Why are you OBSESSED about Tea?

 Recently my sweet grandson asked me "why are you obsessed about tea?".

It surprised me, first that he used that word, but second that he would ask that question.

I am not sure what I said, but since then have thought about it.

Why am I obsessed about tea?

So here is my list:

1. It tastes good.

2. It is healthy.

3. Opened a world of dear friendships.

4.No calories, so no guilt.
5. Feels warm and cozy in my hands.
6. Searching out tea experience when traveling is fun.
7. Sharing with friends.
8. It warms me when it is cold.
9. It cools me when it is hot.
10. It quiets my heart to meditate on the day.

Pictures shared a year ago, but hope you enjoy once again.

So yes, I guess I am a bit "obsessed", but to tell you the truth
there could be worse things.
It is a good thing!

Happy weekend, dear friends!
Go have a cup of tea and let it take you to a peaceful moment.

The Pumpkin Patch Adventure

Sunday there was an adventure to Sauvie Island, to Kruger Farms.

We had a goal!

The corn maze awaited, corn to nibble, caramel apples to imbibe, and pumpkins to find.

Well as you see there were flowers too.

You know I wouldn't miss an opportunity to photograph flowers.

All I could get was silly faces among the pumpkins.

He was imagining the silly faces on the pumpkins he was going to take home.

There was the maker of caramel apples to watch.

Some of the delights waiting to go home with us.

I don't think I have had a caramel apple since my own children were little.

With loose teeth this was a challenge,

but he persevered;

afterall, it was good roasted corn from the field.

He said it made all his teeth feel loose.

Now for me the adventure was trying to keep up

and find one 7 year old in the corn maze.

He and I entered the maze and he told me to run.

Sorry, but I don't run anymore.

He would run ahead, then stop and wait for me.

Well needless to say I found out later that he was

going out and telling the lady at the entrance that

he had lost his grandma in the maze.

It was all kind of funny and we did have fun.

We found a few zombies, but came home with pumpkins.

For a few hours it was fun to play at being a child.

Garden Quotes 2019

From the garden just this morning!

Autumn has arrived!

"I can smell autumn dancing in the breeze. 
 The sweet chill of pumpkin, and crisp sunburnt leaves."

~Ann Drake 

"Autumn shows us how beautiful it is to let things go."

~Unknown

Enjoy the days of Autumn
with a walk in the falling leaves,
slipping your feet into warm woolen socks,
a sweater to snuggle into,
and a fire in the hearth.

Savor the colors of the day!

NW Tea Festival 2019

Another NW Tea Festival has come and gone.

2019 is a wrap!

In my washed out picture you can see it was crowded in the aisles.

This is their 11th year and I thoroughly enjoyed it.

This year I was determined to get ahead of the crowd,

sit and sip with some of the vendors, and definitely taste all the tea I desired.

Emeric Harney above is always great to greet and say a quick hello,

but I was on a mission so I moved along.

Jeni Dodd was on my list.

Her presentation on tea in Nepal was very educational

on the people and terrior of that country.

How I would love traveling to the Himalayas for tea.

Shiuwen from Floating Leaves was my first sit down and sip.

I always love her teas and buy my oolongs and my Yunnan Gold black from her.

There was beautiful handmade teaware by Richard Brandt and other artists.

One of my favorite places to browse.

Now I don't buy from this company, but their steam punk costumes

and decorations always pull me in to look.

Don't you just love her smile and her hat?

The reason I don't buy is that they sell blended teas and I am pure tea person.

I just loved this little teapot, but how many teapots does a girl need?

Another sit down was Crimson Lotus.

Each year I have passed by this vendor because it was always crowded.

This year when I saw an empty seat, I grabbed it for awhile.

Puer was their tea of the day.

Mitra, at Young Mountain Tea, was pouring a cup of tea just for me.

A friend always knows what you would like and Mitra did.

All the teaware and shades of tea delighted my heart.

Chariteas has a sweet teapot and some lovely teas.

She is specializing in small farms and currently starting a farm of her

own in the Philippines.

More teaware and tea.

I enjoyed sitting and sipping at four different booths,

but also enjoyed standing and sipping at many more.

The tea I was most intrigued with was white tea, which in the 

past I would have said just tasted like water.

But several vendors were selling white tea this year that

seemed to have matured into some lovely honey flavors.

I came home with a white tea from Jeni Dodd, sold through Miro Tea,

and it is quite delicious.

If you would like to learn more about tea I would definitely recommend

visiting a tea festival in your part of the country.

Each year more and more tea festivals are popping up.

Next year I know of at least 5 or 6 festivals just on the west coast.

Let me know and I may be able to recommend one for you.

You get a small cup when you enter and then the fun begins.

Many sips later you have learned something about tea

and have a better idea what you might like.

They are all a celebration of tea.

Port Townsend

  The few days away last week were to visit my sister in-law

and attend the NW Tea Festival.

 So for a few days I could play.

I had been told there was a tearoom in Port Townsend, Washington

and since I was there I went searching.

I found it, well you knew I would.

Since we didn't have reservations, we just had tea and a sandwich lunch.

 Loved their tea sniffing jars and shelves.

 I had Glenburn Estate Darjeeling Moonlight,

one of my most favorite teas.

 Now just because I loved the look of another table that had the full tea,

I put my telephoto lens on and snuck a picture.

I loved it even if it tilted a bit.

It was fun to see others enjoying afternoon tea.

pippasrealtea.com is where you can find out more about this shop.

They say: "Not your Grandmother's tea shop."

 Port Townsend is always a favorite place to walk around.

It is a bit of a Victorian water side village and quite lovely!

 I love looking at the water through this sculpture.

 Or even just peering over some lovely flowers.

They have a ferry that runs from Port Townsend to Whidbey Island that you see in the distance.

I always need to make a stop at glass beach just north of town.

I love walking at the water's edge looking for sea glass.

 This particular day the tide was too high to find any sea glass,

but just walking and listening to the water flow over rocks delighted my heart.

So if you ever find yourself on the Olympic Peninsula look for Port Townsend

and stop for awhile.

Not connected to the above post, but also an adventure I took many years ago.
You can read my post on my friend, David's, blog, which just was posted a few days ago.
https://the-global-rambler.blogspot.com/

Garden Quotes 2019

"Just before the death of flowers,
And before they are buried in snow,
There comes a festival season
When nature is all aglow."
-   Author Unknown

On Friday my "live-in gardener" and I stopped by the dahlia garden

in Port Gamble, Washington.

Such bursts of color were breathtaking!

It is like the last hurrah before winter comes.

The varieties and colors were beautiful.

I kept saying "this is my favorite" "oh no, this is my favorite".

They were all my favorites

The garden is near the water front, just over that far white fence.

The surroundings make for a stunning sight.

It definitely was like a "festival".

Wolf Creek Inn, Oregon

Whenever I have taken my car on the road, traveling along Interstate 5 South,

I have noticed the exit for Wolf Creek, Oregon.

Just the name intrigued me, but I never stopped.

So as we traveled along the highway my "live-in gardener" wanted to find breakfast.

I suggested we stop at Wolf Creek and see if this historic inn served food.

We were not disappointed.

Here is what their website said about the Inn:
"Imagine yourself as a traveler along a section of the Applegate Trail in the late 1800's. You have just arrived by stage coach at the Wolf Creek Inn. This is a long-sought-after refuge from a not-so-comfortable journey over mountains and across valleys. After paying 75 cents for a room, bath, and meals, you're ready to relax. You sit down to a good meal and some easy conversation with the innkeepers or other guests. Afterwards, the men sidle off to the tap room for some quaffs of beer while the ladies adjourn to the parlor. The conversation drifts from tales of inspirational beauty to frightful experiences of the trail."

The Applegate Trail was an extension of the Oregon Trail going from the north part of Oregon down to California. For some reason I had never heard of this extension and it fascinated me.
Now I would like to learn more.
What I did learn was that it was a difficult trail because of mountains and trees to forge through.

The Ladies Parlor was where I could imagine sitting and sipping my afternoon tea.

There were even tea cups and tea pots in the parlor.

You know I would notice those.

From the little research I have done I found that there are ghosts about in the inn

and from time to time they have been seen or felt.

They even have ghost tours.

With breakfast completed we headed up the road to home.

A very pleasant stop along the way.

Now we are off on another three day adventure; 
so I will wish you well until next week.
Happy Autumn Days!!!
Are you enjoying Autumn as much as I am?
I am loving it so far!