I was slumming it at a Hilton Hotel at the beginning of this month, I know terrible eh? Well I was attending a marvellous charity night to raise money for the Me & Dee Charity, a local charity in Derby who provide holidays to those who are facing life threatening or life shortening conditions and also for military members with serious psychological and physical injuries. It was a very successful evening and lovely to be part of it. If you would like to know more about the charity please take a look at www.meanddee.co.uk

After a shortish nights sleep and a hearty breakfast I was still ready for another brew, and then I wonder why I'm on the toilet a lot. I just can't resist it when someone says 'shall we go and get a drink?' Well yes of course,  in this situation 'no' just doesn't enter into my vocabulary and what is Sue without her brew, just Sue I suppose.

Inside the lovely Hilton Hotel at St George's Park, where in fact the England Footy Squad do their training there is a little Starbucks cafe. I didn't fancy a coffee so I thought I would try one of their Tazo Iced Tea's. Woah the array of flavours here is amazing, so many to choose from it did take me a while and I settled eventually for a bit of Wild Sweet Orange.   

I've mentioned before that I don't really go for fruit teas in a big way but I really found this nice and refreshing. I am a sucker for some nice modern packaging and some tantalising flavours and Tazo seem to have all these. This is the only place I have seen these tea bags but you can purchase them through Amazon. They are really pricey, I know they are an American company and after looking on their website they don't seem to supply to countries outside the US so be prepared to pay a little more on Amazon if you do fancy a Tazo brew.

I suppose I was at the Hilton so no surprise that they would have pricey tea bags. The thing is that now and again it's nice to have a treat. I did enjoy my Wild Orange Iced Tea and if I was passing again I would try another  but it may be a while. I liked that most of the flavours are caffeine free which I find I prefer these days but personally not sure I can justify £6.10 upwards for 20 teabags. It might be me just being a bit stingy but they are nice don't get me wrong but not that nice. I think you can get nice flavours for half the price.

I have not done a very good job of selling you those but then I don't have to, I'm only here to give my honest opinion and if you are on a budget you may do as I did and take a short intake of breath when I saw the price but if you have a few pennies spare or want to impress someone then go for it!

Thank you for passing by and giving this post a read, if you enjoyed it and would like to read more then come back tomorrow for What to Buy Wednesday but for now, you all take care.

I've never seen so many lovely teabags all in one room, it was like a dream come true. I visited The Roundhouse in Derby where they held the first Great British Tea Festival. and what a festival it was.

There were so many different selections of teas, ceramics, sweet treats, presentations, a tea room and even music to accompany you while you sat and enjoyed a brew. The tearoom was supplied by Elements Tea and Coffee House who are soon to open their place in the centre of Derby - watch this space.

There were a few hitches with waiting a while for refreshments but apparently they had technical issues with the boiler so it couldn't be helped. Donna from Elements (pictured above with Mum and Dad from the Brew)  did a fantastic job of reassuring everyone and apologies were given out so we just had to be patient. I did put my request in for gluten free cake at the new place as there wasn't any at this event so fingers crossed. We were VIP's and armed with a voucher for free tea and cake, well you have to say something eh? I did get a slice of cake to take home for the kids from the brew to have so everyone was a winner on this day.

With around 32 exhibitors/vendors it was well worth a visit and of course worth tasting a lot of tea, it would be rude not to. I did buy some little sample bags to try and I also brought home a tea plant! Yes I am now growing tea thanks to the lovely Tea by Me people from the Netherlands. Now as you may have read before, sometimes I struggle with my green fingers and tend to send some plants to plant heaven but I'm keeping a close eye on this one I can assure you.

Overall a great event, well organised and if you did pay for a VIP ticket you were given a bag with all those items included (main photo) so good value for money. Would I go back next year? Well yes I would and I am going to use the next year to clear some space, that means drinking loads of my tea so I can replenish stock at the next Tea Festival which will take place on Sunday 13th October 2019 so pop the date in your diaries and I may see you there.

Thank you for reading today, pop back and read some more tomorrow on What to Buy Wednesday.

​Take care for now.

I don't mean crafty as in some sort of naughty secret brewing session, I mean mixing a brew with doing something creative, involving the crafts. I've got together with some friends and we have had a couple of these sessions now which are a lot of fun. 

We got together for a jewellery making session a while ago and just last week we met up for a bit of stone painting. We got all our paints together and the stones we had collected and just went mad with our creativity, painting stones to be hidden somewhere for someone to find.

It's so relaxing and great therapy in case we needed any. We chat and generally put the world to rights, have a break for tea or coffee. We have some nice treats and lunches too and I may have blown the diet but hey I've had fun which is great.

I can recommend this idea, it's gets people together and you get to test out other peoples skills and if you're like me get to go a bit craft crazy. I decided to create two stones for occasions which are coming up. One for Halloween and another for Remembrance Sunday but everyone had different ideas so it made it exciting to see the results. 

So get the kettle on, have a few friends round and choose a craft to dabble in. You could hold an event like this for charity or just for fun. It could be a chance to make presents for Christmas or making things for yourself, anything goes!!

Let me know what creative sessions you have held or planning....we could share some ideas. For now though thank you for reading, take care and I will be back tomorrow for What to Buy Wednesday. 

Bye for now..... 

Are you having trouble sleeping? Well I think I may have the answer and it's all in the brew. I am sticking with Twinings again this week, but I know what you are thinking my little brewsters, I am flirting with the tea providers eh? You haven't seen anything, wait until I go to a Tea Festival in Derby taking place in a couple of weeks, I will be a Tea Tart!!.

So I tried a Sleep Superblend Tea from Twinings and have to say it was really nice. Now I'm not a great fan of camomile, I find it a bit......soapy to be honest but this is marvellous as the clever blenders at Twinings have added a bit of apple, vanilla and passionflowers in there too. I don't tend to be a big fruity tea drinker either but have taken to these mainly for the fact they have helped me relax and sleep a bit better.

It may be a fluke a coincidence or complete load of nonsense but for me it does seem to work and I haven't slept, well since my children were born back in 2000. Actually come to think of it pre children I was out partying all night so I probably haven't slept since 1988. Well I seem to have some catching up to do, thanks Twinings (as I go and brew the whole twenty teabags),

My other choice of the Superblend range was Matcha Green Tea with Cranberry and Lime. These are super refreshing and tangy with that added lime. It just feels good while drinking this. For those who don't know Matcha is a fine powder created from green tea and is an important part of Japanese culture. Together with the added flavours and manganese this all helps to contribute to a normal energy yielding metabolism. I know, I am going to be so healthy by the time I have drank all this tea, I just have to put away the biscuits and practice a bit more yoga then I'm good.

Very nice range of tea, well done Twinings, there are more blends within the range such as:

• Defence - citrus, ginger, green tea and echinacea, added vitamin C
• Glow - Strawberry, cucumber, green tea and aloe vera plus added Biotin
• Engergise -  green tea, mandarin, apple, guarana, added vitamin B6
• Detox - lemon, ginger, burdock root, fennel, added selenium 
• Tumeric - orange, star anise

Twinings have a 3 for 2 offer on their website, each pack contains 20 teabags for £2.69. For more information go to: 
www.twinings.co.uk

If you have tried any of these please do let me know. 

For now though thank you for reading today, catch me again tomorrow for What to Buy Wednesday.

Take care. 

I am loving these Cold Infuse bags from Twinings. They add a bit of excitement to your water bottle because it can get a bit boring with plain water all the time. 

All you have to do is drop one of these bags into your water bottle for five minutes and let the flavour fuse out. They include natural ingredients, sugar free and are available in six really tasty flavours:

• Watermelon, Strawberry and Mint
• Passionfruit, Mango and Blood Orange
• Blueberry, Apple and Blackcurrant
• Rose Lemonade
• Lemon, Orange and Ginger
• Coconut, Pineapple and Green Tea

Wow, I may have to work my way through all of these as they all seem really refreshing. I have started with the Watermelon, Strawberry and Mint and can say it is really tasty. I wish I had found these when we had the heatwave earlier on in the year because one of these and loads of ice would have just been just what I needed. 

Nothing to stop me now really, we all need to keep hydrated and this is another way to enjoy water if you don't like it plain. There is no funny after taste like a lot of other products which include artificial sweetners and it's a subtle flavour as well not overpowering like a strong fruit juice. 

I purchased my pack from Tesco for £3.79 which includes 12 infusers in a plastic jar but the jar is recycleable. Well done Twinings for not only producing a nice product but for thinking about the packaging too.

Give them a try and see what you think, I will certainly be trying more so I will keep you posted. 

Thank you for reading today, come back tomorrow for What to Buy Wednesday but for now........

Take care.