Tag Archives: Tea

Glimmers of Fall

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Dahlia

Fall will soon officially be here. I look forward to it and am enjoying the cooler weather and slower pace already. Don’t get me wrong, I enjoy the plethora of flowers and the bounty from the vegetable garden. But it is exhausting!

Assorted vegetables, that large tomato in the front is a pineapple tomato
Tomatoes, mostly Lemon Boy and Jet Star
Green beans, pole and Romano

There was not a lot of rain this summer which meant frequent watering. It takes me about an hour and a half if I water everything. Since we have begun composting and tilling it all back into the vegetable garden in the spring, our production has greatly increased. I pick about every third day and the three photos above show what I got in one picking three weeks ago when the garden was in full production. We went to one of the box stores and got a freezer this year. I am busily trying to fill it up. I’m certain I won’t have to buy green beans over the winter. I’ve also frozen zucchini and yellow squash, and bags of diced tomatoes for soups and sauces.

I always look forward to the first frost when I switch my time from gardening pursuits to hiking, baking, and extra reading. Autumn is my favorite hiking season. The leaves have turned to jewel tones as they hang from the branches and converge to make a colorful tapestry in the sky. The view as we drive home from the nearby park is spectacular as we look towards home. The park road is at the top of one hill, and we live at the top of the next hill. You can see trees in all their fall finery surrounding the reservoir of blue water in the span of land in between the hills. On a sunny day, it is enough to take my breath away!

With the cooler evening temperatures, I have begun enjoying a cup of tea as I read and relax in the evenings. I have a rather large collection of teas. Black teas, green teas, herbal teas. Each variety in assorted flavors. I order our vitamins from an on-line company that has good quality and prices. You have to reach a certain total to get free shipping, and I am usually just shy of the total. So, I throw a box of tea on, to reach the free shipping requirement. The tea and the shipping are nearly the same price so I may as well get the tea. Thus, I have amassed quite a collection! Black tea with peppermint, herbal peppermint, green tea with pear, apple cinnamon chamomile, to name a few. And we always have the old standby English Breakfast. I make sure to buy the ones that have each tea bag individually sealed, so my supply doesn’t get stale.

There are many things I like about fall, and these are just a few. I would be curious to know what you like about fall. Comment and let me know!

Did You Know There Were So Many Kinds of Tea?

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Various types of teas
So many types of tea! (Photo is not mine-from Ahmad Tea)

Who knew there were so many types of tea time? Certainly not me! Looking at these British definitions puts tea in a whole new light. In America, we are thirsty, we drink. No occasion, just a mug sitting on my desk, of coffee or tea, and there it stays with me slurping away while working and getting refills as needed. In my working years, I was so often drawn away to attend to other matters that my hot beverages were always stone cold by the time I returned. I learned to drink tea, coffee, and even “hot” chocolate when they were cold. It seemed too much time and trouble to wander down the hallway to the office microwave to reheat all the time. But look at this wonderful list of all the types of teas:

  • Cream Tea-This is what I think of when I think of tea. Tea and scones with toppings.
  • Elevensies-Morning coffee hour. Hmmm, I have this all morning long.
  • Afternoon Tea-Served with little sandwiches, scones, and sweets.
  • Low Tea-As above, using low chairs. So mine would be office chair tea?
  • Royale Tea-Tea  with Champaign or sherry. This sounds suspiciously like happy hour.
  • Celebration Tea-Afternoon Tea with cake. Cake does make everything better!
  • High Tea-Served in the late afternoon or early evening with a cooked dish. Sounds like supper to me.

I think the British got it right. These various tea types all sound like fun, making every day into a special occasion. Which sounds like more fun? “Would you like to join me for a slice of cake and a mug of coffee?” Or, “Would you care to attend Celebration Tea with me?” I vote for Celebration Tea. That’s why children don’t have coffee pot parties, they have tea parties. I suggest the next tea you offer a guest a cuppa, you ask them if they would like to attend Cream Tea. Let’s make our worlds a little more fun!