Miss Marple and the Mystery of Tea
Wednesday, July 11, 2007

To my great delight, I see that next week’s Masterpiece Theater is Miss Marple!

What I hate about my antenna (and I wonder if getting a new one will fix it) is that the picture I get is terrible. Especially for the channel that I like to watch the most, PBS. *sighs* Watching James D’Arcy in The Moving Finger was a real trial, especially when I rented the movie off of Netflix later and saw clearly his wonderful expressions, and how well he and Emilia Fox played off one another. I bought a replacement DVD player that has the new tuner, but when I set it up, instead of a miracle in clarity and even a new channel or two tossed in, I got nothing. I was told I don’t need to buy a new antenna, but I have a feeling that I probably must do.

Either that, or when the NTSC signal is no longer broadcast, I’ll have no telly at all.

Despite the poor picture, I’ll be watching the Miss Marple’s happily. Geraldine McEwan makes an adorable and clever Marple. Next week’s, Towards Zero has Greg Wise in it! Cool! And Ordeal by Innocence has Richard Armitage. And oh! Richard E. Grant is in Nemesis! This season is going to be really brilliant fun!

Oh, dear. The horror…I only have two tea bags left. How did this calamity happen? One is Tzao Earl Grey, which is good…the other some unidentifiable “House Recipe Premium Blend” that was left over from some gathering. Suspect. Very suspect. Do I got for the Earl Grey, or save it for when I desperately need it? Do I try the “House Blend”, or is it really just too great a risk? A bad cuppa can indeed make or break a day. It occurs to me that someday, you, too, dear reader may face such a terrifying decision, so in the interests of tea drinkers everywhere…nay, for humanity itself, I will brew a cup of the “premium”. I will let you know the results.

I did get to write yesterday! I also looked over the edits of my first short story, and received my contest giveaways. Every day, I try and work on it more and more.

And, in final news, I believe I am finally done selling on evilbay. I did not enjoy the experience much at all, and from now on will seriously considerer donating everything to charity.
Ah, all the time it took me to edit and get over here, the tea is ready. It is...passable. If you're really picky, it's utter drech, but if you're in the "It's hot, it tastes pretty much like any tea you get in a restraunt so it's ok and I really need a cup of tea" sort of frame of mind, it's ok. Bout what you expected me to say, isn't it?

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Permalink Cindy scribed this at 9:33 AM 6 comments

6 Comments:

I love the background color of your site. I love periwinkle. :) I love tea too but I'm not addicted to it. Hmmm... maybe I am since I drink lemon iced tea everyday. :)

By Blogger eagerblogger, at 9:39 AM  

Like the look of the site and nice post - I cant drink to much tea atm as my throat is very sore with an infection :(

www.rosshetherington.com

- It is very hard, being judged for no reason... I am a respectable person but still get shoved on the 'hide away' from lists.

By Anonymous Anonymous, at 3:10 PM  

Im glad you liked my post... it has a strong message and it seems to be true. I had never had a girlfriend before my one ive had now and have been going out for over 8 months and I just treated her how I would like to be treated myself... That was, cared for, loved, treated right and respected :) And it has paid off.

By Blogger rosshetherington, at 3:32 PM  

I LOVE Miss Marple and Geraldine McEwan is my favorite as well as Margaret Rutherford.

By Blogger Unknown, at 9:23 PM  

Aww, thanks all!

Ross, i hope your throat gets better soon. :(

Random Magus, I've never seen Margaret Rutherford. is she very different in her approach?

By Blogger Cindy, at 12:00 PM  

She appeared in the black and white ones...

By Blogger Unknown, at 8:19 PM  

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  I wonder what Snape Drinks his tea in?
Friday, April 20, 2007

First: Hello Donna, Sara and Cindy. :)

I don't know if any of you have noticed, but tea mugs make a huge difference. I have two mugs I use the most: A mug with all the presidents of the United States on it (a present from one of my faculty) and a glazed clay mug I bought at the pottery sale last year. The US mug is your common, white on the inside glazed porcelain, very nice. The clay doesn't really. It really changes the flavor, adding an earthiness or it or even softening the edges of the flavor. Sometimes I drink my Earl Grey from it and the tang is a lot gentler. There are some teas I prefer drinking from it...it makes Bigelow's Plantation Mint, always a huge favorite, and brings out the flavor of the mint even more, softening the black tea slightly. On the other hand, I don't like the Numi Jasmin from it as much, because the flavor is so delicate you don't want it to be softened or made earthy.

I do have a small collection of tea cups. I pick them up at yard sales on occasion, but I only rarely use them for tea. I use them for juice, mostly, or put them on the sink to use in the bathroom instead of disposable Dixie cups. I think they are really beautiful, I love the patterns, the shape.

Next Monday marks three weeks left of the semester. I only have a few things left on my list to do. The Honors Dinner Monday, the field trip...whatever odds and ends need to be done for the beginning of the summer semester. I am sad in some ways, because some people will be leaving, some faces i won't see for months on end. but i am also excited. There is something about this time of year that feels like the beginning of something nice, just like Fall does. It won't be, mostly, as teeth grittingly stressful as the last few weeks have been, and everyone is in a better mood. I want to see if i can't plan my summer so there is a balance between me doing all my work quickly and perfectly (which includes making sure everything is organized for Fall.) and finding ways to make it as fun as possible. I also want to walk more. Last summer i tended to just eat at my desk and write during lunch.

I started Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's stone awhile back, and I didn't like it. I thought her writing was terrible, and all sorts of things. I started reading it again, and now I'm hooked. It really is good, isn't it? And now I've allowed myself not to think about it, and to remember that this is for kids, not adults, I've given myself permission to just plunge right into the wonder of it. Really good stuff. I bought Chamber of secrets, and if I keep reading, I might be able to be caught up by book 7.

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Permalink Cindy scribed this at 2:41 PM 1 comments

1 Comments:

talking about mug and teas..make me miss www.teacuppa.com green tea.
I am travelling, can't wait to be home for my cuppa.

By Anonymous Anonymous, at 1:43 AM  

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  Tea
Wednesday, April 11, 2007

Sometimes I think that I should write a tea blog. Maybe, like this snazzy Candy Blog: http://www.typetive.com/candyblog/ . She gets candy from all over the world. I’d not mind getting tea from all over the world to review…

I’d really like to get my hand on one of these, but I’ll never, ever, ever steep it. http://www.worldpantry.com/cgi-bin/ncommerce3/CategoryDisplay?cgmenbr=175633&cgrfnbr=191370 Isn’t that so cool? The idea of people patiently sewing tea leaves together so that, when placed in hot water, they unfurl, bloom, is amazing to me.

The problem is that I think that when we get into things like tea, we feel like if we don’t conform to certain standards, like, if we confess that we drink tea from bags rather than loose, we’re showing ourselves up. We’re saying “I really don’t know about tea/my tastes are totally white trash/I have no clue whatsoever.”

So I tend to avoid that, because I don’t want to be thought of as less cultured. Which is a bit of a laugh, really, I hate pretension in all it’s forms, but sometimes I don’t want to speak because I’m afraid of people’s opinions of my cultural literacy/good sense/taste.

Ah well.

Currently I’m sipping Bigelow’s Raspberry Royale. It’s oversweet, but I think that’s because I over sugared it…so be careful. The raspberry taste is very fine, it actually does taste like berries. It also smells very nice.

My current favorite is still Lipton’s Black Pearl. It’s gorgeous…from the pyramid tea bag series, and it is just such nice flavored black tea…when you have a cup of plain black tea, you want something full and rich. And dang, the name’s just cool. My mother and I always try to imitate Jack Sparrow. Alright, actually, I just do, “It’s the PEARL!” and my mother tolerates it.

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Permalink Cindy scribed this at 9:42 AM 2 comments

2 Comments:

It's always great to write about teas...i love teas as well...but mainly loose tea...my fav would be cassia bark oolong and ginseng oolong from teacuppa.com

By Anonymous Anonymous, at 1:14 AM  

What a cool site! They have some brillant choices...thank you!

By Blogger Cindy, at 8:13 AM  

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