MY PERSONALI-TEA

Good morning! I just took a "personali-tea" quiz through Harney & Sons for a contest they are having.  It was kind of fun, but the animal choices were odd.  It's a quick one so give it a go and then come back and paste your own in the comments below.

CLICK HERE TO TAKE THE QUIZ

***MY RESULTS***
Your Personali-tea is Herbal!

You like variety in your life and you enjoy switching up your hobbies, favorite foods and routines often. Though it may be hard for your friends to predict your next move, you also have a calm and therapeutic nature that makes you a pleasure to be around.

Like you, herbal teas like to mix it up. Herbal teas, also known as herbal infusions, are typically a blend of herbs, flowers, spices and dried fruit. This blend of ingredients is then brewed in the same way as your favorite traditional tea, either loose or in tea sachets or bags. By combining quality ingredients, blends can be created that calm, invigorate or treat minor ailments. Colors and flavors range from light and fruity to vibrant and spicy to match your mood. We offer over 40 different kinds of blends, many of which are caffeine-free and just as chill as you are.

(Answer 5 simple questions to discover the tea type that best suits you! 5 lucky quiz-takers will win a $50 Harney & Sons gift card. Contest ends August 7, 2019)

CLICK HERE TAKE THE QUIZ

(Note: I am not in any way affiliated with this quiz/contest/prizes. Just sharing it for fun!)

I am hoping I correctly shared the link, but if not it is on the Harney dot com blog :)

Until Next Time ~ Hugs and a Cup of Tea,
Heather Elizabeth

THIMBLES AND THREADS - 4 LOVE STORIES QUILTED INTO BROKEN LIVES

CLICK HERE TO PURCHASE

These are sweet little stories to pass the time. 
Barbour Publishing © July, 2019
The quilt graphics at the beginning of the chapters are charming. 3 stars overall / Netgalley and the publisher kindly sent me a review eBook in the hopes of a favorable review, with no further expectation or compensation. All opinions are my own. 

(1) Bygone by Mary Davis (4 stars)•*• Heartwarming •*•1884 Texas – Matilda (aka Tilly) Rockford has returned home from Baltimore, all grown up. She never expected Orion Dunbar to be the person meeting her at the station. “Would he squeeze her hand until she cried like when she was a child? No, he held it gently, helping her into the buggy. He laid a quilt across her lap to keep her warm on the ride.” Orion had arrived on the orphan train, a broken and angry little boy. He acted out and hurt people, especially little Tilly who was always kind to him. Now grown, he only wants to make up for his past mistakes. “His heart sped up at having her so close. She smelled of lavender and vanilla.” However, there is another man who also wishes to pay Matilda special attentions.
I enjoyed this sweet story, yet there are several incomplete sentences: e.g. 1. “Show her she could trust him.” 2. “The same place that had always hungered for her attention.” 3. “And smiled.” 

(2) The Bridal Shop, a Novella by Grace Hitchcok (5 stars) •*• Sweet Story of learning to trust in others•*•
1886 Charleston, South Carolina – Alice has been so hurt by men that she has resigned herself to a life without them and she now runs an up-and-coming bridal shop. “Giles lifted his faced heavenward and groaned. A bridal shop, Lord? Not to sound ungrateful, but You couldn’t have made it a tailor shop? And not some place full of women?” I enjoyed Giles very much. Clearly a good and Godly man with a sense of humor. Eustace is a total cad! And he deserves the brat of a wife he married. 
TEA MOMENT: “Alice couldn’t bring herself to go to bed quite yet. She decided to treat herself to a pot of herbal tea and the last of the oatmeal cookies from the bakery over a Harper’s Bazaar.”
“He healeth the broken in heart, and bindeth up their wounds. Psalm 147:3?”
I like Grace Hitchcock’s writing style. This is the second of her books that I have read.

(3) Mending Sarah’s Heart, a Novella by Suzanne Norquist (3 stars) •*•Learning to Trust God Again •*•
1884 Rockledge, CO – Sarah Anderson is a widow. She and her sons live in a CO mining town near family. She believes God has let her down and now she is forced to earn a living in her dress shop. Jack Taylor has a mission to accomplish. Turn over funds to his deceased partner’s widow and skedaddle. He does not expect to find a woman in desperate need of help with sons in need of guidance. 
This was a sweet story of learning to trust God again and feeling unworthy of God’s love, or anyone else’s. Not a lot of depth, but an easy afternoon read. I liked how Jack stepped in to guide the boys, even though he didn’t know them. However, the immediate desire for him to protect the widow did not click for me.

(4) Binding Up Wounds, a Novella by Liz Tolsma (3 stars) •*•A Decent Story of Acceptance•*•
1865 Regent, WI, - Lance Witherspoon fought for “the other side”. He carries a multihued patchwork quilt that saved his life. With nowhere left to go, he sets out from VA to find the woman who created it and thank her. Melissa Bainbridge is quiet, shy, private. She lives with her grandparents and creates dolls. Her town does not understand her. The young women either torment or shun her. “The three girls burst into a fresh round of laughter. Now would be the perfect time for the Second Coming. Anything to deliver Melissa from this misery. But no trumpets sounded from heaven.” Her grandparents adore her and strive to love all, including strangers considered by most to be “the enemy”. The two main characters spend weeks together, getting to know each other in the process. I appreciated that the author did not have them tripping into each other’s arms after a few days. Overall, I liked the idea of this story and what pulls Lance to Melissa. It is such a harsh thing he has to go through, being an outsider in his own country. Melissa was rather immature and for far longer than necessary, i.e. multiple times during the same day, which was nerve-wracking. Lance had such a pure heart. A decent enough story.

Until Next Time,
Hugs and a Cup of Tea ~ Heather Elizabeth

The Express Bride-5 Stars-Daughters-of-the-Mayflower-Series

•°o•:*:•. VERY HAPPY .•:*:• o°•

After not enjoying the last book in the series, I was so very pleasantly surprised at how much I did enjoy book no.9 in the “Daughters of the Mayflower”: series.  Once I found out it centered around the Pony Express, I decided to accept the invitation to read it.

Some fun facts from the book: Now called the Pony Express, it was the Central Overland California and Pikes Peak Express Company (COC&PP). It operated from 04/03/1860 until 10/24/1861 when the telegraph took over.  It went from St. Joseph, MO to Sacramento, CA in 10 days.

The story involves one mystery surrounding forged treasury notes and another involving a missing heiress. There are quite a bit of godly men sharing their faith, and our heroine seeking God as well that I enjoyed.

**Kansas City, MO**

Elijah Johnson is entrusted by his friend and business partner, Charles Vines, to find his long lost daughter before he departs from this world.  But, she’s been gone for 26 years!  It will take a lot of fortitude and brains to ferret out any clues that old; plus some guidance from the good Lord.

**Utah Territory, forty miles from Virginia City**

Meanwhile, in Carson Sink, Jacqueline Rivers has taken over her father’s station following his recent passing.  She is manager, hostess, cook, boss, big sister and surrogate mom to “her boys” who ride for and deliver the mail for the COC&PP. 

“Every time she watched a rider head out, she prayed until he was out of sight.  The number of riders and horses it took to cross the two-thousand-mile trail was extravagant.  But to get the news in a week rather than a month or more was huge.  It never ceased to amaze her, so every day she found herself praying for these young men who sacrificed so much.”

“Jack” is coming to grips with her loss and new duties when two men show up on the stagecoach seeking her help with two entirely different problems.

Michael, her adopted brother, was a fun character.  I appreciated his youth and humor.

Tea References:

“As she looked down at her cup of tea, the image of her mother, so dreamlike and beautiful, still hovered at the edges of her mind. If only she could keep it there and remember more.”

“But being the doting father he was, he usually gave in and ordered her something pretty.  She’d never forget the first time she asked him to buy a china tea set. His face had been almost comical.”

Cautionary Note: This book does contain some violence, including wife beating (not in grave detail) and also cold-blooded killing/shooting.

Extra tidbits about the P.E. are listed after the story, including the fact that it was a “huge financial flop”!  I also like the Express riders oath shared within the story.

I loved the final sentence which made me laugh out loud.

I was approached by Barbour Publishing and asked to review an eVersion of this book without fee, expectation or compensation.  My opinion is my own and offered freely.  Please read other reviews for a well-rounded purchasing decision.

© July 1, 2019, Barbour Publishing 5 stars