still life with breakfast

morningtea.JPG, originally uploaded by ellapoodle.

I usually drink coffee in the mornings, but the past couple of days, I've switched over to tea. This happens every 6 months or so, lasts for a few weeks, and then devolves to coffee again. The teapot is a gift from my old neighbor, Tina, in Arlington. It began its life in the toney Washington DC restaurant, Obelisk, but when they switched to white teapots, she passed it on to me. I have a fair number of teapots; one from my grandmother's house, a cheery orange Fiestaware one, and a beautifully hand-painted one from Delft - an expensive gift to myself when P and I went to Holland a few Christmases ago. But the yellow teapot warms my heart. I don't use it without remembering sitting in Tina's kitchen, with her cat, dog and baby daughter all milling around the floor together.

The tea itself is Lob Nor, a combination of black and green teas, scented with bergamot, like an Earl Grey. It is the perfect morning cuppa, and compliments my current craze of wheat toast with raspberry jam. I bought the tea sheerly because of its name, which was subtitled "The Phantom Lake". How can you resist that name?