I love ordering my tea from this place, I regularly have the Bodacious Breakfast Leaf as it's a nice decaf loose leaf tea which suits me just fine. I do like a little favour too and don't really rate myself as a big fruity tea drinker. I do like a lemon tea though and when I tasted this Sassy Satsuma I thought it must be citrus flavours that I like. I could see a pattern emerging.

It really is nice and orangey and a nice alternative to the lemon tea. Very refreshing and one flavour I would have thought of having. There are so many varieties available from Tranquili Tea and they do make a great cuppa, whatever your'e into.

I also tried a sample of a Chocolate and Mint tea which to be honest was a bit strange at first. I wasn't sure whether chocolate belonged in my tea but as I kept drinking it I did quite like it by the end We have all had a brew and a chocolate biscuit at some point so may as well merge the two together, although I would miss dunking my biscuit, that's one thing that has to be done sometimes.

Their Facebook page can be found at:
www.facebook.com/tranquiliteauk 
or
you can order online with Tranquili Tea at www.tranquili-tea.co.uk
in addition to the tea they also have teapots, infusers and a lot more too so please take a look. Oh and if you live near Chepstow they have a great little shop at 7 St Mary's Arcade NP16 5EU.....so no excuse really. 

Remember to have a brew regularly it's good for you, personally I think my next order may have to include the Charismatic Cinnamon Tea, perfect for that certain import season coming up. You know the one.

Thanks for joining me today, pop back tomorrow for Whatever Wednesday for now though take care and have a 

​Happy Halloween!!!!

There lots of little tea shops around and they are all busy doing their 'tea thing'. I love it as I can spread myself about a bit and have a change of scenery so the more the merrier for me. 

So I went to the little village of Ockbrook in Derbyshire and there was the Apple Tree Gift Shop and Teahouse. A really nice friendly place with the gift shop situated at the front of the building and the teashop to the rear. What I like about these village teashops is the people, I love to see characters and peoples personalities just come out. There was a lady there that obviously visits quite regularly and she knew everything that was going on and the local gossip. Forget Google, this is the real place where you find out stuff and it creates reactions such as 'oooooh really?' 'I didn't know that', every day is really a school day.

I did actually purchase some beverages after learning about what was happening in the local community. I opted for a pot of tea and gluten free banana and chocolate cake, yes I actually believed as well as having a chocolate treat I could get one of my 'five a day'. It was very tasty and looking at their menu there was so much more to be had. I was however very envious of the ladies who were having a breakfast Prosecco, what a great idea. This place is licensed so you can treat yourself to a cheeky Bellini or Prosecco, wine with your lunch or a Bailey's coffee. All their cakes are on baked on site and they do cater very well for food restrictions such as gluten free.

The gift shop has lots of lovely ideas for every occasion and lots of cards to choose from. Certainly no chance of leaving without your next present for a loved one and I can't think of anything better than shopping after a brew.

The Apple Tree Gift Shop can be found at 6 Flood Street, Ockbrook. Derby
DE72 3RF and they have a great website where you can also order online at 
www.theappletreegiftshop.co.uk

Please take a look as it really is a lovely place and I work hard at drinking lots of tea, eating loads of cake to bring these little places to you. I know you can always Google local teashops but it wouldn't be half as much fun.

Thank you for passing by today and taking time to read my blog. Do come back again tomorrow for Whatever Wednesday. 

Take for now. 

I took a step back in time last week when I visited The Good Old Days Cafe in Belper, Derbyshire. It has plenty of memorabilia and information referring to the history of Belper. You can sit and read bygone books and each table has a classic little recipe book just filled with proper traditional dishes and bakes, you know, the kind your Nan use to make.

This place is really nice, proper Yorkshire Tea which I love and quaint teacups and teapots. The cakes are homemade and although we didn't have a meal the menu looked packed with yummy delights. I have to go back as catching sight of the food coming out of the kitchen made me think I have got to try some of that. Honestly the breakfasts looked awesome and they also have jacket potatoes, panini's, sandwiches and soup, enough to satisfy any good appetite. 

You can find this little treasure on Chapel Street in Belper, right next to the bus depot. They have a Facebook page here at:
www.facebook.com/olddayscafe/

So go give them a try, the staff are so friendly. This cafe is so different as you can learn about the area as well as having a brew, how cool is that? It's like a library with tea and cake and with libraries dying out slightly this could be the way to go. You can even just sit in the window and watch the world go by if you don't fancy a read so everyone happy here.

Thanks for reading today on Teapot Tuesday, come back tomorrow for Whatever Wednesday, go on you know you want to.

Take care for now.

I had a wonderful time at my first book club last week. I don't know if you remember my post about The Little Shed in Allestree, well here's a little reminder  tea-cakes-gifts-handbags-paradise-right.html 

I mentioned that they were about to put on one of their first evening events which would be a book club. We were given our first assignment to read which was Paper Hearts and Summer Kisses by Carole Matthews which was a delight to read. If you require a nice easy read for your holiday or want to just relax and experience a nice feel good book this is for you. If it was a movie it would be something like Love Actually so it falls into the chick flick, rom com sort of category and it has everything from humour, romance, a bit of tragedy and sadness but then it could end in a happily ever after, well I'm not going to completely spoil it just in case you want to read it. I can recommend it though so give it a go.

So on book club night we all got together in The Little Shed tearoom and gift shop, I tried not be distracted by the handbags and succeeded until along came big teapots and cake. I ordered a gluten free blueberry cake, it was delicious and basically we guzzled tea, ate cake and talked about the book. We did discuss other things too such as the current tv dramas and other books which we had read. It was a very successful night, a good turnout and it was nice to meet new people.

Our next task was to decide on our next project so a few recommendations were put into a hat or I think it was a bowl really but a new title was plucked out and I am now in the middle of The Couple Next Door by Shari Lapena and I can tell you, apart from writing this post and doing other important necessities I cannot put it down. I'm so looking forward to discussing this one. 

It is a great evening, not everyone agrees on the book, some like it, some don't and everyone has a different take on the plot and characters, making it really interesting. You don't have to be a big reader either, I'm not particularly a hardcore literature expert and I don't read very quickly but look at it as an excuse to drink large amounts of tea and eat cake. Even my eyes nearly popped out at the big teapots, got slightly distracted from the book we were supposed to be talking about. Can we talk about tea instead?......alas no Sue from the Brew. 

The evening costs £4.95 but it is very popular and there are limited places. if you are interested I would contact The Little Shed first to check if there are any places. The next evening is scheduled for Wednesday 1st November. You can contact them via their Facebook page at 
www.facebook.com/thelittleshedallestree/

I've really enjoyed this evening and so glad I went along, sometimes I find things a bit difficult to go to as I'm on my own but hey when I give myself a kick up the backside it's so worth it, so many lovely people and I didn't ever think I would go to a book club so I even surprised myself there.

If you are interested in the books I have mentioned you can purchase them from Amazon, here are the links (affiliated).......just click on the image and it will take you through to Amazon for more details. 

​Thank you for reading today, please come back tomorrow for Whatever Wednesday.

Take care for now.

Well the diet went totally out of the window again but I didn't care as I just needed this. A beautiful brew together with gluten free Raspberry and White Chocolate cake. They don't skimp on the portions here and it tasted absolutely divine.

​So where is this place of lushness? It is Queenies Tea Room and Cake House in Quarndon, Derby. It's not far from me which is a bit lethal, imagine all this on your doorstep. They had three gluten free cake options so I was totally spoilt for choice and that doesn't happen a lot. All the cakes were superbly displayed and I even took home two slices of Mint Oreo cake away for my boys which they thanked me for. It kept them going for a couple of days because of the size of it but they loved it. I may get some more as the takeaway box was gorgeous, like a cake filled handbag, perfect for me.

There is a great menu with lots of choice of not only food but different teas as well, you can imagine how I was feeling, I thought I was in heaven. The downstairs area also includes gifts and cards and there is additional seating upstairs. First impressions when first walking in make you think that it is very small but nope there is plenty of room. It is a delight with very friendly staff so a big thumbs up from me. Its a good job someone recommended this place, I was so surprised, I had no idea it was there, although I must have passed it a few times when just passing through the village. My cake and tea radar must have had some sort of blockage not to have picked this one up. I have now though so all is ok.

Queenies is situated at 114 Church Road, Quarndon, Derby. DE22 5JA. Always important to give you the postcode as if your sat nav is like mine you have a special section of Tea Shops just programmed in.. They also have a Facebook page here:
www.facebook.com/QueeniesDerby/ 

So take a look and go for a visit, you won't regret it, only the calories but hey, just don't think about it and have fun.

Thank you for taking time to read this post, I will be back for more tomorrow with 'Whatever Wednesday'. 

Take care......