Tea and Flower Bulbs

Wow, 2 whole days of relatively warm temperatures!  For those of us who really blew it on planting bulbs, this was a real blessing!  I am always amazed about how many bulbs it takes to make a good showing.  Most of mine went around the lavender bed, so there will be some color while that is looking scruffy.  I don't bother planting tulips as all sorts of critters like them.  I finally bought myself some Fritillaria Persica, a tall dark purple member of this wide ranging family.  It is incredible to me that the tiny checkered fritillaria are in the same family as the very tall Fritillaria Imperialis - the bright orange and yellow ones.

I have drinking a lot of Royal Tea of Kenya's Kenya Black Highland Tea.  As you might be able to guess, it is a black tea, of the CTC variety and I swear these little balck pellets are the smallest I've seen.  This is what I would call a plain tea.There aren't any nuances and no surprises, but it's just a sturdy every day or morning tea.  I generally brew it about 2.5 minutes as CTC tea brews up very quickly.  Sometimes I've gone to 3 minutes and that is just fine as well.  I think more than that would see a lot of tannin come out.

J-Tea of Eugene, Oregon is having a big celebration of black teas on Black Friday (aka the day after Thanksgiving).  One of the features will be Minto Island Black Tea, which is grown in Oregon.  There will be lion dancers and tea leaf readings among many other things.  Check it out at www.jteainternational.com


The Tea Spot is having a drawing to win free tea for a year.  It's on  their website or on Facebook.  I signed up, I'd love free tea for a year.