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Sunday, August 31, 2014

Tuesday Cuppa Tea - Cranberries and Seagulls - Labor Day



Hi and welcome to Tuesday Cuppa Tea. Surprise, surprise, a bit hectic around here....surprise company from out of state, a few last summer jaunts around and even some family again. But the more the merrier!!! 



I hope your summer is winding down nicely and you are enjoying the Labor Day weekend...sort of the last hurrah for this summer. Some of our schools are back in and some will be on Tuesday...amazing....as this posts...hopefully...we will be in Victoria, BC Canada where we are meeting Canadian friends for a long weekend...but more of that later!




My teacup this week is a tea mug from Emma Bridgewater in her Birds Series. The pattern is Black Headed Gull, which is an English version of the common seagull we have here by the droves. Some are big enough to be small turkeys and frighten the cat...But the post started because of my afternoon tea, taken in the sun room with a new Laura Childs tea shop mystery I found at the library...




The English Breakfast Mystery, which is the 4th in the very fun series. I hadn't read it. So as I got out my tea, I decided a fall herbal was in order, and chose Celestial Seasonings Cranberry Cove with it's lovely red color and tart/sweet flavor...perfect with a Tea Shop mystery....



Her website describes the book as:


THE ENGLISH BREAKFAST MURDER
Tea Shop Mystery #4
 http://www.laurachilds.com/teashopmys.html
The English Breakfast Murder
Order Now
Dawn is about to break at South Carolina's Halliehurst Beach, and the members of Charleston's Sea Turtle Protection League are taking part in the annual "turtle crawl."  As they help hundreds of tiny green loggerheads tumble safely into the surf, the dedicated volunteers congratulate themselves with a well-earned shore breakfast.  But as the tea steeps and the gumbo simmers, a strange mass is spotted floating off-shore.  Donning mask and swim fins, Theodosia paddles out to investigate, only to discover a dead body bobbing in the waves.  The hapless victim turns out to be Harper Fisk, a prominent Charleston art dealer and passionate collector of Civil War antiquities.  Rumors of sunken treasure and gold bullion have abounded, yet nothing has ever been found near Halliehurst Beach.  But now Theodosia begins to wonder--did Harper Fisk finally stumble upon something?  And was he killed because of it? 

and I really enjoyed reading it...there are even recipes in the back....but back to tea....so, I used my Emma Bridgewater Black Headed Gull mug...





I first got hooked on Emma Bridgewater because of her name being the same as my English grandmother. She was first covered in Victoria magazine in 1989 I think, and we began then visiting her pottery in Stoke-on-Trent on each yearly English visit. Love her things!  I am glad to report she is still successfully making her pottery, all in England. Brilliant, Emma!


The other part of my tea post is the Cranberry Cove tea tin...I have several...that were included in tea packages of the named Celestial Seasonings tea in the 1980s. 





I keep them on the counter stocked with the appropriate tea. Cranberry Cove seems to be a New England thing, but actually one of the largest cranberry bogs is on the Pacific Coast in Bandon, Oregon. We used to holiday there frequently when we lived for several years in Ashland, Oregon. Here is a picture we took of a cranberry harvester at work. They have a large annual Cranberry festival which is quite fun to visit...cranberry everything you can think of!


So...the cranberry tea made me think of our times in Bandon and the seagulls there and , voila, a seagull mug post! Oh...and I had a friend while I was taking my tea out to the sunroom. Not a good photo of Tinker, but it's hard to catch a constantly-in-motion cat...and a black and white one at that...correctly....


As I mentioned, we are currently in Victoria, BC this weekend so will be late visiting and replying to comments, for which I apologize in advance. Here are some of the blogs I will be joining...

Here is the Linky, and remember it is SSLOOOOOOWW but it will appear! We would love to hear from you and have you link up your tea and teacup related posts...

18 comments:

  1. Enjoy Victoria, Ruth! Your seagull mug is really cute and your tea sounds wonderful. I have read that book about four times. I never tire of her stories. Enjoy your company and Happy Labour Day!

    Blessings,
    Sandi

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  2. I love your Emma Bridgewater mug, Ruth, and the tea sounds wonderful. The tin is so pretty, too. I really must read those Laure Child's books! Enjoy your visit with your friends and thanks for hosting n

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  3. Unusual to see you with a mug Ruth, but it's a sweet one and holds lots of tea! It's nice to celebrate Labour Day in Canada and I'll bet you're going to a tea room at some point.
    Have fun. This is one of the series I haven't read yet as I have been downloading them to my ereader and not all are available.

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  4. I love everything with a Victoria name, so I do love this...yes, enjoy it my friend!
    The tea makes me drool, to be there. Lovely book, I need to read. Thanks for the lovely party.
    Have a wonderful week.
    FABBY

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  5. Hope you're enjoying your holiday in Victoria, B.C. It's such a lovely place. I like the Laura Childs Tea Shop Mystery book, Emma Bridgewater mug, and Celestial Seasonings tea tin. ~ Phyllis

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  6. I love those tea shop mysteries, lots of fun. I had one of those Celestial Seasonings cranberry tea tins at one time, as well as a Sleepytime tin. The cranberry bog is really amazing. I didn't know there were any out there either. Have a great vacation, and thank you for hosting Ruth.

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  7. Hi Ruth--have a great time in Victoria! Your mug is really cute, but I really like that pretty tea tin. That is definitely worth keeping :). Hope you're having a great Labor Day!

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  8. Love your Emma mug, so pretty. That book is fabulous. I have all her books, and always wish that tea shop was real so I could visit all of them!

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  9. I love seagulls and I love Emma Bridgewater. I'm going to put the seagull mug on my list and look for it when I go the British Isles store ... I can feel a visit coming on! ;) I have one of those Celestial Seasons tea in Mandarin Orange. Tins are so much fun. I haven't tried the cranberry tea -- I'll have to give it a sip! Happy Tea Day and thank you for hosting!

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  10. Hi Ruth,
    Your mug is very pretty today. I don't have any Emma Bridgewater china. Love the cranberry tea tins too. I must try one of those tea shop mysteries. I hope that you find lots of teacup treasures in Victoria. Thank you for hosting today. Take care, Karen

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  11. I love your E. Bridgewater mug and your tea tin! Thanks for hosting!

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  12. I'm late, I'm late for a very important date, Tea Cup Tuesday!
    Love how she put a bird right in her mark.

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  13. I was so upset about missing the linky party, that it took me awhile to notice you put me on your list at the end of your post. You just made my night! Thank you Ruth!

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  14. I misunderstood a while back and thought she was your grandmother. You never know about me. This is a lovely mug! Hope you have a nice time in BC.

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  15. Love your mug, I'm sharing one myself - and coffee this time - thinking of the month of September - wonderful tea mysteries - love them! I am delighted to join your party - I do appreciate you hosting,
    Kathy

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  16. I'm browsing again... I thing I forgot to post how soothing and lovely you are!

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  17. Lovely post! Happy tea time!
    The sea gull so representing Oregon's coast.
    Joining you hear on last week'sTeacup Tuesday - would you like to stop by for some tea on the river?
    Happy!
    Jacoba

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  18. I love your Black Headed Gull mug, and I always enjoy hearing about *your* Emma Bridgewater. And that tea tin is just delightful!

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Thanks for visiting and we love to hear from you! We read every comment. If my husband's health permits, I love to visit andreply. Have a wonderful day and a cuppa tea always at hand! :)