Angela Webster McRae's Blog, page 43

A birthday gift of my favorite tea!

 

While we were on our crafting retreat over the weekend, my friend Kathy surprised me with a gift of what is simply my all-time favorite tea, Emperor's Bride from The Tea Room in Savannah. It occurred to me that this is how long I've been drinking this tea: Kathy first recommended it to me as a delicious remedy for cramps (way) back in the day. Considering that we're both post-menopause now (can I say that here?), it's safe to say we've been sipping Emperor's Bride for a long, long time.

Ironically enough, The Tea Room in Savannah is not, in fact, a tearoom. It used to be, though! But even after the tearoom closed, their teas remained popular, and you can find them online here or at their shop at 14 East Macon St. in downtown Savannah. My favorite tea ever is their Keisarin Morsian, which they describe as a "Finnish tea (that) has a base of Assam and Ceylon teas. Pineapple chunks and dried orange peel are added, and it is enhanced with thistle petals and essence of quince and elderflower." They say it's the most popular tea they stock!

Kathy gave me a whole brand-new bag of this fabulous tea, and I even enjoy looking at the pineapple bits and flower petals in the loose tea. (I may or may not have had four cups of it yesterday.)

She also included some Tupelo honey from the Savannah Bee Company, and while I don't normally sweeten my tea, I decided to try it in the Emperor's Bride, and it was fabulous!

Also while in Lavonia, we visited a weekend festival with some pottery by the Meaders family, so that's where I found this beautiful seafoam-green mug. With my favorite tea inside, it's the perfect souvenir of a weekend with dear friends!

Windchimes, teapots, and more

Yesterday, I got home from a long weekend in Lavonia, Georgia, where a group of crafting friends gather at a crafting cottage on Lake Hartwell to enjoy card making, knitting, cross-stitching, or whatever we’re all working on at the time. On Saturday, we attended the Hartwell Makers Festival, and I bought several goodies, but I was most excited about sharing these fabulous windchimes at the booth of the Hartwell Windchime Lady. This silver coffeepot windchime was first to catch my eye.

Then I spotted this clever design featuring an old glass citrus juicer along with citrus-colored glass bits and a tea bag rest from Florida!

This silver pitcher windchime was lovely too!

And of course I had to stop and admire the teapot windchime!

Have you ever seen a windchime made out of a vintage bowl? I had not, but I sure liked this one!

And here's a vintage teakettle windchime with kitchen implements attached!

Need a windchime for a child? How about a xylophone model? I must admit I kind of wanted to go make windchimes after seeing all these fabulous designs.

And I've saved the best for last! Realizing that my birthday is coming up and Alex might not have finished his shopping yet, I texted him and asked if he'd like to buy me a windchime for my birthday this year. Any time I have ever done something like that, he says yes because it saves him the torture of shopping and he gets the credit. So when I saw this vintage pitcher with beautiful roses and periwinkle glass and beads, I knew this was the one for me! (The back of the pitcher is even prettier, with even more roses on it, and you can see it on the Hartwell Windchime Lady's Facebook page here if you're interested.) Have you ever seen so many creative windchimes before? I was quite impressed!


 

"Return to Pretty" by Caitlin Wilson

I must admit that this title, Return to Pretty, is what grabbed me when I first heard of this book. The book is by a young designer, Caitlin Wilson, and she's evidently part of that grandmillennial-style movement. An antique-seller friend of mine explained the term best: They're younger women who've just discovered the joys of decorating with vintage and traditional decor. Bring it on, I say!

Wilson's palette features lots of white and cream, pale blue, and a touch of pink, and it's a very soothing, peaceful palette. I've been savoring the photos in the book, and when I got to this one with some tea wares, I felt like I'd stepped into one of those lovely Victoria magazine spreads of the 1980s and 1990s.

But then, this photo at left seems very modern with its bright-pink palette, yet I love it too. Wilson writes, "Your home is meant to tell your unique story, and that story can't be told in an empty or meaningless space. Meaningful design incorporates your history and traditions. That's one reason why the grandmillennial revival went viral: we all desperately need that nod to our sweet grandmothers and the lost art of creating and seeing beauty all around us. Rooted in the warmth you felt at your grandmother's house, it's characteristically pretty and over-the-top feminine—truly cozy and one-of-a-kind." I may not be Wilson's target audience, but she's definitely a kindred spirit, and I'll bet many of you would enjoy this book too!

Adagio's Rohini First Flush Darjeeling Tea

 

Adagio Teas offered to let me sample some of their new first flush Darjeeling tea, and being of sound mind and body, I of course agreed. Don't all tea lovers enjoy a good Darjeeling?

As I knew it likely would, this one even smelled fresh, and it's quite amazing to think that these leaves were plucked last month in India and have since been processed and made their way to Newnan, Georgia.

I steeped a teaspoon of the tea in an infuser basket to give the leaves plenty of room to expand.

And oh, this tea was simply divine! At first, I sensed some slight floral notes, reminiscent of gardenia, maybe, and then the taste deepened into something richer and darker, with almost sugary maple notes. I was intrigued to read the tea's description, which noted that, "This very early first bud plucking is called jethri kupi, which translates from Nepali to the honorable designation 'Eldest Daughter,' denoting the very first growth of the spring season." Since I'm an "eldest daughter" myself, I thought this was quite fitting. And I must confess that I liked this tea and enjoyed my multiple steepings so much that I've already ordered some more so that I don't run out too soon! If you think you might like it, too, go here to learn more.

Saturday's thrifting success!

I hadn't been thrifting in a while, so maybe all the good deals were just waiting for me to discover them on Saturday! In the first store I went in, I spied a vintage box that said it contained a punch set. Now, I've been wanting a vintage punch bowl set to make tea punch (I'm giving a shower soon), but I had several requirements for it. I wanted it to be smallish, not heavy cut glass or silver, and I really wanted it to look old. When I saw this set in the box marked $10, I couldn't open it fast enough.

I looked down into the box and saw that the punch bowl itself was perfect, with no chips or cracks.

So was the pedestal, which was protected by a special cardboard insert in the box.

And the 12 cups were indeed right there in the bottom of the box as well. Sold! Then I got to the counter to check out, and the clerk said, "That'll be $5.35." I must've looked dumbfounded. "It's on sale?" I asked, and she said yes. So … score!

Then at the next store, a Goodwill, I found an old German teapot in one of those boxy shapes for $2.09. Do you see that pretty ombre green shading on the lid and at the bottom? I got very interested in green tea wares for my St. Patrick's Day decor this year and wished I had more, so I know this little purchase will make me extra happy next spring!

The next store turned up all kinds of treasures, including an old-fashioned wooden magazine rack I will soon be spray painting ($2.97, so worth a try), and this dingy-looking teacup for 49 cents. I didn't know if it would clean up well, but for the price, it was worth a try too.

Now, I'm not normally wild about fruit plates, but I love grapes and roses, so I loved this one! And it was just $1, so I loved the price too.

Another odd purchase for me? A stained and crackled old pitcher, and the "flaws" were part of the charm. I looked at it and immediately saw a vase and a story. Can't you just picture someone using this because Mama or Grandma used to display flowers in it? (This is one of those pieces that is probably going to turn up in a future book, so if you happen to read my novels, you'll know where the inspiration came from.)

And voila! While there's one little spot at the back that just will not come off despite everything in my bag of tricks—bleach, toothpaste, a soft paste of baking soda and water—I still like the way this thin little Japanese teacup with violets on it turned out. And to have gotten all of these dishes for less than $10? Priceless!

Teatime surprises times two!

Last week, I got not one but *two* surprises in the mail from tea friends! First, Frances L. surprised me with this adorable tea towel! I've never seen this design or saying before, and I love it, especially since I'm overdue for an eye exam. (This will be a good reminder to make that appointment, ha!)

And then Sandra D. sent what quickly became my new favorite bookmark, just because it's so beautiful and she personally stitched it! I do love surprises, and when they come from thoughtful tea-loving friends, they're absolutely the best surprises of all!

Test-driving a new tea infuser spoon

When I was shopping at the Funky Shack Mercantile in Fayetteville a few weeks ago, I found an infuser spoon that I decided to buy for two reasons: 1) It was gold, and the ones I've always used are silver. 2) The bowl was so large that I thought it might give the loose tea leaves more room to expand.

The bowl part of the spoon is about 2 inches in diameter.

I filled it probably less than halfway full of tea leaves, and yes, I snuck a peek inside and saw that the expanded tea leaves still had lots of wiggle room.

A small bit of debris escaped into the cup, but nothing I couldn't handle. So I'm pretty pleased with the dandy new tea infuser spoon!

Preparing for the Coronation

A friend at church yesterday asked if I had decorated for the Coronation yet, and to be honest, it hadn't occurred to me to do so, but then I realized I could probably pull a few things together. And so while I'm not doing a "shelfie" this month, I did decide to update my tea trolley!

My Coronation Tea from Harney & Sons has arrived, but I haven't sampled it yet. I may try to hold off until Coronation Day.

Most of my goodies are, of course, from the last coronation 70 (!) years ago, including this plate …

And this postcard.

And this teacup, a gift from a dear friend who follows the Royals as much as I do.

She also gave me this little Irish Guard doll, which seemed appropriate to use.

I included the teacup I got as a souvenir when I visited Windsor Castle.

And I thought this little dish was a Coronation piece but later realized it was from the Queen's Silver Jubilee, though I decided it can stay. I would really like a "Charles" teacup and saucer to celebrate the Coronation, but the one I want would be about $125 with shipping from England, and while my husband seemed to think that wasn't too bad, I'm holding out for a better deal (of course). Meanwhile, I've been busy reading about preparations for the big event, including who's invited and who's not, who's attending and who's not, and I must admit I'll be eagerly watching on May 6. Will you?

For the love of roses (and tea)

I was reading a magazine article this week that claimed that growing roses is "trendy" again. Really? I guess I wasn't aware that roses weren't always trending. All I know is that I have adored roses from the moment I knew what they were, and I always will. And I make no apologies for succumbing to the lure of that well-targeted Facebook ad I saw last week for this new tea steeper cup from Tea Forté. (But I bought mine on Amazon because it was cheaper. I guess you can say I like a cheaper steeper.)

I've had some of these steeper cups before and enjoyed using them.

But c'mon, isn't this design absolutely gorgeous? I saw on the package that it was "curated with the New York Botanical Garden." Well-done, folks!

And when you're finished steeping your tea, the stainless steel basket can rest on that pretty pink lid. It was just the splurge to celebrate springtime… and those "trendy" roses!

Organizing all those tea bags!

 

Over the years, I have had many of those pretty wooden tea bag chests for organizing tea bags, but they all took up too much space in the kitchen, so they eventually got passed along. But after finding so many new Twinings blends in tea bag form over recent months, I realized my plastic bin with tea bags going this way and that just wasn't cutting it. So when I saw this tea box at T.J. Maxx over the weekend, I grabbed it.

I do seem partial to Twinings these days, don't I?

I hoped there wouldn't be an issue with the lid fitting once all the tea bags were inside, and I'm happy to report it worked beautifully!

I'm also happy to report that this handy organizer box was just $6.99! Now if only they had a box I could shove my entire office into to get it organized …