Tuesday 4~Coffee & Tea!

 Tuesday 4

Coffee & Tea

Hello! Glad you are back for more of Toni Taddeo's Tuesday 4.. If you knew Toni you would know that coffee was one of her great pleasures in life. So friends, let's talk about those two popular drinks tea and coffee. Okay? Let's go....

1. What is/are your favorite coffee? (brand or flavor) If you are a tea lover, which tea is the best for you?

If you have known me long you know that I am a "tea-totaller"...I never have acquired a taste for coffee in any form. I do make a pot of coffee every day for my hubby and son, however, and they say it's pretty good,  but they aren't hard to please. No fancy stuff for them...just good old regular Maxwell House or Folger's coffee will do. But for me, well, my every day tea is Lipton's black tea (orange pekoe). I brew a pot of tea every morning and have my morning cup of hot tea and then save the rest of the pot to make a pitcher of iced tea.

2. How do you take your coffee or tea? Sugar, cream , flavoring?

I put a scant teaspoon of sugar in my hot tea, but I prefer my iced tea unsweetened with lemon, please! And please don't ruin my hot tea with milk or cream. No thank you!  Now, I do like some different flavored teas when I am having a little tea party or just for a change of pace.  

I like English Breakfast Tea,  Earl Grey, Lady Grey, Darjeeling, Constant Comment, and a variety of spiced teas or herbal teas. But I always come back to my plain old Lipton tea when I just need a cup of tea.

3. Do you go out for coffee/tea with friends? Ever enjoy a real tea room or a tea party?

I have been to a real tea room on occasion, but it has been a long time now since I was able to do that. I would love to go again, especially to one where everyone dresses up and wears a hat. We just don't have any such places near us here and I honestly don't have too many friends close by who enjoy that kind of thing, which is disappointing.

I have given a few tea parties, but most of my little tea parties are with "me, myself, and I", or my little friend Lily Grace.  

However, if you go over to the right hand margin of my blog, and under the section called "Some Special Topics", you will find a couple of categories for "Tea Time" of "Tea Party", and if you click on either of those you will find many examples of my tea parties. HERE Is a LINK to a previous post about Tea Parties that you might enjoy.  

And Here is the LINK to this particular tea party pictured above.  This had to be my most favorite tea party ever given.

4. If you could design a coffee shop or even a coffee/tea station in your home, what would it be like?

Well, the lighting is bad right now while I am trying to finish this post, so this is the best I can do. This is our current coffee/tea station in the kitchen. Nothing especially fancy...just the basic essentials:

I have an electric tea kettle since I am prone to burning up the old fashioned tea kettles. We have a basic coffee maker with a timer on it so it can be set to come on early in the morning for our son who leaves home around 4:30 a.m.

We have plenty of mugs to choose from, which I prefer to use for every day tea or coffee. I save the fancy tea cups for real tea parties.

As I said earlier, the guys drink regular ordinary coffee here. However, if you are coming for a visit and you enjoy a particular kind of coffee, please let me know in advance and I will do my best to provide it for you...or we may just have to go find a little coffee shop somewhere and have some coffee and tea there! I do aim to please my guests if at all possible.

Romans 12:10-13

"10 Be kindly affectionate to one another with brotherly love, 

in honor giving preference to one another; 

11 not lagging in diligence, fervent in spirit, serving the Lord; 

12 rejoicing in hope, patient in tribulation, continuing steadfastly in prayer; 

13 distributing to the needs of the saints, given to hospitality."

Now let's go over to Tuesday 4's "Tea Room" and /or "Coffee Shop" and visit with our friends and have a lovely tea party! 

I am posting this early because I will be gone most of the day tomorrow (Tuesday).  So I will try to catch up with you all later as soon as I can!  Have a blessed and wonderful day.

Tuesday 4: Tea Party

 

Welcome to Tuesday 4,  the legacy of Toni Taddeo, kept in her honor and memory.

Let's discuss tea parties. Okay! Here's a topic I enjoy talking about!

1. Do you invite people over for coffee or tea? I certainly have in the past, but this year has kind of put a damper on having people over for any kind of fellowship. Hopefully that will change in the New Year. However, I often have "virtual tea parties"...or a tea party for one (or is it three? me, myself, and I?) just for the fun of it.

My Christmas carolers are all ready for a tea party:

Here is a LINK to my most favorite Tea Party. We had so much fun with these precious little ones. I need to do this again someday, before they grow up too much and aren't interested in tea parties with "old ladies" anymore.

2. Entertaining is a good way to serve others. The Bible encourages it in talking about how to be a good person:

Isaiah 58:6-7 "“Is not this the kind of fasting I have chosen: to loose the chains of injustice and untie the cords of the yoke, to set the oppressed free and break every yoke? Is it not to share your food with the hungry and to provide the poor wanderer with shelter— when you see the naked, to clothe them, and not to turn away from your own flesh and blood? " 

Here is a link to other Bible verses that talk about practicing hospitality.

My favorite is Hebrews 13:2 "Do not forget to entertain strangers, for by so doing some have unwittingly entertained angels."

"A Tea Party with the Angels"

Do you entertain often?  Not as much as I used to.  But as a Pastor's family in the past we have had many gatherings in our home with friends, strangers, neighbors, family, church members, missionaries, kids young and old. I love to have people in our home. I am not a great cook or decorator...but when we get together with people we care about no one seems to mind that things aren't done according to specific rules of entertaining and etiquette. They just want to have a good time of fellowship and fun. Our home tends to be the family gathering place for holidays and birthdays as well.

This is a link to a lovely gathering of ladies in my previous home for tea, prayer, and fellowship

3. What kind of refreshments do you offer to guests? 

When we have large groups, everyone brings a dish of something to share, kind of pot-luck style according to whatever the season or holiday or theme may be. I normally provide the main course (meat), beverages, and other side dishes as necessary, but because we so often have large groups I have always found that people don't mind bringing something to share and it makes it more fun and interesting for all.  (and not as much work for me so I can enjoy the party!)

4. Do you enjoy tea and/or coffee? How do you take it?

I am a tea-totaller myself. I like hot tea or unsweet iced tea. Hot tea with a teaspoon of sugar (or honey) and lemon if available. Iced tea, unsweet with lemon and lots of ice. I also enjoy different flavors of teas/herbal teas, etc., but my normal everyday tea is Lipton black orange pekoe tea.

 

My tea "station" in our kitchen, where I fix a pot of tea every morning to make a pitcher of iced tea later, and a cup of hot tea for my morning wake up cup.  I have never liked coffee, but my husband does, so I make him a pot of coffee every day.

If it is in your power to entertain friends and family, do so often. People get lonely and need to be with others. You have more to offer than you know! Giving of your time and self is priceless. 

 
I totally agree! The only thing that has held me back this year is this crazy "pandemic". People have not been as eager to visit in homes and I feel we have really lost something very precious and beautiful. My goal in the New Year is to get back into doing more entertaining, but probably on a smaller scale. I love having smaller more intimate tea parties with ladies...tea for two can be just as nice as tea for more. And if you prefer coffee, that's not problem at all! It doesn't have to be a formal tea party either...just a meeting of friends...sometimes to talk about personal issues, or perhaps a study of the Bible together...encouraging one another in our faith and daily living.

"And let us consider one another in order to stir up love and good works,

not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as is the manner of some, but exhorting one another, and so much the more as you see the Day approaching."

Hebrews 10:24-25

Thank you for joining in this little visit today, as we talked about having tea parties. For more stories about tea parties and tea times you can click on the links on the right side column under the heading of "Some Special Topics".

Thank you to Annie from Cottage By The Sea  for carrying on the tradition started by our dear blogging friend Toni Taddeo. You are welcome to join the party over at http://tuesdaysplace.blogspot.com/2020/11/tea-party.html to see what others have shared this week.

I hope this has inspired you to think about ways you can encourage others by opening your home for little friendly gatherings.  It will make a difference in someone else's life when you include them in your life!

(Note: I apologize for the strange formatting and mixed up fonts in this post. Couldn't seem to make it right, but hopefully you can still read it and enjoy it!)

The Week in Review and Into the Future!

Hello Friends!! I hope your week has gone well since we last visited. Ours has been busy and interesting to say the least, but I won't go into ALL the details...just hit some of the more pleasant highlights.  Number one, I am very thankful to finally be feeling MUCH better and getting back to wanting to do things again. It seems as though the last few weeks have been a blur of illness, hubby also having some physical issues, and both of us just praying that we will regain our strength and be able to get moving in a more positive direction in our new home and life.   Praise God we seem to be on the upswing, and looking forward to better days ahead.

That being said, I wanted to show you a few things that have been going on.  

I acquired this lovely little wicker table from my son, who found it somewhere, and he and his wife were going to just try to sell it in their business or re-purpose it somehow...but I had a plan that kept bouncing around in my head and made them an offer they couldn't refuse...so now it is mine.  

This is in our kitchen, in an area that seems to be a kind of wasted space.

(This was my first option, between two regular dining chairs)

It is kind of a long narrow area on the other side of the sink/island, with not enough space for a big table or any real wall space because of the windows for any other kinds of furniture...so I've just kind of lined  up some extra chairs there and wanted some kind of little table to break it up a bit...

My first option was here at this end, and please note the needlepoint sign on the wall, created by my paternal grandmother many years ago, which says:

"Come into my kitchen and chat with me while I prepare a pot of tea."

And then at the other end of the area there is this favorite old painting of two sweet little old ladies, sitting in their chairs and visiting. There used to be an engraved title under the picture, which is worn off now with age, but it said "The Gossips"... one of my most favorite pictures which came from my maternal grandmother's home.

 I've always loved having a rocking chair in my kitchen, so that anyone who comes to visit has a comfortable place to sit and visit with me while I am preparing our tea or supper or whatever...and actually I find myself sitting there frequently while something is cooking on the stove that I don't want to venture too far away from...so it is a good spot to sit and read or drink  a cup of tea while I wait for the "pot to boil", so to speak...therefore I moved the little wicker table down beside the rocker, so that there is actually a place to put a pot of tea and a tea cup for my guest or even myself...and even though it may feel a little crowded in that space...it is a comfortable place that hopefully will be welcoming to whomever wishes to visit a while...

 I will leave it there for now and see how that works out. But don't you agree? It really needed to come home with me.  Yes, I know I'm supposed to be downsizing...but sometimes we have to compromise with our ideas...And this was all in the spirit of being more hospitable and practicing hospitality...

Speaking of words that are similar to hospital...hubby actually made a couple of visits to our community hospital this past week...well maybe more than a couple now that I think about it. Once for some x-rays because of some severe back pain (which has now subsided, praise the Lord, but may need some further investigation and treatment in the future), and then one evening via ambulance because of what felt like a heart attack...which turned out to be nothing wrong with his heart, praise God, but apparently some kind of spasm of the esophagus that very much felt like a heart attack...and caused his BP to escalate severely.  Folks, any kind of pain in the chest is worth checking out.  I'd rather have a false alarm but be in a safe place than to ignore the pain and find out it really was something bad and it be too late to get help.  And then the third visit was to have a scheduled colonoscopy:  Which turned out fine...here he is in pre-op waiting his turn.

 One thing we have both agreed upon this past week: we are thankful that our new home is within about 11 miles from our community hospital, and it is a very easy straight ride to get there.  We hope that we don't have to visit there quite as often as this past week, but we are thankful that when we needed it, it was easy and convenient to get to.   Our previous home was at least 25 miles from the nearest hospital. 

Switching gears a bit...this morning I was rejoicing in this beautiful new day, and then even happier when hubby was able to come out on the deck and enjoy the morning with me.  We are truly blessed and very thankful that the Lord has given us this time together. This is nothing to take for granted.

Switching gears once again, we had to drive into Palatka today (our county seat), and we parked near this old Coca Cola bottling building.  I know there are many such old Coca Cola bottling buildings in many cities throughout the south. This one is no longer used by Coca Cola...but the engraved signs still remain on the iconic brick building:

 The sign in the window above says Azalea City Brewing co., and I noticed some big vats in there, so maybe a brewing company is taking it over...not sure, but I just thought it was interesting.

We went into town to pick up a lease vehicle, because we are getting ready to go on a little trip this weekend for a family reunion.  We have discovered that we are better off to lease a vehicle when we have any long-distance driving to do than to risk our thirteen year old vehicle breaking down on the road somewhere.  We were pretty amazed at this fancy hi-tech vehicle...doesn't even use a real key...I know many of you have these already...but for us it was like something out of the future...it has so many fancy buttons and screens and things that I hope we can manage to drive it without flying into outer space...

So, now I need to concentrate on packing and getting ready to leave early in the morning.  Thankfully our kids are traveling with us so we have a spare driver if we need it.  These young "whippersnappers" understand these new-fangled modern vehicles better than us old folks from out in the sticks. LOL.

With these thoughts in mind I will leave you to contemplate and consider your blessings, as I have been doing mine. This week could have turned out very differently than we'd like, and I want to go on record giving thanks to the Lord for His gracious mercy and grace toward us, His children. None of us is guaranteed tomorrow, therefore we must be prepared for the future and eternity at any time.

Here is a verse that gives encouragement and hope:

"For I know the plans that I have for you, declares the Lord, 

plans for good and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope."

Jeremiah 29:11 

Thank You, Lord, for Your great love and promises.

Amen!

Such a Wonderful Treat!

Today we were blessed to be the guests of some very dear people...actually people that some of you here in blogland may already know, or will certainly recognize:

Yes! We were the very happy guests in the lovely new home of our dear hostess at Sweet Tea And Sandals, none other than our friend Barbara and her Beloved Husband Tom.  

If you have been following Barbara's blog, you know that she and her hubby have just recently made a very big move from one part of the state to another, to a wonderful newly constructed home in a marvelous retirement community...which happens to be within an hour's drive from where we live!

If you are like me, you have been watching the progress of them settling into their new home with much interest...and you can imagine just how thrilled my hubby and I were to actually be invited to come and enjoy a delicious lunch and tour of their new home today!!

Actually, this is not our first meeting...if you have followed my blog, you will remember that our friends visited in our home a few months ago as they were passing through from their "old home" to their "new home in progress"...(Click HERE for that story!)...so now we are feeling like we really are "old friends"!

 Barbara is woman of many talents, one of which is quilting.  There were many beautiful quilts throughout her home, and I wish that I had taken the time to photograph every one, but I didn't want to be too overly nosy and zealous...however this quilt above graces the entry hallway to their home, and I found it to be so interesting, with little extra "trinkets" attached  all over the quilt, which each stand for some of Barbara's specific interests and hobbies.

I asked permission to take this picture of her little computer nook, which is just off the kitchen area, and is so very handy and compact...a perfect spot to check emails, write her blog, check new recipes, visit on Facebook...all while keeping track of what's cooking in the kitchen... So very clever. Her hubby built the desk specifically for this space, and it is perfect! Such a great idea!

Now, if you have been following Barb's posts, you know that this master bathroom shower is the main attraction for all guests to their new home! Even before the house was completed, anyone who came to view the progress had to have their pictures taken inside this ginormous shower stall!!

So, of course, I told Barbara that I would not leave her house until we had this same opportunity and privilege...and she was only too happy to oblige us!!  We discussed the fact that since they are living in "horse country", apparently the builders thought their homes should have a shower large enough to give a horse a shower!!  And it certainly could!!! 

 Giddy up...let's move on...

I'm sorry this photo is a little blurry, but I wanted to take a picture of this particular quilt, as Barbara calls this her "moose in the woods" quilt...You will see there is a moose in the middle of all those trees.  Since we have lived in moose country before (New Hampshire and Maine), anything regarding a moose always catches our attention.

I love this Word Wall...with many interesting messages.

Barbara and I both seem to  love signs...so that was a good sign that we would be good friends!

Here's another "sign" that we would be good friends:  Below is Barbara with her "staff", as she calls them...her cute dolls and teddy bears and furry friends who supervise her work in the sewing room.

I don't have a sewing room, but I do have dolls and other kinds of "staff" who keep watching me too.

Probably a good thing...I always need help staying on task.  I would love to introduce Barbara's "Staff" to my "Staff", but they may all conspire together against us and who knows what kind of pandemonium might happen! 

After our wonderful tour, we had a marvelous lunch and a nice long visit.

Thankfully, we remembered before we left that we still had not taken a picture of us together!

So here we are:

One of the other things that makes us have a special connection is our love for the Lord. Perhaps I should say that is "the main attraction".

These verses came to mind as I was thinking about this:

Philippians 2:1-2

"Therefore if there is any consolation in Christ, 

if any comfort of love, 

if any fellowship of the Spirit, if any affection and mercy,

Fulfill my joy by being like-minded, having the same love, being of one accord, of one mind."

Oh, one more picture on the way out the door.  This is what they call their "mud room".  I can assure you, there was no sign of any mud in this cute little hallway leading out to the garage...just a very clever arrangement of cubbies and a hat rack and storage bench.  What a wonderful idea! 

There were so many beautiful features in this home that I wish I had taken pictures of, but if you visit Barbara's blog you will see different aspects as she welcomes you to visit.  All I can say is, their home is very lovely and so lovingly decorated and designed with family and fellowship in mind...and we were welcomed so kindly and graciously...Barbara and her "Beloved" Tom have certainly mastered the art of southern hospitality in record time!!

Thank you, Barbara and Tom, for this delightful day today.  Now I know everyone out here in blogland will be waiting for their invitation...I may have started something here...but knowing Barbara, she would be more than happy for you to come visit!

This is one of the reasons I love blogging...I have met such wonderful people here...most are still friends through our connections here in "cyberspace"...but what a great joy when we are able to actually meet face to face and realize that we like each other even more in person!! I hope that we will each have that opportunity to meet in person someday.   God bless you each and every one!!!

Some Yearnings of My Soul - Updated and Revisited

I know I already published this particular post, but that was over four  SEVEN years ago in 2011, and then again in 2015 for Random Journal Day, which was a group that met here weekly and/or monthly and dug into our old (or not so old) journals and randomly (or maybe NOT so randomly) chose something to share with you.  This particular journal entry was originally written 30 years ago...and it is still my fondest "dream".  We are closer to it that ever before, but with a few modifications. We don't have a farm per se', but we live in the woods with lots of God's creatures. I don't have to worry about feeding them.  I don't have a garden either, but I can still buy apples at the store and bake apple pies (when I have the time and energy).  We do love to have people in our home...and there is always room "for more laughter, more songs, more tears, more prayers, more stories, more games, more sharing, more caring, and most of all, more love.”  So maybe I am closer to living the dream than I thought.  Thank you, Lord...for hearing the "yearnings of my soul" and acting upon them in YOUR time, in YOUR way. That's always the best way!

(Orginial Post published on this blog 2/27/2011, taken from my journal of many years prior):

Romans 12:13  “Distributing to the needs of the saints, given to hospitality…”

The following is an excerpt from my personal journal, written over 20 years ago, when we were serving in the ministry in a church in the midwest...

It was during these years that I starting expressing a need to feel a greater sense of purpose and fulfillment in my life.  Maybe it was my own little type of “mid-life crisis”…although I was not quite yet forty.  But I think it was because we had moved so much in our lives and even though we owned our home at that particular church, I still longed for a home where I felt like I truly belonged.  I poured out my thoughts and desires in my journal in this way on my thirty-eighth birthday:

“I believe, for now, I am doing all God wants me to do—of course there is room for improvement, but I know I am in the center of His will as far as His place for me in life.  I wouldn’t want to be any other place.  But I just feel like life is rushing past me so quickly, and I have not even begun to do all that I want to do in this life.  Maybe God doesn’t intend for me to do everything, but I hope I’ll get to do some of it!  I really can’t even put into words just what I think I am supposed to be doing!  I know that spiritually I fall way behind.  The Ladies’ Bible Study is a beginning, but I believe God wants to use me even more in a discipling ministry with women, and perhaps even young people.  But first, I feel a need to be further discipled myself!  I’d also like to do some writing; books that are spiritually meaningful and helpful.”  (Here I am Lord, twenty+ years later…is it time now?) (Today: How about 30 years later...wow! Still working on this...)

I went on to describe my favorite dream home, and I think it is something that needs to be shared with anyone who wants to read this.  It may be your dream too!  I can tell you this, that I have not let go of this dream yet, and it continues to haunt my heart…

“My other dream is to have a home that is a haven for people who need to feel ‘at home’.  A cozy, comfortable, secure, interesting, warm and happy place to be; relaxing and homey, with places to just curl up and read a good book by the fire with a cup of tea.  Gardens full of fresh flowers in the spring, summer and fall, and lots of snow in winter!*  Woods to walk through, hearing the autumn leaves crunch as the gorgeous colors float past…where one might come across a deer,

or rabbit, or even a fox!  A nice dog to be a companion on walks—a collie or a golden retriever is nice—perhaps an old barn with the sweet smell of hay and the earthy aroma of manure; a cow or two, maybe a horse and a buggy, some cats lying around soaking up the sun, ducks on the pond, geese in the fields…maybe a cool, bubbling brook meandering through the woods.

(*Current update- I've since retracted on wanting lots of snow in winter. Living in Florida is a better choice for winter when you are retired, trust me!)

Back inside the house one walks into the welcoming fragrance of coffee brewing, and the sounds of a whistling tea kettle calling us to "tea time". There would be the spicy aroma of an apple pie baking in the oven, a pot of homemade vegetable beef soup bubbling on the top of the stove.  It’s a big country kitchen with old-fashioned warmth. Perhaps there is an old wood cook-stove, freshly baked bread, a big basket of apples just picked from the orchard; and a larder full of vegetables gathered from the garden.

I guess I must really want a farmhouse…a place where people are always about…family, friends, missionaries, neighbors, kids, grandkids, grandmothers and grandfathers, college kids away from home, old friends passing through…an inn of sorts, but we never have a ‘no-vacancy’ sign…there is always room for more laughter, more songs, more tears, more prayers, more stories, more games, more sharing, more caring, and most of all, more love.”

I continued on in my journal to say,

“Maybe my ‘mansion’ in heaven will be like this, but it’s so needed here on earth!  If I need it, then many others must need it even more!  Lord, do You hear my heartbeat?  Do You understand what I’m saying? Is this an impossible dream?  Is it not something You want for me?  If not, then I can live with that, but, please, Lord, help me to make every home in which I live a place where You are welcome first of all…and then all those You bring my way.  Help me to always have an open heart and an open home.  Help others to share in this dream too, if it please Thee, dear Lord.”

I concluded this journal entry by writing, “Well, my boys are baking me a cake for my birthday, the first time ever!  I am trying to stay out of the way so I don’t end up having to do it myself!  Thank you Lord, for understanding.  I love you Lord.”

Twenty + years later I am still waiting for the fulfillment of that dream, and yet, in many ways we have had that dream come true throughout the years…maybe not in the literal sense as described above, but certainly in our open hearts and open homes…we have tried to be available to loved ones and friends, strangers and passers-by alike.  And perhaps even this blog is a way to bring a time of laughter, comfort, inspiration and encouragement to its readers.  If we can’t be somewhere in the true physical literal sense, we can certainly be there in our imaginations and hearts…and that is where it all begins.

Thank you for taking a moment away from your busy day to spend a few minutes with me, sharing the vision, welcoming the flood of thoughts that are working their way through your heart and mind right now as we visit our dreams together.  As our world hurls itself deeper and deeper into the chaos and turbulence of recession, depression and uncertainty...we all need a place of quiet rest and peace.  Spend a little time each day, reading God's Word first of all, and then allowing His Holy Spirit to minister to you, and through you to others in your circle of influence.   Kind of reminds me of John and Yoko Lennon's song, "Imagine"...but in a true spiritual sense, living in God's real place of peace.

Ahhhhh...I needed that. Amen.


Okay, friends, back to the future.  I've got some ham and beans cooking on the stove, and will put some cornbread in the oven in a few minutes...wanna come over and have some with us?  Sure smells good!

Have a wonderful day!!! What are some of your dreams from the past? Have you seen them come true?  Why not share a few...