Another hot, humid summer-in-spring day on tap for the Chicago area. This morning I found that the spammers had been out in force on WordPress, depositing 84 comments in my spam folder and 3 that slipped through. That’s a record! Spammers, get a life. Go outside or write a book or something useful.
Today’s WordPress Photo Challenge theme is: “Heritage.”
When I backpacked around Europe for almost a year in the mid-seventies, I stayed in a number of B&B’s in Ireland, England, and Scotland, all with marvelous breakfasts, complete with wake-up cups of tea. However, I was not at all used to tea and tea so strong it could probably have stood without a cup or pot. Diluted half and half with milk, I could drink it, but by the time I returned to England prior to returning home, I was drinking it straight, just as I do today. Having a cup (or pot) of tea on the patio in France on a cool morning is a tradition I’m looking forward to enjoying again soon, but a cuppa anytime, anywhere, unadulterated is an inherited heritage I treasure.
This, that and the other thing 
I will never understand spammers. Thank goodness for Akismet! I used to be a tea drinker, but now start the day with coffee. I think on the whole tea was better – I sometimes feel like a coffee addict.
Tea has some great health benefits as well. White tea, the least processed, has lots of antioxidants. Green also has antioxidants and is healthy…and both can be re-steep two or three times, making them a great value. Of course there are lots of “teas” that have no tea, such as herbals or rooibos (the latter with lots of antioxidants as well.)
Yes, thank goodness for Akismet. I was surprised three got through! Some of the spam messages are so funny.
janet
You’re right, they can be funny. I got a message from a Baronet the other day which was held for my approval. I’d guess it’s about 400 words long, starting off mild enough, but rapidly becoming a tirade. The person is upset about a famous garden and a famous gardener. It isn’t spam, exactly, but it sure as anything isn’t the kind of thing I want to publish on my blog. I’m not sure what to do about it – just ignore it I suppose!
You can just send it to “Trash.” I’ve done that a time or two, usually with people who are simply posting a link to their blog, rather than commenting or anything.
I’ll do that – I just feel a bit guilty that he’s written such a lot and won’t get a reply, but perhaps he’s used to that. That’s the kind of person who should have their own blog, then they can say what they want.
I understand.
At least it wasn’t from a Nigerian prince asking you to send money. 🙂
😀
I, too, had a bunch of spam comments today. Must be a thing. Pretty cup 🙂
Drinking from a pretty cup makes a good tea even better. When you read the spam comments, you have to wonder whether the writer really thought anyone would believe that those were real comments. My favorite are the compliments on my writing/article when the post was a photo challenge. :-0
janet
Had plenty of those!
My favorite on today was tips on how to keep the (silk) flowers alive.
🙂
That’s the thing about tea and coffee, once you put anything it just isn’t the same anymore eh? I’m the same as you, drinking it straight 🙂
Good man. 🙂
😄
I have to say, though, that I’m not a coffee drinker, much as I love the aroma, so I prefer my coffee as a mocha, with some lovely dark chocolate in it for preference. 🙂
Ah, loyal to the tea ☺️
Loyal-tea. 🙂
I like coffee in the morning and tea, usually herbal, at night. When my kids were young, I lived for tea time. Tea time meant the dishes were done and the kids were asleep. The quiet time, that was tea time 🙂
That lovely time. That was always nap time…until the horrible day when they stopped napping. 🙂
janet
Mine never have. We’re a napping people, methinks 🙂
Now that’s a cup I would love to enjoy my tea in!
My s-i-l has good taste. 🙂 And there was good taste in the cup as well.
janet
Lovely take on the prompt, Janet. And if it weren’t for your post landing in my inbox, I might not participate in Weekly Photo Challenge at all. I still haven’t registered the altered day between my ears. 🙂
I put it on my weekly calendar, Sandra. I still feel as though it should be on Friday, too. But I’m happy to be of service. 🙂
janet
Me too. I grew up with Mom making us tea adding lots of sugar and milk. As we got older she switched us to Postem, but I always preferred tea. I’m still a tea drinker with milk and a little sugar everyday. Except when traveling here in the States. If they don’t have good black tea I opt for coffee. I like my tea strong. 🙂 When I don’t feel good I want it sweeter like Mom used to make it.
When I was growing up, all there was was Lipton. Now there’s a lot of good-great tea around and I credit Starbucks with that. Why? They started the coffee shop craze and the tea houses grew from that, too. Of course, the shop where I worked, http://www.sereneteaz.com/, all online now, has wonderful tea, so that made my last two tea-drinking years even better. 😉
janet
I am in the chicago too! this weather made me bust out my handy iced tea maker
I don’t drink iced tea much, but I had some yesterday! I tend to make mine hot in the teapot, then either add some ice when it’s cooled just a bit or put it in the fridge to have cold without ice the next day. Not quite so hot today, but still humid and that wind!!
janet
Lovely cup, Janet!
It’s my s-i-l’s, the one in France. Can’t wait to drink out of it again. 🙂
In England, I always drank my tea with milk and sugar. In North America getting a nice cup of tea anywhere outside home was almost always difficult or disappointing and often both. Then I went to Iran (for work) where they drink tea from glasses without milk. There is a sugar cube provided, but you are supposed to suck the tea through it – something I never managed. But since then I have always drunk tea without anything added – and it has proved to be better outside home that way too.
Tea in the States has come a long, long way and you can get many wonderful teas here. There are even starting to be tea plantations. I agree that tea without ingredients is preferable, at least to the two of us. 🙂
janet
[…] This, that and the other thingWeekly Photo Challenge: Heritage…a cuppa […]
🙂 Nice memories and a very pretty cup!
When I had my first cup of English Breakfast Tea I thought I was going to get sick. Phew, so strong! Then I drank it with milk, whenever I went to visit my friends in the UK.
Whenever I go now, I make sure my tea doesn’t steep to long!
Have a very HAPPY day 🙂
Steeping for less time works or using a bit less tea. Enjoy it however you like it. 🙂
janet
What a beautiful cup Janet! I do think that food and drinks are so much more enjoyable served in attractive dishes or cups.
I don’t drink nearly as much tea as I used to. I find it too astringent, and since I have a permanently dry mouth, I don’t enjoy the drink much. I cope with coffee better because the ratio of milk to beverage is much higher (milky tea being one of three things I absolutely won’t consume).
Black tea is the most astringent and if you don’t use too much tea a/o brew it too long, it should be smooth. However, you might try white or green, just don’t over brew the latter or it can get bitter.
Thanks Janet. I haven’t tried white tea, so I’ll look out for it. It’s only become a problem since I got the dry mouth thing, and apparently I’m stuck with that.
Janet what an amazing experience! I bet you saw so much and by now so much has changed in the places you went. Great post!
Europe has changed a lot, but then again, so have I. 🙂 I’ve been blessed to be able to get back, although to only a few different places. I’ve enjoyed them immensely, however.
Wonderful! Where all did you go? This would be a great blog post Janet unless you already did one. Fascinating!
This was in the mid-seventies and I was there for almost a year. I went pretty much everywhere, with the exception of what were at that time Soviet countries. I work in Grindelwald, Switzerland over the winter. All my photos are slides and I have to get them organized one of these days and have them put on discs so I can see them again. 🙂
So amazing Janet. What a wonderful experience! Annoying about the slides. Even lots of my old pics I’ve had to scan. Thank goodness for digital photography now!
What a lovely story about tea…the tea cup is delightful and I’m sure makes the tea so much more tasty. 🙂
It does and sitting out on the terrace in France is the frosting on teacake. 🙂
janet
I’m glad I wasn’t the only one. On the MG blog, I spent a half an hour getting rid of the spam comments. 🙂
Bummer!! I just checked to make sure no one real had gotten in there, then emptied the spam folder all at once.
janet
I had the same problem with spammers the other night. Many of the comments had made it through into my comment threads. It took quite a while to delete them all.
I’m the opposite of you. Tea was always my main drink and coffee was always instant until I travelled. Now brewing some coffee is part of my morning ritual. I still like my tea with milk though.
I love your tea cup. How elegant. It takes tea drinking back into the ritual and ceremony of old Japan.
That cup belongs to my s-i-l, but I have a collection of teacups and pots, including some cast iron Japanese pots and some handle-less cups of various types, too.
janet
How lovely. The Japanese ones sound really unusual.
Interesting how we both considered sharing our love for tea as a tradition. I guess smart minds think alike. Thanks for stopping by my site 🙂
I’m sure that’s the reason, Neha. 🙂 Also thanks to you for visiting and commenting.
janet
this looks so good to me right now. tea is one of my most favorite things in this world. 🙂
Mine, too, KZ. Looking forward to sipping some in France soon.
janet
I’ve always secretly envied tea drinkers – it seems like such a civilized custom. Sadly, I’m not one of them. Tea – especially black tea – gives me terrible headaches. I occasionally have a fruity herbal tea, but it just doesn’t have the same kick.
[…] This, that and the other thing Weekly Photo Challenge: Heritage…a cuppa […]
Tea runs my country, literally. I used to take just one cup in breakfast not so long ago, which was so strange for many. Now I take two cups a day on weekdays mostly and world is happy with me 🙂
I understand! 🙂
janet
You mean like bots? I haven’t encountered that and hopefully never!
P.S. I want some cup of tea too 😉
❤ http://www.annalovelife.com
I just made a pot of tea, so you’re welcome to stop by. 🙂
janet
That is a lovely cup! I don’t drink coffee — tea is my morning and evening beverage, and I get cranky if I don’t have my favourite types on hand.
When I started working part time at a tea shop that carries over 130 kinds of tea (or tisanes), I was quite happy. 🙂
janet
Precisely my kind of souvenir. I’m always lugging plates and props home after a good trip, and this is one perfect find that would definitely be worth the suitcase space.
If I steal this one, my s-i-l will never let me come back to stay with them in France, so I’ll just enjoy using it while I’m there. But a lovely cup that you’ll use would make a great souvenir.
janet