakfast black tea. 

No bitter after taste. I would drink this one again.

      Hattialli TGFOP 1 CL, Second Flush 2018, Assam. Very much what I think represents black teas from Assam.  A full bodied black with a slight bit of astringency. It would be good with a splash of milk, which is what I feel for many teas from Assam. I think that is what the English like about Assam teas.     

  

              Mokalbari TGFOP 1, Second Flush 2018, Assam.  By now I realized I have a difficult time noticing the differences in Assam teas.  Each one is black, would be good with a splash of milk, makes a good breakfast tea, and is just a nice straight forward black tea.

 

       Sree Sibbari TGFOP 1 CL, Second Flush 2018, Assam and  Teloijan TGFOP 1, Second Flush 2018, Assam were two more I tasted and would say the same as above.  In my cup is the Teloijan tea. I took it outdoors and enjoyed sipping in the morning sun and imagining sitting near the tea fields of Assam, India.

Assam teas from Lochan Teas definitely worth sipping.

You can find them at https://www.lochantea.com
Tell them I sent you. 

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

An Adventure to Dordogne, France

This month I am participating in Paris/France in July.

   These are fond memories of past travels to a country I adore.

For some reason this wall with flowers speaks to me of traveling the back

roads of France. As we passed a farm house nearby I saw this stunning wall and fell in love with France all over again.

Following the GPS sometimes led us down country roads/paths

and into out of the way places, including a barn yard.

This day we had a destination along the Dordogne River.

Finally we arrived.

It took my breathe away.

Do you see the village along the river?

Our room looked out on that river.

Thanks, Rick Steves, for this recommendation.

I would return there in a heart beat.

He also recommended the restaurant in the hotel.

We were not disappointed.

It was amazing!

Even to the traditional morning breakfast.

It was amazing to be able to sit here and savor the evenings.

Isn't this just amazing?

I see I have used "amazing" several times, but truly it was!

So picture perfect and perfect for a walk or a boat ride.

When we would walk past this window an elderly woman would be 

watching behind those curtains. I never could catch her with my camera.

Sunset over the river.

We meandered through this valley.

It is a memory I will never forget.

I would highly recommend visiting here if given the chance to travel.

Within a day you could travel along the river to other beautiful villages,

Sarlot's street marketplace was a delight, then caves to visit,

and finally castles and Josephine Baker's home too.

So much to see of beauty all around.

Linking to: https://thyme-for-tea.blogspot.com/2018/06/paris-in-july-week-1.html