Peonies and ants...

I've been picking peonies in full bloom and buds this week, trying to shake the ants off, bringing the bouquet inside and still getting ants in the house.  
I don't care.  I ♥ fresh flowers. (picture from http://bluebirdnotes.blogspot.ca/)

Today, we put our American flag on the porch, for Monday is Memorial day...we remember all those who have helped protect our freedom!   

I pulled a bunch of weeds (mostly silver maple seedlings that came from the neighbor's tree) today, near the baby tomato plants and lettuce.  My littlest sister move to Oregon almost 9 months ago and we got her 3 blueberry bushes...they are thriving (had flowers on them last week) and have green blueberries on them now!  

My sister gave me some herbal tea from St. Elizabeth's Skete, we enjoyed a pot of it last night.  ♥  We had organic lavender chamomile tea tonight with our friends, Marina, Michael and Bethany...seriously, both teas were full of pretty yellow chamomile buds!

At the very bottom of this blog, you'll see the playlist...and if you want to listen to some nice music, I recommend Lenka:

Tea on Myrrhbearer Sunday...

These are some of the macarons we made...they were scrumptious, but didn't have a "foot" and I'm sure it's because we overbeat them, after reading this:  http://kitchenmusings.com/macaron-faqs/

Sunday afternoon, we had a little tea party.  It was Myrrhbearer Sunday, the day we celebrate those who came to Christ's tomb to anoint his body with myrrh and found that he was gone...and risen!!!  Christ is Risen!  ♥  It was my namesday, as I'm was named after St. Martha and my sister is named after St. Mary, the sisters of Lazarus.  My sister, Susanna, is also named after a myrrhbearer (she would've been Lazarus, if she were a boy) and my littlest sister, Andrea is named after Bishop Andrei Rymarenko of Novo Diveevo, NY, (my parents were very close to him and he passed away in 1978),  her patron saint is St. Andrew the Apostle. 

I got a new teapot for $11.99 with an infuser basket, because I've been making loose leaf tea.  This Rose Petal black tea from the Republic of Tea (given to me as a gift from a friend), with some honey and a little milk, is my favorite!

Our homemade poutine (a French Canadian speciality), turned out well.  I used frozen french fries from Trader Joe's.  The cheese curds I got at Country Fresh Market, on Vine St.  $3.89 for an 8 oz. package and I made the gravy, as this recipe says... 

We had hamburgers with it...they were still on the grill, but we had to dig in...

Hannah climbed our fence to reach over and pluck a few roses from the neighbors wild rose bush...there are SO many, I'm sure they won't mind.  They smell wonderfully!

Tea at Bonbonerie

Local bakery and cafe, Bonbonerie, here in Ohio, is a lovely place to have tea.  They serve spinach asiago quiche, scones, raspberry jam, clotted cream, French macarons, and fine Elmwood Inn teas from Kentucky.  I ordered a pot of China Rose tea (black tea) and added a few sugar cubes and cream...

My sisters, Mary, Susanna, and I took our mom there. ♥  We all got a different kind of tea, and tried the other kinds. 

All of our plates, teacups and saucers were mismatched nice china, which I really liked.  Doilies used as placemats.

Shelves lined with pretty teapots.  There were a bunch of kitten teapots with a paw up to the side, the spout!

Mom walking outside Bonbonerie and also by the irises...her favorite flowers!

Family of 18

My parents in the middle...their 4 daughters (and their husbands and children)!  ♥  The oldest is 67 years old and the youngest is 5 months.  Last week we were all together, all 18 of us, now everyone is back in their homes, one family in Portland, Oregon and another in Ottawa, Canada, and the rest of in Ohio.

My dear husband and my nephew Isaac.  It was warm last week, 60 degrees Fahrenheit.  My sister's husband who is Canadian keeps me on my toes, when he tells me the temperature in Celsius...so it was almost 20.  The kids actually ran around barefoot, climbing trees, no jackets, although it had snowed the week previous.

Now we are back to the cold weather (more typical of January in Ohio), it was 30 degrees Fahrenheit, which is like -1 degrees Celsius.  We went rollerskating together and then came inside and had hot tea and doughnuts in honor of my niece Juliana's saints day!  It is like a birthday to us.

New tea...to go with a book!

I decided to order this tea, inspired by the No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency books by Alexander McCall Smith.  And it came...quickly!  Hannah and I enjoyed a cup of the 97 per cent tea, named after Grace Makutsi who brags about her high score on her exam at the Botswana Secretarial college.  She is hilarious.  ♥

If you haven't read any of these books, I highly recommend them.  We actually just got Smith's first children's book, The Great Cake Mystery, from the library (it also comes on CD, we got both at the same time, what a nice coincidence)!  It's about Precious, as a young girl:

"When a piece of cake goes missing from her classroom, a traditionally built young boy is tagged as the culprit. Precious, however, is not convinced. She sets out to find the real thief. Along the way she learns that your first guess isn’t always right. She also learns how to be a detective."

Geared for children 7 years old and up.  There are beautiful simple woodcuts on just about every page.  It starts off with Obed telling his daughter, Precious, about how he came face to face with a lion as a child and how he is still alive...  Even an adult would be captivated by this interesting and sweet story of a little girl in Africa.