A Week in the Life

 

Most often there are tea adventures in my life and this week was no disappointment. Cindy Chin from Wuyi Origins (she and her family are the growers in China) sends our group of tea lovers samples twice a year and we sit down for a tasting session. Whew! This afternoon we tasted 14 different teas. I wasn't sure I would be able to sleep that night, but somehow I did. Her teas never disappoint. They were all good, but I chose two teas to order, an aged white tea and a black oolong tea.

And of course I continue to notice the summer flowers around me. These hydrangeas are on the apartment grounds and so very beautiful. I will miss them when they are gone.

Then I walked in another garden and "noticed what I noticed"; which is always fun to take time to do.

I had to look up in the tree to find this one. There are also some on my apartment ground too.

Yesterday I walked through Peninsula Park in Portland. It is near where my house was located and I love any excuse to walk here. Isn't it beautiful? It is the oldest rose garden in Portland.

My tea group that meets once a month met under the trees. It was a gorgeous day for 20 tea lovers to share tea together. I shared a new to me tea called Forest Sprite from Floating Leaves in Seattle, a Taiwanese oolong with a hint of green.

And I keep reading, but often forget to share what I am reading. So here is what I have been recently reading:  Soulwork by BettyClare Moffatt, The Paris Assignment by Rhys Bowen, and A Dark and Stormy Tea by Laura Childs. I read Soulwork years ago, but thought it was time to refresh my memory and do a little internal work. It has essays to create personal evaluation and thinking when needing to do some self work. Then I always enjoy Rhys Bowen's adventures. I tend to like reading women's stories surrounding World War II and this was a good one. I have probably read about 20 of Laura Childs mystery books. Though I enjoy them, I am not sure I will read anymore as they seem a bit too much the same. The tearoom owner is a self appointed sleuth that always solves the mystery.

This week will be for rest and reflection before my summer heats up and starts filling with more adventures. How's your summer going so far? I hope you have time for rest and adventures, some days with gentle breezes that are neither too hot and too uncomfortable. Some slow days of meandering a country lane or walking by the seaside would be extra special too.

Sending love,

Marilyn

4th of July - JOY

 The Fourth of July is always worth celebrating, but for this year I was having a hard to time doing so.

I started this post a week ago and yet I totally forgot to post and send best wishes. I was struggling to find JOY.

What did bring me joy was noticing the flags waved. There is just something so beautiful in seeing the flag of the country you love wave from the front porch, a patio, bridges, and even from a car or truck. It just feels like a celebration.

Here are a few sightings!

Instead of a true 4th of July celebration I took a drive to the coast. Yes, It brings me JOY too.

I found a path to JOY.

There was an avenue of fun and games.

And a few swans swam by.

Out and About in my part of the world brings me JOY. Just seeing people celebrating the day brings me JOY. And waving a few flags brings me JOY. So even though I didn't watch fireworks or even eat a hotdog, I found JOY in the little things around me.

I hope you also found JOY in celebrating the little things around you.

Sending love,

Marilyn

Tea Festival Time Arrives

 Friday was time to set up for TeaFestPDX. Tents were going up. Rain was on the way.

Ready, Set, GO

The tent looked amazing! Thanks to all that helped and put it together.

This would be my last year to organize the tent.

I figure 10 years is a good run and time to hand it off to younger, more energetic ones.

Next to the British tent there was a tent for gently used teaware. It helps raise money for next years event and is very popular.

And so we begin!!!!

These first ladies, Lisa Hand and Lynelle Harder, present in the British tent every year and come in costume.

This year it was all about Beatrix Potter and tea.

Through out the day we have a table of donated tea related items that people thoroughly enjoy. I love that vendors are so generous to donate tea from Harney & Sons, Tea Time Magazine, and Effie's biscuits.

Our second presenter was Tony Tellin sharing the story of Earl Grey tea.

This was his second year and I love having him in the tent.

Then over the noon hour, Karmel and Devorah, shared their new children's tea book about Zesty with a hand craft and reading.

Kristen and Erin, from Framer's Touch shop in Forest Grove, returned for an exercise in teabag art.

Here is one example that someone painted on a teabag.

Jeni Dodd of Jeni Dodd Tea spoke of women's suffragettes and tea.

Jeni comes from New York just for our festival.

She was encouraging people to get involved.

Yours truly was the final presenter of the day. While the attendees enjoyed afternoon tea I read small excerpts from literature that referenced tea. I read quite a bit and find it fascinating how often I come across those characters inviting someone to have a "cuppa" or "let's put the kettle on".

There was some poetry read too.

Just as I began the rain did pour and the thunder clapped.

The tea food came in a lovely box put together by my partner at the British tent. I saved my tea time for dinner as I was too busy to eat.

The British tent has six presentations after which I took a short break to visit a few vendors and say hello. This year we had about 45 vendors and a lot of tea tasting was going on. I always stop by the ceramic artists booth; their pottery is so beautiful. Jeni Dodd Tea booth is in the background. I have offered to help her next year just to pour tea, much easier than organizing a whole tent.

Finally the TeaFestPDX is in the bag for 2026. It was a great year. The rain didn't keep anyone away, in fact there were more than ever coming to sip tea in the rain. We had people  from all around the world, even a writer for a magazine in Germany came to cover the festival. They said our reputation is that we are a top tea festival in the US and they wanted to check us out. I even met a tea farmer from Mississippi and two others from Sri Lanka. It was a great festival.

If you ever find yourself in Portland, Oregon at the end of June check out the tea festival at the World Forestry Center.

Sending love,

Marilyn

End of June and Celebrations

As you know, Father's Day was yesterday; but my family decided to celebrate on Saturday. It was a most laid back day to celebrate with no rush to go anywhere else. It was just the right sort of day for a celebration. My "live-in gardener" (husband) wanted a picnic on our daughters new deck at her house. She barbecue for the first time and I brought everything else. My family said I always make pie for company or other people, but it was time to make apple pie for my family. Father's Day was the best day to finish off the last of the apple pie fillings in the freezer. It will probably be the last time we have apple pie (gravenstein apples) from the apple ranch that once belonged to my grandfather; so it was extra special.

I took time to walk in my daughters garden and smell the flowers. Jill grows chamomile for tea.

My husband built the tree house during Covid for our grandson. The tree has grown up around it. What a fun hideaway place to go.

Then on the actual Father's Day I took Jim out for lunch on a floating dock along the Columbia River. It was a lovely, sunshiny day; so it was fun to watch the boats come and go.

There was a stop in Camas, Washington. They have a downtown, vintage movie theater. I loved seeing the lights. It is a sweet downtown.

This past week we also visited Fort Vancouver in Washington State. It has a wonderful early history that included the Hudson Bay Company.

There is a garden just outside the fort and I needed to savor the garden for awhile. What a beautiful day to walk in the garden.

Hollyhocks were growing beautifully there. I always wanted hollyhocks in our garden, but they never did well. It was fun to see how well they were doing here. I think they like full sun.

Bachelor buttons took up the showy blue color for the garden. With a pause I enjoyed them.

Roses too!!!

And lots of California poppies!

Then because we needed a good walk, we enjoyed the shade trees of the fort.

There is even a restaurant in one of the old buildings on the fort grounds.

We must remember to have lunch there soon.

There is a big 4th of July celebration that takes place here with music in the bandstand and fireworks too. When my children were small we enjoyed the fireworks on several occasions, but now I prefer not fighting the crowds and traffic. Is it that I am less patient now or is it that there are more people out and about now? Maybe a combination of the two?

 I love this time of year with sunshiny days to take small adventures and just celebrate the day. Hoping you are also enjoying each day with small celebrations and adventures.

Sending love,

Marilyn

Paths

Gautama Buddha says: No one saves us but ourselves. No one can and no one may. We ourselves must walk the path. 

My word for this year is Adventure/Path. I find it fascinating to notice how many paths there are in life. Sometimes we get distracted and wander off the path in front of us, getting lost for awhile. Sometimes our paths are a bit rocky as we try to please others and lose focus on our own path. And then there are the paths that are smooth sailing and we forget to notice the beauty of the path.

 Hawaii

Camassia Nature Preserve

Elk Rock

Tiny Poetry’s “Twisting Paths”:

Along the twisting paths we tread,

Adventures wait around each bend,

With every step, a tale is spread,

New horizons beckon us to send.

Whispers of stories in the air,

With every heartbeat, we declare.

Along the twisting paths we tread,

New horizons beckon us to send tinypoetry.com.

Kellogg Park, not far from my apartment.

What's around the bend?

Iris in the Peony Gardens at Adelman's, a cloudy day

And even David Hockney included a path into the woods in one of his paintings. Sadly he passed away this past week. He has taken a path only he can take alone. Oh, the joy he has left along the way with his whimsical art.

Do you notice the path you travel? Does it sing a song of JOY to your soul?

No matter the path along the way, "Notice what you notice".

Sending love,

Marilyn