A new tea house

It is important to me to have a place to go and relax over a cup of really good tea. My all-time favorite was Tiger Mt. Tea in Gilman Village, but they are now web-only. Yesterday on my way home from visiting Julia I ended up at Crossroads Mall in Bellevue, and stopped in at Xiu Xian Tea. It was lovely.

First let me tell you that their web site only hints at the varieties of tea they carry. One long wall is lined with big jars of tea, behind a counter. And in front of that counter are small jars of the same teas. You can open the small jars, sniff them, look at them -- without disturbing the tea that's for sale.

The staff was very helpful in suggesting teas to sample. Yes, sample. This is where it gets luxurious. I was guided to one of two large gong fu tea tables near the front of the store. These tables are works of art, carved from huge burls, waterproofed, and fitted with a drain. The one I was at had several levels, a carved bridge, and two dragon heads -- all designed so that water poured anywhere on the table flows to the drain. Electric water kettles are nearby, and there are a number of gaiwans for brewing the tea samples. The chairs are also carved from burls, and are really comfortable.

Your hostess puts a sample of a tea you have chosen in a gaiwan, rinses it with water from the kettle, and pours out the rinse water. New water goes into gaiwan, the brewed tea is poured into a serving pitcher and then...

At the moment it is served in a paper cup. The kitchen has just been set up, and the dishwasher isn't installed yet. My recommendation: Bring a tasting cup, or buy a $1 tasting cup at the store. Paper adds an odd taste to these delicate teas.

I tasted several teas, three that I'd sniffed out and some that were already sitting in the gaiwans on the table. I bought three:

• Sweet Jade, that has an incredible vanilla overtone although it is just tea, no added flavoring
  
• Iron God (rich) a savory and complex oolong with a silky finish
  
• An organic Pu Erh (Palace - Rich) with a gorgeous red color and good earthy flavor

I'm looking forward to going back there. While this is primarily a place to buy tea, they do have small tables at the back of the shop with gong fu tea trays where you can linger over a pot of tea, brewing and re-brewing to enjoy all the flavors the tea has to offer. If you are in the area and want a peaceful place to unwind, I recommend it. Maybe I'll see you there.

Twitter

Karen, bless her, has turned me on to Twitter. I've mailed the URL for her post What's Twitter, and why I love it to a few people, and now I'm sharing that URL with you here. If you've heard of Twitter and your reaction was along the lines of ??What?, Why?, or "That's just silly," check out Karen's post. And let me know when you sign up for Twitter.

New chicks on order

I got an email yesterday from Ideal Poultry. My name came up on the waiting list for Barnevelders! Barnevelders are one of the breeds of chickens that lay dark, dark brown eggs. They're pretty rare, hence the waiting list.

I called Ideal today and placed my entire chick order with them:

• 15 Barnevelders
  
• 6 Easter Eggers (EEs)
  
• 15 Australorps (Aussies)
  
• 6 Silver-laced Wyandottes
  
• 6 Gold-laced Wyandottes
  
• 8 Red sex-link
  
• 5 Gold sex-link

They are scheduled to ship 5 March, so I'm hoping for an EARLY call from the post office on the morning of the 6th.

Himself plans to be building the chicken coop starting 20 March, when his classes let out. He assures me the work will go fast once it starts. He's going to scale it for 100 chickens, with two runs. That way everyone will still have space to stretch her wings and do all those other important chicken activities. And I'll be able to keep the new chicks separate from the adults.

Short term, we'll have the brooder cage on the back porch, which is still enclosed as a goat stall.

Laid off, sorta

For the past couple of years I've had a dream gig, writing technical documentation part-time, from home, for a group of really nice people with a well thought out product. About a week and a half ago, in the middle of a mail thread on what they'd like me to work on next, I got the following message: "I was just talking to _____ to see what the high priorities are for the next few months and we feel we are in a great position (much thanks to you). For now we are going to hold off any new updates to the manuals and see where that takes us. We will definitely keep you informed if our needs change."

The suddenness of the shift threw me off for a day or two, but frankly I'm more excited about what might be next than I am concerned about what just went away. The world is changing (again), and in change there is always opportunity. I'm good with words, I'm good with critters, and I believe that there is the opportunity for depth and richness in everything we do. Surely I can combine all of that to make a life that supports me financially, emotionally, and spiritually.

While I was writing manuals in Word, Web-based writing and networking grew and morphed, and continues to do so. There it is again, change and opportunity. So I'm actively studying the current state of web-based writing, including blogging, networking, and things like Twitter. I'm studying search engine optimization (SEO). I'm looking for the next shift in this wonderful connected world the Web has brought us.

I'm watching for ways to draw together seemingly disparate skills and interests (animals, technology, psychology, bead work and textile arts, small farm management, ...). They all have one thing, at least, in common: they all live in me. Ergo, they all fit together, and they all describe the way that I fit into the world. My work right now is to find how I can offer them up in a way that supports me and mine in return.