February 3-4 Next Tea!

Join us for a Special February Tea
Saturday and Sunday, February 3 - 4, 2007

SATURDAY, February 3, 2007
Sittings at 2:00, 3:30 and 5:00

SUNDAY, February 4, 2007
Sittings at 2:00 and 3:30

Come and enjoy the Winter and Summer Tearooms with the Teas of Urasenke, Omote and Omote-Sei-Ha schools. Both have benches for those who prefer, and we will have plenty of room on the tatami for those who enjoy kneeling. This month we're delighted to announce the completion of our Mizuya (Tea Kitchen) thanks to the help of Mr. Yousef Ghasemi.

For more information on reservations, read below.

The Stepping Stones Art Gallery presents:
This month, our Tea Guests will enjoy the Abstract oil paintings of YANOOK (aka Yannick Fleury) who works on a theme inspired by Japan.

We thank The Preston Catalogue for its support of this exhibition.
http://prestoncatalogue.com/


For more on ART EXHIBITS, visit the Stepping Stones Art Gallery
http://steppingstonesart.blogspot.com/


RESERVATIONS FOR TEA:
mail to: ottawatea[at]yahoo.ca

Teas will be at our usual times: 2:00, 3:30 and 5:00 (on Saturday, on Sunday, 2:00 and 3:30 only)

Send an email to ottawatea[at]yahoo.ca
Once your reservation is confirmed by email, directions will be sent to you.
No training, or materials are needed.

A $5.00 charge (per person) covers sweets, tea, brochures and admission to the Gallery and Children are welcome to attend our Camellia Teas.

Location: Once your reservation is confirmed, directions will be sent to you.
Attire: Comfortable pants for men; long (past knees) skirt for women (as they are more comfortable when kneeling; pants are of course welcome if preferred).
Clean white socks are also needed to enter the tea room (to protect the delicate tatami mats). No jeans please (these too can damage the tatami as they are rougher).

2007 Media Interview

2007 MEDIA INTERVIEWS
WITH CAMELLIA TEAS


January 30, 2007 (11:40 am)

Daytime show hosts Terrilynn Radar and Derick Fage (Rogers TV - Cable 22) Interviews Rebecca Benoit about the Japanese Tea Ceremony and local Tea events. Visit: www.rogerstelevision.com/ and search for Daytime for more information.


January 29, 2007 (1:00 pm)
Aired on CBC TV's Living in Ottawa, the 4-minute segment done in May 2006 for Ottawa Asian Heritage Month was shown again. Click on the link below to view the segment (link will expire)

http://www.cbc.ca/livinginottawa/?page=segment&sid=530

Tea Report: January 13 - 14, 2007

Camellia Teas of Ottawa:

EVENT REPORT FOR:

Saturday - Sunday, January 13-14, 2007

(2:00 - 6:00 pm)

On January 13-14, we celebrated the beginning of the New Year with a Kimono demonstration and tea for 54 guests over the weekend!

Over the course of the weekend, we held sittings of Tea at 2:00 and 5:00 in the Winter and Summer Tearooms. In the mid-afternoon, we invited guests to try on kimono from the Camellia Collection. Those who did went to Tea at 5:00 in kimono! This was such a popular event that we are sure to repeat it at least once or twice a year.

· January 13 (Saturday) Tea Photos here

· January 14 (Sunday) Tea Photos here

In the STEPPING STONES ART GALLERY
The Obi Exhibition “Walls of Gold and Silk” featured over two dozen gorgeous kimono sashes from the Camellia Teas of Ottawa private collection. Ms. Michiko Mizuno (Sagami School of Kimono dressing) and Ms. Yuki Kurimoto (a high-level kimono dresser) spent nearly 3 hours preparing five knots in the gallery.

To read the Exhibition Brochure and see this beautiful collection, click on the link below.

· Walls of Gold and Silk in the Stepping Stones Art Gallery

New Additions at Camellia House!

The MIZUYA (Tea kitchen)
Behind the scenes, our volunteer Camellia staff delighted in the renovations of the new Mizuya (Tea kitchen) which made preparing Tea for guests even easier than before. We have come a long way! In November of 2005, the main TEMAE (hosts) had to make all the Tea for guests in the Tearoom (a challenge as the cast-iron kettles have only so much water). By January 2006 we were preparing Tea in the mizuya, but needed to perfect our timing. Having a proper Tea kitchen, with ample counter space for the preparing of sweets, the cleaning and drying of CHAWAN (tea bowls) makes the job of taking care of our guests so much easier.

The TSUBO-NIWA (pocket/mini-Zen garden)
Each month, we enjoy surprising guests with a little change or addition at Camellia House. This month’s project was the mini-Zen garden! With rocks from Home Depot and from around our property, Camellia founder created this echo of the outdoors in an unused closet. Tranquility corners like this add so much to our homes! Likely we all have a little closet we could make use of in this way!

Thank you to all who helped to make this such a special event!