Show and Tell - Valentine jewelry

Time for Kelli's Show and Tell, go to Kelli's There's No Place Like Home to see and enjoy many more Show and Tell items. Since Valentine's Day is coming up soon, I'm sharing some of my jewelry I wear during this time.

Cloissonne heart on a gold chain

Below: Gold mesh heart on a chain, it opens up.

Below: The tiny red rose bracelet is special to me because my husband brought it back from Italy. It is very dainty.

Below: a red rose pin

Below are earring I love to wear, the roses are fabric.

Below is a vintage-look brooch. The gloves are just for display, I don't wear those!

Thank you for your interest, please leave a comment! And please do return soon! Katherine

January Hot Tea Month

Today is the last day of January and the Hot Tea Month celebration. Saturday I will start showing Valentine decorations. I think this romantic little tea set looks like something that could be used for Valentine's Day. This tea vignette display is in our master bedroom. My husband bought this for me at Cracker Barrel several years ago.



Thank you for your interest, please leave a comment! And please do return soon!

Katherine

Visit from a long time friend!

My high school friend, Judy came to visit (from Alabama) We are mermaid wannabees!

We went to Shakespeare's Tea Room, our husbands even went with us!

Thank you for your interest, please leave a comment! And please do return soon!

Katherine

Chat and a Meme

I've been busy preparing for company coming tomorrow. They are staying two nights. Then Friday we have more company coming for the weekend! I enjoy friends visiting, but I may not be able to get online while they are here.

Two people have tagged me for memes, two new blogging friends, both named Betty! Betty at Country Charm, and Betty at Betty's This and That, I hope you are not getting bored with hearing about me! I'll do Betty (Country Charm) next.

Here's the Meme:

FOUR MOVIES WATCHED OVER AND OVER:

1. It’s a Wonderful Life

2. Rudy (because my husband loves to watch it!)

3. Steel Magnolias

4. Under the Tuscan Sun

FOUR PLACES I HAVE LIVED:

1. Huntsville, AL

2. Peace Dale, RI

3. Kokomo, IN

4. Titusville, FL (I now live 75 miles north, still in FL)

FOUR SHOWS I WATCH:

1. Oprah

2. Monk

3. Regis and Kelly

4. Extreme Makeover, Home Edition

FOUR PLACES I HAVE BEEN:

1. Italy

2. England, Holland

3. Mexico

4. Hawaii

FOUR PEOPLE WHO EMAIL ME:

1. Janet

2. DeAnn

3. My daughters

4. My grandsons

FOUR FAVORITE THINGS TO EAT:

1. Pizza

2. Desserts

3. Cinnabons (I only get them at the Atlanta airport!)

4. Homemade bread

FOUR PLACES I WOULD RATHER BE:

1. Hawaii, we were there this time last year.

2. Home with my husband, I’m a homebody.

3. With our grandbabies

4. Living where my close friends live.

FOUR THINGS I LOOK FORWARD TO THIS YEAR:

1. Good health for my husband and me, his cancer report will be good.

2. Traveling to my home town to attend my 50^th class reunion

3. Meeting new friends on blogs.

4. Spending time with our grandchildren when we can, they don’t live in our town.

FOUR PEOPLE TO TAG:

1. Carrie

2. Alice

3. Rachel

4. Adrienne

Photo above - hall tree in our foyer. A little girl figurine welcomes you!

Thank you for your interest, please leave a comment! And please do return soon!

Katherine

Show and Tell - Tea Time Jewelry

My camera is fixed and I can now do the Show and Tell I had planned to do. I apologize for doing two today, I hope it is okay with Kelli, and everybody!

Go to Kelli's Show and Tell, for many more interesting and fun things! Today in keeping with my tea theme and National Hot Tea Month, I'm sharing tea time jewelry.

This little jeweled tea pot and tea cup pin (below) was given to me recently by a dear friend.

This is a Sandy Clough tea cup pin (below,) she is a wonderful artist. I especially like it because it has a yellow rose on it!

This tiny pewter tea cup pin was also a gift from a friend.

These two hat shaped pins below aren't tea pots or tea cups, but I used to wear them to tea, before I had the others.

This straw hat pin below was given to be by my friend, Norma, who died of ovarian cancer. It is a special reminder of her.

I hope you enjoyed seeing my tea time jewelry!

Thank you for your interest, please leave a comment! And please do return soon!

Katherine

Show and Tell - ChineseTeas

Time for Kelli's Show and Tell, go there for lots more interesting and fun items. Today in keeping with the tea theme I've had this week, and National Hot Tea Month, I'm showing the tea pot and cups my husband and I use when we eat Chinese food and drink Oolong tea. We bought the tins of teas when we were in China Town, in San Francisco. The teas are L to R: Jasmine, Oolong, and Green Tea. Other tins we have are - LukOn Tea, Shou Mei Tea, and Tikuanyin Tea.

This is not the Show and Tell I had planned to do, but my digital camera won't let me download the pictures! If my husband can fix it, I'll load them later!

More tea time items and tea information follow this, for those of you who have not seen those.

Thank you,

Katherine

More Tea Stainers

Some of you mentioned having tea stainers that fit into the small tea pots and this reminded me that I have those too. These small tea pots hold about two cups of tea. The little strainer baskets fit inside so the tea leaves don't have to sit in the water too long. I find the tea gets bitter when it stays in the water/pot too long.
Actually the blue tea pot had a matching ceramic tea strainer, but I found the holes in the strainer were too big and some tea leaves escaped through the strainer, so I use the one above.

More info about tea below.

Thank you for your interest, please leave a comment! And please do return soon!

Katherine

How to Decaffeinate Tea

The Tea Room, Savannah, GA provided these directions for decaffeinating tea leaves.

"Caffeine is highly soluable and is one of the first constituents of the tea leaf to be extracted in steeping. Usually 80 percent of the tea's caffeine content is released within the first 20 to 30 seconds of steeping. You can enjoy virtually caffeine free tea with small sacrifice of flavor. Therefore, by discarding the water after the first 30 to 60 seconds of steeping and adding fresh hot water to the now decaffeinated leaf...."

I can't tolerate caffeine, so I use this method often, this way I can enjoy teas that don't come decaffeinated. Click on the picture above to read all of the information.


Thank you for your interest, please leave a comment! And please do return soon!

Katherine

How to Brew Black Tea

While visiting The Tea Room in Savannah, GA, I was given these directions when I purchased loose tea.

Thank you for your interest, please leave a comment! And please do return soon!

Katherine

Tea Accoutrements

I've been talking a lot about liking loose teas. Above are a few tea time utensils I use with loose tea. From left to right: Tea ball with ceramic snowflake attached. Above that is a small house shaped tea holder. A tea ball holder with handle, on the handle is a tiny tea pot. In the center is a small metal tea pot shaped tea holder. Next is a metal spoon tea holder. Last is a tea strainer, I have loose tea in it. It is used to strain tea if you drop your loose tea into a tea pot without being in a holder. It has a little tea pot on the end of it. Most of these were given to me as gifts.

Have you ever used one of these at tea time?

Thank you for your interest, please leave a comment! And please do return soon!

Katherine

More Than a Tea Bag

Loose teas are my favorite, but a close second are the fancy silk tea bags. Tea Forte' has these pyramid shaped silk infusers. Topping them off is a tiny paper leaf of tea! They have several flavors and even have little square dishes to set the infuser in. Someday I will buy one of those! This little demi tea cup and saucer was from my mother's tea cup collection. The silk tea bag on the left is a Harney and Sons tea "sachet." It's a special touch to use one of these.This small plate is Old Country Roses "Seasons of Colour," by Royal Albert.

Thank you for your interest, please leave a comment! And please do return soon! Katherine

Jane Austen's Heroines

Are you watching Masterpiece on PBS Sunday nights? Which heroine are you? You can take the test below to see! I'm "Anne Elliot!"

Take the Quiz here!

Thank you for your interest, please leave a comment! And please do return soon!

Katherine

Sunflower in January

Today my husband took two big boxes of clothes, etc. to our church thrift store. When he returned he brought me this cute little bear! She was marked only $1.00. He asked how much with the chair and the man said both are a dollar! Of course my hubby gave a five dollar bill as a donation! It has "Sunflower" on the little tag on her leg. I named her "Sunni Flower" (Sunni after my email address.) My husband often brings me roses, but he has never brought me a Sunflower, especially in January! We've had a gray, gloomy day today, so this little ray of sunshine was very welcomed!

Thank you for your interest, please leave a comment! And please do return soon!

Katherine

Show and Tell - Compact

Time for Kelli's Show and Tell, go to There's No Place Like Home to see many more interesting Show and Tell stories!

Today I'm sharing a vintage compact my friend, DeAnn, gave me, she collects vintage compacts and gave me this one because it has a rose on it! While visiting DeAnn recently I took pictures of some of her compact collection. She has a glass top coffee table with a display area inside. It is perfect for her compacts. She also has some on shelves in her house. I think they are such neat and unusual things to collect!

That's a bowl of white glass fruit on top of the table.

Close-ups of both sides of the table.

Thank you for your interest, please leave a comment! And please do return soon!

Katherine

My Love Affair With Tea

Yellow rose tea pot displayed on wicker/iron bed tray in our guest room.

Tea Meme

Alice did a meme with a twist. She is the tea maven of Tea in my Cup who shares wonderful tea party ideas and recipes. I also want to do the tea meme like she did.

1. I wish I had grown up drinking hot tea as a child the way Alice did, but I didn’t. Living in the South I drank iced tea at most of our meals. It was Lipton's loose tea. I even remember when they started using tea bags!

2. I remember drinking coffee for breakfast, I can’t remember how young I was, but I do remember drinking coffee as a teenager. I drank it with lots of milk and sugar!

3. This is how my love affair with tea began: When I was a junior in high school my boyfriend took me to visit his mother. She was a tea drinker (from up north!) She offered me tea in a pretty china tea cup! That was all it took, I was hooked! I started drinking hot tea.

4. I like my hot tea with lemon and sugar. I don’t care for it with milk. My husband prefers milk in his hot tea. (He’s from up north!) When using sugar lumps (my favorite) I must have two! I like honey, but don't care for it in my hot tea.

5. I stopped drinking coffee when I was about 22. I was pregnant with my first child and the coffee made me very sick. I haven’t had it since!

6. Weird thing is – I do love to smell coffee perking (does it still perk?) but hate the bitter taste. Yep, that’s weird!

7. Nope, I didn’t marry that boyfriend from high school, but I remained friends with his mother who introduced me to tea, and started another love affair (with tea!)

Anybody else want to join us in this tea meme? Everyone is welcome, just let me know and I'll link you to our tea meme!

Thank you for your interest, please leave a comment! And please do return soon!

Katherine

Got the Blues Teas

Little Blue and White Tea Room tea pot

Have you ever tried Wedgewood teas? I found these at TJ Maxx, and they weren't very expensive. Loose tea is in the tin, but the boxes contain tea bags.

The tin contains "Queen Anne" loose tea. The boxes have English Afternoon, and English Apple tea bags. The white floral box is "Picnic Tea." They are all very tasty. These teas can sure chase away the blues!

Carrie at Oak Rise Cottage is also featuring blue on her blog today, stop by and see her beautiful collection of blue and white tea cups and saucers.

Thank you for your interest, please leave a comment! And please do return soon!

Katherine