Royal Albert Teacup: John Peel

2020 is a leap year so I'm sharing a teacup that features an equestrian jumping over a fence (?).

This was passed on to me by someone who was downsizing. I had just started collecting teacups so I was more than happy to give this beauty a new home.

The teacup is part of the Royal Albert Traditional British Songs Series (circa 1950s). John Peel was a famous English huntsman.

What are you doing on Leap Day?

A Valentine's Day Tea Social at Work

I hope everyone had a wonderful Valentine's Day weekend!

Because many people were off on Feb 14 (the Friday before the long weekend), we had our Valentine tea office potluck on Feb 13--Galentine's Day, an unofficial holiday which celebrates friendships.

I brought in 2 teas:

1) Monarch Tea Co's Anniversary Black Tea (chocolate strawberry blend), and 2) Tea at the White House's Cinnamon Hearts Black tea - the crowd pleaser.

My co-workers brought these tasty dishes.

My sweet tooth hearts the yummy desserts!

I'm still thinking about the cheesecake and cookies!

How did you celebrate Valentine's Day?

February teas and falling off the tea wagon

This month, I finally tried some new teas that I acquired last November/December.

Monarch Tea's Anniversary Blend is a limited edition tea (2019) that celebrates 5 years of one of my favourite tea companies. This tasty dessert tea is a blend of black tea, strawberry, rosehip, and chocolate.

Tea Amo is a mobile tea room (their travelling tea trailer is adorable!) that also sells teas online. The cherry chocolate black tea tea is delicious and tastes just like black forest cake.

One of my birthday gifts: Tea at the White House's First Snowfall is a black tea with white chocolate and cute snowflake sprinkles. It was a hit at last week's pop-up tea at the office.

So I lasted 39 days without purchasing any new teas...

...but I couldn't resist this Cinnamon Hearts black tea from Tea at the White--it'll be served at an upcoming tea social at work.

I used a gift card from my birthday so technically it's a gift, right???

Birthday Presents

My family and friends once again spoiled me on my birthday with tea-rrific presents.

I love how both these cards featured a pretty turquoise teacup!

How cute is this English-themed teapot with the crown on the lid?

This pretty purple mug with cheery yellow flowers inside is a harbinger of spring.

A tea press for tea on the go.

This metal teabag holder is perfect for work!

An assortment of loose leaf teas and teabags.

A Tea at the White House gift card.

My tea empties from the January sipdowns.

I've also passed on teas (not pictured) that I had enjoyed but have grown tired of to family and friends.

A Mad Tea Open House

This month, I celebrated a milestone birthday with a Mad Tea Open House! Annnd for the second year in a row, we had a "significant snowfall" (10-15 cm or 4-6 inches) on the day of my party. I hemmed and hawed over where to cancel, but ultimately decided to proceed with the Open House since the majority of guests were local.

It's always tea time!

Alice in Wonderland napkins and plates

The guests selected their bone china teacups.

Three types of teas were served (left to right):

1) OTeas' Berry Bouquet herbal tea - a caffeine-free option

2) Clearview Tea's Winter Spice green tea  - this was the favourite

3) TWG's 1837 Black Tea

(coffee was also available for the non-tea drinkers)

Light refreshments

Sweet treats

My talented work friend baked me this awesome tea-themed lemon cake!

I was incredibly touched that my friends braved the inclement weather to celebrate my birthday. They made my 20+20 birthday special and reminded me how blessed I am to have such amazing friends!

Tea-lightful Christmas gifts

In addition to the interesting teas that I received for Christmas, my family and friends also gave me some really cool tea-themed gifts.

What does the fox say?

A two-cup teapot

A tea cozy (the new teapot is small, but it matches the cozy perfectly!)

A lovely teacup in my favourite colours: purple and yellow!

A lavender tea set that includes a creamer, sugar, and spoon.

A new Sereni-tea mug for the office.

A tea infuser bottle that can keep the liquid hot OR cold.

You can never have enough cute tea towels or napkins!

A Mrs. Potts and Chip tee.

Tea-infused candy.

A teacup night light and magnets.

I'm so thankful to have such thoughtful friends who spoil me!

2020 Sipdown Challenge

Once again, my family and friends spoiled me on Christmas with some unique and interesting teas!

Teas from France: Laduree and Lov Organic

A variety of green and herbal teabags by Touch Organic, Muji (my cousin brought all the way back from Japan), and Tetley.

Loose leaf teas from Canadian companies: Totalitea (Calgary), Geek+Tea (Hamilton), DavidsTea (Ontario), Pluck (Toronto),and Waterdown Tea House (Waterdown).

I have enough teas to last me for years. So I'm recommitting to drinking what I own in 2020! No more new tea purchases for a looooooong time!

Now it's time to announce the winner of my 5-year blogiversary!

And the WINNER selected by Random.org is...(DRUM ROLL):

Congratulations to CHERYL from Two Sides of the Ocean!!!

Cheryl, please e-mail me your mailing address by January 15th and I will ship your prizes you.