Christmas Wishes

Dec25

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On this Christmas Day, I wish all of you….

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and a…

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to warm your body and a…

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to warm your spirit.

I am leaving today to visit family in Michigan for the holidays. Saturday Morning tea will resume when I return next week.

Happy Holidays to one and all!

Saturday Morning Tea

Dec20

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My morning tea tastes especially delicious and warming today after Dave and I just shoveled 10 inches of snow out of our driveway. The snow started mid-afternoon yesterday and continued on through the dark winter night. Businesses and schools shut down early so everyone could get home safely before the storm’s arrival.

I am sipping and savoring a second flush Darjeeling from the Namring estate. The Darjeeling district is located in the Himalayan foothills of northeastern India.

namringdarjwet122008 I steeped the dark leaf for 3 minutes in 212 degree F (boiling) water, resulting in a glowing amber liquid. The thing that I like best about Darjeelings from the Namring estate is that they always have that classic, rich Darjeeling aroma and flavor. Sometimes I am in the mood for an astringent tea that echos in my mouth for awhile after I’ve taken my first sip. This is perfect, with nutty almond, fruity richness. Second flush Darjeelings are harvested in the summertime and are usually fuller with the more mature taste of the summer leaf, as opposed to first flushes, harvested in the springtime.

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It’s hard to imagine the lush greenery that graced our backyard deck a short 2-3 months ago. It is now a white drifting world.

namringdarjteacup1220081 As I was pouring my cup of tea, Dave offered me a piece of pumpernickel toast. It went perfectly with the rich flavor of this tea. The bare tree branches of our backyard trees look like they’d like to warm themselves in my steaming cup. This is the time of year when I never feel quite warm enough. My favorite spot is next to the fireplace with my hands perpetually wrapped around a hot mug and a good book opened in my lap.

You can never get a cup of tea large enough

or a book long enough to suit me.

~C.S. Lewis

Saturday Morning Tea

Dec13

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As I write this, I consider myself very blessed. The night before last brought a dangerous ice storm north and west of here and there were many power lines and trees brought down causing a lot of damage. Many folks are without power and will be for several more days, I’ve heard. My thoughts and prayers go out to those people. I hope that power will be restored for them very soon.

This morning I am sipping a very unique black tea from Taiwan called “Sun Moon Lake tea”. The enormous twisted leaves have a very wiry appearance, reminiscent of a Keemun Mao Feng tea. This tea is grown and all hand processed in the Sun Moon lake area of Taiwan. Sun Moon lake is the largest lake on the island of Taiwan and is named so because the eastern side is round and the western side is crescent shaped. It sounds like a very beautiful area surrounded by mountains.

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I steeped the leaves for 4 1/2 minutes in 212 degree F water. This produced a very dark tea liquor with a toasty aroma.

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Here is the tea steeping right after I poured the water in the teapot.

The tea is silky smooth without a trace of astringency. The taste is full and somewhat malty, reminiscent of a very smooth Assam tea. Notes of nutmeg and cinnamon are present with a whisper of mint in the finish. Mmmmm, I am enjoying this unique tea very much!

Each cup of tea represents an imaginary voyage.

~Catherine Douzel

Studio Wednesday

Dec10

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It’s a wild weather day outside, pouring rain, whipping winds and temperatures……..in the 60s. I spent most of the day in my studio but instead of crouched over one of my worktables, I cozied up on the couch with my knitting and crocheting projects.

I love to use a lot of different colors of yarn but then end up with a gazillion little threads to weave in. There’s something very meditative about the movement of yarn and needles. Click, clack, click. With every stitch made, I send love and warmth into my creation.

The photo above shows an afghan stitch (or Tunisian stitch) with a gorgeous purple, red and orange variegated yarn. You use a special long crochet hook and start off by making a chain of stitches. Then you draw a loop through every chain stitch, leaving the loops on the long crochet hook. Once you’ve drawn a loop through every chain stitch, you place the yarn over the hook, draw through one stitch, place the yarn over the hook, draw through 2 stitches and repeat drawing through 2 stitches across the row. Then you start all over with drawing a loop up through every stitch. So, you’re basically repeating these 2 rows throughout the whole piece.

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This is a seed stitch which is a knit one, purl one stitch across your row. Then, on your next row, you do the opposite of the row before. Where there is a knit stitch, you purl. Where there is a purl stitch, you knit. It creates this wonderful bumpy texture. This yarn is a sage green with little flecks of silky blue, tan and green threads.

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This is also a knit one, purl one stitch but where it differs from the seed stitch is that you line up all of the knit and purl stitches. So, on your second row, you knit where there is a knit stitch and purl where there is a purl stitch (from the first row). This is called ribbing and is commonly found at the wrists and waist of a sweater. It creates a very elastic texture and the purl stitches recede so that it looks like all knit stitches on both sides of what you’re creating. My yarn is a rich deep wine red with flecks of silky red threads.

I had some very exciting news today. My son, who is in the Air Force, is finally coming home after completing his tech school training in Texas. He’ll be home tomorrow afternoon and will meet his one month old daughter, Ella, for the very first time. My heart swells just thinking about this very special moment.