"A Year of Teatime Tales" … is on the way!

I wanted to go ahead and let those of you who have been asking about it know that my book of those "Teatime Tales" from last year is finally becoming a reality!

My friend and book designer, the wonderfully talented Deberah Williams, finished it this week, and I couldn't be more pleased! Those of you who've noted my obsession with blue and aqua over the past year won't be surprised that I went with that choice for the cover. And I was so pleased when Deberah (who seems to know what I want before I know that I want it) decided to add that pretty eyelet border. I loved it immediately, and told her so, weeks ago, but not until this week did I think to ask where she found such a perfect graphic. She didn't. She knew I'd like that and took a picture of eyelet and then manipulated it in Photoshop, of which she is a master.

Writing a book is fun, and working on the design of a book is a different kind of fun. It's so rewarding to finally see all the pieces start coming into place, and I wanted you all to be the first to see it. If you hadn't been so encouraging about my short stories last year, I certainly never would have published this book! (And I'll be giving away a copy as soon as I've examined the proof and determined we're good to go, so watch this page for a giveaway soon!)

A chocolate teapot: yea or nay?

My husband is so good about informing me of tea-related things he comes across in his daily perusal of British news websites. Yesterday, he wanted to be sure I had heard about the "world's first real chocolate teapot." I had not, and perhaps some of you wish to be enlightened as well!

According to this article, the teapot is handmade of 58 percent quality dark chocolate, and it can even be eaten after it is used for sipping. With the addition of hot water and cocoa powder, the teapot can make hot chocolate. The addition of more water can apparently turn the pot into a chocolate fondue.

The teapot is being sold by a company called Firebox (above is a screen grab from the website), which is quoted as calling this teapot "more useful than an ashtray on a motorbike, a waterproof teabag, a glass hammer or mudflaps on a tortoise." Go here if you'd like to read more about it, but don't get too attached—it's available for delivery only in the European Union!

Greeting card shopping

Clearly, I am going to have to get back to making my own greeting cards. Have you noticed how expensive they are these days? Two cards I picked up last week were $6.99 each, and though they were lovely, I'm just not paying the price of a teacup for a card—especially at the grocery store, where I saw those two pretty cards. But I did find two pretty and reasonably priced teacup cards at Barnes and Noble last week.

I loved this pretty Easter card (just $2.95) with artwork by Susan Wheeler.

And I also loved this contemporary design teacup card ($2.50) with artwork called "Stacked Teacups" by Amy Tollafield. I have a dear friend going through a twelve-step program, and the card seemed appropriate since it says "Many warm wishes for your recovery." I thought some of you might like to look for these two cards next time you're in Barnes and Noble yourselves. My town no longer has a Hallmark shop, so my card shopping is pretty much limited to Walmart, Target, grocery stores, and Barnes and Noble. Where do you buy greeting cards, or do you make your own?

A memorable sendoff for "Downton Abbey"

Yesterday afternoon, the Newnan-Coweta Historical Society hosted a "Downton Abbey" tea and advance screening at the McRitchie-Hollis Museum here in Newnan. It was a wonderful way to watch and enjoy the last episode of a show I am so, so going to miss! NOTE: I will be discussing thoughts on the final episode, so if you haven't yet watched, there ARE spoilers in this post!

It was a beautiful afternoon at the museum, and I am so happy that springlike weather is finally here!

The museum staff and volunteers were ready for us with tables filled with teacups, teapots, china, and goodies including tea sandwiches, scones, and sweets!

A newcomer to Newnan, my friend Lynn Love from the Newnan-Coweta Chamber also attended, and I had so much fun chatting with her about "Downton" as she became acquainted with our local museum. Lynn is already quite the fan of Coweta County, and I love that about her!

While we mingled with the other ladies and enjoyed our tea and treats, we also got to admire some of the "Downton Abbey" period fashions on display. I could picture several of the Crawley ladies in that aqua gown.

And now, on to the show …

I thought it was wonderful! I've only ever viewed episodes alone, so it was fun to be able to hear the other women laughing and even cheering at some points. The show was projected on a large screen, so it was nice to be able to see it a little larger than I usually would have. What did you like best? My favorite bits were:

• The scene where Bertie and Edith reunite over dinner. And I LOVED that Mary helped instigate that. Redemption!

• I actually found myself tearing up when Barrow was about to leave the house and started saying his goodbyes to everyone. What a number they've done on our emotions with Barrow, going from hating his character to making us sorry to see him go. And to think that he's now going to replace Carson as the butler? Again, redemption. (Can you tell that I like to see characters redeemed? In real life as well as fiction!)

• Daisy's makeover was quite amusing. And I thought Mrs. Patmore nailed it when she pointed out that Daisy didn't like a fellow unless he wasn't interested in her, and once he was, she was no longer interested in him. Nice to see Daisy finally realizing Andy was a good guy.

• Did you not love the scene where Violet and Isobel kidnapped Dickie? Oh my, that was delicious to watch.

• I enjoyed all the episodes where Spratt and Denker went at it with each other, but this time, I thought it was delightful how Denker's latest episode of snitching came to naught.

• Anna's baby was born in Mary's bedroom! How fitting! Oh, if those walls could talk …

• Did you notice who had the very last line of the show, Violet? (Isobel says we can't go backward into the past, only forward into the future, and Violet says, "If only we had the choice.") I thought it was perfect to feature Violet as the closer.

And now, if there IS a DA movie one day, we can see whether Tom gets married, whether Baxter and Molesley get married, how Carson and Mrs. Hughes are doing, how Barrow has changed upon becoming butler … I think I'm ready for the movie already! So what were your favorite scenes from the final episode?

My Country, 'Tis of Tea — Florida

I love-love-love Florida! It was the favorite vacation spot for my family when I was growing up, and to this day, I get excited at the mere mention of a trip to the Sunshine State. Give me fifteen minutes to pack some flip-flops and a bottle of Coppertone suntan lotion, and I'm ready to roll. I've even enjoyed afternoon tea in Florida, at the Magnolia and Ivy tearoom in Sandestin and the Glass Slipper Tea Cottage in Fort Walton Beach (both now closed, alas). What else is there to learn about teatime and Florida?

• I am always intrigued when I see period photos and artwork of women dressed up for teatime. Comfort is such a huge part of enjoying the tea experience that I can hardly imagine taking tea while wearing a corset, petticoats, and a full-length gown. But then I remind myself that if that had been my daily fashion, I would have thought nothing of it! Still … what do you think of this photo of some women enjoying tea at a table by the courtyard of the Burt House in St. Augustine, Florida? According to its Library of Congress entry, this photo was created/published in 1936 or 1937, but it was obviously taken long before it was published, and I wonder about the relationship between the women. Mother and daughters? Aunt and nieces? Neighbor ladies? Mentor and mentees? (What are your thoughts?)

• I’m still enjoying looking up old images on the New York Public Library’s new digital collections site, and one they feature is this old postcard of “Afternoon Tea at the Royal Poinciana, Palm Beach, Fla.” According to Wikipedia, the hotel was a Gilded Age hotel in Palm Beach, built as a winter retreat by oil, real estate, and railroad tycoon Henry Flagler. My favorite fun facts about this huge hotel: “Its hallways totaled more than three miles in length. Bellhops delivered messages and packages from the front desk to guests’ rooms by bicycle.” The hotel was closed and torn down during the Depression, but I’m pleased that images from the hotel’s past teatimes remain!

• And to bring us up to a more modern tea image from Florida, I will forever associate the Mad Tea Party spinning teacup ride at Walt Disney World with tea in that lovely state. It’s been many years since I was last at Disney, but here’s a video to remind you of what the teacup ride is like! (And I must admit it makes me kinda dizzy to watch!)

Want some free tea samples from Twinings? Act fast!

Photo courtesy of Twinings

Once again, we interrupt this regularly scheduled blog post to inform you that Twinings is offering free samples! I got an email alert from them and quickly ordered my three samples, so please head over there and order some for yourself while the offer's still good!

Here's the link for ordering. Happy sipping!

My March Coweta Shopper column

For those of you who aren't local but would like to read my March tea column in The Coweta Shopper, click here! And thanks for reading!

A new Softsoap fragrance to look for

A reader kindly alerted me to a new Softsoap fragrance they'd spotted recently, and I found some of this new variety myself at the Walmart in Carrollton over the weekend.

This Warm Spiced Tea hand soap has a pleasant, lightly musky smell, and I decided this would be perfect to use in our downstairs guest bathroom.

Best of all, if you look at the last line of the ingredients, you'll see that it really does contain camellia sinensis leaf extract! Have any of you tried this hand soap yet? If so, what did you think?

"Devonshire Scream" by Laura Childs

Can you believe that Laura Childs is up to Book 17 in the tea shop mysteries? I am frankly astonished that she and tea shop owner Theodosia Browning continue to hold my interest book after book, but after I finished reading a review copy of the latest book in the series, "Devonshire Scream," which releases today, I have to say that I think it's one of her best yet! This book kicks off in a most unusual fashion. A high-end trunk show is under way at Heart's Desire, the jewelry shop owned by Theodosia's friend Brooke, and masked gunmen make a rather spectacular entrance and exit, stealing jewels and leaving a dead body behind.

Burt Tidwell from the Charleston PD shows up, of course, but this time, he's not the only investigator on the scene. Soon, two FBI guys are investigating the robbery and homicide as well. It's quite satisfying to see Tidwell actually asking for Theodosia's assistance on this case, and I felt their relationship (for we can't quite call it a "friendship") somehow deepens in this book. I liked that—a lot—and will be eager to see if Tidwell's view of Theo remains changed.

And as always, Theodosia and her tea shop colleagues, Haley and Drayton, are busy serving up lots of tea and scones in the midst of all the excitement. Drayton is excited that his beloved Heritage Society is about to kick off a show of antiquities that will include the display of an actual Fabergé egg. The Indigo Tea Shop has taken to holding more themed teas lately, including a  Romanov Tea that seems to piggyback on the Fabergé egg excitement building around Charleston. The theft at Heart's Desire, however, has Theo and company wondering whether the jewel thieves might not attempt a theft of the famous egg, and nerves are stretched taut by the time the Heritage Society show opens.

Childs is a master at devising plenty of red herrings, and I honestly had about three good suspects in mind by the end of the book, which made the reading more fun. Also, Haley has a new boyfriend in "Devonshire Scream," and there are hints of a possible new relationship for Theodosia as well, setting us up perfectly to look forward to Book 18 in the series!

The weekend's Oscar fun

On Saturday night, Alex and I attended an Oscar Night gala held as a fundraiser for our local Boys and Girls Club. I can't remember the last time I got to get all dolled up in rhinestones and black velvet, and I must say we thoroughly enjoyed ourselves! The event was held in a local developer's private hangar at the Newnan-Coweta Airport, transformed for the night into a swanky affair complete with red carpet, movie posters, and spotlights. Lots of fun, and there was a wonderful dinner as well.

The people at my table were all surprised and impressed that hospitality students from West Georgia Technical College provided the catering, and they were so attentive, it felt as if each couple had our own private server. (I could get used to that, sigh. Since I was drinking iced tea, I was asked not only whether I wanted more tea but also whether I wanted more ice and how much. Lovely!) There was a vast array of hors d'oeuvres, lots of dinner menu items (so many I couldn't possibly have tried everything I wanted), and then the dessert they brought out to us afterward was a real showstopper. They'd somehow managed to create a cookie in the shape of an Oscar statuette and had it standing atop a strip of "red carpet" in the center of the plate, along with a decadent chocolate mousse on one side and a rich and beautiful cheesecake on the other. Why no photos? It was too dark, and I didn't see others snapping photos, so I didn't either. But our "VIP treat" to take home was this golden box of sweets, which I thought was just lovely and which I enjoyed with my afternoon tea yesterday!

I was especially charmed by this little chocolate candy with a garnish of pistachio and dried fruit. Naturally, I thought how beautiful all these items would be on a tea tray. And wouldn't an Oscar-themed tea be fun? The treat box was an elegant and tasty memento of a fun evening, and all to benefit a great cause!

Photo courtesy of Linda Edmonds of Precious Memories Portraits

My Country, 'Tis of Tea - Delaware

This week's focus is on Delaware, the first state. Now why is it called the first state? Because Delaware was one of the original thirteen colonies, and on Dec. 7, 1787, Delaware was first to ratify the Constitution.

• Speaking of the American Revolution period, Google Play Books led me to some interesting tea info from the free book "Delaware Archives - Revolutionary War in Three Volumes - Volume III," a reprint of the 1911-1919 edition. Apparently there was much discussion of some tea said to be missing from a store on Feb. 1, 1779, and it was fun to read how John said he saw Jacob sell the tea, Jacob said he bought the tea from Sgt. Rock, Sgt. Rock said he knew nothing about tea being taken out of the store except by others, etc. Considering that the Boston Tea Party was not that far in the past, I find it intriguing how many people seemed interested in getting some of that tea!

• It's always fun to look for an interesting old tea room in any state's past, and I enjoyed learning about the Old Court House Tea Room in New Castle, Delaware, which opened in 1926 adjacent to the old court house, shown on the postcard here. If you'll click here and scroll down, you'll learn of a famous customer who visited the tea room and ordered a chicken sandwich, a piece of cheese and a chocolate milkshake there in July of 1938. (Clue: Which child star was all the rage in 1938?) 

— Photo courtesy of Hotel du Pont

• So is there a good place to take tea in Delaware today? Of course, and one such place that was recently recognized with a coveted Zagat rating was the Green Room of the Hotel du Pont in Wilmington, Delaware. According to the hotel's website, "Showcasing specially created blends of teas inspired by Longwood Gardens, Winterthur Estate, and Nemours Mansion and Gardens, and other neighboring Brandywine Valley museums, mansions, and gardens, our Tea Service is available daily." When I read that description, it reminded me that a tea blogger friend has actually reported on this particular hotel's tea before, so go here if you'd like to see more photos and my friend Phyllis's review!

An elegant new teacup

Today I wanted to share the last of the new teawares I recently received from my friend Ann. She said I needed this yellow teacup since it has pink and yellow roses on it, and to quote that great philosopher Annie Lennox of the Eurythmics, "Who am I to disagree?"

The design is quite elegant, but what really intrigued me was that tiny, tiny base on the teacup! I've never seen one so small! There's no ridge for it in the saucer, either, which I find interesting, yet I must say it does balance there just perfectly.

I love plates that are reticulated like this (meaning the porcelain features a pierced design).

It's a lovely new addition to my teacup collection, and I'm so grateful my friend thought of me when deciding to pass along some of her mom's lovely old things.

More about Mayme Lee Clinkscale and her tearoom …

In Tuesday's blog post, I mentioned coming across an old photo of Mrs. Mayme Lee Clinkscale, at left, the proprietress of Chicago's Ideal Tea-Room, featured in a 1925 book about African-American progress. In that same book was another photo of a Mayme Clinkscale (no "Lee" in the name), at right, who was listed as a milliner. To my absolute delight, a savvy reader in New Hampshire, Marie Langlais, wrote to say that she found the mystery intriguing and put her genealogy research skills to fast use! I asked if I could have her permission to share her findings, and she graciously agreed. Here's what she found:

Using Ancestry and familysearch.org I was able to find that there were indeed two different Maymes. 

The milliner was married to a Forrest Clinkscale. The tea room owner (Mayme Lee) was married to a Martin Luther Clinkscale. Further research showed Forrest and Martin were brothers (who both married women named Mayme!). 

In the 1930 census Mayme Lee's occupation is listed as "caterer" and that she owned her own business. Her sister-in-law's shop was advertised in Black's Blue Book, 1921 as "Exclusive Millinery---Mourning our specialty". Black's Blue Book contained "Names addresses and phone numbers of colored home with a telephone. Classified List of Colored Business and Professional People".

There were 5 listings under "Tea Rooms" in the book: Bragg's, The Delmonico, Ideal, The Thorntine, and The University.

Both Maymes seem to have been quite successful at their businesses.

I was fascinated to learn this new information about not one but two successful Mayme Clinkscales, and I hope some of you are as well!

Roses as a theme …

The nice thing about collecting teawares with roses on them is that everything you love matches. Always. So when my friend Ann gave me these gorgeous pieces that belonged to her mother, I had no doubt I would find plenty at home to use them with. I definitely was not about to turn down this beautiful handled plate with pink, yellow, and white roses on it!

There were also two orphaned cups that she said I was welcome to find a use for.

The pink one was a pretty footed model, and …

The interior is stunning, so we both agreed it needs to be displayed where this will show.

I use the small (2-1/2-inch or so) cups like this to hold safety pins and other tiny items in my bathroom. But what struck me, as I unwrapped all these pieces once I got home, is how pretty everything looks together. And that's no surprise, I guess, when they all feature roses, is it?

Chicago's Ideal Tea-Room and Mrs. Mayme Lee Clinkscale

Since it's Black History Month, I thought it was the perfect time to share a wonderful old image I recently came across in the New York Public Library Digital Collections. This page is from a book titled The Souvenir of Negro Progress, Chicago, 1779-1925. This particular page features the Ideal Tea-Room and says, "A chic and colorful feature of social life in Chicago is 'The Ideal Tea-Room' at 3344 South Michigan Avenue. Whether the occasion is a breakfast-dance, a reception, or a banquet, by sorority, club, or frat, scarcely a day but witnesses some kind of exclusive function. It is the favorite rendezvous of the younger set. Mrs. Mayme Lee Clinkscale, Proprietress." It struck me as pretty amazing—and admirable—that long before the Civil Rights era, Mrs. Clinkscale was proprietress of her own tearoom, and it looks as though it was quite a lovely one, too.

My online searching turned up little else about Mrs. Clinkscale and her tearoom, but when I typed in simply "Clinkscale" on the NYPL Digital Collections site, it turned up this photo from the same book. As you can see at lower right, this Mrs. Mayme Clinkscale (no "Lee") was listed as a milliner at 3641 S. State St. (near the Chicago Public Library today). I think the Mrs. Clinkscale in the photo above looks quite different (and younger) than the Mrs. Clinkscale up top, so I'm intrigued and hope to learn more about the enterprising Chicago woman who was one of the earliest women to operate a tearoom!

A most meaningful gift of teawares

Some especially meaningful teawares came my way last week. After my friend Ann's mother, Dean, passed away, Ann asked if I would like any of her mother's old dishes and even sent me some photos to choose from. I knew immediately what I wanted. Years ago, I bought some moss rose tea and toast sets that had belonged to her mom, so when I saw the matching teapot, I knew that's what I would most like. I also had the pleasure of enjoying a few social occasions with her mother, who was a retired nurse, on several occasions, so I have a lovely lady to think of whenever I use this teapot. (I also remember eating some of her spiced pecans at a shower, and they were the best pecans I've ever eaten!)

When I got to Ann's house, however, I found she had assembled a few extras as well, mostly things that featured that same moss rose design. In fact, we have a mutual friend named Barbara, who is Ann's best friend, and she said, "Oh, here, Barbara pulled these for you as well." I couldn't help grinning, because I had insisted I wanted only the teapot, but as you can imagine, it isn't very hard to wear me down when teawares are involved! In fact, later this week I'll share more of them—and some wonderful old books I came home with as well.

The bowl and the vase were easy pieces to identify, but I was intrigued by this pretty heart-shaped set of pieces. Ann and I both guessed these were once used as ashtrays (imagine!), maybe with the little rounded piece at the top of the heart used for resting the cigarette. But I have been to a tearoom where old Tiara glass ashtrays were called into service to hold lemon curd and even tiny pieces of cut fruit. I'll bet if I used these in a pretty table setting, no "ashes" would ever come to mind! As I told Ann, I will treasure my new teapot and all these pieces, knowing they once belonged to her sweet mother. Do you have any teawares that are meaningful because they were passed along to you in a similar way? I'd love to hear about them!

My Country, 'Tis of Tea — Connecticut

What do you know about Connecticut? That it's in southern New England and that it's the home of Yale University in New Haven? True enough, but there are some tea-related things about Connecticut that are worth knowing as well!

• What would you say is the most well-respected name in tea here in the U.S.? I would make the case that it is clearly Harney & Sons. The late John Harney was proprietor of the White Hart Inn in Salisbury, Connecticut some 30-plus years ago when he first developed a passion for fine teas. According to the company website, he was introduced to the world of tea by Stanley Mason, who taught him the art and the business of tea-blending. His home-based business there in Salisbury, Connecticut would become a worldwide operation, and today the Harney name is widely recognized for its quality tea. The company was even invited by the Historic Royal Palaces of England to create some English tea blends. Best of all, I think, is that the company is still family owned and operated today. I am a loyal fan of Harney teas, and I think Connecticut can be proud to claim them.

• Whenever I'm researching a particular state, I turn to the Library of Congress website and type in the name of the state and "tea" to see if any tea associations happen to pop up. I was intrigued to find there this 1933 photo titled "Father Sill's Tea." Who was Father Sill, and why were these boys having tea? Well, Father Sill was an Episcopal monk who founded the Kent School, a private school in Kent, Connecticut in 1906. Sill was also the headmaster and rowing coach at the school. In fact, the school's website says one reason he chose the location for the school was its location near a river. Kent is also known as the first secondary school in the country to charge students on a sliding scale, something that was important to Sill because he wanted the school to have students from all walks of life. In 1960, the school started admitting girls as well. I still don't know precisely what "Father Sill's Tea" was, but I was intrigued by the story of the monk who founded a school and served as a rowing coach. Maybe the boys were having a bracing cup of tea before a race!

• Those of us who collect vintage postcards enjoy looking at these beautiful old pieces of ephemera. This one, from 1911, features the late, great Edgewood Inn in Greenwich, Connecticut. Isn't it magnificent! The 150-room hotel sat on 350 acres of old farmland. Among the restaurants in the hotel was Ye Colonial Tea Room. For women, the hotel offered a reception room, parlor, and writing room as well. With a tearoom and a writing room, this hotel is one I certainly would have loved visiting, but alas, after the building was leased to a school from 1932-1940, it was eventually razed, and we can remember it and its tea room only through a postcard on Wikipedia.

A local send-off for "Downton Abbey" on March 6

Can you believe "Downton Abbey" is soon coming to an end? I'm actually a bit sad about that, but the local historical society is turning the final show into an occasion, one I hope some of you within driving distance of Newnan might be able to enjoy! On Sunday, March 6, the Newnan-Coweta Historical Society is hosting an advance screening of the final episode of "Downton Abbey" beginning at 5 p.m., and of course I sent my RSVP as soon as I heard about it. 

The fun begins at 4 p.m. with tea and dessert, and the DVD screening will be at 5 p.m. 

This event is free, but you do need to make reservations, so if you can make it to the McRitchie-Hollis Museum on March 6, I'll see you there!

Still celebrating Valentine's Day/Month

Tea friend Mary Jane wins the creative crafting award for Valentine's season of 2016 with this elaborate valentine I received from her over the weekend! Isn't this beautiful? I've got it standing on my office desk so I can enjoy it all month long!

The detail is just amazing, including this charming strand of sparkling red hearts pouring forth a cup of tea.

The Valentine wasn't all that was in the envelope, though. There was also a sample of tea and a cute little heart-shaped notepad. (That is going to be perfect for keeping a record of all my vintage valentines, something I've long needed to do!)

The tea was, appropriately enough, some Thé de Marie Antoinette from Nina's of Paris, a wonderful black tea scented with fresh apples and roses. I loved the charming valentine, and I was equally smitten by her clever way of packaging a sample of loose leaf tea! As soon as I can get to the store for some waxed paper, I am going to try to copy her example and start sending out a few such samples of my own. So thank you, Mary Jane, for the valentine, the tea, and the inspiration!