Harvest time!

Hello friends,

Meet our first English cucumber and behind him are two zuchini! They are smallish, but perfect and I just had to pick them...I believe we have a raccoon who has discovered our little bit of Eden...my summer squash have been disappearing....also we have deer....but I got these guys YEA!!!!

Today was a hot day, but we had heavy rain including some hail. We needed a good rain...not hail tho.

My dh had a bunyon-echtomy Friday. He sailed thru until about 9pm tonight....then the meds wore off and he was hurting...time for more meds and now he is much more comfortable, thank goodness. I have been playing Nurse Betty trying to keep him comfy and lots of juice, 7up and whatever....He is a good patient.

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cathy

World Tea Expo

Meet James Norwood Pratt, the absolute KING of Tea in America! I have been a true fan of his since reading his wonderful book "The Tea Lovers' Treasury". His writing style is full of wit and much wisdom, he is a true son of the South, but also a citizen of the world. Everyone loves and reveres Norwood, he is an icon. Each year I hunt him out at the Tea Expo. The first Expo was quite small and intimate in that we could mingle and meet everyone quite easily. I felt like a true "groupie" hunting down Mr. Pratt and having my photo taken with him. My friends Elaine and Emily were with me and we gathered around him for a group shot! Thrilling. He is most gracious and always acts as if he remembers us...Emily, I believe he really does remember, she is young and lovely...but anyway he makes me feel recognized, even if he doesen't...smiling here. He is always a highlight of any event.

The Expo was grand this year. Quite different in that the location was Mandolay Bay hotel in Vegas, which is totally awesome. Had a lovely room, met many dear tea friends, drank copious amounts of excellent tea, had deep discussions on the future of tea and the tea trade in America particularly...it is growing so fast...hooray! Enjoyed myself thoroughly and I believe got some great feedback from people I trust and respect! So, in my estimation, this Expo was a complete success. I am energized and ready to begin consulting in earnest. Also plan on applying to present at next year's Expo.

I am working on some other tea-related endeavors and will keep you posted as the progress.

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Cathy

Crop Update and more

Good Tuesday morning friends,
Here is Paul taking a look at the "crops"....well, that was about two weeks ago and I can't begin to tell you how much this stuff has grown! I need another update very soon. The tomatoes are literally over the top of the cages, the zuchini and squash are vining everywhere, the cucumbers are attaching to anything...the onions, the tomato cages, the other plants....we have tons of blooms on everything...still only one tomato on the betterboys and nothing on the German Johnson's...have about 5 roma tomatoes set....so looks like July is going to be harvest time! It is exciting to watch, altho I remember the old addage: "A watched pot never boils" and I believe it to be true of our crops, so I try to refrain from twice daily trips to view the bounty, or at least the hope of a bounty!
Summer is a great time for relaxing, or for plans of travel, or for picinics. We are so fortunate to live so close to both beach and mountains but we must make plans for trips or we would be in mid-September and realize we had not see the ocean that whole summer. Can you imagine living this close to the Atlantic and not visiting? I also would dearly love to make a trip to Gettysburg, PA for the 4th of July. We are planning a trip to the mountains for the Grandfather Mountain Highland Games this year. It is a great day! We will camp.
I am also planning a trip to NYC in a couple of weeks for the Fancy Food Show! Ah, what fun that will be in my most favorite city on earth! I do love New York. This is a bit of a working trip as I am going to help a friend who is opening a tea room and we are scouting for that purpose. Marian has not been to the city for a very long time, so I am the "guide". Now, I have not been for over 3 years....but I am an optimist and feel confident of my city skills....(we will see how we fare). We are arriving on Sat. morning and have matinee tickets for Wicked...so great! Will have time with city friends Elizabeth and Kirsten and also do some site seeing if Marian wants. I can go to the Met over and over again....We'll do some great dining and of course eat our fill during the Fancy FS....so all in all, it should be one fabulous weekend.
I feel a bit guilty as I will be leaving Paul behind...he is having foot surgery on this Friday.
So, summer is beginning to fill up, which is how I like it.
Sunday I am invited to attend the Victorian Ladies Tea Society's Daisy Tea. Sounds lovely. Will let you know how that turns out.
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Cathy

Two post day...Tot photo

Left to right: Izabella, Sophia, Breana, Camryn, Jazmine, Woody

Front row: Zion and Olivia
Birthday girl Sophia is THREE

Goggle eyes Zion

Pretty cute bunch of tots! We love them all and are so proud of each one, they are truly a blessing in every way

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cathy

Crop Update

WE HAVE A TOMATO!

Good Monday morning friends,

This is a "baby picture" of our first tomato, hope we have many more to come...there's lots of blooms. Remember, we are doing the square foot garden this year...so far all is going very well. Everything except the carrots...don't know what happened to them...but everything else is going great. Our weather has been very hot...the rain barrel has been doing it's work with watering from it every other day. The heat, coupled with high humidity has made for really uncomfortable weather. Paul and I have been up and out walking by 6am the past two days...we are doing 2 miles and it is getting quite hot by the time we head home.

Tomorrow is the last day of school here in the Raleigh/Wake county area. Woody moves into High School next year....Izabella into middle school, B, Cammi, Jazmine and Zion stay in their same schools....Olivia has one more year of pre-school...wow. Sophia is just turning 3. All tots are growing up fast...time flies too fast for this Nana.

It has been a week since I returned from the World Tea Expo in Las Vegas. Lots and lots of happenings. A great trip tho.

Stay cool,

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Cathy

For "the birds"

Meet Peep (yellow) and Sweet Bird (blue) our wonderful parakeets!

About 8 years ago after visiting my folks in Arizona, I decided we needed a bird. They are relatively easy on the upkeep and fun to watch and interact with and I enjoy their chatter...that is parakeet chatter..... So, I went to PetSmart and got two one blue and one yellow...didn't know their gender so named them Peep and RePeep. They became fast friends and for 3 years were happy in their cage and their life...then RePeep showed some signs of stress and so I took him (by now, we knew he was a he and she was not a he!) to the Vet....$125 later, we knew he was just fine and all fit and healthy...then 6 months later he dropped dead one morning. I was very very upset and sad...Peep was too. Poor RePeep, but he had a good, but brief life....Well, enter my good friend Michelle...she is a huge bird lover. She had a bird, a parakeet, who needed a home, would I be interested? The bird she was talking about I already had heard of thru Michelle, she had taken care of him for his owner for a week and had talked about what a great guy he was. His name ....Sweet Bird. I knew Peep was lonely...but thought I should wait to see if she would drop dead too since the mysterious death of RePeep...we waited, Peep survived and so enter Sweet Bird. He had been kept in a very small cage, so his growth was stunted (he was small, lots smaller than Peep who has always been in a nice large cage)...anyway....Sweet Bird may be small in size, but his heart, and ego knows no bounds...he is GREGARIOUS and from the moment he laid eyes on Peep, he wanted to be best friends...she was very shy. We kept their cages close for a week, then, we opened both doors so they could come and go...well you-know-who was over in the "big cage" instantly????SB, that's who...if birds could talk he would have been going a mile a min. Eventually, we brought just his beloved swing from the smaller cage and he moved into "the big house" and they have been together for 6 years now. Such a pair they make! They have great personalities and of course SB knows no fear and is such a character. He has also grown and is just about the same size as Peep now. She is calm and steady, he is wild and crazy...they are great friends and Paul and I enjoy being part of their world.

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cathy

That's me on the left!

So here I am with Lord Wedgwood and all that lovely china! This was actually taken a year ago at my first event here in Raleigh....I should be getting some photos to upload and share soon of the event in Charlotte. I have done this three times and have enjoyed each tea. Everyone in both the Belk and Wedgwood organizations is so very accomodating, helpful, friendly and professional, it is a pure pleasure to work with them. And Lord Wedgwood is the consumate gentleman and so charming....he is grand. I try to make them glad they hired me....
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cathy