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!