Morning Coffee & Afternoon Tea

Christmas in the Blogosphere

Whew, now that my frenzied rush to get the house ready for company has subsided, I can take a minute to look around me and see what's the holiday haps in the blogosphere.

I've been enjoying Kat's Christmas music postings. She promises just Christmas music from now until Christmas Day.  I'll bet there's something there you've never heard in this eclectic collection.  Go have a listen.

Speaking of music... here's a bump to the Coffee Hymn, recorded by my aunt and myself, written/arranged by D, of Third World County.  It has nothing to do with the season, just a cute worshipful tune for those of us who love the holy bean.

Cindy of Cup of Tea & a Blog is still lost, traveling in parts unknown.  We miss you Cindy!  Come home safe!

Fortune of BCCY is traveling too, doing the Tassie circuit.  I can't say I'd like to be traveling in Tasmania at Christmas-time, but ... each to their own. 

Chuck of Cafe Metaphoric must be as busy as I've been these last few weeks.  But I see he likes my Christmas Coffee recipe.  Thanks Chuck!  And he's got a good list of Coffee Lover Gift ideas for those of you who still need last minute gifts.

Vancouver Coffee is in the spirit with a recipe for Mulled Cider, and more Christmas flavorings with the peppermint post.

Here's another one from Tea Posur, who is now 24 (oh, to be 24 again!) - Earl Grey Cocoa.  Sounds interesting.  I'll have to try it.

Over at Bloggle you'll find the Best of 2005 Coffee Brewers (wonderful way to wrap up the year), and Cadmus' own Holiday Blend.  Hey Doug, put me on your Christmas list, I want some!

Audrey of Coffee Sage is back and posting, with her recipe for Swiss (chocolate) Coffee (YUM!), and a Visit from the Coffee Santa.

Steph's Cup of Tea has some great holiday posts.  Start here: Holiday Tea Table.  I just love a beautifully set table!

Well, that's all the blogsurfing I can do this morning.  I'm going to make Christmas cookies today.  Every year my mom and I used get together and spend an entire day cooking and baking.  We'd have coffee and make batches of CCCCCC for gifts (and eating) and sugar cookies for the gift baskets (and eating).  I'm hoping her spirit will join me this morning as I bake.  I've modified our sugar cookie recipe a bit, I hope she won't mind.  The big question, the really big question, is ... shall I have cookies for breakfast?

Teapot Blogging!

Teapots, teapots, teapots is a blog all about that friendliest of vessels, the teapot! 

This is a fun blog!  Lots of variety, from elegant and beautiful to whimsical, cute and collectible.  Not to mention strange and unusual.

Check out this oddity, the "Box too small" teapot.  Would you believe it sold for $4000?  Amazing.  I'm in the wrong business.

via Wonders of Tea

Coffee & Tea Blogs

I do love blogsurfing.  This morning, cup firmly in hand, I slurped and surfed, followed some links that led to some other links, and found some new blogs to add to my blogroll - some about coffee, some about tea:

Coffee Spills - a blog about coffee shops

Good Cup of Coffee - coffee and a good cause.  I don't usually like frenetic causers.  They make me uncomfortable, and make my conscience itch.  But I found it interesting to read the posts.

A Thought Over Coffee - a blog about  "the dreaming and planning of Cafe.Evoke, an art and coffee establishment, to construction and opening day"

Cha Dao - A blog that focuses on tea tasting reviews and notes, from many contributors (one of my favorite tea people - Cindy of Cuppa Tea - is a contributor).  Wonderful blog.  Check out the latest post on Kali Cha: Darjeeling or Oolong?   A new a tea I'll have to try!

Tea Arts - A blog about the Wu-Wo Tea Ceremony and "the many facets of Tea Culture".  Lots of cool photos.

Tamaryo - Unfortunately my high school french is long forgotten, so I'll have to find a translation tool.  In the meantime, I LOVE the photos on this tea blog.

Teasire - Lots of different tea stuff, a guy after my own heart.  In today's post, Mathew explains the origins of the blogname.

Tea Blogs Salut

Just wanted to give a tip of the cup and a cheery wave to some folx talking about tea in the blogosphere.  Some of these I have been on my blogroll for a while, some are brandy new. 

* Steph's Cup of Tea
* Tea Posur
* Wonders of Tea
* Tea Swap

Tell 'em Christine sent you. :)

Sweet Yixing Teapot

If you've ever thought about buying a Yixing tea pot, you'll want to read this post from Tea Masters.  Stephanie describes some things to look for, and also shares photos of this beautiful zi sha tea pot (that's what it's made of -- ground zi sha stone).

Stephanie's blog is a favorite of mine (although I can't read some of it; this girl GUY is MULTI lingual) partly because of her his beautiful artful photographs, and partly because her  his gentle personality and love of tea shine through in each post. 

This is one of my favorites photos - http://teamasters.blogspot.com/2005/05/cup-with-long-jin-tea-and-floating-1.html.  Such a peaceful image.  Even if you're not a tea lover, this blog is worth a look-see.

The Perfect Bribe

I don't much like having a holiday that falls on a Monday.  It just shifts Monday into Tuesday.  I know, that should be a good thing, but it's not.  It's a mental thing.  Mondays are rough and Tuesday you get to recover from Monday. 

And today I had ANOTHER Monday -- busy and hectic and abnormally demanding.  I don't think it's fair to have Monday off, only to have to pay for it by two additional Mondays.

There is a coffee story coming, I promise. 

I had to drive a goodly distance to a meeting this morning, which pretty much skewered any possibility that this would be a good day.  Even though 9 am is still relatively cool (for around here) it's still much too hot for any sane person to be out and about. 

I gave myself just enough time to get there, but then ... Murphy's Law ... there was a wreck on the freeway.  I was sitting in the lane that led to the onramp, 3 blocks down, and traffic was completely stopped.  When I called to ask them to reschedule, I must have sounded grumpy and disgruntled, because they offered me the perfect bribe.

Coffee!

I'll stop at Starbucks, she says, and get us all something.  What would you like?

Oooh, cappuccino, says I, thank you very much I'll be right there!  I bagged the freeway, yipped a fluey and headed for the back road and was there before the coffee had cooled.

What a wonderful client.  I wish they were all like that.

Aside from busy-business, I've been working on another blog.  I decided I needed a place to post pictures and photos of things I love that aren't related to coffee or tea.  I've been trying to drag my own creativity out of the closet lately, and have been greatly admiring of those who are already "out".  Those who can call themselves writers, those who can call themselves artists, and not cringe or look around to see who might be sniggering.   I'll post more on that topic later ... over here.  I'm still tweaking and fluffing the pillows, but please feel free to come and visit.

The Write Mug

Writer Nancy over at Soliloquy notes how important it is to have her favorite mug to enjoy both her coffee and her writing. 

Amen! 

I've gone through many-a-mug, and I can tell you, the shape of the handle, the width of the rim, the feel of it against my mouth, and the look/color/texture of course, all make a huge difference in my slurping experience.  The cup is hugely important!  This is not an eccentricity.  This is not an idiosyncrasy.  It's a fundamental necessity of life!

I've been enjoying Nancy's blog for a while now, but never leave comments because you have to be a Blogger member!  I like the looks of your mug, Nancy.  And you've got one of those little warming plates!!!  I'm jealous.

I've Been Tagged!

My first ... thanks fo David: My Music is Like Totally ...

It's fitting since I'm sitting here listening to an old tune and sipping a cuppa.  Music is as big a part of my day as coffee or tea!  So here's the list:

Total volume of music files on my computer?
   1040 files, 4.1 gig, I don't know how many hours of music that is.  A lot.

The last CD I bought was...
     Can I name 2?  I bought them at the same time:
        Evanescence, Fallen
        Joni Mitchell, Blue

Song playing right now
   We'll Meet Again, by Vera Lynn (thanks to Kat)

Five songs I listen to a lot or that mean a lot to me (in no particular order)
   Only Time, by Enya
   Hemorrhage, by Fuel
   Bring Me to Life, by Evanescence
   And So It Goes, by Billy Joel
   Since You Asked, Dan Fogelberg & Tim Weisberg

Which 5 people are you passing this baton to, and why?
  Kat, of Keep the Coffee Coming, because she's so eclectic.
   I'll add more as I find them.  If anybody wants to volunteer to jump on the wagon here, let me know and I'll add you here.

Lovely Tea Blog

I stumbled across this wonderful tea blog - Cup of tea and a Blog, and I sort of fell in and got lost for a while. I felt right at home.  Dorothy Parker & Tea sent me on a wonderful journey of poetry and short stories.  I know I should be working, but this was a much better way to spend a Friday afternoon.

I've evolved!!

Hey!! I'm no longer an Insignificant Microbe in the TTLB Blogosphere Ecosystem!  I've evolved into a Crawly Amphibian.  But it looks like you don't make the front page list until you've at least become a Playful Primate, so I've got a loooooong way to go.  What a hoot!