Thursday, 14 August 2008
WHAT'S IN THE CUP?
Sunday, 10 August 2008
TEA AND SCENT
Jasmine, bergamot and rose are common flowers to be mixed with tea. Flavouring tea with flowers works well and the overall effect is as much in the combined scent as it is in the taste. All of these scents, including the delicate scent of tea, are known to give a sense of well-being and this too could be part of their popularity in tea blends.
Each scent has its own vibration, known as notes, as in musical notes. These vibrations appear to affect our frame of mind in much the same way as music can. They both have the ability to vibrate through our consciousness and change our mood.
It would appear that everything in the universe is a vibration. The eye sees colour vibration, the ear hears by vibration and now through the research work of scientist and perfume guru, Luca Turin, it appears that we smell by vibration. Our taste buds send messages to the brain by nerve impulses (vibration?)
If I loose my sense of smell, as I sometimes do in the hay fever season, I find it hard to cook, as I rely on my sense of smell more than my sense of taste. I can usually tell by smell exactly what is needed to bring out the best in the dish I am cooking.
In my herb garden I grow vervain in a sheltered spot that gets full sun. Vervain leaves make a delicious tisane. It has a fresh lemony scent and makes a lime yellow liquor when infused. It tastes exactly as it smells. It is a good after dinner drink as it possesses digestive and slight sedative qualities. It blends well with fennel seeds if a stronger digestive brew is necessary after a very rich meal.
I enjoy blending herbs to make infusions and I enjoy drinking flavoured teas. I’m not sure whether it is by vibration or ingestion that my sense of well-being is enhanced, a bit of both I would imagine. Just the word aroma sounds magical to me as it conjures up endless thoughts of past, present and future experiences. From far away lands to a freshly mown lawn outside the window, our imaginings can easily drift off on the vibration of a scent rising up from a cup of tea.
FAIRY TEATIME TALES are pubilshed by www.bookguild.co.uk
Thursday, 24 July 2008
RUPERT MacTWEED
Rupert MacTweed, seen here looking resplendent in his rugby shirt, is an artist’s assistant. He is a great inspiration to Pamela while she is working on the artwork for Fairy Teatime Tales. He finds things on walks that end up in the stories, feathers are his speciality. He found a beautiful pheasant’s feather on the very day this picture was in production, awaiting the feather to be added. Sticks are another of his great finds and important for wand illustrations.
I am sure Rupert is a magician as he seems to magically find what is needed to help the work progress. I know he is also saying thank you with these gifts, for the lovely long walks he is taken on. As you can see from his pictures he is the epitome of a gallant gentleman.
When Pamela and Rupert come home from their walks one of the fist things Pamela does is make a pot of tea. Working together over the years, Pamela and I have learned that we have a lot in common, a love of tea, a love of the country side and a great respect for the magical talents of Rupert MacTweed.
FAIRY TEATIME TALES are published by http://www.bookguild.co.uk/
Wednesday, 16 July 2008
ZEN OF TEA
Last week I was invited to a Chinese Tea Ceremony. I went with my friend Jane Pettigrew. It was an enlightening experience. Although I enjoyed tasting such rare and special teas I won’t be writing about them here, as Jane has already written a very interesting blog about the teas and the ceremony on her blog ‘Jane’s Passport to Tea’. You can find her blog at http://www.worldteas.com/
I will focus more on the things that caught my attention during the ceremony. The first thing was the jade green table cloths. They were damask and embossed with cockerels. As I had just posted my ‘One chick’ blog, I was pleased with the synchronicity here and thrilled to be told that they were a symbol of bringing light from darkness. I had written something similar on my ‘One chick’ blog.
The introduction to the tea ceremony was ‘Every Day is a Good Day’. The purpose of the ceremony, to cultivate the calmness of the mind and experience the joy of life through
Chinese tea ceremony, music art and meditation.
The first thing the Priestess or Tea Master did was to light an incense stick and placed it on the tea table. This was a special Temple incense to help calm the mind. Then we were led into a meditation. We were asked not to speak through out the ceremony and while the tea was being prepared, we listened to peaceful, uplifting temple music.
On our table the tea set used for the ritual was decorated with peaches on the branch. Afterwards I was told that this was a symbol of a ‘Thousand Springs’ as peach trees and the fruit symbolise immortality. The peach is said to have brought enlightenment to the monk Lyn-Yun.
As soon as the ceremony was over, one of the first questions I asked was the significance of these marks. The Priestess told me they were burned on to the novice’s head with hot incense when they took their vows. The marks stood for the three sacred promises they made when they entered into monastic life.
I found this most interesting and it made me think of all the mythologies and folklore where three is important. For Pythagoras and the Chinese mystics it is the perfect number. In folklore three pops up all the time. Turn a silver coin three times under a new moon, for good luck.
Three heroes need to go forward before the monster can be slain. Three Billy goats had to cross the bridge to rid it of the troll.
In Fairy tales, folk are granted three wishes and spells have to be repeated three times.
How different the Chinese tea ceremony was from our own tea ritual. Yet as I looked at all of the symbolism and thought of the similarities in their meanings in both of our cultures, the world seemed a much smaller place and people seemed to have much more in common.
FAIRY TEATIME TALES are published by www.bookguild.co.uk
Thursday, 10 July 2008
FAIRY PLACES AND TEA FROM A THERMOS
I have heard of many fairy places around Great Britain, from famous fairy bridges to not- so-known fairy wells. Beetham in Cumbria has its own fairy steps cutting through Beetham fell. On the Isle of Man is a famous fairy bridge and there is also one on the Isle of Skye and on Dartmoor. Harmby in Yorkshire has a fairy well and I am sure there a quite a few in Derbyshire.
When we walk the dogs down to the river bank there are lots of places I feel are fairy places. These are the places that inspire Fairy Teatime Tales. There is Geoffrey’s bridge,
Wild Garlic Wood, the Fairy Tree, The Witches Tree, and Dingle Lane to name but a few.
Picnicking on the river bank is one of the nicest things I remember from living so close to the river. A thermos flask of tea a must on days that sometimes turned cold by tea time.
Tea from a thermos can be very good if it is brewed correctly. I asked my friend and tea guru Jane Pettigrew http://www.janepettigrew.com/ for her advice and she kindly sent me these instructions on how to brew tea for a thermos flask.
When brewing tea to go into a thermos flask, it is important to separate the leaves from the tea liquor before pouring into the flask. So, it helps to use a teapot that has an infuser basket. Or you can use a re-usable infuser basket or a large paper filter that fits inside any type of teapot.
Brew the tea as normal as follows:
- Fill your kettle with freshly drawn cold water so that there is plenty of oxygen in the water to bring out the full flavour of the tea.
- Set the kettle to boil and meanwhile, choose a suitable teapot and loose leaf tea or tea bags (allowing 2.5-3 grams of loose leaf tea or 1-2 teabags to 190 ml of water).
- When the water is almost boiling, pour a little into the teapot, swill around and empty out.
- Measure the tea into the teapot. For black tea, pour the water onto the tea just as it is coming up to a rolling boil. For green and white tea, heat the water to approx 75-80 C and then switch off the kettle before pouring the water onto the tea. Or bring the water to the boil and allow to cool for 4-5 minutes before pouring onto the tea.
- Brew for the correct number of minutes, so set a timer to suit the tea you are brewing. (Large leafed black tea needs 3-5 minutes, small leafed black tea needs 2-3 minutes. Japanese green teas need 1-1.5 minutes, Chinese green teas need 3-4 minutes, white teas need 5-6 minutes).
- Heat the thermos flask with boiling water and then empty.
- When the tea's brewing time is up, lift out the infuser basket and pour the tea liquor into the flask. Or strain the tea through a tea strainer into the flask.- Put the lid on the thermos immediately and tighten carefully.
- Carry milk and sugar separately in the picnic bag
Sitting on the river bank sipping tea, with the sunlight dancing off the water is a wonderful way to pass the time and day dream of the land of Faerie. The sparks of sunlight suddenly become river sprites. A water vole scurrying through the grass along the edge of the river bank soon dons a green and yellow stripped blazer and wears a straw boater on its head and runs home with a story to tell.
FAIRY TEATIME TALES are published by http://www.bookguild.co.uk/
Thursday, 3 July 2008
NEWS FROM PIXIE GREEN
We once had a Maran cockerel with a grand name I have since forgotten as my father called him ‘Jaws.’ He was the most vicious of creatures with enormous spurs and an ability to jump up very high. He attacked anybody who came near the hens or the nesting boxes. Collecting eggs was a hazardous job. Wellington boots offered no protection, as ‘Jaws’ jumped up way above them leaving shark tooth like gashes in the thigh of the unprotected egg collector. I truly believe that even wearing belly waders and gauntlets would have been useless against ‘Jaws’ attack.
‘One Chick’ is already a bit of a legend, it being the only chick to hatch from a cluck of twelve. I’m sure it won’t be long before he is the inspiration for a fairytale character.
Thursday, 19 June 2008
Video with Russell Grant
http://youtube.com/watch?v=yG-90S2i3Eg&feature=related