Recommended reading: "French Country Cottage Seasons" by Courtney Allison

"While I love the bold colors outdoors, inside I lean toward the softer side of autumn and the muted colors that nature provides. Natural touches like wheat and grasses, dried flowers, heirloom pumpkins, gourds, and foraged bits like acorns and dried foliage are woven all through my home. Pumpkins are stacked by the fireplace, while dried flowers from summer are turned into garlands for the mantels, with pinecones or acorns sprinkled here and there.”

— From French Country Cottage Seasons

Fall and winter are probably the seasons of the year when I purchase and read the most books. There's nothing like preparing a nice cup of tea and settling in with a cozy blanket and a good read. This weekend, it was a new book I recently ordered, French Country Cottage Seasons by Courtney Allison. One of my favorite photos in the book is this stunning pumpkin with softly colored fall flowers. Gorgeous!

I first discovered these French Country Cottage books two years ago, and now I seem to want every new one that comes out. As I thumbed through the book, it dawned on me that the photography I like best always seems to capture the light in a way that just speaks to my soul. It’s soft and serene, and the pastels and the golden hues inspire me to create seasonal vignettes too. Of course, it doesn’t hurt that the author also seems to have teacups and china on many of the pages!

Her decorating has an elegant yet unfussy style about it, and I love that. The delicate china and glassware against the worn wood of this table is not the sort of tablescape you usually see, but it's beautiful.

And this photo with the flow blue dishes, old silverplate, Christmas greenery, and frosty fruit has me thinking about how to incorporate some of these touches into my own holiday decorating this year. If this sort of design speaks to you, too, I am happy to recommend these lovely French Country Cottage books to you!

It's finally here: The Christmas issue of Flea Market Décor magazine!

My favorite magazine of the season, and perhaps of the whole year, has just arrived on newsstands: Flea Market Décor's annual Christmas issue! Doesn't that cover just make you smile?

Inside, there is so, so much for us tea lovers to enjoy. Those of us who sip our Christmas teas out of Santa mugs will love this shelf.

And after publishing my very first book, Dainty Dining, my department store tearoom cookbook, way back in 2011 (nearly fifteen years ago now!), I found my eye going straight to that Gimbels sign! What I wouldn't give for one of those. If I could travel back in time, I would do all of my Christmas shopping in those grand old department stores of yesteryear. Sigh.

Then I spotted this pink teapot artwork and wondered, "Is there really such a teapot?" And I can report to you that yes, Virginia, there is such a thing as a Miss Cutie Pie teapot (they're pricey), and I will be looking for one "in the wild" when I'm out thrifting.

My favorite idea in this issue? Bottle-brush Christmas trees in teacups! Really, there is something to inspire you on every page, including some gorgeous all-white décor, and I am having so much fun looking through this issue and getting ideas for this year's Christmas decorating. Definitely a recommended read!

Harney & Sons Salted Caramel Tea

The other day, I decided I wanted to try a new tea in honor of the arrival of fall and cooler weather, and I found myself looking at the Harney & Sons website since they are one of my favorite tea vendors. But it turned out that there was only one thing I wanted, and I didn't want to have to pay shipping for such a small order. Then I remembered that a lot of Harney teas are available on Amazon, and since that's how I order a lot of my tea now, I was happy to get free shipping by ordering the Harney & Sons tea via Amazon.

This Salted Caramel tea was just as rich and flavorful as I had hoped it would be. I noted a very strong caramel/vanilla scent as soon as I opened the tin, and the flavor matched the scent.

I didn't detect the Himalayan salt that is in this tea, but the caramel flavor is what I was most interested in anyway, and I’m very happy with my purchase.

Talking tea and books in an Irish pub

The Senoia Variety Club, a women's group in nearby Senoia, asked me to come speak to them about Dyeing for Attention, my newest book, and last week, I was happy to do so. Over the years, I've become known as a "tea lady" locally, which is fine by me, so organizers told me they were encouraging their members to wear tea party attire if they liked. The meeting was held at Maguire's Irish Pub, a great restaurant there in Senoia, and when I arrived early to set up my books, I couldn't help noticing that they were placing vintage teacups on the tables, along with tea lights and some candy. I thought that was such a fun and simple way to "tea-ify" the space, and of course I had to go check out the teacups, like this one with a basket of roses on it.

This one whispers "spring" to me, and that pretty yellow handle sure caught my eye. I've never seen a teacup like this before!

The striking blue coloring of this teacup caught my eye as well. I'm betting it's very old.

As the fifteen members began coming in and greeting each other, I couldn't help noticing they had a good mix of older and younger ladies, which certainly bodes well for any club. And see that lady in pink with her back to the camera?

That would be my friend Alice Ramsey, who is legendary in this neck of the woods. She's retired now, but Alice was still a flight attendant with Delta when she got diagnosed with breast cancer, and after her treatment and recovery, she became quite the advocate for other women going through breast cancer. One day about twenty years ago, she decided to ask Delta's CEO if the flight attendants could wear pink uniforms each October to help raise money for breast cancer awareness, and he said yes! Whenever I fly Delta in October and see the pink uniforms and ties, I smile, knowing that my friend Alice started it all (her original pink dress now hangs in the Delta Flight Museum). She also heads up a local group called the Pink Posse that serves those going through cancer treatment, and whenever you see a flash of pink around town, it's probably Alice, up to something to raise awareness!

Teatime accessories: A (brief) style report

Despite what you good friends may think, I do not buy everything I come across that has a teapot on it, however tempting it may be. My Facebook algorithm, however, knows my weaknesses, so when I saw this beaded tea-and-books purse advertised at Walmart, I made a point of visiting their accessories department the next time I stopped by.

Cute design, isn't it?

But … it sure wouldn't hold very much. I don't think I could squeeze in my iPhone and wallet. Also, this struck me as a little fancy for everyday running around, so I left it, even though it was just $23.

What I did get, though? The cute little bag charm/keychain from the same collection. I love the design, I actually needed a new keyring, and the $10 price tag was, as Goldilocks would say, just right. I wondered whether I should have gotten the purse, though. I mean, what if I *need* a small beaded purse one day?

Well, it turns out that I came across this one on clearance at T.J. Maxx last weekend ($24), and this struck me as a great accessory for fall. Plus, my new book mentions quite a few pumpkin spice lattes (the ones made with chai, of course), so I thought that was a sign.

Long live pumpkin spice lattes! (And cute fashion accessories.)

Two new teatime ornaments from Michaels

I am not trying to rush you into thinking about Christmas, but I do want to let you know that Michaels has two new teatime ornaments. I was in the store last weekend to find a replacement for my favorite crochet hook, which is getting a little shabby, and while they didn't have the crochet hook, the consolation prize was that I found these two glass ornaments! They're regularly $9.99 each but are currently 30 percent off. And you know Michaels—they'll be discounted even more closer to Christmas, but if you want to be sure you get them, I would advise acting now. (Also: I happily accept the senior discount that seems to be built into my Michaels Rewards account.)

I won't know for sure until I pull out all the ornaments after Thanksgiving, but I don't believe I've had a "tea tin" ornament before. And this one is so cute!

As is the teacup ornament with the pretty frosted design. Cheers!

A fall palette of tea wares

Have you ever seen this design before? It's called "Tea Drinker," and it's a transfer ware pattern from the Netherlands. This design was on a beautiful plate that my friend Nancy gave me as a gift when I spoke in Auburn for my book launch last month.

And I was happy to be able to go into my garage and unearth a small cup and saucer that matches it! I found this years ago at an antique mall in Florida, and while the cup is cracked, I had to have it anyway because I had never seen this pattern before. I was, of course, delighted to receive the plate from Nancy as a gift!

Also in the brown range is a new-to-me teapot that a friend gave me last winter alongside a pop-up teacup card that a friend sent in the mail last month.

This small teapot is another brownish piece that I like to decorate with in the fall as well. I love the little teacup on the lid.

I haven't lucked up on finding any new brown tea wares at antique malls this fall, so I'm just holding out till November when I can display a vintage turkey sugar and creamer and other turkey ceramics!

Yesterday's Public Safety Luncheon

I don't volunteer a lot because I'm still working pretty much full-time, but I do serve on the local Public Safety Foundation, and it is an honor to help support our local law enforcement officers. We use the funds we raise to buy things like protective vests and drones and special equipment that our LEOs don't have monies for. So it is great fun for me to serve at the annual Public Safety Luncheon like the one we had at our fairgrounds yesterday. Here are the folks running the serving line, which featured a delicious meal of pork loin, green beans, mashed potatoes and gravy, corn, and rolls. (That's our former police chief, now retired, on the end. He didn't let a recent surgery keep him from serving!)

My friend Pat is the CEO of our group, and it takes a heap of work to bring this luncheon to pass each year. My hat is off to her!

Our sheriff, at left, who gave the invocation, and Newnan's mayor were among those on hand. (The mayor is new, and I don't know him, but I did know his late mother, who taught me my first card-making class years ago. Small world!)

Here's the tea station, and I meant to ask what brand of sweet tea they make, because it is delicious, but I forgot to ask. 

And my job? I help serve at the dessert table, if you can believe it! As usual, we had dozens of homemade desserts this year, ranging from about six different kinds of banana pudding to pound cakes, chocolate pound cakes, German chocolate cakes, a coconut cake, pecan pies, a key lime cake with cream cheese icing, an apple spice cake, pumpkin rolls, several varieties of brownies, layered cookie bars, cobblers, dump cakes, an upside-down pineapple bundt cake (that was a new one on me), and several strawberry cakes. Every year, we servers try to figure out what will be the biggest hit with law enforcement. This year, it was the banana puddings. One year, everybody was into lemon-flavored desserts. What would you have chosen?

We interrupt the fall flavors …

I'm all about the fall flavors, and so far this fall, I've had a Pumpkin Pie Blizzard, apple cider cashews from Aldi, and of course, lots of spice teas. But go figure, I wanted a cup of tea one afternoon and thought, "Hmm, a cup of green tea sure would be nice."

I looked around the tea cabinet and found some packets of iTeaworld's Jasmine Bi Luo Chun, the hand-rolled tea that is said to look like tiny snails. And indeed they do. So much so that I had to swirl the leaves around and make sure there were no snails in there!

This tea was such a lovely departure from what I've been drinking, and this tea can be steeped multiple times, with the first steeping just 20-30 seconds! Are any of you drinking green tea this fall?

The very happy camellia sinensis

Some sixteen years ago now, I met up with a fellow tea lover from North Carolina, Lynn, who was visiting Atlanta. We'd corresponded by email but had never met in person. On that visit, Lynn gifted me with my very own camellia sinensis, the tea plant, which I promptly planted in what I loftily called my "tea garden." The plant has been thriving on neglect ever since.

And I mean that literally! I babied it at first, and definitely should have cut it back over the years, but it's now probably twelve feet tall—and I'm still just thrilled it's there. Lynn sent me a photo of her plant in bloom last week, which reminded me to go check on mine, and it was covered in blooms as well!

Some of the blossoms had ants wandering the petals (I read that this is probably because there are some aphids nearby), and it's suggested that a mixture of water with a little Dawn dish soap in it can be sprayed on them to help get rid of the pests. I'm going to give it a try. Maybe I'll get brave next spring and even cut my plant back. Meanwhile, if you live nearby and want a cutting sometime, just let me know. I'm not sure I've ever had a plant make it sixteen years before!

A new restaurant with some tasty new teas

This week, my friend Gina and I met for lunch at a new-to-us restaurant near our homes, Ponko Chicken. If you're like me, you want to call it "panko," like the bread crumbs, but it's Ponko, a chain known for its Japanese-American fusion chicken, and I was so pleased to learn that they also offer some specialty teas that you won't find anywhere else. This is the Sweet Almond Peach Tea, and they also offer a Matcha Green Tea Lemonade and a Ponko Palmer, which I assume is their version of an Arnold Palmer. The almond and peach flavors are quite pronounced in the tea I tried, even more than the sweetness of the tea itself, and I loved it. Unfortunately, Ponko doesn't have nutrition info on its website, so I have no idea how much sugar this has! (But once in a while, I'd order it anyway.)

Ponko's display cards on the tables tout the benefits of its rice bran oil. I'm going to have to read more on this topic, as lately, I've been reading that seed oils are going to kill us and we should stick to olive oil. I do use olive oil exclusively for cooking, though for baking, I prefer to use butter.

And Ponko's food? Dee-lish! My panko-breaded chicken fingers were crispy on the outside and tender on the inside, and for my side, I got their sweet potato fries, which I absolutely loved. That made everything in this bowl look the same color on my iPhone photo, but I can assure you it was good—and too much food, as I couldn't eat it all, and since I wasn't headed home afterward, I didn't bother with a carryout. Have any of you eaten at Ponko? If so, have you tried their other teas? I'd love to read a review!

A new journal that is, quite literally, my cup of tea

There was a time when I had so many journals that I had to institute a moratorium on acquiring any new ones. But the other day, I completely filled up my Bible study journal and had to start a new one, and I've got just a few pages left in my everyday journal, so … yeah, it was time for a new journal! (And a new pen. I did not realize Barnes & Noble had such a great selection of Zebra's Sarasa Japanese pens. The gel ink dries fast and doesn't skip, and this one had blue-gray ink. The ink color is very important to me, because when I'm working on a book, I write different notes in different colors.)

But this journal, y'all! Isn't that the prettiest cover with those lovely ranunculus and pansies? I'd never heard of this artist before, Nancy E. Mink, but I sure love her artwork. And I'm glad the price sticker came off without tearing the cover. Wouldn't you think a bookstore would know better than to do that? Oh, and if you like college-ruled journals, as I do, this one has those thin lines—another plus!

A new tea and an old teacup

Fall is one of my favorite times of the year for gallivanting, so after I went to a friend's 90th birthday celebration on Saturday, I headed over to see my friend Nancy at her Carriage House shop in Senoia. I had a feeling she might have some new fall teas, and she did, so I got this Cranberry Black Tea from M21 Luxury Teas.

While the Cranberry Autumn loose tea from Harney & Sons will probably always be my favorite fall tea, I do like to have tea bags on hand for a quick cuppa, and these did the trick and had a nice light cranberry taste. I was also excited when Nancy told me that she will be getting in some literary-themed "book teas" before Christmas (I think they look like actual books, maybe), so I will have to visit her shop again soon.

I've really just started to decorate for fall, and this brown cup and saucer is one of the few earth-toned pieces that I own. I picked this up on a trip to Huntsville, Alabama, years ago, and all I know about it is that it's marked Charmstone Chin Hung and is Korean. I'm trying to fill up a display with fall-toned pieces before the week is out, so wish me luck!