Details

 Now that I'm rewriting SCONED TO DEATH, I am going into the details.  Since it is about an old red school house that has a yarn shop and a tea room, I started getting into the tea they served.  I had already made a point that some of the tea blends are made by someone local who uses flowers and things from her garden.  

 I had gotten the idea from some tea blends I had bought at a holiday sale at the Huntington  Gardens.  They had tins of black tea blended with rose petals and another that had marigolds and cornflowers.  That was years ago.  The Huntington does sell a rose tea blend, but I was surprised to see that it has artificial flavor.

Thank heavens for the Internet--that's how I found out about the artificial flavor and also how I found a way to get rose tea without artificial flavors.  I found another blend that sounded interesting and with a few clicks, the two teas were on their way to me.

I love coffee, but I also love tea and drink a cup most nights while I watch a half hour comedy so I can go to sleep with a smile.

As soon as the teas arrived, I was anxious to try them.  When I opened the canister of rose tea, I was surprised to see actual rose buds and large pieces of petals in the lose leaf tea.  The scent was lovely.  When I brewed a cup, the color had a faint pinkish cast.  The taste was lighter than what I remember from the Huntington tea, but that might have been because of the artificial flavor.  I actually liked this one better.     

The other tea was an Earl Grey blend that had touches of vanilla which gave it a rich taste.  

My interest in details for the book included fashion.  I realized that Annie Sara would not need a different wardrobe for running the tea room and yarn shop. And since she and Gray are involved with serving in the tea room, they would need some form of apron.  

I hadn't really thought much about aprons but then I saw an article on CNN about aprons because there is a new season of The Bear and they wear aprons.  Chef Carmy wears a Bravard apron which is from a French company and had a certain status.  I had never thought about aprons having a status.

I passed on that for Annie Sara and Gray and instead have them wearing Japanese cross back aprons that are almost like pinafores. 

How convenient that  I have one of those.