Every morning begins with a proper brew of tea

Not a morning goes by when I do not long for that first sip of hot sweet black English tea.  Even as a young girl very fine tea was available at anytime, and my mom's favorite was an orange pekoe made by Salada.  Sadly I haven't found it in stores for over 30 years now and have had to settle for RED Rose or Tetly teas.  Even those are more obscure as you won't walk into a Wall-mart to pick it off the shelf, but it cam be found in higher end stores like Jewel Osco, or HyVee.

Morning tea goes back fewer years because for many years coffee reigned supreme.  In fact I had the coffee pot on a timer so that it was set the night before to offer a steaming cup of the java as soon as I dragged myself out of bed.  It woke me up and collected my sanity.  I mean, how could anyone make it through a day without coffee?

A sample of RED Rose Figures

What I didn't know was that for many years I had been accumulating the oils from the coffee-bean in my liver and had gone into toxicity, so the order was that I not drink coffee. . ugg!  So anyway, tea has become my routine, even if there is no automation . . yet!

I remember way back when I was a preschooler, my Grandmother often gave us little china cups, saucers, creamers, sugar-bowl and figurines of all kinds as keepsakes and gifts.  They came from bags of oatmeal, or sugar, and from RED Rose Tea Boxes.  by the time I was a teen Grandma has passed, but I had this collection of miniature figurines that I later began using for Faberge Egg Crafting and in dioramas.

Now I had not found any RED Rose tea in the USA before this. . (BTW I am Canadian bred and born) . . so imagine my surprise when one day I had to make a purchase of tea and saw a RED Rose tea box!!  I was hesitant to pick it up, thinking it couldn't be the real thing.  It looked like it,  It smelled like it. . tea has to smell a certain way- you know. . so I took it along with the Tetly I had by now grown accustomed to.

Imagine my surprise to find out that RED Rose had and was continuing to include the little collectibles with their product!  I was so delighted I felt like a little kid again waiting expectantly for the little treasures Grandmother loved to bestow upon her grandchildren.  I remember her fondly.

Today many of those years ago figurines fetch a fair price on E-Bay and such but I will be putting all of mine on display inside an egg!

What a delight!! Happy New Year Everyone! . . and may we all have the greatest year, by remembering the simple things that give us joy.