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Articles by Pagona Talbot
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This Day in Tea
1910, eyes were pointed towards the sky as Halley’s Comet made its return on April 20th. It won’t be seen again until 1986. Many months later in October Professor Robert Williams Wood will publish the first infrared photographs in the Royal Photographic Society’s journal. However, Caleb Castell cares nothing about what has passed or what is still to come because he is on a quest to find the most precious and rare of flowering teas. A quest that started many, many years earlier.
Tea had always been a big part of Caleb’s life as tea was a very important thing to his mother. His father had died when he was just a little boy and left him alone with his mother. She worked very hard and long hours as a seamstress for an uptown men’s suit shop. It was barely enough to get them by so treats were few and far between. When his mother wanted to treat them it was always with tea.
Now his mother and tea were almost like a sacred experience. She kept a small tea cabinet that held the very best pieces of china that she had either inherited or managed to purchase over the years. On their tea nights she would make a special setting at the small table where they took their dinners. She would light candles and drape everything in beautiful scraps of material she had managed to sneak from her work. It was all about atmosphere for her and creating a warm and intimate setting for her and young Caleb. For each one of these special teas she picked a different flavor. She would brew the tea and put it in her special silver tea pot and go through great dramatic gestures serving her son. Then she would sit, serve herself and together they would slowly sip their special tea. Then, with the tea warm in their bellies and the air smelling richly of its aroma, his mother would tell him old fairy tales that had been told to her in much the same way by her grandmother and mother…
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The things that just happen to walk by!
The Harvestor at the International Steampunk Symposium 2017 from The Attic Shoppe Trading Co. on Vimeo. – This! Joey Marsocci and his Grymm Studios created this incredible character/costume. You can find him at facebook.com/Grymm.Studios
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Yes please!
This is an antique phoenix tea warmer. I don’t believe I’ve ever wanted anything so badly in our life. *This was posted to our tea society facebook page. Come give us a follow and join our tea conversation!
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A Flower Pixie Finds a Good Home
This gal did a wonderfully dedicated campaign through her family to get this pixie. Finally her uncle nabbed it for her while she was in the costume competition. Seeing how excited she got when I handed it to her afterwards was priceless.
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A Biased Convention Directory
There are so many people and shoppes to see here, but I have my own favorites. If you’re at the Symposium this year, many of the vendors are located in suites and tucked away here and there. These are some of my favorites.
— Picklepot: I just met jewelry maker Jen and she is an instant friend (we both have sailor mouths for days!) Her work is gorgeous! Photo sample of one of my purchases below. Everything is handmade and high quality. She is next door to us in Hall E.
— Drunken Cherry: Baker Anna is next to us for Saturday only, also in Hall E. Oh my… boozy shmores is what she’s offering next to us. She has these incredible alcohol infused marshmallows. I sampled the strawberry champagne marshmallow and had a critical oh…. mah…. gawd moment. Delicious stuff. She’s not here for long, but she offers all her treats online.
— Spectra Nova: Sarah has been my friend forever. She makes wonderful steampunk themed jewelry, but also offers up a huge variety of trinkets and jewelry supplies for making your own. Check out her lovely corset chains, which work well with jeans and jackets when you’re not in your best neo Victorian garb day to day. Sarah is in suite 125 in Hall A – Victoria Market. She’s a little harder to find. Hall A is just off of the front area of the hotel and you will find her at the end of the hall.
— Blonde Swan: You just haven’t had the full convention experience if you haven’t drooled over the handmade leather hats of Blonde Swan. And shoppe owner and artist Elisabeth has more character in one of her pinkies than most people accumulate over their entire lives. She is in suite 134 in Hall D.
— Altered History/Milwaukee Candle & Apothecary: These ladies make the best soy candles that last forever! My current favorite is Eucalyptus and Mint. They’re right next to Sepctra Nova in suite 123 in Hall A. I just got back from visiting them and they have beautiful handmade spirit boards this year. If you came in during our very inappropriate conversation I apologize. I’m pretty sure there are weird, invisible convention fairies that put strange topics into people’s minds.
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The International Steampunk Symposium
Are you in the Blue Ash area for the Symposium? Stop by and say hello! We are located in Hall E the Carpenter’s Run, just outside of Conference Room I. We’re across from the ever wonderful author Leanna Renee Hieber and next to PicklePot – Jen makes some absolutely gorgeous jewelry by the way. We have all of our decks available, along with a table hosting our art print shop. There’s a lot of steampunk and Lovecraft inspired art going on!
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Happy Easter Everyone!
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Waiting for Spring
Spring Is coming, we PROMISE! In the meantime, there is a remedy for the impatience that can seep into our souls during this time of year…it’s TEA of course! But this time, we don’t want you to drink it, we want you to bathe in it.
Add some magic to your bathwater. Create a sachet of chamomile and some epsom salts. Make a nice big one and tie it over the faucet so as to let the hot bathwater pour through as you fill up your tub. Both ingredients are soothing, great for your skin and a fantastic de-stressor. Magically speaking, chamomile can be used to represent the sun, success, grounding and love.
Soak in this mixture as you let your negative thoughts go. Picture the stress, negativity, and any blockages leaving your body and go into the water. Then stay in the tub as it drains. Let everything drain out before you exit the tub. Then go brew yourself a nice cup of your favorite blend, wrap up in something soft and refill with goodness! You’ll be refreshed and ready for spring.
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Happy Valentine’s Day
A very fluttering hearts happy Valentine’s Day to you! Enjoy Lousie Brooks illustrated and featured in 1928 in La Vie Parisienne, a French periodical. Illustration by Cheri Herouard Samedi, 21 Avril 66 Année, No 16. Read more about La Vie Parisienne here.