The Wrong Book
Nick Bland
Scholastic
ISBN 9780545980340
I really love Nick Bland's diversity as both an author and illustrator. This new book is no exception. It is the story of Nicholas Ickle, or at least the story Nicholas is trying to tell, but he keeps being interrupted by others, including an elephant, monsters, a pirate and a queen and even rats. Bland's illustrations are wonderful and amusing; the book will be fun for your family time and time again.
Books by Nick Bland:
A Monster Wrote Me a Letter (2005)
Aussie Jingle Bells (2006)
I Lost My Kisses (2007)
Donald Loves Drumming (2008)
The Very Cranky Bear (2008)
When Henry Caught Imaginitis (2008)
The Wrong Book (2009)
The Very Itchy Bear (2010)
Twinkle HB (2010)
The Runaway Hug (2011)
Custom Blending Teas
As much as I love teas, and this being a twelfth article in a series on tea, it can attest, I also enjoy experimenting. I have been called a MacGyver in the kitchen, and I extend that experimentation to teas also. I love to try new things, and combine things I like. Here are some of my favourite custom blends. Each is made by combining equal parts, either by the cup or whole tin all from Teaopia.
Yerba Mate and Fit Active
Fit Active and Rise and Shine
Autumn Breeze and Natural Rooibos
Goji Green and Pomegranate Green
Super Berry White and Fit Active
Mate Citrus Buzz and Mate Sweet Energy
Cactus Fig and Mate Sweet Energy
Mate Citrus Buzz and Earl Grey Rooibos
The top three I keep mixed in tins and ready to go. The others I do often to give more variety to my tea drinking experience. It's like having more teas on hand. But a little caution needs to be taken with mixing custom blends and herbal teas. We must always remember we are dealing with chemical compounds in the form of plants and fruits for all teas. These teas can interact with each other or with other medicines a person is taking. Here are a few links to articles on medical caution:
Tea and Health
Herbalism - Wikipedia
Herb Drug Interactions
So please do use caution especially if you are on prescription medicine or already using herbal medicines. But enjoy yourself, experiment, try something new and have some fun. Come back and drop me a line with your favourite combinations, and what you have found that you think others should try. You might also extend your tea budget by extending flavoured teas by adding more of the base ingredient, which is often cheaper. For example I extend Mate Citrus Buzz by mixing with plain Yerba Mate. You get twice the tea and nearly the same taste for about a third less in cost. Or maybe you like the taste but find it a little too much - either way experiment and have fun with your tea consumption.
Articles in this Series:
0. Tea Tea Everywhere - Teaopia Mad Hatter Tea Party
1. Tea an Overview
2. Red Teas
3. Green Teas
4. White Teas
5. Black Teas
6. Matcha Tea
7. Yerba Mate
8. Fruit Blends
9. Wellness Blends10. Herbal Teas11. Purveyors of Fine Tea (my preferences.)
12. Custom Blending
13. My Favourite TeasTop Ten Teas of 2010
Purveyors of Fine Tea
To quote C.S. Lewis again "You can't get a cup of tea big enough or a book long enough to suit me." I truly do love tea, in many of its varieties and forms. I love a nice big mug of hot tea or an iced tea to cool things down. Most of the time I drink my tea neat, but occasionally with honey. But until recently finding high quality loose leaf teas in Ontario was often a challenge. It was usually small independent sellers, or retailers who imported a few varieties from different purveyors. Yet with that said, here are my favourite manufacturers of tea in a very specific order. I will provide some history and info on each.
Teaopia
Teaopia is a Canadian company founded by David Bellisario and all stores are currently corporately owned. Teaopia opened its first store at Erin Mills Town Centre (Mississauga, ON) in 2005 and have been opening up Teaopia locations across Canada ever since. Teaopia sells more than a 100 varieties of premium loose leaf tea, and herbal blends. Their famous teas and custom blends are perfect for any tea connoisseur or the first time tea drinker. One item that makes their teas so convenient is the Tea Master, which provides a simple and effective way of brewing any variety of tea, and rebrewing it a second or third time. One sales associate told me in store that some teas actually release more antioxidants on the second steeping. Teaopia really is committed to providing the best products at a reasonable price and with convenient locations. The staff seems to be knowledgeable and friendly. The only inconsistency I have noticed is the price of bar drinks, if you ask for extra Matcha or a custom blend. Also because the stores are so popular, I have yet to receive a stale product. The other great advantage is that with the chain expanding so quickly you can find a store near you and try a cup before you buy if you are uncertain about a specific tea; also every store I have been to has either 2 or 4 teas of the day brewing with free samples. Some even have more brewing right at the counter for you to try.
Republic of Tea
The Republic of Tea is a company that markets organic and exotic teas from around the world. The Republic of Tea was founded in 1992 by Mel and Patricia Ziegler with Bill Rosenzweig. The company is based in Novato, California, but with its major production facility in Nashville, Illinois. The founders of the company authored a book detailing their exchanges while conceiving the company. In 1994, the founders sold the company to Ron Rubin under whom the company has grown into a leader in specialty tea sales. Even if you do not purchase often, their mail order catalogues are wonderful.
The Republic of Tea designates its employees as ministers, customers as citizens and retail outlets as embassies. It was one of the first companies to specialize in retail varieties such as red tea, white tea, and tea seed oil to American consumers. I find that the teas from the Republic are wonderful but without mail ordering across the border harder to find in Canada. I have dealt with a few different retailers who carry them for a time, but all seem to stop. The other disadvantage is you have to buy full tins of either loose leaf or bagged tea, and if you don't like it, pass it on to someone else to try.
Stash Tea
The Stash Tea Company is a privately-held tea company which is now headquartered in Tigard, a suburb of Portland Oregon. Stash Tea originally operated out of a Victorian style house, and specialized in supplying loose herbal teas and herbs to natural food stores; it was founded by partners Stephen Lee and Tom Mesher. However in 1972, the company started to sell bagged teas and then began to market a full line of teas through an order catalog. Then in 1993, Stash was acquired by the Yamamotoyama Tea Company. Stash Tea has been enjoying steady growth and has become one of the largest specialty tea companies in the United States that markets its products through foodservice, grocery stores, tea and coffee shops, natural foods stores, mail order and over the Internet. It has a mail order catalog with more than 200 teas.
Twinings UK and Twinings Canada
For many years Twinings of London was my favourite purveyor of tea, but two factors changed that, and though I still really enjoy a few of their teas I do not go out of my way to get them or to try new offerings. First, finding their tea in a loose leaf format, other than 5 or 6 common varieties at the grocery store, has become harder and harder. Second, even though they state that some of their blends have not changed, many bloggers and commentators say they have; either that or their quality has eroded. But back to the 
Twinings Company. The founder of Twinings, Thomas Twining, opened the first known tea room, at 216 Strand, London, in 1706, which is still in operation today. The logo originally created in 1787 is one of the world's oldest in continuous use. Twinings is a holder of a Royal Warrant, and has been owned by Associated British Foods since 1964. Twinings sells a variety of regional and flavoured teas such as Irish Breakfast, Lady Grey and Darjeeling, as well as herbal infusions, coffee, and hot chocolate. It is claimed by the company that it was the first to blend Earl Grey in Britain during the premiership of Charles, 2nd. Earl Grey, however this is disputed by rival tea merchants Jacksons of Piccadilly, which is wholly owned by Twinings.
Jackson of Piccadilly
Jackson of Piccadilly is owned by Twinings, but operated as a separate business line, much as Starbucks owns and operates Seattle's Best Coffee. Jacksons of Piccadilly is a longstanding London tea house, founded by Robert Jackson in 1815. It has earned an impressive collection of Royal Warrants, from Queen Victoria, King George V and various other royals through the 19th and 20th centuries. The company also claims to have invented the "original" recipe for Earl Grey tea. When I was at Queen's University in Kingston, Ontario, I frequented two shops for many of my tea purchases, Cooke's Old World Shop, and Tara's Health Foods. Both carried an impressive variety of bagged and loose leaf tea from manufacturers and custom blends. I especially like to keep on hand Russian Tea from Jackson's selection and often tried other varieties. I liked the tins and found the tea worth the time. I have not seen any of their loose tea in years. But it was once among my favourites.
Tazo
The Tazo Tea Company was founded in 1994 by Steve Smith (who retired from Tazo in 2006) along with his business partners Stephen Lee and Tom Mesher. It is stated that Smith used his corporate connections within the food services industry to convince many restaurants, food stores, and tea houses to carry the new Tazo Teas. Smith approached Starbucks CEO Howard Schultz in 1998, seeking further investment partners, and was very successful, for Tazo was purchased by Starbucks in 1999 for $8.10 million. In Canada Tazo teas are available at a variety of locations, Starbucks included. The interesting thing is Starbucks does not carry the full Tazo line, and some of the varieties carried at Starbucks are not available in other retail or grocery stores. About 5 years back Tazo was my favourite tea, even though it meant drinking mostly bagged tea. But 2 years ago right around the time I was introduced to Teaopia, I had numerous issues with Tazo teas including 4 bags bursting while steeping, in 2 days. I have not bought any of their teas since, except when in a location that serves it, so as much as I like their teas I just do not keep any at home or work anymore.
Articles in this Series:
0. Tea Tea Everywhere - Teaopia Mad Hatter Tea Party
1. Tea an Overview
2. Red Teas
3. Green Teas
4. White Teas
5. Black Teas
6. Matcha Tea
7. Yerba Mate
8. Fruit Blends
9. Wellness Blends10. Herbal Teas11. Purveyors of Fine Tea (my preferences.)
12. Custom Blending
13. My Favourite Teas
Top Ten Teas of 2010
Sunwing
Kenneth Oppel (blog)
Harper Collins - Browse Inside
ISBN 9780006481713
The first book in this series, Silverwing, won 11 awards; this book won 8. It continues the saga of Shade a young silverwing bat. He has been in search of his father. He believes it is linked to the silver bands he has been tagged with and that his father was also tagged with. He discovers a mysterious forest inside a human building with plenty of bugs to eat, fresh water and thousands of bats. It is also a haven, free from the tyranny of birds, and especially owls. Yet his friends are not so sure it is the place to be.
He and his friends are soon swept up into a world they could never have imagined, transported to Latin America and the jungles. They soon become embroiled with the Vampyrum Spectrum bats and their king Goth. The little silverwing with heart, busts battle bats with 3 foot wing spans and other animals and creatures formerly unknown to him. Can Shade unite rats, small bats and even owl's in a battle against Goth who is trying to turn the world into eternal night? The story woven around mythology and legends and actual animal behaviour is wonderful to read - it is a page turner and you will not be able to put it down.
The Silverwing SagaSilverwing
Sunwing
Firewing
Darkwing
Books by Kenneth Oppel:
Half Brother (2010)
The Devil's Cure (2000)
Dead Water Zone (1992)
The Live-Forever Machine (1990)
Apprenticeship of Victor Frankenstein
This Dark Endeavour (2011)
Such Wicked Intent (2012)
Airborn Series
Airborn (2004)
Skybreaker (2005)
Starclimber (2008)
Children's Fiction:
The King's Taster (2009)
Peg and the Yeti (2004)
Peg and the Whale (2000)
Emma's Emu (1995)
Galactic Snapshots (1993)
Cosmic Snapshots (1993)
Follow That Star (1992)
Cosimo Cat (1990)
Colin's Fantastic Video Adventure (1985)
Barnes and the Brains
A Bad Case of Ghosts (1993)
A Strange Case of Magic (1994)
A Crazy Case of Robots (1994)
An Incredible Case of Dinosaurs (1994)
A Weird Case of Super-Goo (1997)
A Creepy Case of Vampires (2002)
Wellness Blends
It seems everywhere you look these days, tea manufacturers are touting the health benefits of tea. Almost every distributor of tea is hopping on the trend of combining super foods with tea or combining other plants and teas to market them as good for you. There have been so many studies documenting the benefits of tea that there is no doubt about it. Most manufacturers combine green or black tea with other botanicals to make their wellness teas. What is different about Teaopia's Wellness Blends is that they are infusions made with herbs, flowers, roots, spices or other parts of plants. Since herbal infusions do not contain tea leaves they are generally caffeine free. Teaopia uses as a base for many of their Wellness Blends, either Rooibos, Yerba Mate, Roasted Yerba Mate or Honeybush. These make for excellent teas with lots of flavour and health benefits. And, yes, technically they are not really tea because they are not derived from the Camellia sinensis plant, yet they make a satisfying cup that is beneficial to your well being and overall health. These teas are designed to help achieve balance and health for body, mind and spirit. They are among some of my favourites. These herbal blends and others have been attributed to help with many conditions. Herbal preparations are widely used for a whole host of common conditions including insomnia, arthritis, colds, coughs, ulcers, allergies, constipation, infections, high blood pressure, intestinal disorders, headaches, fever, anaemia, weakness, aging, stress, nervousness and indigestion. Check out the Wellness Tea website for list of active ingredients and what they are supposed to help.
My Favourite Wellness Blends Teas:
1. Sunset Honeybush - Teaopia - 10
2. Rise and Shine - Teaopia - 9
3. Autumn Breeze - Teaopia - 9
4. Slim and Slendor - Teaopia - 9
5. Fit Active - Teaopia - 8
6. Calming - Teaopia - 7
7. Cleansing - Teaopia - 6
Articles in this Series:
0. Tea Tea Everywhere - Teaopia Mad Hatter Tea Party
1. Tea an Overview
2. Red Teas
3. Green Teas
4. White Teas
5. Black Teas
6. Matcha Tea
7. Yerba Mate
8. Fruit Blends9. Wellness Blends10. Herbal Teas11. Purveyors of Fine Tea (my preferences.)
12. Custom Blending
13. My Favourite TeasTop Ten Teas of 2010
Tony Horton
One on One
Volume 2 Disk 8
Iso Abs
Beachbody
Abs - ten moves with twelve reps each and then repeat. At 
38 minutes in length this is the longest abs workout I have seen or done yet. Now Tony does say that for some, ending after the first round will be enough, or to take breaks. My first few times through this workout I could not make it through all of both rounds, but could get between 8 and 10 reps each. Now I can rock it. Tony at one point says it is kind of Yaga-esk and with the slow moves and hold at both top and bottom of each exercise it does have that feel.
The exercises are:
1. Banana Boat
2. Tick-Tock
3. Super Scissors
4. The Gate
5. Oblique Crunch Right
6. Oblique Crunch Left
7. Draw-Bridge
8. Big Bike
9. Palin Twists
10. The Monster
This is a good workout, and provides some more variation for working the abs and core. But this is the 3rd abcentric 
workout in the last four. Volumes 9, 10 and 11 have been named. It is really disappointing not to have seen some good solid hard core weight days thus far in volume 2 and it looks like we won't. I would have loved to have seen another arm or shoulder routine or even another medicine ball workout.To find out more about this series or other workouts in the collection follow the links below. I have created a random workout generator that uses 1 on 1's and P90X if your interested.
Volume 1, Disk 1: Plyo Legs
Volume 1, Disk 2: Power 90® Road Warrior
Volume 1, Disk 3: Killer Abs
Volume 1, Disk 4: Just Arms
Volume 1, Disk 5: 30-15: The Upper-Body Massacre
Volume 1, Disk 6: Fountain of Youth
Volume 1, Disk 7: Super Cardio
Volume 1, Disk 8: Mammoth UML
Volume 1, Disk 9: Bun ShaperVolume 1, Disk 10: Medicine Ball Core Cardio
Volume 1, Disk 11: Recovery 4 Results
Volume 1, Disk 12: Diamond Delts
Volume 1, Bonus Disk - Holiday Workout
Volume 2, Bonus Disk - Pay It Forward
Volume 2, Disk 1: Cardio Intervals
Volume 2, Disk 2: Core Ball Sandwich
Volume 2, Disk 3: Patience "Hummingbird"
Volume 2, Disk 4: 10-Minute Crusher Pack
Volume 2, Disk 5: Butt and Belly (I Dare You)Volume 2, Disk 6: Back and BellyVolume 2, Disk 7: On One Leg
Volume 2, Disk 8: Iso Abs
Volume 2, Disk 9: Cardio Confusion - Mason's Choice
Volume 2, Disk 10: 100/30/20
Volume 2, Disk 11: On One Leg 4 legs
Volume 2, Disk 12: Upper Body Balance
Volume 3, Disk 1: Chest, Back & Balls
Volume 3, Disk 2: ARX2 (Ab-Ripper X 2)
Volume 3, Disk 3: Shoulders and Arms MC2Volume 3, Disk 4: Base and Back
Volume 3, Disk 5: MC2
Volume 3, Disk 6: Plyocide
Volume 3, Disk 7: Stretch And Recovery
Volume 3, Disk 8: V Sculpt
Volume 3, Disk 9: Core Synergistics MC2
Volume 3, Disk 10: UBX
Volume 3, Disk 11: PAP
Volume 3, Disk 12: Total Body X
(Disclaimer: I am asked frequently if I am a Beachbody Coach, no I am not, I am just some one who has used their products, P90X, 1on1 with Tony Horton and more and liked them and achieved good results. I am not paid by Beachbody or any of their affiliates. You can see my full disclaimer here.)
The Wrong Book
