National Hot Tea Month

Did you know that January is National Hot Tea month?!  Well, I’ve never been a coffee drinker but I just can’t do without my tea – hot, cold, lukewarm – caffeine, decaff, herbal – it’s all ok with me.  I once had a friend stay in our condo for a week when we were out of town and she told me afterwards that she had opened one of my kitchen drawers and found “all of the tea in the world”.  Not quite true, but these are a few of the varieties that I have on hand now:

I guess I do appreciate the many different varieties that are available!

And I even like reading about tea.  Have you ever read any of Laura Childs’ Tea Shop Mysteries?  These are light mysteries set in historic Charleston, SC.  The first in the series was titled “Death by Darjeeling” and featured Theodosia Browning, the owner of the Indigo Tea Shop, and her talented staff who blend teas, offer tea tastings and bake wonderful scones and other dishes in between investigating murders, mischief and mayhem.  This is the most recent of these "cozy mysteries with a twist" that I read – it was #12 in the series (and BTW, recipes of the delightful tea shop offerings are included in the books – yum!):

And I found the most darling BOM wallhanging that is starting this month.   I can't post the picture due to copyright, but click on the link the see the wallhanging that is being sponsored by Angie Padilla at:  http://ajpadilla.com/bom/asian-teapots

These blocks will only be free during the month they are issued, after that the past blocks will be available if you are a subscriber to Angie’s website and newsletter.  Since I love the many beautiful oriental prints that are in quilt shops now, I’ll be putting this BOM on my to-do list.