More Tea Ceremony

The tea gathering on Monday went very well, I think. I was preparing up until the last minute. Before the guests arrived, I sprinkled water on the driveway all the way to the street and sprinkled water on the plants leading up to the house to make it welcome and refreshing. Then I put the kettle on to heat water.

The gathering started at 2:00 pm. There were three guests and all arrived on time. I served hot water for refreshment and then they entered the tea room. After greetings, I served a light meal that included sake, of course. After the meal I served a homemade tea sweet and then the guests had a short break while I prepared the room for tea. We enjoyed thick tea where everyone shared a bowl and then thin tea made in individual bowls.

Because the guests were long time tea students who had studied with me for many years, it was a convivial group and everyone knew what to expect, and and what to do. We created our own experience and I hope my guests had a good time.

If you are in Portland, Oregon, I hope you can join me for a tea presentation at First Thursday.

Issoan Tea School and Dai Ichi Travel will be presenting tea ceremony at their Portland Office in the Pearl district during First Thursday’s Art Walk. Stop by for a Japanese sweet and bowl of tea.

Thursday, June 7th, from 6:00 – 7:30 pm

Dai Ichi International Inc.
925 NW Lovejoy
Portland, OR 97209

Call Marjorie Yap 503-645-7058 for more information
www.issoantea.com

Tea Ceremony planning

I am planning a tea ceremony for some friends on Monday and it is a countdown. Last week I put together the guest list, chose a theme and composed a haiku to send on hand lettered invitations. Yesterday I received confirmation from two guests. Today I started cleaning: the garden first, then the house and then the tea room, toilet last. I took out the utensils that I will need for the ceremony. I will see how they look together and how they embody the chakai theme. Then I washed everything and put them out to air dry.

Tomorrow I will go shopping for the meal, practice the tea procedures and order of things. Then clean the tea room once again and vacuum everywhere again. Sunday I will do the ahead of time cooking, like making soup stock and tea sweets. I will also make a wrap a small gift for the guests and write down a list of all the utensils for guests to take home.

Monday I will pick the flowers in the early morning, and fill the containers with fresh water. Then clean the tea room, dust and vacuum again. I will cook the meal, arrange the flowers, hang the scroll and arrange the serving trays. Then I will sift the tea, prepare the tea utensils, set out the tsukubai basin, and clean the toilet before I put on kimono and meditate before the guests arrive.

Oh yes, I almost forgot to get the sake.

Welcome

Welcome to the SweetPersimmon Blog.

I am new to this blogging thing so bear with me. I am hoping to use this blog to share with you some things that interest me: tea, meditation, incense, photography.

For those of you who do not know me, I am the owner of www.SweetPersimmon.com, a site that sells the meditation seats I make, as well as specialty tea, teaware, incense, books and photos.

I also teach Japanese Tea Ceremony in Portland, Oregon. I studied Tea Ceremony (Chanoyu) for 25 years in Portland, Seattle, and Kyoto Japan. I'll post some things about that, too. Meanwhile, you can check out my tea school at www.Issoantea.com.