I drink "white tea, no sugar" many times a day, "white tea" is what we call "tea with milk" here in Australia. I love coffee as well, but because I have to have sugar with my coffee, I don't drink as much of it. But I admit the aroma of coffee beans being ground in a grinder is pretty hard to beat.
Talking about aroma, there are many ways to drink tea which make tea-drinking pretty aromatic. I don't usually like black tea on its own, I've been through the "green tea phase" which had almost everybody starting to drink green tea for its health benefits, which for me has now been reduced to only every now and again, when-I-feel-like-it sort of thing.
One of the ways to make tea even more aromatic is by adding herbs or blossoms to a pot of plain tea. Even on the coldest days, we can still feel close to our garden when we savour the delicate flavours of our favourite herbs or flowers brewed in our cup of tea.
There are many blossoms you can select for your tea- Roses, Lavender, Orange blossoms, just to name a few. Roses are my favourite, choose the most fragrant blooms and before brewing, pinch the white heels out of the petals to eliminate bitterness.
Before you start making your tea, don't forget to take the chill off your teapot or teacup by pouring some boiling water into it, swish it around for a minute, and pour it out. Then add the tea, and after that the herbs and flowers, crushing their petals and leaves gently to release their flavours. Below are a few fragrant flower and herb teas for your enjoyment.
Did you know?--The term "orange-pekoe" actually refers to the location of the tea leaves on the actual plant, nothing to do with the citrus fruit? Orange-pekoe leaves are the second branch of leaves from the top of the tea plant.
Spicy Rose Tea4 tsp orange-pekoe tea
1 Tbsp fresh rose petals or 1 tsp dried rose petals
1/2 tsp cinnamon stick chips
Lovely Lavender Tea4 tsp orange-pekoe tea
3 fresh lavender flower heads or 1/3 tsp dried lavender flowers
Honey to sweeten
Fragrant Flower Tea4 tsp jasmine tea
2 rose geranium leaves
1 tsp dried orange blossoms
Lifting Lemon Tea3 tsp orange-pekoe tea
1 tsp dried lemon verbena
1/2 tsp minced dried lemon peel
2 sprigs lemon thyme
No matter what herb or flower you use, make sure they have been grown without pesticides and are washed well before you put them in your cup of tea.
On my way home from dropping the kids off today, I saw many wisterias blooming in other people's gardens, they are simply sensational, that's something I'd love to plant in my garden.
I have a Fuchsia, aptly named "Party Frock" in flower now. It's beautiful. Also the purple Veronica, fragrant Jasmine and my still smallish pinkish Lavender.
Last but not least, these are my daughters' oh-so-cute ornamental teapot collection, aren't they gorgeous?
After spending a good while walking, relaxing (I confess I did have races with the kids, even though I couldn't possibly outrun them), talking, eating, and simply enjoying ourselves at the beach, we piled back into our car and headed for another destination which I call a spot for fail-proof-wonderful-time round late afternoon. There's actually nothing too unusual or unique about this place, just a leafy park with a lake and barbeque facilities like any other in WA. But we love going to this park in the late afternoon to feed the birds whenever we can. Various native birds including cockatoos, Twenty-eights (a kind of bright green coloured parrot), pink and grey Galahs, ducks, geese, pigeons and kangaroos come out to be fed and you can get right up close to them while they feed. Kids simply love it and it's a very good place to take overseas tourists too.
So what we usually do is we ready ourselves with Sunflower seeds (they are the birdies' favourite, as they are the secret to attracting them to yourself), spread our arms out with seeds in the palm of our hands and stand still, the birds will land on your hands to feed. Sometimes they do land on your head and shoulders as well. It's a general feeling everybody desires a Twenty-eight (or two) to land on their hands most, as they are the most colourful and beautiful birds and everybody wants a photo with them.
My son nicknamed the white cockatoos "Crabsticks" as their beaks are like crab claws and the orangey patches on their white feathers are the colour of crabsticks. Kids are not too fond of feeding them as they are a heavier bird and their claws and beaks sink deep into their skin and they hurt. They are beautiful nonetheless.
We stayed at the park till after sunset. We also saw kangaroos including mama kangaroos with their joeys in their pouch. I was busy taking birds' pictures I missed the roos altogether. We were having such a great time the kids didn't want to leave, it was lovely being surrounded by birds and animals. In the end they reluctantly said goodbye to the place because it was getting too dark. We'll no doubt make sure we go back there again some time in the near future. It was one of those days everybody agrees they had such a memorable, pleasant and enjoyable day when the day is done. 
