A new (tea)potting bench

While I was out shopping with my mom and aunt on Saturday, Alex was busy building me this great new potting bench! I'd recently seen one in a catalog and asked if he could build something like it. I was truly thrilled with his work, and I'm also impressed he built it entirely of scrap lumber pieces he already had on hand. I painted it on Sunday afternoon using a blend of three different colors of leftover paint, and I think we were both pretty pleased that this project ended up being completely free!

The new potting bench gave me a great excuse for dusting off some old tea pieces as well as displaying some pretty new ones, including this old wooden teapot basket and a new teacup planter.

This clay teapot planter was a gift many years ago, and this year it's growing basil.

The birdcage was the result of a trade with my sister at our recent family yard sale. The rose accent piece at right is headed to the tea garden when that project gets further along.

This is an old votive candleholder I used at my old house. I left it on the porch and it got all damp and chipped and crumbly, and I like it even better this way. It has "character" now.

And until I decide what to plant in this teacup planter, I'll just enjoy a nice cup of tranquility!

Want tea? There's an app for that

Last week I mentioned some of the great tea-themed gifts I received for my birthday, but my favorite gift was the iPod touch my husband got for me! It was great for checking e-mail at WiFi spots while at the beach last week, and it has a note-taking feature I really love. I've used it to store photos of some plants and flowers I'm trying to identify, and I've downloaded two entire versions of the Bible, which will certainly save some room in my pocketbook! But the reason I was most excited about this new device was that I'd long wanted to know what all the "app" stuff is about. Now I'm slowly learning. A few days after I got the new iPod, it occurred to me that someone might have come up with a tea app (application) or two, and wow, have they!


The first one I found was Teavana's "Perfect Tea Touch" app, and it includes a Tea Blender (to guide you in blending your own Teavana brand teas), a tea timer, a listing of their teas, and links to shopping online and in their stores.

The next tea app I downloaded was one from another familiar tea vendor, Tea Forté, and it includes descriptions of teas, recipes, and a tea timer. Both this company and Teavana offer a countdown clock which plays music and ticks off the seconds as you steep your tea. Have I used it? No, but then I'm more interested in the information than the clock.

Tea Forté's app also has links to their company information as well as their presence on Facebook, Twitter and YouTube. I had no idea tea companies were this "connected." And I have merely scratched the surface of this fascinating world. The two tea apps I downloaded were free, and there are plenty more tea apps out there, some free and some not. "Rate:Tea" (99 cents) lets you rate teas and exchange ratings with friends, locate tea houses and find info on 2,500+ blends of tea. Adagio Tea's app offers its popular TeaMap listings (free). Deep Powder Software's Asian Tea Terms (99 cents) claims "tons" of tea terms (I wish they'd define "tons"). And Appsessions, LLC has an app that's an audiobook version of "The Book of Tea" by Okakura Kakuzo (99 cents). I will probably check out all the free tea apps eventually, but so far I haven't been persuaded to pay for anything. So what about you? Are any of my fellow tea-loving technology geeks exploring tea apps these days?

Tea and Books Saturday #20 - "Tea: Blends, Origins, Rituals"

Tea: Blends, Origins, Rituals
By Rob Alcraft
Top That! Publishing, 2003

Years ago I was in a local bookstore and came across this book which was part of a gift set. The boxed set from "Top That!" includes a small red teapot, two small cups and saucers, and the book "Tea: Blends, Origins, Rituals" by Rob Alcraft. This set appealed to me as a tea collectible, but I never got around to reading the 128-page book, assuming it would be pure, if pleasant, fluff. Happily, I was quite wrong. The book was fun to read, had lovely photos, and I learned quite a few things I've not come across before.

First, there was a tea personality who was new to me. In a chapter on "Europe's First Tea Drinkers," the Dutch, the author writes of the physician Cornelius Decker. "Dubbed Dr. Good Tea, he advocated drinking between 40 and 50 cups a day, more if it could be managed." You know how tea rooms sometimes offer an "Anna, Duchess of Bedford Tea" in tribute to the founder of afternoon tea? Perhaps one could order a really big, bottomless pot of tea and call it the "Dr. Decker Tea." (Have any of you heard of him?)

There is a terrific section on some of the most popular teas, and I enjoyed reading the profiles and seeing the sharp, clear photos. What I learned: That English Breakfast Tea is really more Scottish than English, having first been blended by an Edinburgh merchant. The popular Scottish tea made its way to London where it was eventually sold as English Breakfast Tea. Earl Grey Tea, I learned, usually contains that nasty Lapsang Souchong, but Twinings' blend of Earl Grey does not contain Lapsang Souchong. No wonder I like it so well!

There is a brief section on the tea ceremonies of Japan, China, Russia and Korea. Alcraft writes that in the Chinese tea ceremony, "Each cup is filled only halfway—the rest of the cup is believed to be filled by friendship." Isn't that lovely! (Although, my group of tea friends would tell me to please think again if I passed them a half-filled teacup!) The book also has info on tea gardens and a few tea recipes. If you ever see it, with or without the tea set, it's definitely worth getting—and reading!

A handmade tea party favor you'll adore!

Now that you've seen the photos, don't you want to make one of these? My friend Kathy included this beautiful paper shoe in the gift package she sent me last week, and I just squealed with delight when I opened it. I love cute, and this is Cute with a capital "C"!

Amazingly enough, this pattern from Terri of Artful Affirmations is available for free right here, and my friend thoughtfully included the link and the pattern for me. You can even watch a video tutorial on how to make one. This shoe is just the right size for tucking in teabags, so guess what guests will be receiving at my next tea party? Fun!!!

Birthday blessings

Birthday week wrap-up seems to take me a while, but today I thought I'd share some of the tea-themed birthday blessings my sweet friends bestowed upon me this year! First, there's this pretty lime green tea infuser mug (there's a ceramic infuser beneath the lid) accompanied by my favorite tea in the world, Emperor's Bride from The Tea Room in Savannah.

This gorgeous cross-stitched card was from my fellow tea blogger ParTea Lady, stitched by her talented husband. This piece will be framed because it's too special to just lie around with the other cards!

Frames are always welcome gifts, and this antiqued pewter one was especially welcome! The friend who gave it to me shares my love for teapots and roses, and I think of her when I see this charming frame.

These Homer Laughlin luncheon plates with a pretty floral design are simple, elegant and vintage perfect! For tea in the garden, perhaps?

Speaking of the tea garden, I received this great bright pink polka-dotted teacup planter with a miniature rose. I tried to focus in on the "card" so you could see that my friend used teabags in the pick where those little florist cards usually go. Clever!

And last but certainly not least, one of my friends said she thought I needed a pretty birdhouse for the tea garden that's underway, and this gorgeous toile-ish one will certainly do the trick! My friends are always so very generous to me at birthday time, I am reminded of Walt Whitman's quote that "I no doubt deserved my enemies, but I don't believe I deserved my friends."

A great new devotional book for tea lovers

I've said it before and I'll say it again: I have the kindest *readers* in blogland! The nice comments and thoughtful e-mails make this so worthwhile, and recently I got an unexpected e-mail from Phyllis in Michigan. She had come across a great new devotional booklet for ladies at her church's teas, and she offered to send me one if I didn't already have it. Her timing was perfect, and the book arrived just in time to be a birthday gift! "Woman of God - Moments of Grace" is lovely to look at, a pleasure to read and reflect on, and I will definitely be ordering some of these myself to give as tea party favors and small gifts for friends.

The authors, Diane Graham and Julie Norris, have written 25 devotionals based on some of these "tea" words we all love to come up with. "Productivi-tea" talks about how their fellow church members united to form a productive team that provided relief following Hurricane Katrina. "Loyal-tea" recognizes a faithful family pet, and "Sereni-tea" begins with a tale from a calm, peaceful visit at the beach. The book is very well written, thoughtful and encouraging, and it includes scripture verses and even a few pages for you to write down your own thoughts and prayers. It's 64 pages and can be read in one sitting, as I did, but I intend to keep this handy and consult it when I need a little pick-me-up. And did I mention what pretty artwork it has? Here's an illustration from the "Sereni-tea" devotional.


After Phyllis so generously offered to send me the book, I googled the authors and found a wonderful video of them discussing their book on YouTube (ordering info is also there). I liked them immediately, and I'll bet you will too. I know lots of my tea friends are responsible for helping with ministry teas, and I can't think of a better take-home gift than the lovely "Woman of God - Moments of Grace."

Encounter with a china painter

On our way back from a visit to Alligator Alley on Saturday (great fun, by the way!), my husband and I decided to stop by Art in the Park which was underway in the very picturesque, flower-bedecked park in downtown Foley, Ala. I love to visit outdoor arts and crafts booths, and the ones at this juried show were especially nice, I thought. I had a little birthday money left, and when I saw the china painter's booth I knew how it would be spent!

I think it would probably be very dangerous for me to take up china painting, because I can just imagine all the pieces I would want to create. Instead, I admired all the wonderful pieces created by Lila Farlow, R.N. Aren't the colors lovely?

Here Lila is ringing up my cup and saucer, which was marked $20 but as I dawdled over it she said I could have it for $15. For once in my life I wasn't trying to score a deal -- I was just trying to make up my mind which of the pretty wares would go home with me, and I had always assumed handpainted china cups and saucers would cost much more than that!

She was such an interesting lady. She also writes gospel tracts, and she made sure I left with a handful of them and a china-painted heart with yellow roses and the word "Soon" to remind me that Jesus is coming soon. (You're supposed to keep it in your purse with your coins, she says, so you'll come across this reminder. I'm not opposed to that, but I'm not sure my coin compartment has room!)

Here's another view of the teacup. The bottom of both cup and saucer are marked Psalm 23, which is of course a favorite psalm, and it's a great memento from Art in the Park. The Foley folks sure made it an enjoyable afternoon!

Birthdays, beaches and Bellingrath

My birthday was last week, and boy, did I celebrate! Actually, I've been celebrating for a whole month thanks to my family and friends, and on Thursday my husband and I headed south for a nice long weekend at what was a "new" beach for us, Orange Beach in Alabama. We had a wonderful time, marvelous weather, lots of good shopping and lots of great seafood. On Friday I took advantage of our proximity to Mobile and headed over to a place I'd been wanting to see, Bellingrath Gardens.

First opened to the public in 1932, the gardens were the creation of Walter and Bessie Bellingrath. (He and his brother owned the Gulf Coast's Coca-Cola franchise.) I took it as a good sign when the first thing I saw in the visitor center was this 1960 transferware cup and saucer bearing an image of Bellingrath Gardens.



First stop is the rose garden, a dream of a place for rose lovers with its 2,000-plus rose bushes. Selections for the All-American Roses are tested here each year before they're put on the market.

The shrimp plant doesn't look much like shrimp to me, but it was beautiful nonetheless.


Do you like mermaids? I LOVE mermaids! This fountain's mermaid is said to be unique because she has two fish tails instead of the usual one.


"Rebecca at the Well" is the title of this bronze relief illustrating Genesis 24:15. It marks the spot of an artesian well dug when the Bellingraths were searching for good drinking water. The Bellingraths certainly appear to have recognized the source of their blessings and believed in giving back. I absolutely loved this bit I read about about Mrs. B.'s actions during the Depression: "As the economic depression worsened, friends quietly kept Mrs. Bellingrath aware of families in need. She would appear checkbook in hand, begging for an azalea, camellia or whatever bloom she saw in the family yard. She would convince the stunned homeowner that Bellingrath Gardens had been unable to locate one and then offer hundreds of dollars in an era when the U.S. government declared that $25 per week was a comfortable income." My husband commented on what a creative way this was of providing charity, and I agree.

When I saw this bridge across Mirror Lake, I almost didn't cross it, but I'm glad I took the time to ...

... go on ahead. Because I got to the top of the overlook and found ...


... Aslan! (Any Narnia fans here?) Actually, this lion was found by Mr. Bellingrath when a Mobile homeowner was remodeling, but I preferred to think of it as Aslan greeting me!


The Oriental Garden has beautiful water features and offers a breathtaking view.

And of course no tourist's visit is complete without a stop at the gift shop, where I found Bellingrath's Tea Time Honey and a pretty teabag canister which is marked "Bellingrath" on the bottom. (And made not in China but in New Iberia, Louisiana, which I found interesting.)


As if all this weren't enough, on the way back to the beach I hit several antique stores and came across a vintage English tea infuser in a style I've not seen before. ("What is it?" the shop owner asked me. I explained it to her and was grateful she didn't know or it might have been more than $3.) And so, I ask you, does a day get any more perfect than this?