More puppy photos

Puppy time!

Not much time to write about tea these days! We got a puppy! On Wednesday, we loaded up the kids and drove 2.5 hours to Newport to meet the sweetest little tripawd puppy ever. He was at the Lincoln County Animal Shelter (great place!) He had pretty much recovered from his amputation and was ready to find a home. Our home! 

I wasn't sure I was ready to get another doggie again after Cooper, but this guy melted my heart and is bringing back so many great puppy memories from Cooper. He is definitely helping to fill a hole that's been in our home since Coop passed.

He'a great with the kids, loves the cats, and is very friendly. And super smart. We have lucked out in every way. 

Introducing Finnegan Buster Bluth...

Outside the shelter. He's officially a part of our family

Needed to burn off some energy at the beach before getting back in the car for 2.5 more hours:

Back home and exhausted!

Since then it's been non stop playing, eating, sleeping, & meeting new friends

He is such a sweetheart. And does great with all he's got!

Winter fun

This isn't so much a post about tea, but what I'm watching while drinking tea!

Some photos of the kiddos playing in the snow

And of course... The hummingbirds. This video was taken in total slow motion so that's how fast their wings are in slow motion!

My most epic swap yet...

Some photos from my upcoming swap with yyz.

My obsession with yixing ware continues...

My other two pots from:

http://www.aliexpress.com/store/330365

Arrived today. They are so itty bitty and ridiculously cute. They each came with a certificate and the blue one even had an included photograph of the artist holding that pot. Super cool.

The blue one is actually more dark teal in person but the light doesn't show it.

I also bought a bunch of yixing clay tea storage caddies. I'm officially obsessed/addicted to yixing ware!

Crazy cute new yixing mug

I got this from a seller on aliexpress and am so happy with it. I also got an amazing deal on it. His shop is here and I would highly recommend checking out his stuff:

http://www.aliexpress.com/store/330365

He has a bunch of very traditional pots with beautiful artwork hand painted on them. I have 2 more on the way. This is the first to arrive and is a mug. I'm seasoning it now and I will use it for my dark roasty fujian, laoshan, and rizhao teas.

My favorite new steeping cup

I love my little test tube steepers. The only downside is that they keep the leaves pretty compacted. they don't give the tea much room to expand. So I wanted another glass steeper, but with more space for the leaves to open. I found this one on aliexpress and it's my new favorite.

It's 8oz, but doesn't feel small. It's round and the glass is thick and it feels great in the hand. It's got glass steeping insert so when the time is up I just pull up the insert and put it in the lid and voila, my tea is ready! It's great for resteeping too. Totally in love. Glad I bought 2.

It was 11 bucks with free shipping. Very happy with it.
http://www.aliexpress.com/item/Cup-round-cup-heat-resistant-glass-cup-glass-tea-set-glass-cup-three-pieces-cup-beauty/874391595.html