The Stillroom

Since my last post, my little dog Pip passed away.  Her demise was a bad heart that just couldn’t keep ticking.  That early Saturday morning turned into a very sad day for us.   I mourned her loss for a couple of weeks and the silence in the house was deafening.  No silly antics, no begging for toast in the morning, no more barking at the mailman.  This was just too much and I needed a little bit of chaos around here again.  I decided to see if I could find a senior citizen dog from the animal rescue league that needed a good home and some attention.

Angel: Day 1

Enter Angel. Angel was rescued from a person that hoarded animals and her background was just awful.  She was used for breeding purposes  and had very little human affection offered to her.  We think she is between 8-10 years old . She had to have an emergency spay and most of her teeth pulled while she was in  the care of a couple of different shelters.  She first arrived at a shelter north of our area in February of this year before being transferred to the Camp Horne Rd. facility in May.  When I saw her picture online I just knew I had to give this girl a chance at a normal doggie life for as long as time would allow.  Long story short, after more than a few weeks  of having to pick her up with a blanket so she wouldn’t try to bite me, Angel has so far turned into such a sweet girl.  She still wants to kill my husband and son but we are working on that  She just attached herself to me and is over protective but since she’s only 5 pounds of crazy, we think we can handle it.  We have nothing but our love and time for her rehabilitation.  She now goes by “Little Dog.”  Our home is complete.

Angel (aka “Little Dog”): Living the dream

Man, when the dog days hit, they hit hard.  Just because the temperature is going to soar to the mid nineties this week doesn’t mean you stop drinking tea.  It sure seems like some icy, cold, refreshing, thirst quenching tea is in order, wouldn’t you say?  This brings me to the strawberry pomegranate tea that you can find at The Stillroom Tea Shop.  There are  few beverages I enjoy more than iced tea and I have to tell you, this is the one!   It is herbal and  light and sooo strawberry and it brews up so pretty in pink.  I love anything strawberry and the scent always takes me back many decades.  I can remember buying strawberry incense and strawberry scented candles at The Stone Fox boutique that was located by what is now the Heights Pharmacy.  It was pretty radical for a shop like this to pop up in town. I was a middle school kid existing in a coming of age cross between the soulful sounds of Motown, the beach sounds of surf music and the psychedelic  phenomenon that was Inagoddavida which was a mind blowing 17 1/2 minutes long.  It was a very confusing time musically speaking and stylistically speaking.  Straight legs or those crazy bell bottoms?   The one thing I did know for sure though was that I loved strawberry everything including actually eating strawberries and brewing strawberry tea and pouring it over ice on those long, hot summer daze.

The White Peach Oolong would be my second choice in the iced tea line up.  Oolong is made up of tea leaves that are withered under the strong sun and then gathered before curling up.  It is so delicious especially when you float a fresh slice of peach in the glass, you will wonder why you waited so long to try it.

My third in the top three brewed iced teas is the Breakfast in Paris.  With a blend of black tea and a touch of lavender and lemon, this will make you happy the mercury is about to burst!  I add a few tea bags to a mason jar, (nothing complicated about that) and set it on the kitchen window sill and voila (translation, there you have it)!  I get a frosty mug and fill it with ice and this fabulous brew.  The mug also serves as a cold compress on your forehead if you are unfortunate enough to not be in air conditioning, at the beach or near a pool  at the height of the season

The lovely Stillroom Tea Shop is located inside of the awesome Diamond Antiques and Gifts Shop.   Diamond Antiques and Gifts is located at 311 E. 6th Avenue in Tarentum, (look for the black and white striped awning).  If you enjoy the dog days of summer and want to step back in time, come on into this historic building  where you can enjoy all of the nostalgia  that will take you anywhere from the late 1800’s through the 1900’s all the way up to now!  You will find tea, hats, gloves, tea accessories, lavender by the ounce, lavender essential oil, catnip toys, cards, shabby chic, mid century modern, rustic, primitive, quirky, collectible, wicker, a soap maker, a lotion maker, a wood worker, and a group of very creative and awesome collectors.  Our group scours the outskirts of our fair city to bring you sweet memories and so much more all under one roof.  Do it soon because you know once August hits, we are in the waning days of summer.

When you have shopped until you can’t shop no more and when your dogs start barking, you can refresh and dine in any of the local eateries from the historic Massart’s Diner to the beautiful Tarentum Station.  (Yes, it was actually a train stop back in the old days) .

Pretty soon all of the fair weather outdoor fun will be a memory and we will be looking to foggy, damp mornings, kids at the bus stops, crossing guards, high school football and Halloween and Thanksgiving and Christmas.

A HEADS UP TO LET YOU ALL KNOW THAT AUGUST IS A MONTH LONG SALE AT THE STORE!  YES, I’M YELLING SO YOU WILL HEAR ME!

ALSO, THE APPRAISAL FAIR IS COMING UP IN SEPTEMBER SO GRAB YOUR MYSTERY TREASURE AND COME IN ON SUNDAY, SEPTEMBER 25TH FROM 10-2.  THIS IS A VERY POPULAR EVENT AND YOU DON’T WANT TO MISS IT!  PLEASE NOTE THAT THE COST TO HAVE AN ITEM APPRAISED IS $5.00 PER ITEM.