Iced Tea Weather

But Which First?

Shall we have a nap or take tea?

For nap time and tea time

Go hand in hand.

And if the tea is sweet

And the sleep is warm,

Then the secrets of

Tea leaves and dreamscapes

We will joyfully understand.

by~ Earlene Grey

The tea is iced, a Monk's Blend.
A nice black tea with grenadine flavoring.
It makes a delightful iced tea for a warm summer's day.
Oh, the cookie is a macaron of apricot and pistachio.
What could be more perfect for an afternoon respite outdoors?

Happy weekend, dear friends!

Steven Smith's Teashop

Recently I had the opportunity to meet a friend at Steven Smith's Teashop.

Now if you don't know who Steven Smith is after I explain who he is you might know.
Steven Smith first was involved in starting Stash Tea.
When Stash Tea was in their infancy I would go to their garage sales
and buy a large grocery bag of outdated teabags for one dollar.
I thought that was a really good deal.
Little did I know until later that outdated tea isn't very good.
Then Steven Smith sold Stash Tea and started Tazo Tea.
That is when I had the opportunity to visit the Tazo Tea tasting room
and hear a lecture from Steven Smith.  I was beginning to learn more about tea.
The story doesn't end there.
Steven Smith sold Tazo Tea to Starbuck's and decided to retire to France.
After one year Steven Smith must have been bored; so he came back to
Portland to start Steven Smith Tea.
He has opened a sweet little teashop in northwest Portland where you
can watch the packaging of the tea through the window.
He is selling his tea in higher end markets and has recently come out with
a lovely Ready to Drink bottled tea.

Well the day I met my friend there we decided to do a tea tasting.
We tasted 7 different black teas and one of the three new bottled teas.
It is fascinating to taste teas that you like from another company
and then find you don't like the same named tea from another.
Normally Yunnan Gold is one of my favorites from another company.
I didn't particularly like their Yunnan tea at Steven Smith.
What I did like was the White Tea bottled tea,
 Keemun Hao Ya B, and Lord Bergamot.
The Lord Bergamot I learned is one of their best sellers
and not one I would have chosen until I tasted it.

My suggestion from this tea tasting is to always be open to trying something new.
You never know when you will be pleasantly surprised.
When trying a new tea, first taste it plain with no sugar, milk, or lemon.
This will give you the true flavor of the tea.
So go out and sip being open to new experiences in life whether tea or life in general.

Smiling down on Me

Tall

Yellow

Brown Eyes

Large and Lovely

I must admit to a love affair.

A love affair with these gorgeous golden petals.

This time of year they make my heart patter.

They shine with the sun.

Oh, Sunflowers!

You make my heart sing with Delight!

What brings delight to your heart today?

Oregon State Fair

Friday I went to the Oregon State Fair.
I hadn't been in many years.
Yes, there were quilts, jams and jellies, cakes, cows, bunnies,
rides and people there.
But that wasn't why I was there.
Can you guess?
I was there to judge the first tea competition and the scone competition.
Tasting 26 teas in two hours was quite a fete.
Tasting about a dozen scones was quite a delight.

The tea competition had several categories from herbals, blacks, greens, and oolongs.
The scone competition also had several categories from plain to fruit to savory.
There was a new herbal tea company with very nice blends.
There was a most unique scone with strawberries, strawberry pudding mix, and Greek yogurt.

I found that it was very good having more than one person judge, as each of us had our own opinion
and sometimes they differed.  In the end there were many winners and I felt like a winner for
getting to be a judge at the Oregon State Fair.

Spirit Whispers

"Everybody needs beauty as well as bread, places to play in and pray in, where nature may heal and give strength to body and soul."--John Muir

A friend recently shared this on Facebook and I thought it appropriate for Spirit Whispers today.

I hope each of you has opportunity today to spend sometime in the beauty around you. 

Fort Clatsop, Oregon

Fort Clapsop was where Lewis and Clark ended their expedition to the west many years ago.

It is about 6 miles from what is now Astoria, Oregon, where the Columbia River meets the Pacific Ocean.

It is not far from the Pacific Ocean, so while Lewis and Clark spent the winter here they were

able to enjoy much seafood in their diet.  The Clatsop Indians lived in the area and were not quite sure

how to interact with these white men.  Always before when white men came it was for trading,

but Lewis and Clark were not there for trading.  They were there to explore new land for people to move west.  On the upper right picture you can see their fireplace in one of the rooms of the fort.

On the lower right was an example of the heavy woolen
Hudson Bay Company coats worn during that era and still

noticed and copied by designers today.  It was a small fort, as it was just built for temporary

cover for the winter Lewis and Clark remained in this location.

In the 36 years that I have lived in Oregon I had not visited here.
It was a real treat to finally make it to this beautiful part of Oregon
and experience time at Fort Clatsop.

Do you have historical sights near where you live?
Have you visited them?
The long weekend might just be the opportunity to do so.
Enjoy the weekend.

Now I am off to the Oregon State Fair.

Tea at Fort Clatsop

Last week friends stopped in Astoria, Oregon.

They were on a cruise.

We drove out there to meet them and

show them a tiny corner of our world.

Since they were tea friends, tea was the appropriate

thing to do.

Carol Sims started Tea Treasures in Austin, Texas quite a long time ago.

Later she and her husband, Bob, added a tea shop, Tea Embassy, in a cute Victorian house

in Austin.  Now there son, Jonathon, and his wife, Amy, run most of the business

and Carol and Bob travel and have fun with grandchildren.

So Carol and Bob joined us for afternoon tea at Fort Clatsop.

I will give more information another day on the fort,

but it was a wonderful place to enjoy the out of doors with tea.

Let's start with dessert.

We had raspberry tartlettes and chocolate cupcakes.

Goat cheese tarts and Pesto Roll-ups.

Roast beef with caramelized onions and Curry Chicken Bites.

The salad was full of Oregon berries with peaches, very refreshing.

We had tea, yes, we did.

It was Baozhong Farmer's Choice Oolong, many small pots were enjoyed.

Flowers from my yard dressed the vintage setting.

It was a delightful day.

The highlight was just getting to visit with friends and share a cup of tea.

**********

Visit Tea Embassy at http://www.teaembassy.com/

Visit Carol's tea blog at http://www.teaembassy.com/teablog/category/carols-tea-blog/