Monday, July 31, 2017

Walk with Me - George Fox University

This week I found myself walking on the campus of 
George Fox University in Newberg, Oregon.
I walked by the bell tower.
I walked by the rose garden.

There were beautiful hanging baskets.

And messages too!

I walked over this bridge through the trees.
I walked for awhile holding hands with the little guy on the left.
There were beautiful wood carvings along the way.
And more trails left to explore.

Sometimes we find ourselves in places we
didn't realize we would be walking through.
Always go for it, embrace it, and above all else WALK!



Friday, July 28, 2017

Darjeeling

The china is Haviland Limoges, Violets and Daisies.
My grandfather's china, which I inherited and treasure.
I rise
I dance
Amber is my color
Lifting the cup
You sip
I swirl in your mouth
You rejoice with the flavor
You sing a new song
I am here to delight you
My cup runneth over
Joy in a cup
Camellia Sinensis
~m.miller

Each Spring this is my song when I receive my new order
of Spring Darjeelings.
This morning I am sipping Arya PTGFOP1 Classic Premium (DJ-7),
a first flush for 2017 from Thunderbolt Tea.
The color reminds me of oolong,
but the flavor is different.
It is the freshness of Springtime.
A floral, fruity flavor which reminds me of early
Springtime when new growth is just beginning to appear.
With the beginning of each Spring I anticipate a new Darjeeling
in my cup and am never disappointed with the beauty of this tea.

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

Happy Weekend, dear friends!

Thursday, July 27, 2017

Adobe Love, Final Santa Fe Post

I had seen pictures of adobe over the years;
so visiting Santa Fe and seeing the adobe buildings
was like surrounding myself with old friends.
The colors just sang to my heart
and danced in my soul.
Truly adobe was my hearts delight!
The colors under the intense blueness of the sky
just bubbled up inside of me.
Everywhere I looked my heart said, YES!
I wanted to move right here and wrap myself in a blanket of color.

The textures and contrasts brought my artist heart to life.
Just sharing these pictures with you makes me
tear up, heart dance, and rejoice with beauty.



So much warmth in these colors just surrounded me.
This is the final Santa Fe post from my adventure
in the southwest.
Somehow it is the one that sings strongest to me.
If I could I would move here and become
a bohemian princess or a fairy goddess.
I would twirl and dance and sing and create
beauty all around me.

Is there someplace that just moves your heart
to dance, twirl, and sing?

Tuesday, July 25, 2017

Folk Art Museum, Back to Santa Fe


 Here we are back in Santa Fe, New Mexico.
If you have never been to a folk art museum,
this is the one to visit.
I have never seen so much folk art in one place.
There was a special exhibit of Hobo Art.


 And Flamenco too!


 Wouldn't you love to strut and twirl in this dress?
 Then their regular exhibits were just packed.




 If your senses are not filled completely,
stepping into the surrounding grounds
would fill your heart with more beauty.







 There was another museum here on the hill, but now I must go back
to take in more of the art on the hill and all it's beauty.
I know I keep going back with more of my southwest adventure
in May, but there was so much to share.
Hope this entices you to visit Santa Fe.

Monday, July 24, 2017

TeaFestPDX, a longer post!

I am getting right down to business here today.
Next week we will return to walking with me,
but this past week there was no walking.
Maybe there was a bit of running as many tea lovers
in Portland, Oregon prepared and pulled off the first
annual tea festival here.
My job was to take care of the English/British venue
and find 6 workshop presenters. 
Arriving early Saturday to set things up for
the workshops, I took a few moments to stop by and see
vendor tables.
Into the tent I went and found Babette Donaldson of the Tea Sippers Society.
She was giving away her Emma Lea books
and many parents were delighted.
Babette also was one of my presenters.
She had a workshop on making your own tea blends.
It was a fun time of getting hands on experience.
I know my "live-in gardener" loved the blend he created.
Susan Patterson and her husband, James, were there too.  
Susan, aka Earlene Grey, has published 5 books of poetry.  
At least 2 of her books involve tea.
She is coming out with a new book next week called Passions.
Toward the end of the day Susan did a poetry reading
in the English/British venue.
It was fun to sip a bit of Earl Grey tea as we listened to Susan read.

Here is the vendor tent before the doors were opened.
Several years ago I did a review of Plum Deluxe Tea
right here on this blog; so it was fun to see them represented
in the vendor booth.
They have some great blended teas.
Then Jennifer Petersen was ready and waiting for
the event to begin.  Jennifer has several books too.
Jennifer presented in the English/British venue
on the Cultural and Financial History of Tea.
I stopped by to chat with this tea vendor that
had come up from California to be part of the festivities.
His company is Finest English Tea.
There was a lovely array of vendors selling tea, sipping tea,
tea ware, and books.  Oh did I mention kombucha, Yes!
There was a lot of kombucha too.
My first presenter of the day came in costume.
Nora Azevedo is a local history buff and costumer,
a member of the Oregon Regency Society.
She shared Regency Apparel for tea time
and tea rituals of that era.
I don't have a picture to share, but the second
presenter was Cindy Sutliff who has a tearoom
called Tea Time in St. Helens, Oregon.
She shared the difference between high tea and afternoon tea.
In the afternoon a dear friend, Brenda Burg, a baker
and owner of Newberg Bakery gave a demonstration of
making scones.  Yummm!  Her scones are delicious.
It was a warm day, but those in attendance seemed to be enjoying 
sipping tea.  I took some time to walk around and see what was 
happening.  For the first year we had no idea how many to expect,
but thought maybe around a 1000 would come.
It was packed all day long.  The estimates are at about 2000 attendees.
Whew!  All the volunteers had to hustle and even run to buy paper cups,
as we ran out of cups.  And a tea festival really needs cups.
This is inside the vendor booth during the day.  It was packed.

Susan Patterson reading poetry was a nice way to end the day.
As you can see there was alot of sipping and sharing of tea.
That is Kevin of Fly Awake Tea shop here in Portland,
he was making the tea.
Not the best of pictures, but this was our WuWo booth
where we were promoting our monthly gatherings for tea.
We also had tables for gently used tea related items to
sell to raise money for next years event.
More tea sipping.  It definitely was for the most part a young crowd
and had the vibe of a party.
Richard Brandt and his friends had some gorgeous
hand made teaware for sale.

And as the day came to an end there was still plenty of 
sipping and sharing going on.  
Remember the puerh teas from Teabook I shared last week,
that was their booth and Jeffrey in the white shirt being very
enthusiastic about tea. 

Thanks to Harney and Sons for donating tea to be shared and
served in my workshops!
Thanks to Tea Time Magazine for donating magazines to hand out
to the attendees!
I think the attendees went home with a bag full of goodies
and a tummy full of tea.

This is a longer than normal post, but hope you enjoyed a glimpse
of the TeaFestPDX, first annual tea festival.
Maybe next year you might like to come and sip with us here
in Portland, Oregon.