Some great new teatime surprises!

Thanks to "Informed Delivery" from the U.S. Postal Service, I now know what to look for in my mailbox each day. Magazines are still a surprise, and largely a joy, but every bill, postcard, card, and letter gets scanned and its image sent to my in-box every morning. Packages, though, are still rare and a surprise. So when I recently received a small Priority Mail box from tea friend Frances in California, I was both surprised and delighted! Inside were several wonderful treats, including this reusable teapot-and-teacup shopping bag she found at her local grocery store. Isn't this darling? It's now transporting a quilting project and supplies.

And the oven door is now sporting a new tea towel, which Frances tells me came from World Market. Since I don't have one of those stores in my neck of the woods anymore, I was especially happy to receive this tea towel, which is an absolutely brilliant design for Anglophiles!

Here's a detail. It's darling!

And last but not least, my package included this new tea bag rest, which also came from World Market. This is also the perfect size for holding one of my cup-size stainless steel tea infuser baskets, and I have been getting lots of use out of this most welcome and most thoughtful gift! So unless you are fortunate enough to have Frances as one of your friends, as I am, you might want to check out World Market (and perhaps even your own grocery store) next time you're out and about!