A Reprive

Although the shops will be on a hiatus while the wedding madness finishes up I think I can manage to blog a bit here and there in the final 2 weeks I have left before the honeymoon.

Can you believe it? Only 2 weeks left?! Oddly enough I don't feel like panicking.

I'm glad it's officially Fall now though. And I'm really partial to gray, rainy days when the trees are vibrant with color, but I also like the cool crisp air that sweeps in behind the Canadian lows.

I like it because of the ridiculous costumes that come with Halloween, the candy, the cool air, the leaves, the pumpkins, the pie, the sweaters....there's nothing I don't like about it except when it has to leave and the dull boring colors of winter creep in.

I'm glad I made these :)

Forecast: Chili with A Broken Brain

Strangely enough I don't feel nearly as stressed about the wedding as I did nearly a month ago. Maybe it's the feeling of victory nearly here? Meh. All I know is that I'm trying to mend my broken brain and that part is becoming harder than I care to admit.
Curse my worrying mind. I'm almost waiting for some strange package to arrive on my doorstep with claws to mangle my carefully arranged order.

So I made chili. Because it's delicious and it's nearly Fall...kind of...well mostly because it's delicious. But I was evidently out of chili powder (OMG) when I called Chris to start the pot up. I called him because I had to work OT at the "9-5" and he was already home, safe, comfy and I was stuck in diabolical, hellish traffic.
After stopping at the doctor's office and getting some new "fun" things for my broken brain I set off back down the hellish Highway of Doom to the grocery. Bought chili powder, came home and dang it if we weren't short a can of kidney beans.

*apply cold compress or heat pack and relax*

But I made the chili anyways because I'm stubborn and I was stressed and nothing was going to screw with my already wasted evening! Not even kidney beans.

At least I had chili and it was well with the world once more.

Tuesday Tea

I've always liked Celestial Seasonings tea. The story is pretty "hippie" like but still good.

It began when founder Mo Siegel and his crazy friends began picking wild herbs in the Rocky Mountains. By 1969 they had packed 10,000 muslin bags with Mo's "36 Herb Tea" and sold them to a health food store in Boulder, CO.

If you're curious Celestial Seasonings offers tours at their factory and I have it on good authority that the tea doesn't get any better than right off the line ^_^ My grandma and one of my sister's went back in February this year.

I'm a big fan of Sleepy Time Tea and the Tummy Mint

I'm also partial to the art work on the boxes which make them even more fun to pop open to brew a cup ^_^ Visit the site

And it keeps on coming

I'm still around. See? *waves like a mad woman*

Just to give you a heads up, the blog will be going on a long 4 week vacation along with my shops, Tumus & Pinpinn Sept. 25 - Oct. 23 for my wedding.
For my own sanity's sake and those around me I think this is a pretty wise step :lol: Of course Chris thinks I should close this week instead because things are starting to get down to the wire with last minute appointments and meetings with the caterer and cake peoples.

And to top it off Pinpinn keeps selling pincushions entirely too fast. I'd really like to get the shop to 2 pages of inventory, but at this point that's not going to happen. A funny problem to have I suppose.
I listed these two last week and the Blue Bells sold the same night. The Pink and Rose cushion is still up for grabs though!







Tumus also got another front page with the lastest edition of Robins. Someone must really love these guys ^_^

Tuesday Tea

Orange Pekoe, what on earth is this stuff and why is it called ORANGE Pekoe?

Well way back in olden times the Dutch royal family, the House of Orange no doubt, received a fine China tea from early Dutch traders to the region. The name has nothing to do with the flavor of the actual tea, instead the word "orange" simply refers to the royal house giving the tea it's seal of approval by blessing it with their name.
How kind. A royal tea. Remember to sip delicately and with your pinky up! No gulping lest you smear the royal tea's name for good.

In case you were also wondering Pekoe tea is one of the more popular teas exported from China and includes the tea leaf and buds. It should be readily available in shops who specialize in tea and maybe even your local grocer.

Recycle This, Punk

I probably shouldn't be THIS irked over it, but for the past 2 weeks I've been diligently filling up an old cardboard box at work with items to recycle. Applesauce cups, glass bottles, pop bottles, plastic wrappers, the occasional sandwhich baggie, plastic forks, napkins, potato chip bags, candy wrappers......all manner of recyclable things.

And the cleaning crew took it last night to throw out.

WHAT THE HECK PEOPLE?! It had been sitting behind my chair for 2 weeks solid, slowly filling with things. It must've really looked like trash for them to have taken it, but why would they finally have taken it last night? One of my co-workers next to me, who I've kindly "harassed & teased" into recycling her copious amounts of plastic bottles, has two boxes full of recycling and they leave that alone.

It doesn't make any sense. So I wrote a passive aggressive note:

"Please DO NOT TAKE BOXES THAT ARE NOT MARKED TRASH. You just took two weeks worth of recycling materials out of my cube. Unlike half of America I actually recycle my trash. Thanks for hindering the process."


It's probably a bit too forward and mean and I'm sure they meant well and we're just doing their job, but that box was ready to be taken home tonight for the recycle pick up tomorrow morning. It's like I can not win here at my "9-5" no matter WHAT I'm trying to do. Whether it's my actual job or just doing something purely good for the environment I can't find that middle ground.

Tuesday Tea

Happy September!

Teas, like wines, are often named for the areas in which they are grown. Each area/region will give the tea a unique flavor and character.

Unlike wine, teas will not improve with age....unless of course you're a Pu-erh kind of tea drinker.