Wonderful, Wonderful

For the moment I learned how to put a picture up from email, no telling if I will forget again.  I thought you might like to see who is doing all this yakking about tea.  Yeah, I have mostly white hair.  Does it count if I am really 29 inside?  Actually, I am content to be who I am, where I am and the age I am.  The yard behind me is ours, the trees are the ones I often talk about being back lit at night or in the morning.

Aah, Yunnan, you have such lovely teas! And I have found another super one. Just the aroma makes me feel happy and excited. This gem is China Yunnan Spiral Buds, from Upton Teas, ZY78. Upon opening the packet, I was hit with a deep sweet, spicy scent and lovely tightly curled golden buds, coated with gold dust. I was brave and brewed it for the recommended 5 minutes and was rewarded with some super tea.


The brewing tea first struck me as smelling of baked sweet potatoes, then spicy and a tad metallic. The tea tasted very initially of green banana and then settled into a spicy, earthy sweet mouthful, with a bit of copper and some vegetable floating over it.. The taste lingers and each sip enhances it. Wonderful, wonderful.


The red bellied woodpeckers have a second family and one is almost an albino, its markings are such a faint gray. Hopefully it will darken with age. Currently it’s coming to the suet feeder and wanting the father to feed it, but the father is trying to get it to be more independent. A noisy process.


I bought a small flat of basil that I am going to try to winter over. We have excellent windows for this, if we have sunshine. Last winter we had lots and it was wonderful. The year before was quite gray. I have learned how to water the orchids I bought and I must say they are now doing really well, sending out new shoots, blooming away. Outside the back porch, the clethera/summer sweet is in bloom and it smells so fine - a perfect accompaniment to meals. It is covered with baby bumble bees.  I wish they were honey bees.  We need our honey bees.

Don't forget the World Tea East, coming to Philadelphia Sept 11 and 12.  Jane Pettigrew will be there, along with Bruce Richardson.  On Thursday, there will be a "Around the World Tea Tasting".  It will be on the expensive side, but it is all day and covers an awful lot of teas, all of which will be top-notch.  Please go to http://www.worldteaeast.com/ and check out the offerings. I hope to see you there!