Mrs. Teabody Greets the Day

John Thaw was Inspector Morse For all those unhappy with these brilliant end-of-August cool mornings, Mrs. Teabody is giving  you a  peanut to the side of your head.  How can you begrudge anyone such windows-open, humidity-free starts to days? Do make yourself a cuppa and go sit in a corner on the porch and stop being so churlish. In no time at all, you will be trading out all those pasty-skin revealing clothing for nice, cuddly knits in lovely heathers and grey and blacks. Wonderful boots. Tights. Hair that stays curled. Surely there is a spot in the universe where one can live in such pleasant temperatures year-round? The Teabodys are back in Oxford again, albeit through the television and those gifted writers, cinematographers and actors at the BBC. The show of choice is ENDEAVOUR featuring Shaun Evans as the probable youthful incarnation of beloved Inspector Morse shown above. Inspector Morse first swam into Mrs. Teabody's view whilst she truly was IN Oxford ...

Good Morning from a moist and muggy Meadow Grounds Mountain where the fish are jumpin' (in the aquarium) and the cotton is  high (on the bed). If anyone had ANY shred of doubt about Summer being  firmly ensconced, you simply must be housebound and not among those individuals who climbed a flight of stairs to a very warm "Second Story" to revel in the presentation of the artwork of eight of the best local artists as well as  the folk art finding its way onto the sides of local barns and other buildings through the efforts of the Fulton County Barn Quilt Trail. Opening weekend with over 200 visitors  during the artists' reception Friday night and  well over one hundred more on the weekend was evidence enough that folks want art in their lives, that they DO value the creative process. Like any undertaking of this magnitude, it takes a village of people and Thanks are due so here goes: Antietam Ironworks is owned by Kathleen Gunnell and her family. Without her o...

Quiet hangs on these rooms and on the fully-leaved and lushy green trees that surround Chez Teabody this Fourth of July 2015. Cool breezes waft through the house's open windows and screened doorways this fourth morning in a row where low temperatures have provided the best of sleeping conditions. It rained in the night again making gardening  iffy and the forecast is for cloudy and overcast with a chance of picnics. Mrs. Teabody woke up with these  memorized and sacrosanct words on her mind this Independence Day: "We hold these truths to be self evident: that all men are created equal, endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights, That among these are Life, Liberty and the Pursuit of Happiness." Created equal. All men. Everybody. Everybody. It is no leap of faith to conclude that those born in China or Persia or Sweden or Africa are also created equal. Even if they have a different flag. They do have different flags. Mrs. Teabody does not feel any scars...

A lily prepares to bloom without fear. Hello, Summer! You have teased this little part of the world for weeks now with the errant scorcher, the ominous thunderstorms,  the lushing-out greens. Now this June 22, 2015 you have officially arrived full of promise, full of plans, and ready to throw a curve ball into any of it when you have a mind to. Welcome, Summer, with all your wacky and unpredictable wonderfulness. At Tickle Your Fancy , Mrs. Teabody's little downtown enterprise, you can find at least a dozen teas that will flavor your summer in new and unchartered ways including Marrakech Mint, Moroccan Mint, and  Slammin' Sammy Spearmint for all of you who like to get your mint on. For the exotic, there is brandy new "Shakespeare" which is a dark chocolate cherry tea good hot or cold. For the health-conscious ( All tea drinkers believe in and enjoy wonderful health!) there is "Bullett-Proof", a rooibos generously laced with turmeric and ginger. Do che...

Good Morning from Chez Teabody where the  last of the peony-infused air is a perfect complement to the green gold canopy of the surrounding trees. The world outside is one of dappled prettiness; the gardens are a bit refreshed by yesterday's shower. The day lies ahead, a blank canvas rife with possibility. You feel it, too, yes? Today you must say Goodbye to a May that worked hard to rival any April with her crazy extremes in temperatures. It's June. It's  (unofficially) summer. And summer means sometimes going outside one's comfort zone, one's hermetically sealed existence. Do you regard the natural world as your enemy, Gentle Reader? Does the idea of having contact with a bee or a bird carry the same level of threat for you as  accidentally sitting down next to a bear in a darkened movie theatre?  While this modern world screams "CAUTION" at every corner, Mrs. Teabody finds it wise to bring a measure of common sense to day-to-day existence, to bu...

For seven mornings in a row, Mrs. Teabody has awakened to a nice cool breeze wafting through her sleeping chamber and the varying voices of the morning chorus.  She hopes you have, too. This is, as anyone who has lived more than half a century will tell you, a blessed time weather-wise. Even though afternoon temps have been more June-like than May, most folks agree it is a most halcyon spell with trees full of leaves and plants springing from the ground. Pictured above is the wisteria blooming its fool head off at Chez Teabody. According to Wikipedia, wisteria vines climb by twining their stems either clockwise or counterclockwise round any available support. They can climb as high as 20 m above the ground and spread out 10 m laterally. The world's largest known Wisteria vine is in Sierra Madre, California , measuring more than 1 acre (0.40 ha) in size and weighing 250 tons. The Teabody Wisteria , as it is known here by exactly two people, has not had an easy spring...

Mr. Teabody's Sculpture "To the Virgins, to make much of Time GATHER ye rosebuds while ye may,  Old Time is still a-flying:  And this same flower that smiles to-day  To-morrow will be dying." ~ Robert Herrick, 1591–1674 Good Morrow from an oh-so-very-dark Meadow Grounds Mountain where a stroll outdoors to look at the starry pre-dawn sky requires neither coat nor shoes. This is that riotous blooming part of April, that all-too-short reign of yellow and pink things in nature. Hopefully, you, Gentle Reader, are out of doors for part of it. Mrs. Teabody would not want you to approach summer without your brain chock full of mental images of daffodils, forsythia, magnolia and cherry. Sadly their season is a short one so no dallying.Take a little walk around your neighborhood and look at gardens and front yards and try not to get picked up for loitering. Do you watch much television? Before you scoff and say, "Everyone does," you should know ...