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

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

Season of Gardens

 

This week the weather has been amazing; so spring-like and maybe even a bit of summer. The perfect season to be outdoors and in the garden. Now the first few pictures are in a park about 1.5 miles from my apartment. I probably could have walked there, but didn't want to carry the picnic I had prepared. How wonderful to be outdoors enjoying the day. The river is called the Willamette (an Indian name). The boat is called The Portland Spirit. They do river cruises throughout this season. It is quite beautiful from the water when cruising. They were just turning around when I snapped the picture, heading back to Portland.

In the park I found dogwood and roses. Loving flowers so much, I am always on the look out for them.

Our picnic was of course also tea time. We had egg salad sandwiches, fruit, olives, and macarons. I love the challenge of putting together tea time or a picnic from what is in the cupboard. Sometimes those end up being the best, plus less stress. Just toss things in the basket and off we go.

But now let's get serious about gardening. Ha! Even with just having a patio, my "live-in gardener" and I can't ignore getting a few plants. So off to the Canby Garden Fair we went. There were tons of tomato plants, but we decided it was flowers for us this year.

So many beauties to choose from. We only have a few pots to fill; so we couldn't get much. But enjoying the looking was part of the fun.

Several times I had to stop to smell. These lilacs were amazing.

And then we returned to our little patio garden. A friend gave us this jasmine plant when we moved into the apartment and it has flourished in a pot, climbing up the bird feeder pole. I imagine the birds are enjoying it now too.

I even had my morning tea enjoying our little patio garden.

If you look closely our little table holds the flowers we brought home from the garden show. I can't wait to see them flourish on the patio this summer.

Are you planting a garden? Do the flowers just call to you to take them home when you see them at the garden shop or market? It is hard for me to resist. Now how many pots of flowers will this tiny patio hold?

One more picture just to make you smile. There is one squirrel that likes to visit our patio every few days. He is quite unafraid of people. I think someone must feed him. He will come right up to our window and peak inside to see if we are there. Here he is enjoying our little birdbath. It is hard to keep the birdbath clean, as our neighbors above us also feed the birds and the residue sprinkles down, not that the birds or squirrel mind.

Sending love,

Marilyn

Ode to Spring

I was watching the weather carefully because I knew it was time to have tea under the apple blossoms out on a little island called Sauvie Island, not far from Portland. The island is situated where the Willamette and Columbia Rivers come together. It is an island of farms and a bird sanctuary. On the island is a historic house with a historic apple orchard. It is open to the public, yet very few people know of it or visit. Each year I go to have tea under the blossoms and again under the apples in the fall. My tea friend that often went with me has moved to Hawaii; thus my recent trip was to have tea with her in her new surroundings. 

Jim went with me this past Friday because it was the day we could determine there would be no rain. The lawn was covered with little daisies as we walked to the orchard. I was so glad they hadn't mowed it, as it was beautiful. The apple blossoms probably will be at their most beautiful in about another week, but there were plenty in bloom. There are only three picnic tables under the trees, but we could choose which one we wanted. We chose the one in the sun because it was still a bit cool. We sipped Secret Garden Oolong from Floating Leaves, which I thought was most appropriate. I also pack some nibbles of salami, cheese, crackers, olives, and dried apricots. It was a lovely adventure to the countryside and sitting under the apple blossoms.

The house is called the Bybee-Howell House. When my children were young they had events here with old time games such a gunny sack races and live "down home" music. The location was taken over by another organization and they no longer have events, but still open to the public. It is my own "secret garden" and I love, love having tea under the apple tree branches. It is indeed my "ode to spring".

Bluebells blooming under this tree. Lilacs were in bloom next to the house. All the glory of new blooming flowers makes my heart sing.

Happy Springtime!

Sending love,

Marilyn

And the Adventure Continues

Day 4

It was a drive on the wild side, so to speak.

On the edge of vegetation sat lava.

What looks like a trail was actually the road through the jungle growth and beauty.

Not sure you can see the steam coming up from the ground?

But it must have been hot under the road.

 

The fields of lava were both black and red, very desolate.

But vegetation is attempting to return.

Then on the way back home we stopped for a snack at a roadside stand. They seemed to pop up in the most surprising places. This one had baked goods, like Rice Krispie treats filled with marshmallow and crumbled cookies.

Day 5

This is Rainbow Falls, not far from Hilo. It was the first place I saw many tourists. If you notice, the water coming over the falls was a bit brown from the mud created from the rain. Still quite beautiful. The tree in the foreground reminded me of the big tree I used to have in my house yard.

We decided to take a picnic and tea to sit by the sea. The view was wonderful and the spot delightful. Tea by the sea with a dear friend, the best!

As we were about to pack up it started to sprinkle. By the time we got to the car it was pouring buckets of rain. We viewed beautiful sights from the car as we drove to find shaved ice, which was promised to me when I arrived. I do love shaved ice; but I never imagined eating it in the car in a torrential rain and thunder storm. We laughed and ran through deep puddles of rain and wind. No pictures were taken; so you will just have to imagine. So glad we enjoyed tea by the sea and shaved ice in the car.

Day 6

Another tourist adventure was to visit the orchard, garden, and store of Mauna Loa macadamia plant. Yes, I did come home with some macadamias, which I have been nibbling since returning.

The garden had many beautiful plants. Not sure many of the tourists walked in the garden, as they were there for the macadamias.

The island had wild chickens and pigs here and there. The houses needed fences to keep the pigs out, as they like to dig in the yards and make quite a mess. I did see one pig family along the road, just digging away.

A walk through the zoo was fun to see, again with amazing vegetation.

Did I say I loved the tropical fruit. This evening there was a Thai dinner out and for the end of the meal it was black rice and mango. Half was gone by the time I snapped a picture, but it was all very delicious. No, I didn't eat the half all by myself. It was shared with the table. The food throughout the week was all amazing. 

Day 7

Sniff, my last day and time to say goodbye.

The sunrise from my bedroom window.

And a drive by the sea once more. Oh, I do love the sea.

The beaches are lava, not sand. If you find a sandy beach, the sand has been brought in.

And Home Again

I flew through the night with a layover in Honolulu and then San Francisco. What an adventure!

And home again now, hoping and dreaming of sunshine and tea on my patio.

Though I will say the humidity was a bit hard for me to handle; bare feet, sandals, and sunshine was wonderful for a few days.

Sending love,

Marilyn