Thursday, March 31, 2016

National Poetry Month




April is National Poetry Month!  Poems share our hearts in ways that regular language cannot. Poetry and tea - fast friends! 

I'm giving NaPoWriMo (National Poetry Writing Month) a go - want to join me?  30 poems in 30 days.  They don't have to be good.  They just have to be written - and that IS good!  http://www.napowrimo.net/



Today
~Billy Collins


If ever there were a spring day so perfect,
so uplifted by a warm intermittent breeze


that it made you want to throw
open all the windows in the house


and unlatch the door to the canary's cage,
indeed, rip the little door from its jamb,


a day when the cool brick paths
and the garden bursting with peonies


seemed so etched in sunlight
that you felt like taking


a hammer to the glass paperweight
on the living room end table,


releasing the inhabitants
from their snow-covered cottage


so they could walk out,
holding hands and squinting


into this larger dome of blue and white,
well, today is just that kind of day.

Monday, March 14, 2016

A FaceTime Tea Party


Those smiling faces are my mom, sister and niece. We recently had so much fun - SO MUCH FUN - on a virtual tea party! I had sent them goodies from my recent trip to Paris and London. (Side note - I still need to write about the Paris tea adventures!)  





Across the miles, the grownups were enjoying the same Mariage Freres Earl Grey Provence tea. My family tried macarons, madeleines and financiers, treasures that had filled my bag on the return flight. Thank goodness I'm a light packer!  



We spent an hour together over video, laughing and having a wonderful time. Most of us have friends and family who live far away. A virtual tea party (with Skype, FaceTime or other tool) brings them closer and makes happy memories!

Tuesday, March 08, 2016

Women and Tea - International Women's Day 2016

Image from Library of Congress, taken in 1895


Happy International Women's Day!  Today, I want to share some interesting photos and articles about women's role in the tea world...

Women Tea Pickers (from my travels)

Women and Boston Tea Party

"Maybe it has only been men who have protested the king up to now.  That only means we women have taken too long to let our voices be heard.  We are signing our names to a document, not hiding ourselves behind costumes like the men in Boston did at their tea party.  The British will know who we are.”  ~Penelope Barker

Women, Tea and Suffrage

Other Interesting Articles