Christmas Countdown Tea

Today I'm sharing my 9th Day of Christmas in the 12 Days of Christmas Swap with Kimmie and all my Tea Tuesday friends whose blogs are found on Kimmie's sidebar.


Today I'm drinking a black tea from The Spice Merchant called Gold Kuan Yin. From the notes I took, this is a premium quality tea from China. It is very strong, and of course, I had to make it even stronger by allowing it to steep while I got everything ready for Santa's visit on Saturday. I'm sure Santa will want to ride away on the rocking horse after the really hard sandwich I prepared for him. Of course, I'm not sure why I let the infusing ball land where it did! I only noticed after I started clearing the tea paraphernalia away.


I moved my tea and today's package to the tree area, where I noted the wrapping included a tag that was held together with a ribbon and button.


Now I've vowed not to show the backs of these art squares, but I honestly thought this was the front when I photographed it. A handmade crocheted doily was held on with another button, all over a background of fabric and paper. I was wondering why Halle, another Tea Tuesday participant, had put her information on the front of her square.


Imagine my surprise when I turned the piece over and found I had been looking at the back! More fabric, paper, and nine lovely ladies dancing across the page, were accompanied by stamping and a daisy. What a fun square. I hope you'll hop over to Halle's Hobbies because I'm sure her photos will be far better than mine. And you'll probably want to stay for tea with her, too.

Today I'm featuring the Japanese artist, Kaoru Mansour. Born in Japan, Kaoru now lives in California in the US. I chose her because Halle's crocheted circle reminds me of some of Kaoru's pieces, especially those on gourds. This eclectic artist works in both two and three dimensional art. Her drawings on wood panels are superb, her collages are mesmerizing, and her gourd art is like nothing I've ever seen before. I hope you check out Kaoru Mansour's site today. And I'll be back later to unveil the next box in my advent calendar.

I'll be out most of the day, so come on in. The front door isn't locked, the infuser is filled, and the kettle is ready for the fire. Make yourself at home and have a freshly brewed cup of tea. I'm off to do some last minute Christmas shopping, because I kept putting it off. Now it's the proverbial "11th hour" for me. I may or may not have time to take pictures, but I'll take my camera, just in case.