Wednesday, December 9, 2009

Always Time For Tea


We passed this tea shop on a Montreal street on our way from somewhere to somewhere else, as is the pace in a city.  Tea is such a great pick-me-up.  I usually make a pot of good strong tea around 3 or 4 in the afternoon.  And if you're feeling ill, isn't tea and toast just the ticket?  Lately, we've rediscovered Bengal Spice herbal tea.  It's exceedingly aromatic and has a sweet little kick to it.  A nice replacement for dessert after supper because someone around here is too lazy...er...busy... to bake lately.

We have a big snow storm brewing here tonight.  It's going to get messy.  20 centimetres of it predicted, followed by 5 mm of rain (I had typed 5 cm of rain, but I'm not in Vancouver any more, so that's not right).  I think tomorrow will be a perfect day to stay in, sipping tea and knitting.  Oh yes, and writing Christmas cards.   Do stop in--if you're able to make it up our driveway. 

19 comments:

  1. I can't believe it was quiet up your way... It was truly raging here.. power was out for 4 hours ... two nights in a row... hope that isn't the way this winter will go...

    and incidentally those "hats" could be the next hit... hey just put the skein on your head and no knitting.. now that is my kind of easy... very becoming!!!

    and no decoratings for you ... oh yeah that is my kind of christmas... no drag it out... no hav ta put it away... I am getting so lazy...

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  2. Hi Gwen,
    In fact, it was so much a non-storm that Pierre shovelled the driveway this morning instead of waiting for it to be ploughed. It's a guy-thing, I guess.

    As for you being lazy...for someone who recently applied 5 coats of varnish to her kitchen floor, on her hands and knees, you must have a wildly different definition of "lazy" than mine!

    Traditions are all well and good, but every so often, there's a need to shake things up a bit. Evolve. Except I still want turkey for Christmas dinner!

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  3. Oh I love Orange Garden tea, it's almost like Christmas pudding in flavour (not texture). Having said that, I have bought Christmas Tea before as well. I use it to flavour the vodka!
    Tonight I'm having a nice Aussie red wine to match the Highland Beef steak that the Stud is going to cook for me!

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  4. Oh and did I mention that we are expecting 26 degrees today?

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  5. Sounds like the Good Times are rolling out your way, Saj! Aussie wine + Highland beef, being cooked for, in 26 degree weather?! Wowzers! Sign me up. My tofu burgers, with milk beverage, served up in a climate malingering in the minuses pales to the point of transparency in comparison. But I did bake up a batch of muffinks to go with my afternoon cuppa today. I recently tried adding some gin to my tea. It had no effect on the brew or on my degree of sobriety. Tea and vodka, you say?

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  6. I would certainly pop in for tea
    if I got the chance
    Will take tea anywhere any time.
    Season's gretings

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  7. What a joy to read !
    Being a tea drinker for the last two years and a learner of Japanese I have to admit that I do import Green Tea from there, as Greece provides nearly only the 'dust' within teabags and compared to 'free and whole leaves' that's a world of a difference, and yes there's tea from India too, some German as well...ach, what a joy to read about tea.
    Please have a wonderful weekend.

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  8. Hi Elizabeth,
    I usually have my tea in a mug but for your visit I will get out my fine bone china cups and saucers and pour from my teapot with the gold spout!
    Season's Greetings to you, too!

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  9. Hi Robert,
    I don't think of Greece as a nation of tea-drinkers so I'm not surprised to hear that you can only find tea dust to drink there. You are very resourceful to import some real teas for yourself. I have a whole basketful of different teas to choose from, including a black tea that has been compressed into star shapes (it tastes a bit "barn-yardy" though).

    I started drinking tea before I even started school. When my Grade 1 teacher learned this she was horrified and told me not to drink any more. I figured my grandmother (who was giving me tea with my breakfast) knew better than my teacher, so I continued drinking tea before school, and lied to my teacher about it. Everybody was happy that way. ;-)

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  10. Muffinks, tea and gin ~ my dream come true.

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  11. Saj, 26° ? That's just not right !

    Sister Lynne, I see while mother nature has been brewing up storms for you, you've been posting up storms, what a smorgasbord here ! As for all this tea, I think you and la Grenouille would get on famously. She will drive half way across France to go find her favorite teas, or get them delivered here... ordinary supermarket tea just won't cut it. But it is good, I admit. And who are those two lovely young lasses in the photo below here ??? Canadian Talibans ? Am still working the bootprints out of my back, but slowly getting better...

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  12. Tea Buns, Crumpets, Toast,
    are so nice with a cuppa.
    They are a perfect accompaniment to a mind-boggling crossword.

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  13. I'm still working on the correct gin-to-tea ratio. If only we were neighbours!

    When I was a little girl, my ballet teacher used to have a large glass of what I thought to be water with her at all times. I noticed she had very funny smelling breath.

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  14. Hmmm, I would've sworn I left some words here... has anyone seen them ?

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  15. I'm not opposed to adding a little (even a lot) of something (almost anything) to my cuppa if the occasion warrants it. And yes, my list of what constitutes a suitable occasion is much too long to go into here, however, perhaps over a cuppa ~

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  16. I would have sworn on a stack of bibles that I'd left a message here the other night, but maybe I was so tired I deleted it by mistake... or maybe there was a tad too much gin in my tea...

    Said something to the effect of you would get along famously with la Grenouille, as she loves tea, and sometimes goes halfway across France to her favorite shop in Lyon to find the tea she covets...

    A strange feeling to think one left a comment and then not find it,... trippant may be the word...

    Best to all you northlanders, sort of like the title to that Dylan tune, A Girl From the North Country...

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  17. Owen, If you come staggering back here you will find your comments have magically (re)appeared! And here I thought you were ignoring me all this time. Some other dear blog pals' comments got lost in some sort of blog blizzard as well. But they've all been shovelled out now, thank goodness. That's thirsty work! I'll just go put the kettle on for tea and fetch down some "flavouring" from the cupboard then...

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  18. Shirl, Sorry your comment also got lost in the blog blizzard. But I was happy to discover it here once the air cleared. I absolutely agree with you about tea and all those tasty toasted things! And it's best to stay clear of gin whilst cross-wording!

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  19. Driftwood, I like the way your mind works. I think you would get along well with my Kiwi blog-friend, The Sagittarian, who is never averse to making up an event to celebrate with a toast, as opposed to toast and tea!

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