Adventures in teakettle shopping

On Friday, I was making a cup of tea when I poured boiling water into my teacup and noticed a speck of something black. Maybe the teacup had gotten dusty inside the cabinet and I just hadn't noticed? I tossed the water, rinsed out my teacup and electric teakettle, and tried again. And again I got a black speck, which appeared to be a worn spot on the interior base of the five-year-old teakettle. So I settled on nuking my water in the microwave (carefully; I've heard the horror stories about exploding cups of water) and quickly headed to Amazon to order a new teakettle. (This qualified as an emergency, I think you'll agree.) I had some errands to run on Saturday, and when I got home, the new kettle was waiting for me. Whew!

I would have bought the same pretty white-with-a-pale-green-handle teakettle I had before, but it was no longer available. As with so many things these day, the choices were overwhelming. What size? What color? What features? Honestly, I didn't care that much. I just wanted something to quickly boil water. The pink ones I found were too "bubblegum pink," so I finally decided to go with white again and looked for the Amazon's Choice model, which usually works out well for me. But was I seeing things? The Ovente teakettle was just $10.98, is BPA free, and has auto shut-off and boil-dry protection features. Yippee and add to cart! 

When I opened the box, I thought the "STOP" warning was kind of hard to overlook. "We strongly recommend boiling your kettle a few times." Really?

Well, okay! (Not really, but ChatGPT was happy to illustrate the instructions as I read them.) I did, however, boil water in the interior of the new kettle a few times before I made my first cup of tea with it, and I'm happy to report that no black specks appeared this time! Ah. Life is good again.

Recommended Reading: "Flea Market Home & Garden Style"

This week, I came across the latest issue of Flea Market Home & Garden Style magazine, and I always love the vintage items they feature as well as new ideas for decorating with them.

This photo was taken at the famous Round Top flea market in Texas, and I'm itching to go there. I think the "Silver Sisters" from my cozy mystery series need to take a road trip, so in a year or so, I may need to do a research trip so I can (believably) write that book.

I've had plants in teacups before, but as much as I love artwork and decor of stacks of teacups, it just never dawned on me to plant something in more than one cup. A fun idea!

I thought it was interesting that they titled this article "Live with what you love." Over the years, I must have read the advice to "buy what you love" a hundred times. I've always wondered, "Are there folks out there who are buying what they hate?" Because I sure don't. And that's why my kitchen cabinets and dining room shelves look like the ones at right, where a "botanical" motif is featured on pretty tea wares.

And if you don't like "botanical," then perhaps the "traditional" motif will do it for you. There's plenty to love in this issue, and now I'm ready for the fall and Christmas magazines to start hitting the newsstand!

Bubble tea from the shelf

Do you remember the unofficial motto of this blog? It's this: "We review the low-rent teas so you don't have to!" And so it was that even though I knew "bubble tea" from the Ollie's discount store shelf probably wasn't going to be a high-quality drink, curiosity won out, so I plopped down my ninety-nine cents and went home with this single-sipper drink. Strawberry Lemonade Green Tea sounded appealing, so why not?

The instructions said to use the pointy end of the straw to pierce the lid, so I did.

And while I've had worse drinks, I suppose, this one somehow managed to be both sugary and weak, and the "bubbles" were clear bits of gummy something-or-other larger than a pea but smaller than a tapioca pearl. After swallowing a few of the bubbles, I was all bubbled out and didn't care to finish the drink. I like real bubble tea every now and then, but this was a pale imitation that I doubt will make anyone happy. So there you go! Check it out if you must, but don't say I didn't warn you. 

A teatime crafting weekend

This weekend, I once again attended the "Crafter's Fellowship" at a nearby Lutheran church, Word of God Lutheran in Sharpsburg. I love these ladies and am very fortunate to have found a local group to craft with just ten minutes from my house. This time, I was all about the card making, as I was eager to use the new Scrappy Boy teakettle dies I picked up at the Expo last week. I love the color possibilities with these dies!

Once I made one card, which took a while because of all the little pieces, I tried it in different colors of DSP (that's "designer series paper" in the Stampin' Up world, so I tend to call all of these pretty papers DSPs).

I also made a few more cards using the Teatime Florals set from Honeybee Stamps. I usually get bored with a stamp set after I've made lots of cards with it, but I don't think I'll ever get tired of this one.

Fellow crafters tend to learn each other's tastes pretty quickly, and my friend Diann said she suspected I would like these Rose Parfum papers she got from Stamperia a while back. Absolutely, I do! I was happy to find that a similar set is available on Amazon.

On Saturday, a church member I'd not met before, Adrian, arrived bearing a box of these huge scones from the Senoia street market that morning. I've not been to that particular market before, but I sure want to go now. Aren't these blueberry and peach scones yummy looking?

And I can attest that the peach one I sampled was very tasty and very fresh. It was a fun weekend getaway, and I'm already looking forward to the next one!

A new way to enjoy slaw

Have you ever had slaw at teatime? Me neither. However, I recently came across a vintage recipe for Fruit Slaw, and it was so delicious that I've been pairing it with a tomato sandwich for lunch! So if your "tea" is more of a "ladies lunch" featuring a salad plate, this is a recipe you may wish to try as well. (It's also featured in this month's column that I wrote for The Coweta Shopper, and I suspect many of you would enjoy it too!)

Fruit Slaw

2 cups cabbage, finely grated (press between paper towels to remove liquid)
1 cup seedless green grapes
1 cup canned pineapple, drained and diced
1 cup fresh peaches, diced

Dressing

1/2 cup mayonnaise
1/4 cup lemon juice
1/4 cup sugar
1/4 cup cream

Using a medium-sized mixing bowl, add first four ingredients and toss well. In a separate bowl, combine dressing ingredients, whisk, then toss lightly over the cabbage and fruits. Store in refrigerator until time to serve.

An estate sale find from a friend

My friend Patti told me she had something for me that she'd found at an estate sale, and she left it at the welcome center of our church for me to pick up. I figured it was probably a teacup or teapot, but when I spotted the package with my name on it, this was inside!

I've never had a tea brick before and was delighted to receive this one!

The close-up detail was incredible, and I can hardly believe this is actually pressed tea leaves. I'm kind of glad it came from an estate sale, because if it were brand-new, I'd be tempted to break off a piece and brew it.

And Patti also included this cute container of teapot cookie cutters. I have lots of these cookie cutters, but I didn't have this set, so yippee! Question: Do any of you know if it's okay to display a tea brick on a stand? The internet says you can, and it's awfully sturdy, but I sure don't want it to fall apart!

Fun finds at the Stamp and Scrapbook Expo

On Friday morning, my friend Gina and I headed up to Duluth, just north of Atlanta, to attend the Stamp and Scrapbook Expo at Gas South Arena. As always, I was looking for tea-themed goodies, and the show did not disappoint! One of the first things I spotted was this teakettle card from Scrappy Boy Stamps, and I had to have this die set once I saw all of the great samples on display. This piece had an Alice in Wonderland theme, and I especially liked …

The cute teapot charm that was attached. (This would be for a ring-style album and not a flat card, apparently.)

A pink floral version, however, made it look like a completely different design.

And although I'd (hopefully!) never need to send a shaker card like this ("shaker cards" have beads and sequins inside), I still thought it was quite humorous.

Gina knew I was looking for tea-themed pieces and spotted this line of products, Creek Bank Creations. I bought the die set at right, and when Gina pointed out the pretty tea-themed papers at left, I got those too. Those colors will be great for fall cards.

There were so many lovely things at this show, like these gorgeous floral cards made with layering stencils.

And if you had the time to make something more elaborate, this pop-up Christmas card would be just the thing!

These three-dimensional flower cards were beautiful too. If you're into card making and/or scrapbooking, I definitely recommend that you go to one of these shows when it arrives near you!

A ladies luncheon with Bible study friends

Because my Bible study group doesn't meet during the summer, we've been trying to gather for lunch a few times over the summer months this year, and yesterday, we were once again welcomed to our friend Jackie's home. Even though it's July, I convinced a few of the gals to join me in dining outside, and in the shade and with a ceiling fan whirling overhead, we were quite comfortable!

This time, we brought light summer foods, and this is my favorite kind of meal because it's so similar to the variety you get at teatime. I had a delicious tea sandwich (a cream cheese/pecan/carrot spread on raisin bread), Chicken Salad Chick's Sassy Scotty blend on a mini croissant, slaw, broccoli salad, and pimiento cheese and crackers. If this meal were available at a drive-through, that's what I would order.

We always have way too much food, but selecting from all the tempting offerings is half the fun.

I saw lemonade. I saw tea. I don't have to tell you what I made, do I?

Yes, a wonderful Arnold Palmer!

This is Jackie, our hostess. She's in her early eighties, I think, built her dream home about four or five years ago, and is also a great artist, gardener, cook, and reader!

This is a portion of her shade garden, which she started only a year ago.

It was a fun afternoon with friends, and as I left, I saw this sign, which seemed more than a little appropriate!

In the tea fields of Japan

I'm always intrigued when I come across a new tea-related stereoscopic image on the Library of Congress website. I don't know how I've missed this one in the past, but it's titled "Picking tea in the tea fields, Japan," and it's from 1906.

On this one, I really had to let my gaze wander as I semi-focused on the middle of the card, but then it worked, and I could almost feel the prickle of the tea leaves in those tea fields.

Here's a link to the original image if you'd like to download it yourself!

Discovering my associate picker

On Saturday, I drove over to Anniston, Alabama, to have lunch with my sister-in-law and brother-in-law as well as their middle child, Susan, and her oldest daughter, Sophie. I was delighted when Susan told a shopkeeper I was her "aunt-friend." I am her aunt by marriage, and since her uncle Alex is in Heaven now, I am delighted that the McRae side of the family likes to keep in touch as much as they do. So when I got word that Susan and Sophie were coming down from Connecticut for a visit, I was pleased, but I was absolutely thrilled to hear that Sophie wanted to know if she could go antiquing with me. You betcha!

Once I'd told her that I'm collecting red, white, and blue vintage items for a possible book with a patriotic theme, she was on it, pointing out things I hadn't even noticed. It was then that I realized I could actually use an associate. While she was spotting two busts for me, I found a box of these old calendar plates, which I'd seen before, but I had resisted paying $25 each for them, figuring I could find them cheaper. These were $5 each, and Sophia helped me select these two.

She spotted this "old" flag, but as we looked at it, we learned it was stiff and probably new but perhaps tea-stained because of the irregular coloring of the "white" stripes. Tea-stained? I could do that!

And along with my plates, I found a teacup in the Wedgwood Potpourri pattern, which had some dusky reds and blues. It was a fun Saturday, and I sure hope Sophie will volunteer to go antiquing with me again on her next visit to the South!

Twinings Mango & Pineapple Herbal Tea

I was scrolling through Amazon for teas the other day when I came across a mango-and-pineapple blend from Twinings that I’d never seen before, so I quickly decided to “add to cart.”

As soon as it arrived, I stopped what I was doing to go boil some water, and this tea is a real hit! It has a bright citrus taste that was much stronger than I was expecting, and I loved that. (My little neighbor guy loved it, too, although his sister pretty much sticks with mint-flavored teas.)

I’m not sure I’ve actually had a cup of hot tea in a while (it’s Georgia in the summertime, y’all), but I sure enjoyed this one. And because it’s iced tea season, after I prepared the hot tea, I plopped the tea bag into a glass of cold water and placed it in the fridge to enjoy a light iced tea taste later. I’m loving this tea!

Inspiration in "Flower" magazine

Always one of my favorite reads, the July/August 2025 issue of Flower magazine came in the mail recently, and I immediately fell in love with those beautiful metal roses on the cover.

When I turned to the feature inside, I found that this is actually on a carved metal garden gate in Scotland, and in my mind, that makes yet another reason I need to go to Scotland. (I'm also thinking of taking some of my fictional characters on a road trip, and Scotland may end up being their destination.)

As I turned the pages of the magazine, I realized that another reason I enjoy Flower so much is that it always features lovely table settings, like this one. The outdoors is always a beautiful setting because of the beauty of God's creation as well as easy access to plants and flowers, which seem particularly appropriate on this table.

Also in this issue, I enjoyed reading about an artist whose hand-painted glasses are gorgeous additions to the table. These have an Asian flair to them, and what a dreamy table it would be to have glassware and tea wares featuring those pretty blue hues.

And have you ever had Kiwi Cheesecake? I haven't, but I love the floral garnish, and the recipe sure sounds tempting. (Also: I need a wicker cake stand!)

Finally, here's an idea for accenting your lemonade (or iced tea!) with massive flower arrangements in pitchers. It may be too hot to try to grow any flowers right now here in Georgia, but I sure enjoy reading about them.