Things that make me happy (Tea Tuesday)

Today my tea is Gold Rush. It makes me happy that I can enjoy it with Kimmie from Art in Red Wagons, whose sidebar has links to all the other wonderful players I've gotten to know over these past several months. This light and fruity tea is full of the natural goodness of elderberries, red sandalwood, and orange flowers. It is great cold, but today I'll be drinking it hot.

It also makes me happy that you can see photos in their entirety on my blog today because I imported them from my computer, although I admit I was happy to receive several positive comments on the larger photos from yesterday and Sunday.

A long time ago (OK, back in the early 80s), I decided to design my first kitchen. It would be white with copper and blue accents. Not just any blue, but dark blue. Sound familiar? That was another century, a different city, and a huge and spacious farmhouse style kitchen. It was also a time when blue kitchen accessories were not to be found. So to meet my cobalt blue requirements, I had to settle for that enamelware found everywhere in Mexico and at camping stores. I bought every piece I could find, including a coffee pot, ladles, pots, pans, plates, bowls, and lots of silverware.

At that time, I had a red Chesapeake Bay Retriever, the rarest color of the breed. I also had a Russian Blue cat that was gray. I bought these Taylor and Ng pieces, the only ones I could find in this design because of my cat and dog and their special relationship. I also thought the baskets looked like

my blue enamelware dishes and cups. Fast forward to today, and I've once again got a white kitchen with copper and blue accents, but this time, the blues are cobalt glass, ceramics, china, and such. The enamelware has been retired to shelves and cabinet tops and are now considered "decorations." Today I am putting these pieces to use once again. They still make me smile every time I see or use them.

In case you don't know what these pieces look like, here is a closeup of the mug under a rather harsh early morning light bulb. Well, the water is boiling, so I'd better be on my way. Thanks for stopping by and please feel free to let me know what makes you happy today.

Today's blog was, according to Cha Dao, one of the first tea blogs, having just celebrated their 5th anniversary. Most of the tea discussed is from the Pacific Asia area, although there is also reference to tea in general, such as the one on prices of tea, or the one on Starbucks introducing their Argo tea to China. However, there are also some fabulous tea reviews, many of which I've never heard of. Although the posts are few and far between, they are all informative and thought provoking. I hope you take a moment to enjoy Cha Dao along with your tea today.