Lisa’s Tea Treasures

A Fairy Garden Welcome for Boomdee and Mr. B.

I once marveled at friendships forged by letter-writing, the back and forth exchange of lives via the written word. What fun it would be to share the minutia of life with a kindred soul.

I’ve found that kindred spirit here on WordPress at Boomdeeadda! Instead of forging a paper friendship, we’ve connected through our blogs. It started simply enough, with an exchange of comments. Before I knew it, I was following Boomdee and checking in every day. We connected on Facebook, Pinterest and finally Skype.

It’s been an extraordinary journey, one of affection and discovery, leading the Boomster to my doorstep this week. The odds that we would ever meet seemed improbable: she lives in Alberta, Canada; I’m in San Jose, California. But connect we did and due to this amazing blogging community, we found ourselves together in a cozy tea shop swapping stories and sharing our mutual admiration of our fellow bloggers.

Boomdee is warm and kind, generous to a fault, clever, creative and fun. I wish you could hear her laugh or collect one of her spontaneous hugs. Like a couple of school girls, we found something to laugh about around every corner.

Beautiful Boomdee Near the Fairy Garden

Alyster came with! What a nice surprise.

Lisa's Tea Treasures with Boomdee and Sharon

We donned wigs and false eyelashes, then went out for tea.

I’ve been teasing all week that I would like her to move here, but in reality, well… I would like her to move here. Sure, it’s impractical with jobs and family and lives, but the alternative meant saying goodbye at the curb. Alas, with heavy hearts, we did.

Safe travels my friend. You’ve filled me with joyful memories…until we meet again.

Boomdeeadda is…

Crafty: I Love it Here
Upbeat: Make Lemonade
Stylish…and funny: Ode to Flip-flops

No need to take my word for it. You can go see for yourself. 🙂

Lisa’s Tea Treasures is a charming tea room and gift parlor in nearby Campbell, California. Designed to resemble an early nineteenth century English parlor, they serve “high tea” in cozy rooms where you ring the bell for service. Fresh tea brews at your table in fine china pots wrapped in “cozies.” Lisa’s is one of my go-to places to celebrate with my tea-loving friends.

Table Top at Lisa's Tea Treasures

I acquired my love of tea from my British father who not only drank it, but grew it on a tea plantation in Darjeeling. I have an album filled with black and white photos from his time in India, carefully captioned in his neat print. It’s a beautiful legacy from the man who died when I was nine. I wish he were alive to fill in the details of what had to be an amazing experience.

According to Wissotzky Tea,

“Tea is an evergreen plant of the Camellia genus. Its scientific name is “Camellia Sinensis) and it originated in China, Tibet and Northern India. The tea plant has thick leaves, dark green in color, and a strong thick stem. The tea flowers bloom in white or pink and have a delicate fragrance.

There are about 200 different species of the tea plant around the world.”

Assorted Teas Available in Lisa's Tea Salon

We believe tea originated in China, still a primary source of the world’s tea, along with India, Sri Lanka, Taiwan, Nepal and Japan. Herbal “teas” aren’t really teas at all but a collection of flowers, stems, leaves and buds.

Visiting a tea plantation is on my proverbial bucket list. To see this plant, brewed and enjoyed the world round, would be a treat.

A few of my favorite teas:

Numi® Organic Tea: Super premium, organic and fair trade teas.

Celestial Seasonings: Sleepytime anyone?

Yogi Tea: Wonderful green tea.

Traditional Medicinals: I’m a huge fan of their Cold Care and Throat Coat teas.

Do you have a favorite?