Skip to content
Orange Moon Tea Society
  • A Temporary Hold Please!
Orange Moon Tea Society

This Day in Tea

Published January 31, 2018

This Day in Tea – Look Towards the Moon


On this day in tea there were many serious moments that left a mark on the world. In 1606 the curtain would close on Guy Fawkes for his part in the Gunpowder Plot. He would be remembered for years afterwards with the burning of his effigy set to fireworks. In 1865 the United States Congress passed the Thirteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution abolishing slavery. In 1929 the Soviet Union would politely send Leon Trotsky into exile, the same year that smooth voiced actress Jean Simmons was born. And looking up to the skies, in 1971 astronauts Alan Shepard, Stuart Roosa, and Edgar Mitchell took flight in a Saturn V and set off for a mission to the Fra Mauro Highlands on the Moon. In the present day, there are many eyes looking up towards the moon.

In the wee hours of Wednesday morning on January 31st a trio of blanket and shawl wrapped females sat on their favorite balcony at the Hathor Boarding House. A young woman sat between two rather old gal bookends. Emily had her eyes to the sky as her aunt Emma and friend Minerva Mox carried on with casual conversation about celestial events in years past. “I declare this to be the most special moment for the moon for this century.” Miss Emma offered. “Here! Here!” Minerva barked as she watched the nearing dawn sky.

Young Emma looked up at the beautiful velvety night sky and felt overwhelmed by its beauty. Her eyes kept darting to the very full moon and a smile would cross her lips. This was an evening that reminded her very much of being with her mother. She always felt her mother was a star in disguise; a brilliant celestial creature who had temporarily come down to earth.

“Tell me again about the moon Miss Emma.” she whispered.

Miss Emma smiled. “This is what we call a super blue blood moon.”

“Sounds like a snotty moon that only hangs out with royalty.” Minerva snapped, but quickly had to try and hide her smirk. The young woman with them was well onto Minerva’s faux gruffness.

“Oh hush you old bat.” Miss Emma replied playfully. “We call this a blue moon because it is the second full moon during the course of the month and this is rare. We call it a blood moon because there will be a full lunar eclipse at the same time that will cast a reddish glow to it as the eclipse takes place. As for the super part? Well, the moon happens to be the closest it gets to the earth. It’s one of the most unique and rare celestial events and I’m happy to sit here among you both to view it.”

“Too bad we’re only going to get half a bloody moon.” Minerva observed.

Miss Emma stood without commenting and quietly moved back into the house, leaving the young and the old alone on the balcony confused. After a few minutes she returned with a silver tea tray in hand. Gently she sat it down on the narrow table before them.

“I have a special treat for us this fine pre-dawn.” She took up the silver tea pot and poured three cups of tea. “I have mixed for us tonight a tea just for this evening. This is a black tea with blueberry added to represent the blue moon. With that there is also pomegranate to represent the blood color of the eclipse. I then asked Mab, with help from her glass house friends, to create her infamous glowing silver fairy spun sugar cubes for the moon itself. And for the super? A surprise in cream form that can only be found hidden within the enchanted forest near to us. It has no name, but has the power to enchant your tea cups.”

She held up a small silver container that hid a bunch of silvery sugar cubes that had a faint glow. She added one sugar cube to each tea cup. Then she held up a sleek silver cream cup and gently dripped two dollops of the strange fluid inside of it to each cup. There was a strange sort of sighing noise that rose from the cups. Miss Emma offered a cup to her two companions.

Emily eagerly took a tea cup from Miss Emma and immediately let out a small delighted squeal as she looked down into it. The edges of the tea was a deep burgundy blue color that was much like the early dawn sky. In the center was a shimmering circle made of moving shadows and bright light that looked like her aunt had plucked the moon from the sky and placed it within the heart of the tea. She watched in wonder as the blue moon was slowly washed over with a reddish hue.

“It’s the super blue blood moon in a tea cup!” Emily chirped.

Miss Emma smiled warmly as she looked into her own cup. She took her seat again and pulled her shawl around her tightly and nodded towards the sky.

“And just to make things extra special, I called in a favor from a friend in my tea society. She promised me she would pull back the sky so that we might have a better view of this special celestial event.”

Emily eagerly looked up to the sky as something was beginning to shift up there. A humming noise was coming from it as clouds and the position of their night time skies seemed to be set aside. Emily felt as though they were put into a zooming motion and she couldn’t ever remember feeling quite so close to the moon.

Up above the moon that had already appeared quite larger than normal, was now massive and brilliant. It felt like they were suddenly sitting atop a tall mountain and the celestial sky was as close to them as it would ever be.

“For a moment we are somewhere else, in a place very high up, and we will be treated to the best view anyone could wish for. Now sip your tea ladies and enjoy.” Miss Emma sighed.

The young woman with her old gal bookends sat in silence as the eclipse began its washing over of the moon. Every now and then there was the sound of soft tea sipping and satisfied mmmmmms. It was the most perfect of nights, even if the January chill nipped at their noses. For that brief passing of time, all was right in the world.

Published November 20, 2017

This Day in Tea


This Day in Tea - The Orange Moon Tea Society

As I sat down to write my tea day entries I looked over a very long expanse of time. I was taken back by how many things had happened on this day, how many people of note through the ages had been born, and just how staggering this day was and might always be. So I instead turned away from the history pages and took a walk. I took what I call the long walk that would take me into the local town. When I reached town I found my feet unconsciously leading me towards my most favorite of spots in this place: Etta Diem’s Attic Shoppe.

As I moved through the shoppe’s front doors I was greeted with the oddities, strange things, and all around dark beauty of this place. Sometimes it can be hard to find another whimsical soul with the same amount of dark spice thrown into the mix. Since first meeting her, I knew Etta was my kin. She would never allow herself to be pinned down between the darkness and the light. She would never let anyone say there weren’t a pantheon of characters who moved through both places. I can honestly say she was the one person who helped me embrace all things about me. This is perhaps why I sought her out on this day.

“Miss Pagona! My little Poppy Seed!” the infamous Etta greeted me with as she moved from behind her attic shoppe’s front counter. She was as she always could be found: Dressed in dark Victorian attire with plenty of brooding and bruised color blooms to decorate her hair and attire. She smelled like white water flowers and orange ginger. When she wrapped her arms around me for her friendly hug it felt like a mother’s hug and for a moment I could forget that my own mother had been gone for so long. It allowed me to take a moment and exhale.

“What is weighing you down my dear? Your face has a shadow across it that has nothing to do with the sun and obstructions. Come now! Tell auntie Etta.”

I took a breath and soon found words falling from my lips. “Aunt Etta, it’s such a strange thing. I wrote my tea notes about things that have happened in time, and then focused on someone and something far more bright. I couldn’t find that today. As I looked over the histories of this day I saw so many things that were dark. The few highlights I encountered were simply the end of something that had been so dark. I needed something bright to write about and I could find none. It darkened my thoughts so deeply that I couldn’t turn a clear eye to the immediate world around me and find something better.”

The look on Etta’s face was what I needed. It was the perfectly understanding with just a slight hint of a smirk: She knew something. “Come with me.” she whispered.

Published May 23, 2017

This Day in Tea

tea-party

1802. During the course of this year Ludwig van Beethoven will publish his Piano Sonata No. 14 in Vienna and Marie Tussaud will for the first time exhibit her wax sculptures in London. Much is going on in the world and there is beauty and creation all around while at the same time many countries are caught up in wars. Lydia Monroe knows very little about these things. She prefers to be blissfully unaware of what the rest of the world is up to.

Lydia is happy to walk through the field of wild grass behind her parent’s home. It’s a wonderful and unkept place where the wild flowers have colorfully exploded over the land and made it look like nature has painted the scene with its rainbow of brilliant colors. The air smells delicious and fresh. And today there is just a light breeze, enough to blow her hair about and keep her from getting too warm. It is a very nice spring day indeed.

In Lydia’s hand is her favorite basket that holds the pieces of her traveling tea party. From party to party she never knows exactly where she’ll find the perfect tea table in nature. She’s always thoughtful to bring enough to serve three extra people just in case one of these days someone comes to join her. This is the only thing that makes her sad some days: The lack of people to share this beautiful time of the year and her tea with.

While walking through a particularly thick bit of wild grass something hidden within it is disturbed and rushes up into the air as the little girl moves through it. Quite suddenly there is a haze of white floating wisps that Lydia is happy to believe are pale fairies, at least until they gently move on the breeze and find the little girl’s nose. The nose is not humored by these tickling pale fairies one bit and decides to give her sinuses a good kick. The little girl’s face scrunches up and a massive HA-CHOO! explodes out of nowhere. The sneeze is comically large and loud, almost knocking the poor little girl onto her bum.

Lydia’s eyes blink back against her threatening tears and she takes several deep breaths to make sure all the nose annoying wisps are gone. Quickly she moves out of that patch of upsetting wild grass and into a small clearing. Obviously there is something in there that has a vendetta against the little girl’s nose and she will not allow it to cause her afternoon to be spent sneezing. Sneezing has no place at a tea party.

As the little girl steps from the clearing she hears a strange noise low to the ground. Grrr! Grrr! it sounds like in a very small and squeaky voice. Lydia looks all about and sees no one there. “Excuse me?” she calls out to the empty clearing. No one answers back so she turns back to her flat patch and continues walking. There again comes more grr’ing and this time it is louder.

Lydia stops and sets her basket down. The noise is vexing and she doesn’t like to be vexed. “Alright now.” the little girl calls out to the unseen noise maker. “I don’t have time to play games with anyone or anything. I have a tea party to set up.”

Published May 12, 2017

This Day in Tea

KONICA MINOLTA DIGITAL CAMERA

1956, February 23rd the woman born Norma Jean Mortenson legally changed her name to Marilyn Monroe and her life, for better or worse, will never be the same again. Just a few months later on June 5th a man set to be just as iconic takes the stage on the Milton Berle Show and scandalizes those looking on with the way he moved his hips. His name was Elvis Presley. Neither a watcher of films or a listener of popular music, Olivia will not take notice of either event. Her mind in squarely focused on the task at hand.

In front of her a table is laid out with countless small glass bowls filled with a variety of herbs, dried flowers and clippings from her garden. The herbs have been carefully selected from the overwhelming number of glass containers lining the shelves of her tea work room. The flowers have also been thoughtfully chosen from the drying flower field that hangs from the ceiling above. The clippings from her garden don’t have as much important except to keep the tea maker’s stomach from rumbling. This thought crosses her mind as her tummy gives her a small groan, which prompts her to reach for a carrot and begin nibbling on it in her best impersonation of a rabbit.

This day, May the 12th, she woke up and knew it was the day she would finally succeed in making her grandmother’s fabled arcanus circumpono tea. She didn’t know how she knew this, the knowledge was just there beating at the sides of her waking mind. Get up! Go to your tea room! Grab a little of whatever feels right! And play little Olivia, play! It was a wonderful feeling. All morning she had thought lovingly of her grandmother as she worked.

Published May 10, 2017

This Day in Tea

This Day in Tea - The Orange Moon Tea Society

On this day in 28 BC one of the earliest observations of a sunspot was seen by the Han dynasty astronomers in China. In 1869 the first Transcontinental Railroad is completed linking the east to the west in the United States. And in 1908 the very first Mother’s Day is observed in the US in Grafton, West Virginia. Sidney Blower knows very little about these dates and their recorded events, but she does know a thing or two about the sun. You see, on May 10th in 1913 Ms Blower catches the sun and successfully brews it into her new tea.

The idea came to Sidney one night as she sat with her mother and father on the porch of their country home. The sun was starting to set in the distance and it took with it the last of the light her aging parents could see by. No matter how many candles she lit or how she tried to lighten up their home for those dark hours, her parents would see nothing but shadows and this distressed her so. As she watched that sun she wondered to herself if she could capture just a little of it and gift it to her parents so they had a small light in that darkness.

Sidney’s first few attempts were haphazard events that she didn’t like to think about. A sunburn came from one and a sun itch (something she would tell people you had to experience because no words could properly describe the sensation) came from the other. She knew she was onto something though. She just needed to find the right medium to work with.

Published May 9, 2017

This Day in Tea

photo from randomwallpapers.net/

1789, there was a great many things taking place during this year so long ago. The United States would elect its first president on February 4th while many months later on July 14th the French Revolution would officially begin with the storming of the fortress of the Bastille. But on this day, May 9th, a strange little man, who didn’t care about either thing, would find himself walking on a lonely path that cut through a very old forest. He wasn’t quite sure why he was walking on this particular path as it wasn’t one he could ever remember taking. Perhaps that was why he had taken it, he reasoned to himself, it was something new. And though the old man was a fierce creature of habit there was just something about that particular day that said to him something new is needed for a change.

The path went on for quite a long while and the strange little man kept wondering if the path would ever lead somewhere, but more importantly he wondered how on earth his short legs were still happily taking steps. Typically he did little more than walk around his very small house and now and then he’d make the short trip to the well for fresh water. By the end of the day he was always quite tired and his short legs felt as though they had run in mad circles for days. Yet here he was! Walking and walking and stepping and he thought perhaps skipping might be fun, so he started skipping along.

This was all very odd for the strange little man. There was something like a small itch in his thoughts that asked him to consider how strange this situation was. The itch was small though so he choose to ignore and besides! The forest air smelled fine, didn’t it? It was probably being around all of the trees and fresh air that was giving him the extra umph! in his steps. And didn’t that just feel fine? Oh yes, the strange little man was feeling quite fine. So fine he decided to move from a skip to a slight run and on he ran for what amount of time he would never know. Until…

Published May 5, 2017

This Day in Tea


tea-flowers

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…

The Orange Moon Tea Society on Etsy The Orange Moon Tea Society on Facebook The Orange Moon Tea Society on Instagram The Orange Moon Tea Society on Contact

Recent Posts

  • When Mary Was Scary
  • Oracles and Flutter Byes
  • Wednesday Wallpapers – Happy May!
  • Dark Spring Flowers

Categories




Meet our Tea Bats
The Urban Fairy Rescue League


Search for:
Copyright © 2023 The Orange Moon Tea Society. All rights reserved.