The Gingerbread Man

Saturday I had a little helper in the kitchen.

It was gingerbread man day.

Oh what fun this time of the year is for making gingerbread men,

stars, snowflakes, and reindeer.

In the morning it was a Gingerbread Man puppet show

and in the afternoon cookies to delight our hearts.

The more sprinkles the better.

The gingerbread man needed a heart too.

Yum, Yum Gingerbread Man!

Monday's Quotes

 If I could give you any gift,

I'd give you love and laughter

a peaceful heart,

a special dream and

joy forever after.

~anonymous

Note:  Jo S, you were a winner of the give away last week,
please email me your address soon so I can send your gift.
If I don't hear from you by the end of the week,
I will draw another name.  Thanks!

Festival of Trees and Winners

 The Providence Medical Center has had a fund raiser for many years

here in Portland.  It is the Festival of Trees.

I had not attended in more years than I can remember, a very long time.

So off to the Festival of Trees I went.

 ENJOY!

 The Teddy Bear Hospital took place here.

 There were beautiful wreaths too.

And small trees, even one on a ladder.

What fun it was to see all the creativity of the season.

It was a place of child like wonderment,

but isn't that the magic of Christmas?

And yes!!!! We have two winners of the ornament give-away!

They are, are you ready?

Robin Cooper-Wood and Jo S

Please email me at marilyntea at gmail with your addresses

and your gifts will be in the mail next week.

Thanks to everyone that left comments, it was fun!

And I love giving to all of you the anticipation!

Happy weekend, dear friends!

Oh, Christmas Tree!

At this time of the year I just love, love venturing out into the country side to find THAT special tree.

Others had the same idea and we shared hot chocolate together in the barn

as we dreamed of twinkly lights, shining stars and the smell of evergreen

permeating the air.

 Donkey's in the barn to cautiously greet.

Cookies, hot chocolate to sweeten the day!

It was a rainy day, but that didn't curtail the adventure.

Rain boots and slicker fireman coat were just the thing.
Even though we went for the trees, the tractor was the hit of the day!
Candy canes too!
These are the things Christmas is made of,
adventures, fragrance, and sweets to delight.

Don't forget to leave a comment on yesterday's post for the give-away!

In the Spirit of Giving

 I love this time of the year.

I love giving.

In the spirit of giving, I am downsizing my tree decorations

and just know somebody out there would love having these ornaments.

Can you tell the theme here?  They are all about tea.

So if you would love adding to your tea treasures let me know in the comments

whether you would like the first group or the second.

Yep!  There will be two give-aways. (US or Canada only, please)

Well you know it is Christmas.

There might even be another surprise tossed into the package when I get ready to send them.

Just make sure I have a way to contact you for an address.

Have a Holly, Jolly Christmas!

The winners will be announced on Friday,

so not much time - hurry and leave a comment.

A Wonder of a Tea

 After steeping, I delighted in the full, beautiful leaves.
They are dark and full of aroma.
I can just imagine the hands that picked these leaves so lovingly,
then the hands that treated them with care as they processed the tea.

And now, I sit here enjoying the fruits of their labor

in the candle light of a cold winter morning.

What a perfect tea for morning time.

I have tried with each sip to put words to the flavor,

but I haven't been very successful in finding the right words.

The name of the tea is Heritage Wonder from Heritage Factory Assam.

It was steeped in boiling water for 4 minutes.

There was no astringency and a lovely smooth black tea.

It didn't overwhelm with boldness, but at the same time it delighted the tongue. 

I could say it was a tinge of chocolate or fruitiness,

but really it was just a plain "Wonder" of a straight forward black tea.

Thanks to the farmer, Rajen Baruah, for sending me this lovely tea.

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

Monday's Quotes

In the midst of winter,

I found there was,

within me,

an invincible summer.

~Albert Camus