Autumn Equinox

The weather is slowly changing. The days will soon shorten.  This time of the year is so beautiful to me.

I love going into the storage closet and pulling out sweaters, jackets and yummy warm socks.  Although my life changes very little from season to season – at this time of the year I have wonderful memories of the first day of school, football games, leaves changing and then falling to make a rustle of my morning walks.

With the change of season I feel a change of direction.  I don’t exactly have a road map yet but my mind is moving, one step at a time, toward work that will lend itself to cooler days, hot cups of tea and the enjoyment of bright blue Fall skies.

"Delicious Autumn!  My very soul is wedded to it and if I were a bird I would fly about the earth seeking the ever successive autumns." - George Eliot

Teatime Mouse

My tea time is very precious to me.  It is my reading time, my thinking time, my just plain being calm time.  So you can imagine my horror when I found this little lady trying to get into my precious stash of tea.

Before I had a chance to chastise her, she was complaining to me about how difficult it is to get the lids off these tins.  "Yes, and that is for a reason, so mice won't sneak into my tea supply".

You certainly know, I can never deny a person a cup of tea -- so I gave her a little assistance.  She repaid my help by sharing her morning cup with me and we had a very nice visit.  

"A cup of tea makes everything better." - anonymous

The Sense of Smell

Every time I open a drawer in my bedroom there is that slight scent that takes me outdoors on a sunny day walking through fields of lavender.

In mid-afternoon I stop everything, if I can, and take up a small square of dark chocolate.  I break it in four pieces letting the scent speak for the taste I'm soon going to have.

How many beautiful scents can you think of?  Some of mine are new moan grass, herbal teas (any kind *smile*), sun warmed pine needles on the ground, anything sweet baking in the oven.

Sometimes a memory from the past comes flooding into my mind with just the slightest scent that represents that time.  

"Nothing is more memorable than a smell.  One scent can be unexpected, momentary and fleeting, yet conjure up a childhood summer beside a lake in the mountains." - Diane Ackerman

Tea, Chocolate and Happiness

I firmly believe that each of us should have that special time during the day in which to fall into the moment and treat ourselves to something we love.

My moments (there are two of them each day, one in the morning and one in the afternoon) involve tea and chocolate. My teas are Numi's Jasmine Green, White Rose and Dry Desert Lime.  My chocolate is Endangered Species Chocolate found at our local food co-op.  My two favorite flavors are: Lime Sea Salt and Coconut Creme Filled. Yum!!  

While the tea is steeping I take in the delicate aroma.  The first sip of tea - ahhhhh!  I break a square of chocolate into quarters and each of these very small pieces sits on my tongue while I savor the flavor.  For just these moments, my life is suspended in time, with thankfulness.

I am truly happy!

"The art of being happy lies in the power of extracting happiness from common things." - Henry Ward Beecher

Today I'm Thankful For...

...tea and chocolate.  Each day I begin with a large cup of hot tea.  I turn my 'bubble machine' on and wait for the water to boil.  I place my 'Jasmine Green' tea bag into the cup and pour the hot water over it.

Oh how I love my tea -- its almost like the deep breaths that I spoke of in an earlier post. Time stops for a moment, I breathe in the aroma of my morning tea and wait until it is cool enough to sip.

In the afternoon I switch flavors to "Rose White" - a most delicate flavor and aroma. It takes pausing to appreciate it, and with pleasure I spend a few quiet minutes in heaven.

I have another guilty (well not so guilty) pleasure with my afternoon tea.  A square of dark chocolate.  Chocolate with other flavors in it such as lime and sea salt.  Chocolate that is grown organically, and with the health of the workers kept in mind.  Chocolate that I can only get at stores such as Earth Fare or Fresh Market.  They are as dear as gold and much more valuable to me.

Each day, I have many opportunities to be thankful but tea time is an especially rich time for thought and thanks.

"Come, let us have some tea and continue to talk about happy things." - Chaim Potok

A Trio of Teapots

My fingers have been flying in order to meet a deadline.  Not my favorite way to work, but sometimes it happens.

Teapot I  - Perhaps I would start my day with a brisk cup of "English Breakfast Tea" poured from this pot.

Teapot II - I think the whimsy of this pot calls for a cup of "Dry Desert Lime".

Teapot III - Oh yes, "Jasmine Green", curled up in a chair reading a good book.

For these designs I used reverse punchneedle.  I like the reverse stitch for something like this.  It give a detail that the regular loops can't always provide.  The design is crisper and clearer.  

Of course now that they are finished I'm headed for a delicious cup of tea to celebrate...

"A woman is like a tea bag - you can't tell how strong she is until you put her in hot water." - Eleanor Roosevelt

2nd Month Meditation

How many times, as a child, did I lay on the grass to watch clouds floating oh so far above me?  Did I dream of riding on one - soft and puffy, supporting me as I traveled over the far off mountains?  I know that I pictured animals and other objects in the shapes of the clouds.  Little did I think of how truly connected I was to that cloud passing by.

"You are made of cloud - at least 70 percent of you.  If you take the cloud out of you, there's no you left.  A cloud has a good time traveling.  When it falls down, it does not die.  It becomes snow or rain.  The rain becomes a creek and the creek flows down and becomes a river.  The river goes to the sea, then heat generated by the sun helps the water evaporate and become a cloud again. Now the cloud has become tea..." - Thich Nhat Hanh

A Tea Party

This isn't your average, run of the mill, tea party.  This tea party involves drying tea bags.  The Green Tea bag that comes out an ever so soft green; the Rooibos tea bags - a tantalizing, rusty mess; the Earl Grey, Chinese Breakfast and Lady Grey that all end up as lovely tea-stained bags.  After drying I take them apart, ever so carefully, to end up with delicate tissue like paper, stained in various shades and ready for decoupage.

But - wait - don't forget the napkins!  Every tea party has to include napkins and my tea party is no exception.  These colorful, patterned napkins, once separated from their backing, make lovely tissue thin pieces, no dying involved.  I can use a pattern as-is from the napkins or tear it into small pieces for the colors and distribute it hither and yon.

These days - this is my idea of a tea party.  What will I do with all of this?  Oh my, you'll have to wait and see about that!

"Come, let us have some tea and continue to talk about happy things." - Chaim Potok

Tea On Thursday

Recently Chris and I had a 'tea exchange'.  This is the delightful packet that I received from her. 

The names are sooo intriguing: 'jardin des sens'; 'ma diva with edible gold dust'; 'secret tibetan'; 'sencha green doucqur oriqntale' and more.  The scents coming out of the bag as I laid out all the teas were enough to make me swoon.  Immediately I was transported to far off, magical, enchanted lands (and I hadn't even taken a sip yet).

And as an added bonus she sent along some lovely threads with the yummiest of colors and one of her delightful cards.

Thank you Chris - as I take a sip of 'The Noir Caravane Aux Agrumes' this morning I'll be thinking of your generosity and our friendship.

"A friend is a gift you give yourself." - Robert Louis Stevenson