After leaving the art gallery we went down to Low Fell, the posh end of Gateshead, to explore. One of the places Vivien had heard about was a shop called Green Ginger. It was full of lovely, girly things that were really tempting, only I couldn't quite figure out how they would fit into my decor. I'm trying to get rid of stuff, not collect more, so we just had an enjoyable half hour admiring the creative ideas. I've promised myself that once I get the East Wing redecorated I'll go back and find something lovely to put on my wall.
We wondered into a shop that obviously sold used items, but the quality of those items was such that we wondered if it was in fact a charity shop. It is called Follow Me and is part of Emmaus North East, to do with serving the homeless population.
The British definition of homeless is different to that in the US; you don't have to be sleeping rough here to be considered homeless. Emmaus is apparently a Social Enterprise. I had to admit this isn't a phrase I'd encountered before, but on our next outing we happened onto yet another one in a slightly different guise.
We left Low Fell and travelled back up to Gosforth. Vivien wanted to show me Rosie's.
With that name and specialising in exotic teas, I expect it is rather a feminine place but I did think it hilarious that Vivien's husband didn't think it a suitable place for him to be seen. Perhaps men just don't appreciate things like real roses and up-cycled church chairs.
I'm sad that their website doesn't list the incredible varieties of tea they serve because I can't actually remember what we had, other than we split a cookie called 'Orange Polenta' (polenta is Italian for a fine cornmeal). I want to say that my tea had something to do with rose petals and honey. I remember Vivien's turned out not to be tea but a tisane made from a South African bush, called Rooibos.
It was a relaxing way to end our very special day.
7 comments:
Do you actually have an East Wing in need of redecorating?
When I started reading the book series, No 1 Ladies' Detective Agency, I was intrigued by the Red (Rooibos) Tea she drank. So I bought a few different flavors of it - and found that I don't care for it no matter what it is flavored with.
Beryl - I didn't care much for Vivien's Rooibos tea, I must admit. I liked my rose and whatever stuff much better, but it was great fun to try something different. Sadly (or perhaps fortunately) we do not have an entire East Wing. It's just an joke we have to call the east bedroom the 'wing'. Bill refers to our gardens (front and back) as the 'policies', but my family home in Oklahoma City has much larger grassed areas than we have here in England.
I am not a fan of Rooibos either--I think I have had one that I liked.
And yes, please do tell us more about your East Wing. ;)
Isn't minimizing and purging great? Once implemented, they give us permission to just look and not compulsively buy.
I know what you mean about Oklahoma yards - all my friends have huge yards here. The riding mower (many of them have actual small tractors) is a must! We rent an apartment and have no yard, which makes my husband very happy.
What a gorgeous cafe, and the bikkie loks pretty yummy too! I quite like rooibos tea; especially in hot weather.
Heather - I have a very long way to go to clear out 'stuff' and don't expect I'll ever reach that land called 'minimal', but somehow the acquisition bug has been shrinking lately in a very big way. I'm learning to look and enjoy without having to own.
Beryl - I don't think any of the green spaces I've owned would ever call for a riding lawn mower - at least I hope I would never have got quite that lazy! Then again it used to take me an hour and a half to do the front and back lawns of my house in SLC. I can't yet imagine having no garden at all - I do like flowers - but as ours is such a small space, it's name much trouble at all (says she who doesn't do most of the gardening).
Carolyn - I'll definitely be dropping into Rosie's the next time I'm in Gosforth, to try another type of interesting tea!
Your spot for tea looks so warm and inviting to me... Oh for a few little finds like that in this land of suburban sprawl!
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