Saturday Surfing

 

From my salt and pepper collection..Avon.

Saturday again! Time for your, and my, weekly internet fix of the coolest, the neatest, the most cool…and the ones I found. 

Judy, on My Front Porch, well not MY front porch, hers..you know…has a fantastic post about the baby barn owls that are in her barn. They are fantastic! If you homeschool it is worth heading over there to get a look.

So here’s an interesting thing. DO you know that there are tons of blogs about tea but almost none about coffee? Do you further know that tea blogs tend to be beautiful, creative, and cozy…and the few coffee blogs I have found tend to be snappy, terse, and edgy?

So what does THAT tell ya?

Case in point…Breaking News

And…A Timely Reminder

Differences.

Which is why, my friends, only a blogger as totally multiple personalitied as me could do this. Don’t try this at home, kids.

O.k..if you have trouble deciding which Starbucks coffee you will like Starbucks has the answer! You knew they would, didn’t you? Called Starbucks at Home, it is a 5 question quiz that is supposed to help you figure out what to order the next time you go…this is tricky though, because if you are like me these questions can be confusing if you try to answer them before…you know…coffee. At the end they offer to send you two whole OUNCES of whatever they tell you your favorite is.

Barismo has a thoughtful (for a coffee drinker) article, Attitude at the Counter

Now, I have the coolest barista in the world, and in fact, I told him I was going to bring my camera and get his picture to make him famous. I will od later this week, too. But apparently some of you all have had odd experiences with baristas, and baristas with customers. I suppose it is rude to wear an ipod when getting your coffee, but then, on the flip side, is there anything worse than a cashier of any sort on the phone when checking you out?

So here’s something. Comment Speedway talks about the little coffee shop, the small roaster, the guy that knows his customers and fixes great coffee.

Would you please moe that soapbox over here for a minute? Thanks.

Does anyone else recognize that Starbucks, and Wal-mart and places like that are the devil? Disclaimer. I go to Starbucks because, and only because they have literally closed all the local shops within a 15 mile radius. We have two kinds of coffee drinkers here, south of Dallas:

• The old guys who drink stale Maxwell House at the local truck stop
• The others who think Starbucks is the end all beat all for coffee.

Welcome to Texas.

I dislike that we, consumers..collective we, buy into the hype of the advertising companies and spend too much money on mediocre coffee. Why do we not realize that as we support BIG business and huge corporations that we are effectively shutting down the little places? Wal-mart has shut down several types of retail in my area…They have 4 stores…4 superstores in a 15 mile radius..all open 24 hours. The parking lot is full 24/7. And people think they are saving money by buying junk. Pay a little more, go without something, and get quality. It’s tough, believe me I know.

O.k..sorry…moving on…

Nicer things now..

Ivory Spring has ushered in Spring with some beautiful tulips… we are past tulips here..my heirloom roses are full in bloom, huge masses of blooms…
oh and then there is this:

You Are Fruit Loops

You’re very fun loving and easily bored. You need everything in your life to be over the top.You are definitely attracted to shiny and colorful objects. If kids love something, you tend to love it as well. You a very short attention span and are easily distracted. You are likely to eat something very random for breakfast… or forget to eat it at all.

What Kind of Cereal Are You?

::cough..cough:::

Hey, I have been called that before….

Mimi’s Garden has a great show and tell antiques post…check out the cool stuff she got!

Wales holds a special place in my heart..Nope, never been there, and you don’t need to know why..it just does…Codlins and Cream is just a breezy visit to Wales for me…great images and just …hmmm. cozy chats. I enjoy it and hope you will too.

For right now, this is the last image from my Tea with Me Tour of my house. Most of the rest of the house needs repair, and I am not sure you want to see the barns…. This is the upstairs landing..It is a quiet spot to sit and gather thoughts…

The hall is lined with bookcases…

Have a great weekend!

Images: Marye Audet