Letting Go, Is it a Wish, a Dream?

At Lan Su Chinese Gardens recently you could hang your wishes, dreams, and poetry here.

I have thought long and hard about what I would have left there.

Maybe even a burden I needed to let go.

There are times when we need to let something go,

but don't know how to do it.

It is stuck right in our heart.

I struggle with it there, do you?

In the past I have written it on a rock and tossed it away

or I have heard of those that have written it on paper then burned it,

letting it go up in smoke.

The ceremony of letting go, releasing does help,

but then again it is a decision too.

The ceremony just gives it structure and says "it matters"

in a visible way.

I thought about sharing some of the words written there,

but then decided it was personal for the person that wrote it.

Do you know what you would write and walk away from,

leaving it behind you?

You don't have to tell me, but tell your heart.

Maybe write it down for yourself.

What I have Learned

Often my wanderlust has called me to travel,

to see the beauty in other parts of the world.

Sometimes I think other places have all the beauty,

but my heart is learning through the lens of my camera

to notice what is around me.

The beauty just outside my backdoor or down the lane. 

The Cedar Creek Grist Mill is one such thing.

I always thought grist mills and their beauty were in other parts

of the country, not just down the road in my part of the world.

Do you notice what is just outside your door or down the lane?

This grist mill has been here for a very long time and
for some reason I never ventured here.
It made my heart happy to do so a few days ago.
The autumn colors just made it all the more beautiful.
Now I want to explore each season to see how the
light and colors change.
Next time I won't just bring a teapot and cup for a picture,
but I will bring a buffet of goodies to the table and savor each moment.

Notice what you Notice
Pick up your camera and explore outside your door.

Monday's Tea Quote

Tea does our fancy aid.

Repress those vapors which the head invade

And keep the palace of the soul serene.

~Edmund Waller

The aroma of Chinese tea prevails for thousands of years;

Leaves and springs cover half the land;

Fertile soil, sweet fountains and skilled masters

Pluck your health and enhance your energy.

~Fei Xin Wo

Note: Vintage green enamel teapot

with Wedgewood and Co., Queens Ivory,

made in England teacup found at Goodwill this year.

Autumn leaves all around the beautiful outdoors.

Small Pot Style Tea

Sometimes called Gong-Fu-Cha, small pot style tea comes from China originally.

Often we think the little teapots and cups you see in an Asian shop are for children,

but they are actually used for making tea in what is called Gong-Fu-Cha Ceremony.

Tea shop owners most often use this style for serving customers in China and Taiwan.

Quite alot of tea can be made in one of those small teapots 

because you brew for a shorter time and do many steepings all through the day.

Fascinating to me is how different the tea can taste brewed this way

in comparison to the English style of making tea.

The tea is steeped, poured into the serving pot, then served in the small cups.
The cups generally are three sips.

Above was a working tea table where many cups of tea were served at the tea festival.

Below is my serving table ready to steep tea and serve at my WuWo Tea Ceremony group

function in October.

WuWo Tea Ceremony comes from Taiwan, but again the tea is made in the small teapots.

 To learn more about Gong-fu-cha tea service you can go to Daniel Lui's post here:

http://www.thechineseteashop.com/gong-fu-cha.html

Small pot tea style definitely is the way to go when sipping in an Asian country,
but also many of my friends most often use this style of making tea.
This is part of my occasional posts on different ways of making tea and enjoying.
No one way is the right way, they each are just different ways of the enjoyment of tea.

Happy weekend, dear friends!
Hoping however you make your tea you are enjoying the sipping.

Happy Halloween

In the Dark of the Moon

In the dark of the moon,

Beware! Have a care!

Of the ring at the door

And nobody there.

Of the soap hieroglyphics

On the clean pane;

Of hushed, ghostly giggles;

Of steps down a lane.

Beware! Have a care!

Of the small shape in white

With a pumpkiny lantern,

Its features alight.

No use to be looking

Stern, staid and sober-

Better turn goblin

This night in October.

~Kitchen Sonnets by Ethel Romig Fuller

Aurora Colony Quilt Show

 Every once in the while the Aurora Colony Museum here in Oregon

calls to me to come and visit;

so when I saw they were having their annual quilt show I had to go.

I always love imagining living in Emma's house on the grounds.

Wouldn't it be fun to sit there with a cup of tea and a friend to watch the world go by?

 The theme this year was Stars!

 What I loved seeing was all the variations on the theme.

But even more than that, I loved feeling wrapped in the love of these beautiful quilts.

 It isn't a large museum, just the size I can really savor for awhile.

 I  kind of like them all close together.

It just fills my senses and my heart.

 Though I loved them all this one was my favorite.

Wondering if it was the inclusion of the flowers with the giant star.

 The blue squares were the submissions from local quilters.

Each year after the theme is chosen quilters can submit a square

and the top 24 are selected by a panel to be made into a quilt.

One year I submit a Sunbonnet Sue for that year's theme

and even though I am not a regular quilter my square got selected for the quilt.

It was fun to see it in the final quilt.

 After viewing the quilts I took a stroll through the grounds.

There is alot of Oregon Trail history in this museum

and for awhile I love imagining a different time.

The local herb society cares for the herb garden

and it was fun to chat with one of the women involved.

I came home with a natural herbal salve, which

helped to heal the remainder of some sun damage I had from the summer sun.

Do you search out small museums and quilt shows?

If you ever come to Oregon I would love taking you here.

Aurora Colony was originally settled by a religious sect.

Jane Kirkpatrick has written some wonderful historic fiction

on people that settled this community.

Hope you are having a good week, dear friends!

Monday's Tea Quote

There is something in the nature

of tea that leads us into a world of

quiet contemplation of life.

~Lin Yutang

So true!

Teapots lined up for "quiet contemplation of life".

Ready or not it is sweet to sit quietly over a cup of tea.