Elderberry Apple Cinnamon Tea

I got back last night from my latest craft retreat at Lake Hartwell with friends, and when we were on our way to dinner one night and my friend Heather offered to run us by a local shop we all enjoy, I was delighted to find this new-to-me Elderberry Apple Cinnamon Tea from Everything Elderberry!

Even the loose tea looked yummy.

I was curious whether the cinnamon would overpower the elderberry and apple flavors, but it definitely did not. I was delighted with the fruity and sweet taste, accented by only the merest hint of cinnamon. This one was a fun discovery, and it's lovely to have a new cinnamon tea that actually tastes like spring!

Don't read this post too quickly!

Okay, it is very important that you pause before scrolling past this first photo today. This is obviously a book, right? What's your guess? A journal? A book about teacup history? Well, you would be wrong.

It's the Tangerine Tea Time Daily Devotional Bible, and when I spotted it in a store the other day, I was just stunned that I did not know there was a Bible with teacups on it! I'm not just trying to score Sunday school points when I say that the Bible is my favorite book of all time, and as I understand things, it's also the only book that will last forever. God's word has gotten me through the toughest points in my life, and my morning time in the word with a (single!) cup of coffee is my favorite, calmest part of the day. (I've found an easy, do-able reading plan that lets me read through the whole Bible in a year, so if that appeals to you, visit Blueletterbible.org and look down the right-hand side to see the different reading plans. I like the one that gives you some of the Old Testament and some of the New Testament each day.)

There are so many "pretty" Bibles out there these days, and I have to remind myself that the cover doesn't matter if the words themselves don't make a difference in my life. I even pondered (briefly!) whether it was appropriate to have a Bible that doesn't exactly look like "the Holy Bible." I finally decided this might be a nice extra Bible to have at home, mainly because I want to have a traditional Bible (with the chapters in order) when I'm reading at church or at Bible study. Still, this was quite an unexpected find!

Inspiration at the antique malls

I really need to delete old photos off my phone more frequently. If I did, perhaps I would have remembered sooner that I wanted to share some fun finds at one of the antique malls I visited in Monroe last month! This light fixture had just been brought in and wasn’t yet for sale, but the nice lady behind the counter said I was welcome to snap a photo.

I’ve seen similar teacup light fixtures in tearooms, on Pinterest, and elsewhere, but I’d never seen one with vintage leaves and ribbons incorporated. I love that! Now I’m going to have to check out the light fixtures in thrift stores and see if I can make one myself.

And at another mall, I didn’t buy anything, but I absolutely loved this table. Isn’t it fun?

Ready for St. Patrick's Day!

The corned beef and cabbage is ready to go in the slow cooker, and with a little encouragement from tea friend Margie, I managed to pull together a few appropriate tea wares to celebrate St. Patrick's Day tomorrow!

This old thrifted plate struck me as "too green" when I bought it for $3 a while back, but it had roses on it, and the price was right. Now, I'm glad I got it!

And what says "cottage style" more than a cottage teapot?

My St. Patrick's Day teacup is this Lefton teacup, a gift from a fellow tea blogger many years ago.

Will you be celebrating St. Patrick's Day in your food or decor tomorrow?

A little mystery and a big teacup

I came away with more questions than answers after I found this lovely oversized teacup at an antique mall in Anniston this week.

I'm intrigued that this oversized cup still exists, as it's obviously very old. It measures about 6-1/2 inches wide, 3-1/2 inches tall, and is 5 inches in diameter. The teacup and saucer next to it is a standard size, not a demitasse cup and saucer. The cup at right is unmarked, and I'm wondering if perhaps this was once a breakfast cup since those cups were much larger than today's standard-size teacups. I've also read that not all teacups came with matching saucers, as some tea drinkers preferred to use sterling or silver-plated saucers of their own. Still, I'm betting this one once had a saucer that just didn't survive. (If it does exist, wouldn't it be fun to come across it one day?)

Even the shabby chic look of this cup is just charming. If only teacups could tell us their stories!

A cute new tea-shirt

The other day, a friend was returning a book she had borrowed and handed it to me in a Walmart bag along with "a little something" she'd come across that she thought I needed. As soon as I spotted a T-shirt with features of a teacup and teapot, I thought, "Yes, I do!"

It's a Bridgerton T-shirt, and while I've never watched the show, I've learned that I need to be alert to Bridgerton-style items in stores. I've seen lots of wares featuring the show's name, and this design is so cute. 

Here's what the whole shirt looks like: "Pardon me while I sip this tea." And the tag on it said it cost just $7.98! I looked online and it appears the shirt is still available at Walmart, so if you, too, need a new "tea" shirt, you may want to be on the lookout for this one.

Signs of spring

I was late putting away my Valentine's decorations this year, and only this weekend did I have the time to slowly make the transition to my spring décor. I started with a pretty pastel tablecloth I found at an antique mall in Monroe last month, along with blue tea-and-toast sets, a cube-shaped pale-green teapot (a long-ago Goodwill find), some mint and viola plants from Walmart, and a favorite green teacup and saucer.

The bunnies seem slightly out of place in March, but if I'm going to use them this year, they already have less than a month until Easter, so I've started adding a few. Boy, I miss having a tea trolley to decorate each month, and I'm watching one on Amazon but waiting a bit to see if it ever goes on sale. So meanwhile, I decorate any surface in the living room that is available! This one is an old melodian, or portable organ, that belonged to my husband's great-great-something Presbyterian grandfather (if I have the story straight).

I love those pretty old-fashioned baskets, and the white ones are some of my favorites. This one holds Easter eggs right now, but come May or June, I hope some of my roses can go there.

And I have to mention that my greatest addition to the living room (possibly ever) is this rosy pink skirted sofa I bought for $100 on Facebook Marketplace last weekend! The seller I bought it from had found it on the last day of an estate sale, stored in someone's basement and apparently never used, so it is in absolutely mint condition. I'm donating my old sofa and love seat to some newlyweds I know, so once they pick them up (they're in the middle of the room right now), I can play around with a new grouping in my living room and hopefully create a few new spots to display tea wares!

The Tea Water Wells of Early New York

Because of our country having a milestone birthday this year, I am even more interested than usual in US history, and this week while perusing the (digital) aisles of the Library of Congress, I learned something I'd never known before: That in 1750 in New York, "All except the very poor bought their supplies for drinking from vendors who filled their barrels at the three or four good wells called Tea Water Wells."

And what, pray tell, are Tea Water Wells? I would direct you to the website of the Boston Tea Party ship: "The tea drinking residents of 18th century Manhattan realized their tea was only as good as the water in which it was steeped. The water from dug wells in the lower part of Manhattan served well enough for ordinary domestic purposes, but was often brackish and disagreeable to taste. Sometime during the first half of the 1700s, a spring of fresh water between Baxter and Mulberry streets began to attract popular attention. The water was so popular for the making of tea that it was known as the Tea Water Pump."

And nyhistory.org has a one-minute video that further explains the pursuit of good tea water in New York. I'm just stunned that after reading, oh, more than 100 tea books over the years, I'd never heard of Tea Water Wells before. Have you?

A gift of Mariage Frères teas

When my husband and I had a brief stop in Paris during a trip to Europe many years ago, I was so excited about going to the Mariage Frères tea shop, only to discover that on the day we visited, it was closed because of a bank holiday! So imagine my delight when my friend Paige, a flight attendant, recently gifted me with this elegant box of teas from there. I would know that label anywhere, so as soon as she handed me the package, I literally gasped and said, "It's Mariage Frères!" She laughed and said, "You know them?" and I explained that yes, I did, but that my one shot at ever shopping there didn't quite work out. Then it hit me: "Oh! You actually got these in Paris, didn't you!" And she laughed and said that yes, she did.

I love how you open the box and see this quote: "The fragrance of adventure and poetry endlessly pervades each cup of tea." Perfect description!

And inside that stunning box are elegant muslin tea bags (or "mousselines" in French). This Paris Breakfast Tea blend was a rich, flavorful tea that seemed much tastier than English Breakfast Tea. Turns out, the company describes it as having "tasty notes of malted chocolate, tender vanilla and warm brioche and adorned by a sweet fruitiness not unlike candied tangerine. A hint of green tea unfurls at the end, freshening the palate, sparkling and harmonious." That vanilla note is what I notice most, and I am loving this new tea. I may not have traveled anywhere exotic lately, but thanks to friends who have, I am enjoying teas from around the world!

A tale of some well-traveled teas

Can you guess what kind of tea this is? Are you guessing a green tea? Well, you would be wrong!

This is an herbal tea I've never had before—Cherry Stem Tea! This was among the amazing packet of teas and spices I recently received in the mail from my friend Ginger following her trip to Europe. And I have to tell you that I really did detect fruity notes in this tea and learned this was a brilliant use of cherry stems.

I wish I could send you the scents in this package over the internet, because when I opened the package, it smelled so yummy that I kept walking by it and taking a whiff! I've already enjoyed most of these teas (love me some lavender tea) and can't wait to cook some chicken with the Herbs de Provence.

As if all of this tea weren't enough, some fancy chocolate was included too. Thank you, Ginger, for adding to my tea (and chocolate) education!