Hello March: I'm Dreaming of...

The wonders of technology!

I did not draw or paint the above picture.  Rather I took a picture on my camera and with a free app converted it to the above sketch/watercolour.  Absolutely love this app.  Of course hand sketching or hand painting would be even better but I really don't have those talents, nor can I spend time cultivating them

...maybe in a decade or two :)

So what does this have to do with March?

Well, my thoughts for March began with this rare picture I took.  Most of my pictures are up close of food or tea.  But there were a few times recently where I would have to stop my tea session and do something else and while at a distance I began to admire my tea setting from afar. 

I love every piece there.

As I drink more tea, a good tea drinking experience is one of the things I'm after...the tea, teaware, and your surrounding setup are important.  Doesn't mean I don't just drink tea as a beverage because there are days where a mug of tea is great.  But every tea lover has their own philosophy on tea drinking and I think I'm still developing mine.  Before I focused on only the tea, then I started to really think about my teaware. I love acquiring teaware but if I just had these pieces I would still be happy.  Even a simple five dollar gaiwan is fine if that's all I had, but teaware is a luxury I've come to appreciate and will save for pieces I adore.

So now comes the surrounding setup.  I don't have a special room or table...this is just the dining table.  The bamboo tea tray is useful but I've been considering using a tea cloth (chabu) to change things up.  Besides this, many people will also have some sort of greenery to enhance the atmosphere.  I'm really, really bad with plants so I never thought of it or never aquired vases because they would be empty if I did.  But the mandarin oranges on the table was a pop of colour, an element of freshness that I liked.  

So, with signs of Spring often showing up in March, in March: I'm Dreaming of... 

Something green to add to my tea space.

Kim's Nature is a place I recently was told about and plan to visit since they look like they have a great selection of plants, particularly succulents and bonsai.

I'm not capable of owning a bonsai, but for those that are looking for some inspiration and for some really lovely pics, here is a new kind of bonsai, aqua bonsai.

For more inspiration, I've found it through various Instagram pics

...@a.light.thing...all are great but here are some recent ones I like: this one dated march first and one feb twenty-third.  She sometimes matches a quote or poem to her picture which I love.

...@pekoeandimp for the consistently lovely setup

...simple outdoor tea setups like here.

There are so many more and propably people I don't know about but thought I'd highlight a few.

Making my own chabu/tea cloth.

I have a hobby of making little coin purses and have acquired a bit of fabric.  Most are small pieces of fabric that are actually too small for this project, but I have a couple that might work.  I'm not certain if this will be doable but that's what this series is about isn't it :)