Here’s a little “save the date” post as I have an exhibition coming up in August and I would love you to come!

I will also be holding an “Ode To Daylesford” Poetry competition so pens at the ready!

Opening night will be Friday 3rd August and I will be in the gallery each Friday, Saturday and Sunday throughout the month of August so please come and say hello, enjoy the fire and soak up some art!

TEA FOR THREE

Tea For Three is my latest painting and is being delivered to the wall of Ego’s Culinaria first thing tomorrow morning.

It’s a celebration of cafe catch-ups, delicious tea, biscuits, talking with friends and enjoying the company of others.

Drop into Ego’s to get a closer look!

Howe St, Daylesford.

B*tch Is Back

You instinctively move back in your chair when you see her walk through the café doors. She slithers towards the counter (reminiscent of Cruella De Ville), and orders a strong pot of English Breakfast tea, with a caramel slice on the side. Poor dear has been hit by the hormone truck.

With a glare that could melt glass and a steely, forked tongue, this hormonally-charged conversation assassin makes her way to a corner table that is shielded from direct sunlight and chirpy passers-by who might think they can stop for a chat.

With her sunglasses still on, she opens the paper with a snap and proceeds to cast her eye over the top, and across the café. In a wave-like motion, all those in the café automatically  overt their eyes and lower their heads towards the ground so as not to be noticed.

As the tea and slice are delivered by a trembling waiter, who clearly drew the shortest straw that morning, she pauses momentarily, looks up, and attempts to move her lips into a shape that resembles a smile. Her efforts are in vain.

Resolved to the fact that for today she would rather stick a fork in her eye than make small talk with a stranger, she finishes her tea and slice, leaves her money on the table, and retreats back to the safety of her lounge room. Here, she plans to wallow in her fluctuating hormones and ride it out until the dawn, where she will once again emerge a beautiful butterfly.

Wedgewood, She-Tea and ME

Posted: 16th February 2012 by carrie in adventure, art, lifestyle, to daylesford with love
Tags: artist, gallery, prada, she tea, tea

Mrs She-Tea is being terribly elusive; refusing to take my calls or deliver her entry for Face Off 2012. The portrait of me is obviously so stunning that she’s planning to sell it to The Portrait Gallery in London.  As Mother frequently says, “why does one person have to ruin it for everyone?”  Well her Duplicity was no match for my Lara Croft. The Best Friend, Becc cracked like a twig; handing over the address of She-Tea Headquarters (closely guarded secret) in exchange for borrowing my Christian Louboutin heels for Date Night with her hubbie. (Couture can be so persuasive).

Dressed for action, in black True Religion Jeans, Armani Black T-Shirt and Prada patent black sneakers; I walked up the cobblestone driveway, dodged the sprinklers, skirted the rose garden and wandered through the open front door of Daylesford’s prettiest 1880’s miner’s cottage.  Across the threshold, the seductive smell of lavender lured me in further; like sleep walking off the Lavender plateau in Gorge du Verdon, straight into a Grasse perfumerie. Hessian sacks of Lavender, dried Rose petals and Jasmine flowers covered every inch of floor space. Mrs She-Tea should offer guided tours, because this place is spellbinding; I didn’t know where to look or smell first.

A glint of sunlight at the back of the room caught my eye. There it was. The final Face-Off portrait, leaning against the far wall next to some She-Tea canisters. I see now why The London Portrait Gallery would be interested. It was like looking in a mirror. Gingerly stepping over the hessian sacks to get a closer look, my eyes were drawn to the She-Tea canisters.  OMG! I’m a tea! She-Tea is planning to launch a tea dedicated to ME, named @pradagoesrural (my Twitter handle).  I’m speechless.

The back label of @pradagoesrural reads… 

Adorned in Prada and wellies, @pradagoesrural bombards her inner circle with endless “how to become famous” marketing ideas, coupled with ridiculous deadlines that induce panic-inspired frenzy that make you feel like this is the last possible chance you will ever have to do something meaningful with your life.  Her verbal assault of marketing wisdom is swiftly followed with a look that screams, “If you can’t manage this darling, there’s something very wrong with you!”

Her two favourite “F” words, Fabulous and Famous, find their way into almost every sentence, as she sweeps through restaurants, bars and cafes, gracing everyone with air kisses and “royal” waves; leaving a trail of bewildered tourists asking “Who is that woman? Is she famous?”

After yet another day of frantic writing, outlandish PR stunts, and endless promises of global stardom to local artistic talents, @pradagoesrural retreats to her pretty veranda laden with oversized pots of lavender, and pours a glass of French bubbles. Smiling at her own fabulousness and gathering the energy to do it all over again tomorrow.

I sneak quietly out the backdoor, with a canister of She-Tea @pradagoesrural secreted away in my Mulberry Tote. I always dreamt of being on the cover of a magazine, but this is SO much better. My mind is still racing with ideas on how to get Mrs She-Tea onto supermarket shelves around the world.  I wonder if Wedgewood would design a tea-cup for ME? Must ask.

To read more and get a sneak peek into the upcoming book  “From Daylesford with Love”,  visit www.tweedteaandwellies.com

WARRIOR

WARRIOR TEA for every woman.

She leaps effortlessly across the tree-tops and over lakes (think Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon), deflecting armies of arrows with the skilful use of her trusted sword. Sleighing dragons in her path she rescues the Emperor’s son from evil, ransom-demanding kidnappers.

As she crouches down low behind the protection of a bamboo cluster, she prepares to launch into another surprise dusk attack on some unsuspecting drunken soldiers

… when she is rudely interrupted by the dishwasher repairman, who is knocking on the window trying to snap her out of the call-centre-induced coma she slipped into 22 minutes ago .

With the 2895 jobs that need to be completed before 3 o’clock today listed clearly on her “To Do List”, our little Warrior takes another deep breath, steadies herself, and calmly inspects the pile of bills waiting to be paid, the list of groceries she needs to buy, and the kid’s birthday party invites that she was meant to send out last week.

Calmly she makes her way to the bathroom, looks in the mirror and tells herself that she’ll feel better when she puts her make-up on (aka War Paint) and gets out of the house. Suddenly, to her horror, she realises that she already has her make-up on and this is as good as she’s going to look today. She briefly considers just going back to bed.

Instead, this admirable master of household warfare brews herself a strong pot of tea, sits herself down and takes a moment to compose herself before walking out the door, armed with car keys, credit card, enviro-shopping bags, and smile to greet yet another day.

We salute you Warrior.

The names that made us laugh the most were the ones that made the cut.

Over the next few weeks we’re going to take some time to introduce each of our characters a little more thoroughly. In honour of the post-Christmas sobriety attempts, we’re going to start with our Sweet Little Booze Hound…aaaah so many memories! (You may recognise her yourself!)

Booze Hound

She arrives a little earlier than expected to her girlfriend’s place with a celebratory bottle of wine in one hand, and a sneaky back-up bottle in her handbag.  With a wicked smile, 6-inch heels and a curiously cocked eyebrow, she pulls a corkscrew key ring from her pocket and announces she’d “kill for a wine, darling”.

She stops talking only long enough to light another cigarette and refill her glass, and after hours of gossip, laughter and more wine, things are just starting to get interesting … or so she thinks to herself.

Suddenly, to her horror, she is offered a cup of tea. She feels utterly betrayed.

Sensing things are about to take a turn for the worse, she launches into negotiation mode with promises of all-night dancing, champagne cocktails and endless memories to be enjoyed in old age. When she realises her efforts are in vein, she promptly disappears to the bathroom to start making emergency plans with her back-up party friends.

Emerging from the bathroom resolved and composed, she collects her things, kisses cheeks on departure and staggers slightly upon exit.  As she floats fabulously down the road under the glow of the street lamps, you’re well aware she’s not going home just yet, but instead she’s off to her next adventure.

Buy Booze Hound here.

So what else goes into making a great cup of tea? We all know, that apart from the pot and the mandatory rotational ritual, the quality of the tea leaves themselves is very important. Now, I’m not a tea snob by any means but I do put my foot down when it comes to drinking cheap, dusty, bulk-buy teas that are usually found in hotels and on the airlines. This is why I always take my own tea leaves whenever I am travelling or need to stay in a hotel for business or pleasure.

I also take a 2-cup plunger (for convenience over a pot, although if you use a plunger with tea you need to make sure you don’t press it down firmly as you don’t want to squeeze the leaves and cause bitterness) and my own tea cup as the cup is a crucial component of a great cup of tea. (Apart from my tea essentials, I also admit to taking some incense, lavender oil and, well, a few odd “necessities” with me to hotels.) My husband thinks I am the only person in the entire world who does this, and therefore thinks I am mad. Am I the only person who does this? I think not,

Finally, the water. It must be fresh, clean water, not from an urn as it makes the tea taste like dishwater and leaves it feeling stale and lifeless. Water shouldn’t come from a regularly re-boiled kettle, and if I may be pedantic, boil the water in a stove-top kettle rather than in an electric plastic jug.

Tea is important, actually it is essential to my day. A good cup of tea should give you the same feeling you get when you arrive home after a long time away. It should whisk you away from all of your worries and allow you to exhale. It should insist that you relax on the very first sip and put a little smile on your face by the last. Even in times of great pain, tea can bring something to you that nothing else can. Infact the first thing I asked for, 2 minutes after the birth of my son, was a cup of tea. So having considered this very carefully, I would say that my tips for a great cuppa would be:

• choose high quality, loose leaf tea and buy your tea in reasonably small packs to ensure freshness (old tea loses some flavour and also loses some of its health properties)
• keep your tea in an airtight container, in a cool, dark place
• brew in just-bolied water for 2-3 minutes before pouring with Grandma Dot’s rotational routine
• Drink your tea from a bone china cup if possible, alternatively your favourite cup is perfect
• Make sure kids are either in bed (ideal) or playing happily away from you…
• Add a deep breath, some quiet time, milk, honey or sugar as desired

Bliss!

xo Jodie

My godfather taught me many years ago that if you are interested in something and find that you have a passion for it, get involved in it, learn the industry, volunteer if you need to, to gain the knowledge you need to take things further. Well, after reading a very special review a couple of months ago on three of our premium loose leaf SHE-TEA blends by Ben Knight (well-known Melbourne wine reviewer and sommelier), a spark was ignited in me that I am please to report has turned into a  small glowing flame.

When you’re part of something as established as the Australian tea market, you always want to be doing  something that’s a little bit different to everyone else, and this means that you need to think differently to everyone else. I believe this is why I was especially thrilled to read Ben’s article. It was a fresh and interesting  perspective on tea from someone placed completely outside the tea world. Wonderful.

I love the parallels that are drawn between tea and wine in this article, the tannins reference, and the fact that grape varieties and tea varieties can both be so broad and subjectively appreciated. While the similarities between the two had occurred to me previously, I didn’t have the knowledge base to be able to put them together convincingly.  This has now started to change.

As often happens in life, when you let it, I was considering my options for education in wine tasting and while talking about this to a friend at a party, found out that there would be a position opening up at a local Musk Vineyard’s New Cellar Door in the next couple of months. BINGO! Here was my opportunity to learn about wine from the ground up, to learn about growing the grapes, picking techniques, fermenting, barrelling, bottling, and of course (my favoutire bit) … tasting!

As another example of wonderful things that happen when you’ve made a tree-change, the next thing I know I am off to the winery to meet my potential new boss, Cameron from Passing Clouds. He’s a lovely guy with an obvious passion for wine as well as teaching, and we discuss my potential role in the cellar door, my background in sales and marketing, and also my business She-Tea, with a reference to the She-Tea article also. I let him know that I am available once a week (every Saturday) and after a few weeks wait, I start my first day at the cellar door.

What a great day to begin! Spectacular blue skies scattered with passing clouds (very apt), warm friendly customers, and a new boss who is keen to teach me as much as I want to learn about wine. I was also treated to a local tasting plate to seal the deal. Heaven.

During my first education session in tasting I learnt about Sparkling Chardonnay, Pinot Noir, Shiraz Cabernet and a very special blend of Cabernet Sauvignon, Cabernet Franc and Merlot (yum) called “The Angel“. We discussed the aromas of each wine (also important with tea), the colour of each wine (also important with tea), and of course the taste (…also very important with tea).

I guess what surprised me the most about wine-tasting is the amount of concentration you need to use to be able to give a truly considered analysis of your individual experience with each wine. So many of the aromas and flavours are familiar, but the descriptive terms can be very elusive (and no I was not swallowing the wine so this was not due to an over-appreciation).

This descriptive process, I am assured, becomes easier with time and practice.

Although I am only at the beginning of my journey into the world of  wine appreciation, I already realise that both wine and tea are an equally subjective experience, and whether or not someone is going to enjoy a certain blend depends entirely on that individual’s palate, personal preferences and often their life experiences. There really is no right or wrong and the beauty of it is that it’s entirely up to you.

Just as an incredible glass of wine can make you feel like you’re taking a long walk through an ancient forest, tea can also transport you thousands of miles in a single sip. The more I learn about both of these wonderful luxuries, the more I love them, and while I’m not sure where this new journey will take me, I am enjoying the ride regardless.

(Thanks Ben!)