Tuesday 4 ~ Coffee? Tea?

 Coffee? Tea?

Welcome once again to Toni Taddeo's Tuesday 4.



The longest living cat on record, Creme puff, lived to be 38 years old and was given coffee at breakfast all his life. Breakfast for him was bacon, eggs, broccoli and coffee.
The previous ownder of the record was Grandpa Rex Allen who\ lived to be 34 years old on the same diet.
Coffee reduces chances of Alzheimers, Parkinsons.
Tea without adding milk can "tan" your bladder making for many problems Milk binds the tanic acid making it safe to drink.
Homemade food increases an animal's life span too. Let's talk about it, okay?


1. Coffee increases a bee's memory and does the same for you. Bees love caffeinated coffee flowers. What do you love about coffee or tea?
Oh dear...I don't drink coffee at all. Never could develop a taste for it. My mother loved her coffee every morning, but my Dad preferred tea, although I never saw him drink it regularly.  My hubby drinks coffee,  so I make a pot for him every morning, and I drink tea while he enjoys his coffee. What do I love about tea? Well, it helps to start my day off right...it helps me wake up and it also helps with things like regularity! (you asked, so I'm telling. LOL).  I love the variety of different kinds of teas, but I mostly stick with Lipton's black tea every day and save the others for special occasions.

2. If you opened a tea or coffee shop in your neighborhood what would it be named? How would you decorate it? Would pastry or cake be served?

I've always thought it would be fun to have a Tea Party place. It would be a special place for ladies (or men if they so desire) to gather with their friends or their daughters, mothers, sisters...and be treated to a really fun and happy tea party. It would be decorated with all kinds of tea pots and cups and saucers, and lovely table settings that make every person feel really special when they come there.  Ladies would be encouraged to wear fancy hats and gloves, and dress up for a fun party. I may have to name it something like "Pamela's Victorian Cottage and Tea Room".   As far as food, yes, pastries, tea cakes, and other special tea party foods...scones, dainty dishes of delightful food...but there would be healthy food too...not all sweets.

It would be fun to have an outdoor garden tea room...I found this on the internet and I really love it. Someday I'm going to do this!

Internet Photo

3. Beethoven required 60 beans per cup of coffee. How particular are you about your coffee or tea?
I'm not THAT particular, but I like my hot tea hot, and I don't like it too strong or too weak. It needs to be JUST RIGHT! LOL.

4.Italian clergy in1600s declared coffee the devil's brew and forbid it.
Pope Clement the VIII wanted to taste it, loved it and blessed it ... today, new research shows black coffee is drunk mainly by psychopaths...
Sweden banned coffee in 1746 as dangerous and Islam banned it for causing free thinking!
How do you take your coffee you free thinking, radical and what's your favorite brand of devil's brew?

Since I don't drink coffee I don't have a favorite brand. The price of coffee lately has been ridiculous. Hubby drinks either Maxwell House or Folgers, whichever one is on sale. He's not particular, but he sure wants it hot and fresh!  I am thankful that he's not real particular about brands, etc.,  and that he's not into the current coffee trend of having to go to places like Starbucks or Dunkin' Donuts, etc., to get a special coffee all the time. I honestly don't know how people afford it. Our little town just recently got a new Dunkin Donuts place, and it amazes me to see the line of cars around the building every day, waiting for their coffee or latte or whatever it is they are getting. I never knew coffee and donuts was so popular!  

Here's a link to one of my posts about tea parties.  There's a lot more in the side bar under the categories of Tea Time or Tea Party.

I found this in a little book by Emilie Barnes, entitled "Everything I know I Learned Over Tea".

In case you can't read that, it says; 

"A Loving Recipe for a Perfect Cup of Tea"

"1 willing friend who loves to sit and share

1 grateful heart to have a friend that cares

1 beautiful garden to show us God is near

Many wonderful memories of times shared throughout the years

Lots of smiles and laughter to brighten up our days

Many prayers that we prayed for each other along the way."

Author Unknown

And that, to me, is what tea time is all about. Or it could be coffee time. I guess it all depends on the heart and attitude of those enjoying the time together, no matter what the "brew".  

Thank you, Annie, for being our hostess. I've missed out on the past few weeks of Tuesday 4, so I thought this would be a good one to jump back in again.  If you wish to join in the fun, you can go HERE and join in!  Whatever you do, have a lovely day!!

My new TEA mug, hard at work already!

Tuesday 4~The Best Part of Waking Up

 ~~The Best Part of Waking Up~~

Well hello again! I am so glad you stopped by and I do hope you are here to join in for Toni Taddeo's Tuesday 4.
We ask 4 questions each week to get you blogging, thinking, discussing and visiting with other bloggers.

The commercial song said "the best part of waking up is Folger's in your cup".

1. What is in your cup in the morning? 

Tea!  No coffee for me, but I do make it for my hubby every day.

2. What brand of coffee or tea is the best in your opinion and why do you think so?

Well, I prefer Lipton's tea for my everyday cuppa. But I do drink other brands and varieties when I want to have a little "tea party".  

Twinings makes a lot of good teas. There are many different herbal teas and loose teas that I like to try,

 but I always go back to Lipton for my morning cup of hot tea and also to make iced tea.

Our Tea and Coffee Station

As far as coffee goes, hubby isn't picky, so I usually buy whichever one is on sale, Folgers or Maxwell House, and he is happy with that.

3. Where do you drink your cuppa in the morning? Do you have a nice view?

Yes, I usually sit here at my computer in the morning and drink my cup of tea while I check messages and comments on blogs, read blogs, etc., and I also can look out the window in "my room with a view" while I write. However, oftentimes it is still dark when I am drinking my cuppa tea, so I really don't see anything until later on. 

4.Besides the morning, do you take little tea or coffee breaks during the day? If you are out and about where is your favorite place to get some tea or coffee?

In the winter time I am more apt to take a hot tea break in the afternoon, and sometimes I do in the summer as well if I am feeling a little tired or just need to sit and relax and think about something else for a while.  I usually have iced tea with my lunch.  

Oftentimes I will sit here in my rocking chair in this little section of the kitchen and drink a cup of tea while cooking supper or baking cookies. That way I can keep an eye on things cooking while I relax. As you can see, I have plenty of company. LOL.  Lily Grace and her friends are always ready for a tea party. 

And sometimes I enjoy having a little tea party on the porch...this was a few years ago when Lily Grace and her dog Bailey and I did just that!

I may need to do this again before it gets too hot!! It would be nice to have someone join me...it's always more fun when you have someone to share this time with you. And if you'd prefer, I could make coffee for you!

As far as a place to go and get some tea or coffee, there really isn't such a place here, at least not that appeals to me. They have just opened a Dunkin' Donuts here in our little town, but it is mostly a coffee kind of place and also primarily a drive-through, although I did just notice that they have a few tables outside...but who wants to sit there when it's 90 degrees and drink something hot? Not me!

HERE is a link to a post I wrote about this a couple of years ago.  And also, if you click on Tea Time in the side bar of the blog, or Tea Party, you will find many other posts about tea time from the past.

Friday Afternoon Tea Time

Just needed a little extra tea break this afternoon. Won't you join me? 

Some days are just like that, you know?  Most summer days I am content with my morning hot cup of Lipton regular black tea at breakfast. (although for this afternoon tea I chose Twining's Lady Grey Tea, because this is an extra special tea time).

Just a note: the glass tray that this tea set is sitting on has one of my favorite passages of Scripture written all around the edges:

Galatians 5:22-23  NKJV

22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23 gentleness, self-control. Against such there is no law.

(A good reminder for us at any time)

And speaking of "fruit", 

I usually have 1/2 glass unsweetened iced tea combined with 1/2 glass of ice-cold unsweetened cranberry juice with my lunch. Very refreshing! You should try it!  Make sure it's the 100% juice, with no sugar added! It's a good source of vitamin C, and a whole cup of fruit. It's also very good for the urinary tract, which for ladies of most of our ages out there, that's crucial.

That's my PSA for this post. LOL.  When I find something that works for me, I like to pass it along, just in case you wanted to know about that!

And isn't that what tea time is supposed to be all about? Sitting down together with a friend (or friends), and sharing our hearts with one another? I look at our blogging like that.  It's a time of sitting down with dear friends and sharing whatever is on our hearts and minds, encouraging one another in our faith, lifting each other up when one is down or feeling alone. Sometimes we just talk about silly things or funny stuff that is going on around us...and then other times we pour out our hearts and let it all hang out. That's what friends are for.  To help share each other's burdens, and to be there during the good times as well.

It's also what Jesus said He is there for; He said in Matthew 11:28-30

28 "Come to Me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. 

29 Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, 

and you will find rest for your souls. 

30 For My yoke is easy and My burden is light.”

Isn't that a comforting thought? Jesus wants to carry our burdens for us. He wants us to come to Him, and find rest for our souls. He promises that His "yoke is easy, and (His) burden is light." When I picture a "Yoke", I think of this:

It is usually used to guide two oxen together, so that they will be able to walk together and not pull away each to his own way.  That is what I think about when I picture taking up the yoke of Jesus...I picture Him walking with me, helping to carry the load, as well as keeping me in line and guiding me into the best possible direction I should go.  I also picture Him carrying the heaviest part of the load on His shoulders. He does that for me, willingly and lovingly, because He knows how weak I am on my own.

And again, I thank Him for doing this for me, and also for you. And together, with Jesus, we can carry one another's burdens and not feel so alone or weighed down from the heavy loads of our lives.

You don't have to carry it alone...and neither do I! 

We've got Jesus on our team!

And now on to some other things from around the home front:

Ever since Hurricane Debby blew through here a couple of weeks ago, we haven't seen much of the neighborhood kitty, "Blackie", who up until the storm would sleep on the comfortable cushioned chairs of our covered back porch every day and/or night.  The last time I saw him he was out there that night, curled up in a black ball on some old rugs.  Come morning, he was no where to be seen.  We thought we saw him at a distance a few times, but he never came back to our porch. Not sure if something scared him that night during the storm, or what happened, but at any rate, he didn't seem to want to come back here.  And then, just the other evening I stepped out onto the front deck to bring in our flag for the night, and I looked over at my little wicker plant stand, and there he was!

Just as lazy and handsome as you please, sleeping on the shelf of the wicker plant stand!

At first he wouldn't even look at me, like either he was embarrassed to be caught out there, or maybe he was mad at me for something! 

Maybe he got wind of the fact that this OTHER black and white Tuxedo kitty cat was lounging around on our back porch while he was gone!  

I didn't invite him there...he just showed up one evening and acted like he owned the place for a while, and then he was gone again...

He does look rather comfortable, doesn't he?

He was watching either some lizard or mole or birds or something out there in the yard:

And then he saw me looking at him through the glass door:

That was the last look Mr. Tuxedo gave us before he departed for parts unknown:

Anyway, back to "Blackie", 

I don't know, but I spoke lovingly to him and told him how happy I was to see him again...

And pretty soon he turned his eyes my way and looked at me as if he was unhappy that I woken him up from his nap! LOL.

However, in a moment he stretched himself out and got down from his perch and came over to me and rubbed my legs and let me know that he still loved me and I told him that I still loved him, and then he went over to the front of the deck 

and decided to watch the neighborhood activities from that vantage point.

And that's the last I've seen of him for a few days.  Neighborhood Cats sure can be fickle! LOL.

Thankfully there is a kind neighbor who feeds him. Not sure about the Tuxedo cat. He may belong to someone.

Oh, the Sand Hill Crane family still flies in and out every so often:

This was this afternoon! They were actually putting on quite a show for us!

And I know some of you may be wondering what's happening with the new house that's going in next door?  Yeah, I've been wondering too. Not a thing has happened over there since the hurricane. I think whoever is supposed to be setting it up must have gotten behind in their schedule, and we haven't seen hide nor hair of them in about 3 weeks.  

And then today this happened:

Not just one, but two big dump truck loads of more dirt arrived.  They still haven't covered up the huge septic/drain field that was installed over a month ago.  They still haven't finished putting the two sections of the manufactured home together, but they brought more dirt!

And none too soon. You can see how black the sky was behind there...yes, about the time the truck was finished dumping his load, the skies opened up and dumped their load of heavy rain on top of it all!

And now this is what it looks like out there on Still Waters Pond:

Well, I hope you enjoyed this little tea time together this afternoon (and now it is evening).  I feel refreshed, just like you have actually been here chatting with me. Maybe it is because we are sitting here beside "Still Waters Pond"...

"He leads me beside the still waters.

 He restores my soul;"

and just maybe Jesus has been here with us, lifting our heavy burdens and giving us "rest for our souls". 

Matthew 18:20 NKJV

"For where two or three are gathered together in My name, 

I am there in the midst of them.”

 Yeah, just maybe He has...

Thank you for sharing this tea time with me. I hope you will come again soon! Have a pleasant rest of your evening and weekend ahead. 

Wednesday Treasures with Special Thanks

Here it is Wednesday...the week before Thanksgiving already! As my mind is still grappling with that fact and making mental preparations for the big day, I wanted to share some special "treasures" with you and express my thanksgiving to God for wonderful friends and unexpected surprises.

This past Sunday at church a dear sweet friend said she had a box of some things in her car she wanted to give me. I was totally taken by surprise as I had no idea what she would be wanting to give me, and also  I was reeling from the shock that we had just learned that this friend and her husband have listed their house for sale and are planning to move away from our area whenever it sells. They have family living further north of here and other family concerns regarding their elderly mother, so they said it was time to "move on".  

So, as you can imagine, I was a bit taken off guard by receiving this box filled with very special items that she wanted me to have.  (see above picture and below).  It appears to me that this sweet lady knows me very well, even though we have not really spent all that much time together one on one...mostly just at our church ladies' functions...but each and every item definitely seems to have been selected especially for me....    The delightful miniature tea set above is absolutely perfect in every detail...and a devotional book entitled "Tea Time with God"...

Hand Painted bluebirds!! Isn't this exquisite?

A book of Paper Dolls (never cut!)

Did any of you ever play with paper dolls?  Don't these just make you want to do it again?  But I really don't want to spoil the book by cutting them up...maybe someday with just the right little girl, whoever she may be...

Some lovely tea table linens!

"The Martin Sisters" were delighted to have a new tea set for their afternoon tea time:

Let's take a look inside this "Quiet Moments with God Devotional" book and see what we can share...

I don't know if you can read this or not...I will try to enlarge it for you in the next couple of pictures:

I love that the verse quoted for this devotional is from Psalm 23:2-3~  

"He leadeth me beside the still waters; He restoreth my soul..."

How perfect is THAT for me????

I especially like what it says on this page:

"...There may be times when the pressures of the day come to bear in late afternoon. Our spirits long for a little peace and refreshment in the presence of our loving Savior.  Just as enjoying a muffin with a few sips of tea can give something of a lift to our lagging physical energy level, a quick prayer or the voicing of praise can give our spirit a lift.

Set aside some time in the middle of the afternoon to turn your attention to the beauty of life that the Lord has set before you.  Find beauty and comfort in the people around your, the flowers on a table, or simply the delicious aroma of tea brewing.  Create a few moments away from the hustle and bustle of your life before returning to the tasks that await you.  Give thanks to the Lord for sharing His presence with you."

Yes, in this time of Thanksgiving and the hustle and bustle of the upcoming holiday season, it might be a good idea to set aside some time each day to quiet ourselves with a cup of tea or coffee, sit down in a comfy chair and read from God's Word or spend time in prayer, giving thanks to the Lord for all of His wonderful kindness and goodness shown unto us...

Thank the Lord for His harvest of many blessings...

Don't allow the busyness of preparation for our Thanksgiving dinner and guests rob us of the joy of spending time with loved ones and friends in a spirit of gratitude...

(The little family at Pamela's Victorian Cottage is getting ready for Thanksgiving too)

Lily Grace and all of her friends are also getting in the spirit of Thanksgiving...

This young fellow has the right idea...

Let us "come before His presence with Thanksgiving"

Psalm 100

1 Make a joyful shout to the Lord, all you lands!

2 Serve the Lord with gladness;

Come before His presence with singing.

3 Know that the Lord, He is God;

It is He who has made us, and not we ourselves;

We are His people and the sheep of His pasture.

4 Enter into His gates with thanksgiving,

And into His courts with praise.

Be thankful to Him, and bless His name.

5 For the Lord is good;

His mercy is everlasting,

And His truth endures to all generations.

Amen!

Happy Thanksgiving!

 And a special thank you to my friend who was so very thoughtful in sharing these gifts with me. I hope you enjoyed them as well.