Gifted!

I've got teas...they're multiplying. (Okay even I groaned when I read that over.)

I don't know if you readers know this, but I love tea. No, really, I do. I love drinking (good) tea, whether it's a "true" tea, like Darjeeling and Sencha, or a flavored one like Earl Grey and Mango Indica. I enjoy collecting tea paraphernalia as well, from china to teapots to strainers and other tea implements. I don't tire of books about tea, and hope to finish writing my own tea book (it's even slower going than the gathering together of my poems, and almost as slow as my scrap booking.)

This interest has caught on, and when a well-wisher feels like buying me a gift, it tends to be tea-related. I've mentioned this before, and gasp! Has it been over a year since that post? Well, that was fast!

Within two days of each other, I got a treasure trove of tea gifts. My aunt gave me some beautiful pieces from her china collection, and I must say I can't stop staring at them. It took me a week to put them away, and they won't stay behind cabinet doors for long. I used one of the cup and saucer sets and I felt so elegant that I came quite close to repeating lines from my favorite English classics. I don't think I actually went through with it, though. The next day a friend of mine gave me five different loose teas from the tea room she used to work with, along with a tea tumbler (one of those long cups with the strainer and two different tops so you can brew while you're on the go).

As you can imagine, I'm excited about these new acquisitions, and I am compelled to start having more tea parties. The planning has begun! (The weather must cool down a little, though, as I hate baking in the summer swelter.) But for a while, at least a few months, I really don't need anymore tea things. So if you all are feeling generous toward the Gata...well, you can take me out to a tea room if you'd like, but otherwise, please give me some time to use the fabulous stuff I have first. Thanks!

Really, thanks for all the tea gifts - this goes to nearly everyone I know. I'll do my best to give back, in the only way I know how...tea party!