Tranquility

Following on from last week's serenity post, this time, we're in search of some tranquility.

Take time to make some tea, and find tranquil-tea!  A necklace or bracelet, to act as a reminder.

Serenity

se-ren-i-ty
Noun:  1. The state of being calm, peaceful, and untroubled: "an oasis of serenity"
       

For many people, tea is a calming and soothing drink. It makes you stop a while. The act of the teapot, the loose tea or tea bag "performance", waiting for the brew, and then slowly sipping can bring a sense of serenity.

And thus, my latest necklace or it can be a bangle - combines the word and tea = "sereni-tea"

Hope you like it.  I have a couple of other t's coming soon too.

Teatime

Times are a changin'.....

[Warning!!!!!: If you've have known me a few years or more, you may have to sit down to read this as it is quite a shocker!!!]

For 45 years I have been a tea hater.......the smell of it made me feel sick, never mind the taste.  Ugh the whole soggy teabag thing....who could enjoy that?  Yuck - just disgusting...

I always felt that I had leave England because it is, after all - a country full of tea drinkers.  It is quite the English activity - and indeed an integral part of the day, to indulge in the ritual of a nice cuppa!  Ugh - just the sound of it makes me feel quite ill....

And so I move to the US but it was even worse! Whenever I'd go to someone's house, they'd make me a "special" pot of tea - knowing of course, that as I was British, it would be just what I'd want!

But all that has just changed in the last 3 weeks....... what has become of me??????  Who can help me?

Recently, I have found myself not able to drink coffee and a few other things so was having hot water with a slice of lemon in it instead ....but then lemon went on the "do not consume" food list and so I was left with hot water.....This was fine for a  while - albeit boring -  until I went to a friend's house and saw she had some ginger tea.... Hmmm... I looooooove ginger ...surely a bit of ginger flavor would be good in the boring hot water???

And so I gave it a try.... The ginger tea also had lemongrass, peppermint leaf and pepper in it..... hmm... so  I just put the teabag in for like 5 seconds for fear of that awful tea taste.... But actually it was quite soothing and vibrant. 

So the next time, at the same friend's house,  I dared to leave the teabag in a little longer...... and the next time, I noticed she had peppermint tea to help digestion so I gave that I try.........

And now I''m converted!!!  My old tea-hating days are over.... But rest assured, I'm still only at the herbal tea stage - and only ginger and peppermint!  I haven't gone overboard just yet - although I do now leave the teabag in while I drink it!!

I recognize that I still wouldn't be accepted in England as I'm not actually using tea leaves or a teapot or anything quite that ritualistic....but still - change often starts in small steps - small ginger and peppermint steps....

And so, in honor of my conversion, I made a teatime ring!  Didn't know how to fashion ginger and peppermint - so did a teapot ring instead!!  Maybe I should call it my slippery slope ring..... 

But where will the slippery slope take me?  Will it be mushy peas next?  Please no!  Or maybe I'll go a little slower and just have to buy a tea maker! Remember those? - an alarm clock that made a cup of tea to wake you up in bed!!!! !  My mum used to have one! 

On the other hand...maybe I need to get off the slope quickly and find a way to get back to coffee!!!  Anyone out there with a lifeline?????

The silent charm bracelet

While I was at a metal clay conference last month, I was lucky enough to win a charm bracelet with all the charms made by different instructors. It's a great bracelet - but not one I can wear everywhere. You see it's really noisy! All that jingling and jangling makes quite a racket - even when I'm just moving my arm slightly - never mind if it is a longer motion!

So when I'm not wearing my prize - I wear one of my "silent" charm bracelets. A single charm on a solid bangle - like this one with Wattle the chicken on it. Yes, Wattle is a quiet little chicken - no clucking from him!!!

A friend of mine, Jo, is just starting a new e-commerce business called "choirgear" where she will sell all things to do with personal goods for choir and chorus members. She kindly asked to include some of my items too - so the silent charm bracelet will be one I recommend. It's a great resource so if you sing, do check out Jo's website. I sing a lot and am always carefully to not wear jangly stuff but hate having to not wear perfume!! For an evening out, I always want a little spray of my favourite scent, but have to forgo it for the sake of other singers who have allergy problems....

I make the bracelet sometimes with clips - so that you can buy different charms and they are interchangeable so if you aren't feeling like chicken one day...you could have bird instead!!
That way, as your mood changes with the day, you can add whatever charm you feel like.

Right now, I'm not having a particularly good day nothing really wrong - but maybe I need to be wearing my bottle of wine charm!!! Too early to have a drink - but maybe the charm will do something for me!!

But maybe the correct choice would be a teapot charm - a nice cup of tea - that would sort me out!!! Yuck! Hate tea!! (see my previous post about tea).

Anyhow - for those "silent" moments - consider the silent single charm bracelet!

I'm a little teapot

I'm a little teapot, short and stout
Here's my handle, here's my spout
When I hear the teacups, hear my shout,
"Tip me up and pour me out!"

Do you remember the little teapot children's rhyme? Did you used to do the actions? One hand on your hip for the handle and one hand raised for the spout? Or is it only an English thing?

Yes, tea still has a great association with England, even though everyone seems to drink it all over the world. Well, not quite everyone. I hate tea. Ugh! Can't stand it - even the smell of it. And I'm English. I think really that was the reason I had to leave England and move to the US. The tea association was just too much for me. So I move to the US and think I'm saved from all those tea drinkers......but then I find new friends invite me around to their house -and they think "ah - the English - I'll get some tea in for her and make her a nice pot/cup". Ugh!! So yes, when I first moved here, it was like I was haunted by my English tea phobia!!!! Everywhere I went, someone made me a nice cup of tea!!! Out of politeness I did try to drink some of them - but then couldn't do it!

So, it seemed fitting that as I can't escape tea, I had to make a teapot! I've made a couple of versions/sizes of this and the design has just been accepted into the finals of a design competition here in the US! So fingers crossed!

The small version of the teapot is currently available for sale here in Euros and here in dollars.

Anyhow - to all you tea drinkers out there - enjoy!!!! And to the rest of us - put the coffee on!