Tea on Tuesday

                                New teas, new toys, new places to explore!!!!

Having my favorite Inkivaari Tee- ginger tea from Finland, in one of my favorite mugs- handmade by Richard Busch of Glenfiddich Farm Pottery in Leesburg, Va. I have several of his pieces, and love his work!!!

Atop the mug, is one of my new "tea toys"!!!  It's a solid cherry tea strainer/infuser, hand made in America (!) by Moon Spoon.

The other little tea toy I have is a teabag tweezer, made by Stan and Sue Jennings of Alleghany Treenware.

I found these at a wonder-full shop in Elkton, Va called SoLace Studios.

SoLace is owned by Barb Polin, and it is her working studio as well as her shop. Barb is a fiber artist, who creates beautiful hand marbled silk and leather clothing and accessories. This eye candy store carries all sorts of tantalizing, must -have creations by many talented artisans.

I must have one of these mirrors - very soon!! 

The old tin ceiling is to die for....!!!

.........sensory overload.....

a serene shopping/browsing experience

Some of Barb's fabulous silks......

So, if you are in Elkton, look up Barb's shop- she is also on FB!

Now, back to my tea - I started inside, using my "new" upcycled indoor coaster!

Now, I am heading out to the garden, and here is my perfect sweetheart of an outdoor coaster!

Here's who joined me for tea - her first appearance of the season, looking like she might have had a nest of babies somewhere earlier..

Who's joining you for tea today??

Drop by Kim and Patty, for a  list of other tea lovers!!

Tea on Tuesday

I am enjoying some ginger tea, all the way from Finland.

Pulling out a rarely used teacup- Foley English china from Cotswold....I do have some Finnish Arabia teacups, which might have been more appropos- oh, well!!!

I had a bag of this ginger loose leaf tea, sent to me by a friend (Teresa!), and my bag was almost empty, try as I might, to make it last forever!!

Another friend, who is Finnish, went home to Finland for a 3 week vacation. I was watching her baby lambs (100 lb babies!) - socializing them, being a lamb whisperer. All right ! I was playing with them- while she was gone.  LOL

From left:  CJ, Spiderman, and Gaga (red on CJ is from rubbing on the red gate)

I think they are Suffolk, altho Spidey may have a little of a fleece sheep mixed in

Spidey, wondering where his after lunch clover is

The fabulous freckles that are Lady Gaga

Lady Gaga foreground- she is a sweetie and quite a looker!

CJ (aka Calamity Jane) is the one with the best conformation and show quality, and of course, the one who was the least friendly of the three( and most camera shy)!! She has come around - and towards the end of the vacation, would come to me looking for her treats,and would permit full body rubs!! I understand she is now walking on a lead, in preparation for her County Fair debut! I told myself at the onset, NOT to get attached to them - but I think I failed......

I have to admit, my favorite is Spiderman (named that because he was caught eating spider webs)- he is a love, very affectionate, and would fall asleep in my hands while I was petting him. He would also ba-a-a-a when he realized it was my car that pulled up, and ba-a-a plaintively when I left. The lanolin in the sheep's wool is so good for your hands - and made the leather in my old work gloves so supple!!!LOL I can't think of anything worse than being a lamb in the hot humid weather of Va- but surprisingly, they fared far better than I did with the heat those 3 weeks!

Spidey napping

Back to the tea - I asked Jo, if she saw any, and had a chance while in Finland, to please bring me back a bag of that wonderful ginger tea.

Well!!! Look what I got, very unexpected - all for having fun with 3 lovely lambies!!!!

3 bags of ginger tea - obviously, one from each little lamb (!), and some lovely Marimekko goodies and chocolate!!! That purple suede Marimekko wallet with goblet design is wonderful!!!! Thank you Jo!!!

On a different "note" - please enjoy this group - called - appropriately enough for today's post - 

                                              THE TEACUPS!!!

Please join us each Tuesday for tea - drop by Patty and Kim for a list of other tea lovers!!!

Tea on Tuesday

I am enjoying a mug (locally made Bay Pottery-sorry, not a teacup) of my Finnish Inkivaari tee- ginger . I even figured out how to keep the T-Sac from slipping into the tall mug - a good ol' clothespin!!!!! Very classy!!!

***Before I forget, let me remind you, if you haven't already been there- to go to my blog post about the upcoming quilt retreat! Still a work in progress, but we'd love to have you in 2012!!!****

I missed Julieanna's last tea class, but here is a quick lesson in photos.

It was about shapes and types of cups and handles.

Here are 2 of the hand outs- maybe you will recognize some of your own teacup styles!

Handle shapes:

 

 

Cup shapes

 

How many of the above do you have in your collection??????

Please drop by for tea every Tuesday - visit Patty and Kim for a list of other tea lovers!!

Tea on Tuesday

Sorry to be late to tea!!!

The farrier came today, and today was the day little Yoshi had his first real shoe trimming.

Now, donkeys can be stubborn, and surprisingly, it went far better than I would have expected!

There were a few episodes of nervous diarrhea (the donkey, not me!!), but with a box of mini nilla wafers being fed to him constantly - we got thru' it rather smoothly!!

Donkeys are smarter than we give them credit for - and I swear Yoshi does comprehend English- he knew exactly when it was his turn!!!

Anyway, we are done, tea is on- see my Finnish tea bag - delicious- but I have no idea what it is!

                                                                Can anyone translate?

 

I am using my lidded St. George English bone china mug, on top of my little stack of quilted mug rugs .

Since Halloween was last night, I thought I would share one of the photos my daughter took during "dead time" at a friend's spirit filled house.

The stories from this house are too numerous to tell here - but look at the orb by the door - they were out in force last night. These were not spots on the camera lens- Katie saw them with her own eyes.This one photo had the clearest shot.The photo is a bit blurry because I enlarged it.

  

  Katie used my camera last night, and this morning, the battery was dead, and the lens cover is not working right - coincidence?

I think not!!!!!!!!!!

Have a cup of tea with our other tea lovers - visit Kim for a list of other participating blogs - feel free to drop by every Tuesday!

Tea on Tuesday

Today's tea is a conundrum of sorts. The choice is so vast, the decision will come about thru' eeny, meeny, minie moe......
I have a pantry full of more tea than I really need. But, one can never have enough tea!!!!!
Now there is an additional selection of teas from England, France, and most recently, Finland (thanks, Teresa!)

Pictured are the newest arrivals from Finland- I'm having the ginger tea - it is delicious. The only reason I knew it was ginger, was from the picture on the package. Despite being of Finnish backround, on my mother's side - the language is a mystery to me.

 

Included are some licorice -  Scandinavian and definitely an acquired taste. Cute little box of pastilles- licorice with salt.......

Generous T sent me a coffee table book of Finnish recipes, and a tiny pin made from the brick of a building of some significance in Finland. What that significance is - she forgot - will have to google it!!!

And, what does Teresa get in return, for remembering me while she travels? Why, sweet potatoes of course!!!

 

We planted sweet potatoes, thinking that the curing and storage of them would be similar to regular white and red potatoes. It is not. So, I have way too many - some huge - 3  1/2 lbs- which will feed 3 people with some left over!!

I will be freezing, french frying, baking, and giving away potatoes.

All the while, enjoying my teas from overseas...........................

Please join Patty and Kimmie for a list of more tea fanciers, and feel free to join us each Tuesday to chat or share what tea you are drinking today!!!