Dessert by Deb's Oh Canada Sweets Collection

This month, I've been enjoying some new teas from Dessert by Deb's Oh Canada Sweets Collection.

 

 

Tea #1: Prairie Vanilla Custard Flapper Pie black tea

 

I've never actually had prairie vanilla custard flapper pie, but I enjoyed this tasty blend's creamy flavour.

  

 

Tea #2: Nanaimo Bar Cheesecake black tea

 

Another delicious creamy tea with chocolate and coconut notes.

 

 

 Tea #3: Maple Dipped Donuts & Coffee black tea

 

I'm not usually a fan of coffee-flavoured teas, but this was a lovely tea with a balance of maple and mocha notes.

 

 

Tea #4: Wild Strawberries & Northern Lights green tea

 

This fruity green tea would make a refreshing iced tea!

 

 

Tea #5: Sakura Watermelon in High Park oolong tea

 

I've never met a watermelon tea that I didn't like, so this floral watermelon blend was right up my alley!

2025 Spring Pottery Show and Sale

One of the hallmarks of spring is the Hamilton Potters Guild's Spring Pottery Show & Sale.

 

Pottery by Diane Irons

 

 

I was intrigued by this unique Deborah Doran teapot.

 

 

More interesting teapots
 

 

Pretty mugs for spring

 

 

April tea empties 

 

What I have already restocked:
1) Dessert by Deb's Boba Milk black tea

What I may repurchase in the future:
1) Dessert by Deb's Berry Custard Meringue rooibos 

My first handmade matcha bowl

A few weeks ago, I purchased my first handmade matcha bowl!

 

 

This matcha bowl was crafted out of granite stoneware clay by Little Ginkgo Crafts.

 

 

I adore the beautiful purple jade glaze!

 

 

 

 I look forward to making matcha in my gorgeous new bowl!

The last of my tea hauls (I hope!)

We're in the midst of a heat wave and my A/C is broken, but I'm still drinking hot tea!

Sipping delicious maple teas from handmade in Canada mugs on Canada Day:

1) Morning: Sipping Geek+Tea's Dark Side oolong from a teacup by Scott Barnim.

2) Afternoon: Sipping Dessert by Deb's Butter Toffee Cream black and rooibos tea from a mug by Greg Voisin. The raspberry matcha chocolate almonds were by a Toronto chocolatier.

June empties

Oldest sipdown (Sept 2018): Chinese black tea with the cream packaging.

Newest sipdowns (May 2020): Monarch Tea Co.'s Love is Love herbal tea and Stay Young, Go Dancing (a peach black tea).

I regret to report that I also ordered more teas in June. I wanted to support the small Canadian tea companies!

Blair Elements (free shipping): two black teas and one green tea

Blue Mountain Tea Co. (free shipping): Two of the teas were gifted to other people. I kept four teas for me (three black teas and one Pu-erh).

Tea Amo (free local delivery): After months of online stalking, I finally bought this cute 3-cup turquoise teacup and teabag holder. I also purchased one green tea and one Pu-erh.

Me on my June 15th post: I also received a Davids Tea gift card, but I'm going to try to wait a while to use it.

Eleven days later, this was delivered to my door: Jasmine Creme Brulee green tea is one of my favourite DT blends and I had been wanting to try the Sticky Rice Oolong and Organic Black Thai teas. This was my "last chance" to stock up on these discontinued teas. 

I added the "Fan Faves" and metal strainer to get the free shipping. The tin was a free gift with purchase of 100g of tea.

My last June order: one fruity herbal and two black teas from Tealise.

Once again, the number of new teas exceed the number of sipdowns. My poor wallet! There are several more tea companies on my wish list. But I'll try my best to use up some of my stash before buying new teas.

Purple Reigns in My World

I have a weakness for purple teacups so I was thrilled to score this beauty at a church sale last summer.

The teacup was made by Royal Albert.

The pretty purple and yellow combination are perfect for Easter!

I blame Lorrie for my latest impulse purchase. Recently, she shared her cute polka dot wellies...

...the next thing I knew, these purple rainboots by Kamik arrived at my door!

These rubber boots (my first pair!) are recyclable, orthotic-friendly and made in Canada.

The rubber sole has great traction and the squeaking was minimal.

I don't usually order shoes online because I like to try them on first (my feet are VERY picky!). So I was relieved and happy to discover that the waterproof boots could accommodate my orthotics and were comfortable.

Let it rain.

I'm joining the following parties this week:

Tuesday Cuppa Tea

Tea with Friends

Embarrassment of Riches

My family and friends totally spoiled me last Christmas with tea-related gifts! I'm blessed that my loved ones enable my addiction support my love of all things tea.

 This "Celebration" Teapot by Bowring is a daily reminder to:

 Celebrate Life...Dream Big...Laugh Often...Live Well...

Glass ornaments for my tea-themed tree.

 Tea-infused bath and body products.

These soft lips are single-handedly keeping the Toronto-based Bare English & Co. in business!

 I suspect my friends gifted me this super cute teacup apron and copper teapot cookie cutter to motivate this reluctant chef in the kitchen (Well played, guys!).

When I sent my friend a photo showing off my new tree topper, her response was:

Love it! But...you do know...cookie cutter is meant for making cookie, right? Hint, hint...

How cute are these miniatures?

 An assortment of new teas for me to try out throughout 2016...

...with the IQ Kettle with variable temperature control to optimize the tea flavour.

 

 Fun new mugs and cups for some happy sippin'.

 The pretty pattern of this vintage bone china teacup is called Silver Lace by Queen Anne.

The silver filigree design is perfect for winter decor!

A vintage lustreware teapot and sugar set made in Japan.

After seeing all the tea stuff that I've shared today (and over the past year), you'll be surprised to learn that I'm actually a bit of a minimalist! Teas and pretty china are my kryptonite, but I'm running out of storage space in my humble abode...

Thanks to my generous and thoughful family and friends, I now have more than enough teas, teapots, and teacups in my collection. So this teaholic is on a diet! I haven't purchased any new teas since October 1st (YAY!), and I won't buy any tea pretties for a while...let's see how long my resolve will last!

Now it's time to announce the winner of my 1-year blogiversary giveaway!

And the Winner is...(drum roll):

ANNAMARIE VOSS

Congratulations, Annamarie!!! Please send me your mailing address and I will ship the tea towel, mug and tea samples to you.

  
Thank you to everyone who participated in the giveaway!

I'm joining the following parties this week:

  Bernideen's Tea Time, Collage, and Garden Blog Party

Mosaic Monday

  No Place Like Home

Tea Cup Tuesday 

Tuesday Cuppa Tea

Cup of Christmas Cheer

At a recent visit to the local mall, I spotted the most adorable thing...

A pair of Arctic hares enjoying a cup of tea outside Santa's cabin. Too cute!

 'Tis the season for enjoying copious amounts of tea!

 Earlier this month, I hosted a Christmas tea party with my relatives which gave me the opportunity to use my holiday teawares.

I used two of my Christmas teapots: Spode's "Christmas Tree" (left) and Maxwell & Williams "Baubles" (right).

My "United Nations" of teacups with holly and ivy and poinsettia patterns:
Lefton - Japan (top left); Blue Bird - Canada (top right); Duchess - England (bottom left).

I didn't have enough seasonal teacups so I also used my Bareuther Waldsassen - Germany (bottom right) set which I thought looked Christmassy...

Last week, we had our last tea social of the year at the office.

I brought in my Maxwell & Williams "Baubles" teapot and mugs.

The Christmas sweets brought in by my co-workers.

At a friend's afternoon tea party this past weekend, I enjoyed sipping my tea from the Royal Albert "Yuletide" teacup.

Wishing you a Blessed Christmas Season!

I'm joining the following parties this week:

  Bernideen's Tea Time, Collage, and Garden Blog Party

Mosaic Monday

  No Place Like Home

Tea Cup Tuesday 

Tuesday Cuppa Tea

It's Beginning to Look a Lot Like Christmas!

In early November, I went to the Hamilton Potters' Guild's Fall Pottery Sale. You can view the beautiful teawares from the spring sale here.

The fall sale was the perfect place to shop for Christmas decor and gifts for the pottery fan.

There were many cute (but pricey!) ornaments on sale.

Ornaments featuring classic Christmas carol. 

Alas, there were no tea-themed ornaments so I left empty-handed.

This adorable nutcracker was from HomeSense. 

Sadly, the $60 price tag prevented me from bringing the nutcracker home with me. 

After 3 months of pumpkin and other spiced teas, I'm ready for the Christmas teas! 

I've always wanted to try Celestial Seasonings' Sugar Cookie Sleigh Ride herbal tea so I was excited when I finally found it at our local Bulk Barn. Love the teapot sleigh on the box cover!

I purchased this "Tea Time" mug by Greg Voisin at last year's fall pottery show.

The sugar cookie sleigh ride herbal tea was a light and sweet tea ...

...but Celestial Seasonings' Candy Cane Lane green tea is still my favourite Christmas tea!

I'm joining the following parties this week:

  Bernideen's Tea Time, Collage, and Garden Blog Party

Mosaic Monday

  No Place Like Home

Tuesday Cuppa Tea