Tea With the Tots

Ah, the fledglings are coming to the feeders.  The young blue jays, who have gray tummies instead of the white of their parents are all clustered on the seed feeder, watching their parents cling to the suet feeders.  A young female hairy is trying to figure out how to eat and hold on at the same time.  She hasn't quite caught on that she needs to move down the suet feeder a bit to reach the suet, so she is trying to stretch her neck too far, with no result.  In the pine tree, a young blackbird is trying to convince its parent to feed it, while the parent eats a juicy morsel in front of it.  Growing up is tough.

We went to see the movie about the Marigold Hotel.  It is funny, sad, sweet, colorful, and a testimony to life.  There is also a charming scene about tea with Judy Dench.  I would urge you to go out and see it.  You'll be glad you did.

Another Tea Trekker Tea.  I have discovered that I slowly have inched up the quantity of tea I was using, in search of more taste, while I was unhappy with the filter I was using.  Now I am making it too strong and it is less pleasant.  Today I was more careful with my Yunnan 4 year old Wild Arbor Tea.  The leaves are huge and a beautiful mix of mostly black with some gold and brown.  It smells of cherries and new school notebooks with a touch of wine.  I brewed it for 4 minutes and was rewarded with a rich scent of nuts or bran and cooking oatmeal.  The taste was equally rich and smooth with all the nuts and oatmeal and bran in it.  It has a nice thick mouth feel.  I tried it with milk and it really wasn't very good at all, so don't bother.

Doesn't that shade look inviting?  It is the porch of the chapel for my grandmother's church in Meieringen, Switzerland.