Ep. 139: It's October & I'm Sweating

[00:00:16] Welcome to Ink Drinkers, a literary tea party podcast where we discuss books and drink tea.

[00:00:23] I have a feeling we don't have long before he starts barking at us again. But we'll get

[00:00:35] through what we can. Are you ready to record? You've been a little scattered today.

[00:00:46] Yeah, I'm good. I'm ready.

[00:00:47] You're ready.

[00:00:48] Are you?

[00:00:49] I have no idea. I guess we'll find out.

[00:00:53] Might be the best episode yet.

[00:01:01] Yeah, I just, I'm still sick. I think I'm never gonna get better is kind of how it feels at

[00:01:08] this point.

[00:01:09] You will.

[00:01:10] This is how I will live the rest of my life.

[00:01:13] With a perpetual sinus infection. It's fine. I felt good while I was in Iceland, but I could

[00:01:24] tell that like my immune system was compromised to where I could get sick again at any moment.

[00:01:33] Right.

[00:01:33] And then on the plane home, like my ears were hurting so bad. I was like, all right, well,

[00:01:38] here we go.

[00:01:39] I mean, it's not great, but I'm glad that the trip itself, you didn't feel terrible.

[00:01:43] Yeah, no. I felt fine on the trip. But there was a time when we all went to this, um, we

[00:01:53] like hiked a little bit and then we came upon this little lagoon and most of the people in

[00:01:58] our group like pulled up their pants, took off their shoes and walked through to go see

[00:02:04] like a hidden waterfall. But the water was like three degrees Celsius, which is like very

[00:02:11] cold Fahrenheit. And, um, I was like, I don't want to miss out on this because everyone else

[00:02:19] is doing it. But I know that if I stick my feet in this cold water, like I am not going

[00:02:24] to last because my immune system was not good.

[00:02:29] So I just stayed behind and, but I mean, it was funny because like everybody was like

[00:02:34] screaming as they like walked through the water. And when they came back, like I took video

[00:02:40] of one of the guys in our group and he was just like cursing the whole way back. And I

[00:02:44] was like, I kind of don't regret that I didn't do this.

[00:02:48] So once in a lifetime trip.

[00:02:50] Absolutely. Once in a lifetime trip. It was absolutely incredible. Everything we did was

[00:02:55] amazing. The people were awesome. Like I made friends for life. Um, and we just, we had the

[00:03:02] absolute best time we got to see all of like the big things that, you know, when tourists

[00:03:09] go to Iceland, they want to see. And then we got to see stuff that no one else gets to

[00:03:13] see because our tour guides were experts in Iceland and they knew where the cool hidden

[00:03:19] stuff was like that hidden waterfall. No one else gets to do that when they go to Iceland.

[00:03:24] Very cool. Um, so it was, yeah, I, I was, it was incredible. I want to be back there right

[00:03:31] now. I like just keep scrolling through my photos like, ah, Iceland. It was so lovely.

[00:03:40] It really was. It was wonderful. They have no mosquitoes there.

[00:03:45] Ever?

[00:03:46] Ever. They just, they don't, they don't live in Iceland.

[00:03:49] Oh, okay. Another point for Iceland.

[00:03:53] They did. I did see quite a few spiders though.

[00:03:56] Yeah. Yeah. Negative. One point.

[00:03:59] Yeah, negative one. But most of them were like, we'd be like walking through, you know,

[00:04:05] whatever. And they were all just like stomped on at that point. I didn't see a lot of live

[00:04:09] spiders, but I'm sure they were all around me and I just didn't know.

[00:04:13] You know? Yeah. Well, you can have everything. Right. It's almost perfect.

[00:04:19] Give and take. Except for the spiders and the freezing.

[00:04:22] And mosquitoes, spiders, you know. Yeah. I mean, to be fair, we have spiders and mosquitoes.

[00:04:29] We do. And negative 50 for us. And humidity. Right. It's October and I'm sweating.

[00:04:44] Yeah. It's 76 degrees outside. And humidity is like 110. Not really, but it wasn't great

[00:04:53] this morning. I was like, ugh. Yeah. And it was like 30s and 40s every day.

[00:04:58] That's nice.

[00:04:59] Yeah. In Louisiana or specifically where we are in Louisiana, we don't really start getting

[00:05:07] cooler temps until November. Really November to January.

[00:05:13] Yeah. And even then it's like, we made it to the 60s.

[00:05:17] Yeah. I mean, sometimes we have like, you know, two or three cold days in a row that are in the

[00:05:23] 30s or 20s or whatever. Yes. To where like, it's like bone cold. But yeah.

[00:05:31] Well, I now have the appropriate clothing to be able to handle that.

[00:05:35] Perfect.

[00:05:36] I never felt super cold.

[00:05:37] For the three days a year that.

[00:05:39] Yeah. I've got, I've got the base layers. I've got all the things that I need to be comfortable.

[00:05:45] Awesome.

[00:05:45] For those three days. Well, moving to books.

[00:05:50] Yeah. Let's talk about books.

[00:05:52] Okay. You, I think you're going to talk about two. So do you want to bookend me?

[00:05:57] Sure.

[00:05:57] Okay.

[00:05:58] Okay. So I have not been able to focus and I just haven't come across anything that I

[00:06:07] really stuck to or that super intrigued me, but I also find myself just listening and then

[00:06:12] I didn't listen to any of it.

[00:06:14] But before we started recording, Marissa was like, should we, should I write notes?

[00:06:19] Nevermind. Nevermind. I answered my own question. Okay. And do you want to talk about, well,

[00:06:27] hold on, hold on. I'll, I'll wait for the podcast. I was like, are you okay?

[00:06:32] Yikes. Remind me to talk about what I was trying to tell you about on the podcast later. So don't

[00:06:38] forget about it.

[00:06:38] Okay.

[00:06:39] If I forget. All right. So I, it's October.

[00:06:44] It is.

[00:06:45] So I specifically have been looking for good witchy reads because you know.

[00:06:49] Yeah.

[00:06:50] When else?

[00:06:50] Now is the time.

[00:06:51] Now is the time.

[00:06:52] So I'm in between two witchy reads. The first one that I started, I thought I was really

[00:06:57] going to like it and then I just couldn't quite get into it. So I switched to the next

[00:07:02] one because it came up in my holds and I like it more so far, but I'm going to read both.

[00:07:07] I think.

[00:07:08] All right. Which one are you telling me about first?

[00:07:09] I'm going to tell you about the one I like least. Okay.

[00:07:13] That I haven't read that much into. So I don't know. It might be fantastic. Yeah. It

[00:07:18] could end up great. It's called A Certain Kind of Starlight by Heather Weber and came out

[00:07:24] in July. Okay.

[00:07:25] So Addie Fulbright is from Starlight, Alabama and she has been out of Starlight for the

[00:07:34] last 12 years. Her aunt is probably close to 70, I think. She's been recently diagnosed

[00:07:42] with some type of rare, I don't know what illness and there's a good possibility that it's terminal.

[00:07:49] And so she has called Addie back to Starlight where the family specifically, they call her

[00:07:56] Aunt Bean, B-E-A-N. Specifically she owns a bakery and the food at the bakery is magical

[00:08:08] of sorts. So like when people eat it, they feel good for a day or a week or a month or whatever.

[00:08:13] I need this bakery.

[00:08:14] Yes. And so she's pretty much trying to tell Addie like, look, I know we don't really want

[00:08:22] to discuss this, but this is the reality of the situation and we need to talk about the,

[00:08:27] you know, the bakery and how we're going to move forward. And there are certain things

[00:08:31] in their family line that other people are trying to get access to.

[00:08:36] Ah. Secret recipes and stuff?

[00:08:39] No, not, no. It's, um, there were some happenings from a long time ago in the small town that they're

[00:08:46] in and certain magical, something with the land. And I don't, I haven't gotten that far into it. So

[00:08:53] I don't know if it's, uh, something that they use when they bake and like, that's how there's

[00:08:58] magical properties. I'm not quite sure. Cause I don't know that they're witches. I think it's just

[00:09:03] magical in nature. Okay. It's not specific witchy, you know.

[00:09:07] Right. No, like spells and enchantments.

[00:09:11] Not so far that I'm understanding. Okay. Um, Tessa Jane Wengrove Fulbright is, uh, I'm sorry. Can

[00:09:19] we just pause a moment on that name? Cause you've told me nothing about this person so far and I

[00:09:25] already think maybe she's awful. She sounds like when I first heard her name, I was like,

[00:09:30] right. Like so Tessa Jane. Um, so I'm just going to put out there, Addie Fulbright, Tessa Jane

[00:09:39] Wengrove Fulbright. I'm going to leave it there for you, for you. We'll talk about it later if I

[00:09:45] finish the book and I will discuss it later. But there's, um, there's some small town issues

[00:09:53] and Tessa Jane, I think is probably stirring them up if I had to guess.

[00:09:58] So she's just been in a, through a painful breakup in the beginning of the story and she's dealing

[00:10:03] with that. Addie, from what we know about her is when she left 12 years ago, she left after her

[00:10:09] best friend passed away, but the best friend told her some devastating secret that like came to light

[00:10:17] and that's why she left. Okay. So I, that's all I know. Okay. I don't know anything else about the

[00:10:23] story. All right. That's where I'm at. Well, yeah. So I can't wait to see if you finish it.

[00:10:29] Right. I need to know more about Tessa Jane. Yeah. It's a very small, small town feel. And

[00:10:34] supposedly the author who I've not read before, Heather Weber is described as being like the queen

[00:10:40] of small town. Huh. You know, so yeah. We'll see. Okay. Well, I did not read anything witchy. Um,

[00:10:50] I actually, this is so ridiculous. When I got back from Iceland, I like could, I barely read while I

[00:10:58] was in Iceland because we were so busy the entire time. And I was like, like we had finished dinner

[00:11:03] at 10 o'clock every night and then I'd go back to my room, like shower, get everything ready for the

[00:11:09] next morning. Like it was, it was exhausting, but in a, in a really good way. But anyway, so I didn't

[00:11:14] read while I was there. When I got back, I like tried to start a few different books and I was like,

[00:11:18] I really just kind of just want to read something that takes place in Iceland.

[00:11:25] So I did start a book that is written by an Icelandic author. Fun fact, um, Iceland is a very

[00:11:31] literary country and about 10% of their population has written a, like published a book. What? Yeah.

[00:11:43] Also, I did confirm, have we talked about Yola Bokaflad before? Yes. We do that every year. Right.

[00:11:49] Right. We discuss it on the podcast and we've, I thought we had posted about it before. Yes.

[00:11:53] So I didn't know if it was like one of those internet things where people are like, oh yeah,

[00:11:57] this Icelandic tradition and it's not real, but it is. I asked Icelanders and they're like, yeah,

[00:12:03] we do that. We love it. That's awesome. I know. I was so excited. Like this is legit. Um,

[00:12:09] explain, um, what it is to that people. Yes. So it's an Icelandic tradition where on Christmas Eve,

[00:12:15] everyone exchanges books and then they just go and read into the early hours of Christmas morning.

[00:12:21] Um, and I was telling, um, not, she was, she's not from Iceland, but she lives in Iceland now.

[00:12:29] I was telling her, I was like, I do this with my family, but they don't, they don't get me books.

[00:12:34] I just get all of them books because I love buying books for them. So anyway, um, I'm in the middle of

[00:12:40] that, but I'm not talking about that today. Cause I was actually able to also read another book,

[00:12:45] um, that I had started previously and it's called four weekends and a funeral by Ellie Palmer.

[00:12:50] And it probably sounds kind of sad cause it says funeral in the name, but it's really not at all.

[00:12:55] It's, it's more of a rom-com. And so Allison was dating Sam and Sam, um, I think he got into a car

[00:13:06] accident and he passed away and she hasn't been dating him for some time, but just to be nice,

[00:13:14] she decides to go to the funeral cause you know, she, she had dated him, whatever.

[00:13:19] So why are you looking like that?

[00:13:21] So they weren't boyfriend and girlfriend. They were just dating.

[00:13:23] They were for a time, but not like time.

[00:13:26] Like when he died, they weren't together.

[00:13:29] Oh, okay. Okay.

[00:13:30] But she goes to the funeral to pay her respects.

[00:13:32] Sorry. They dated in the past.

[00:13:34] Yes.

[00:13:34] Sorry. I missed that.

[00:13:35] But like the recent past.

[00:13:36] Okay.

[00:13:37] Okay.

[00:13:37] Like it's only been like a couple of weeks I think since they broke up.

[00:13:39] Yeah. So she goes to the funeral.

[00:13:41] Okay.

[00:13:41] Okay. Well, it turns out Sam hadn't really told anyone that they were broken up.

[00:13:47] Oh no.

[00:13:48] He's the one that broke up with her, but he like his, his parents really wanted him to like settle down.

[00:13:58] And so he didn't tell them that he broke up with her.

[00:14:01] Uh-huh.

[00:14:02] And, um, so she gets to the funeral and everyone thinks that they were still dating and that like she must be devastated and all this kind of stuff.

[00:14:10] And Sam's sister like intercepts her and is like, my parents think you're still dating by the way.

[00:14:15] Play along with it.

[00:14:16] Oh my God.

[00:14:18] She's like, what?

[00:14:19] She's like, a lot of pressure.

[00:14:20] She's like, what?

[00:14:22] And, um, her mom is like, I'm just, I mean, Sam's mom is like, I'm just so grateful that he had you and all this kind of stuff.

[00:14:30] And she's like, I don't even know.

[00:14:33] Like, what?

[00:14:34] This is so weird.

[00:14:35] But she goes along with it to be nice.

[00:14:38] And so then at the like funeral after gathering thing, um, somehow she and Sam's best friend Adam get like volunteered to clean out his apartment.

[00:14:53] And so they agree to do it.

[00:14:58] And she's never met Adam before.

[00:15:02] Or she's only like heard about him.

[00:15:07] And so she's meeting him for the first time.

[00:15:10] And they show up at the apartment and he's just this super grumpy guy.

[00:15:15] And she's like, I have to deal with this.

[00:15:18] Like cleaning out my ex-boyfriend's apartment with this grumpy man.

[00:15:22] Does she tell him that they were together?

[00:15:24] So she doesn't, but he like kind of knows, but kind of doesn't.

[00:15:28] And so he's a little suspicious of her.

[00:15:32] I mean, I know.

[00:15:34] And so anyway, the two of them spend, I guess, four weekends.

[00:15:39] I don't know because that's in the title.

[00:15:41] I'm assuming they spend four weekends like cleaning out the apartment.

[00:15:44] And the two of them kind of form a little bit of an attachment.

[00:15:48] And so like he feels guilty about it because he's like, I am into my best friend's ex-girlfriend.

[00:15:55] Like, I don't know if this is okay, even though he's dead.

[00:16:02] And she has kind of a love-hate relationship with him because he's super attractive and she's into him.

[00:16:07] But also he's like super grumpy.

[00:16:10] So it was a cute.

[00:16:11] It was really.

[00:16:12] His best friend just died.

[00:16:14] So yeah, he's grumpy on his own.

[00:16:16] Yeah.

[00:16:17] Okay.

[00:16:17] Yeah.

[00:16:19] I think they call him like the North Shore Grump or something.

[00:16:23] Sounds awful.

[00:16:24] Her and her friends.

[00:16:26] They live up in Minnesota.

[00:16:28] Okay.

[00:16:29] I don't know.

[00:16:29] Anyway.

[00:16:29] So it was a really cute relationship and a cute book.

[00:16:34] But there's also some representation for like her mom had breast cancer.

[00:16:41] And so she got tested for the BRCA gene and she has it.

[00:16:45] So she's gone through the whole like double mastectomy.

[00:16:48] Like she's aggressively trying to prevent getting breast cancer.

[00:16:52] And so there's a lot of like her journey with that in there, which was just, you know, interesting to read because I don't know anyone who's gone through all of that.

[00:17:02] Right.

[00:17:02] So yeah.

[00:17:04] So that was that was an interesting part of the book as well.

[00:17:09] Overall, I thought it was really cute.

[00:17:11] I liked it.

[00:17:12] I read it because Addie and Carrie loved it.

[00:17:15] And yeah, I recommend it.

[00:17:18] Cool.

[00:17:20] Sounds good.

[00:17:20] I mean, it sounds like a good fun read.

[00:17:22] Yeah.

[00:17:22] With a little bit of.

[00:17:24] With some some serious stuff in there.

[00:17:26] Yeah.

[00:17:27] Okay.

[00:17:29] The next witchy read that I'm currently in the middle of is called Small Town Big Magic by Hazelbeck.

[00:17:37] Have you read this?

[00:17:38] I think I started reading it.

[00:17:41] Is this the first in a series?

[00:17:43] Yes.

[00:17:43] Yeah.

[00:17:44] So I think like the third in the series just came out.

[00:17:46] That's it.

[00:17:47] And I got a Libro FM advanced copy of it.

[00:17:51] And I was like, well, this sounds interesting.

[00:17:54] And so I started trying to read the first one and I couldn't really get into it.

[00:17:57] Yeah.

[00:17:58] I've been having a little trouble, but I like this one more than the other one.

[00:18:00] Okay.

[00:18:01] So it's a witchy rom-com.

[00:18:03] And this one came out in August of 22.

[00:18:05] The second was in August of 23.

[00:18:08] And then the other one came out in August of 24.

[00:18:10] Got it.

[00:18:11] I don't know if it ends at three or not.

[00:18:14] Yeah.

[00:18:14] I have no idea.

[00:18:15] Yeah.

[00:18:15] So Emerson Wilde, Emerson is a female.

[00:18:19] She lives in this town, small town called St. Cyprian.

[00:18:23] It's like a small little river town up north.

[00:18:26] She's an independent bookstore owner.

[00:18:29] She's the president of the Chamber of Commerce.

[00:18:31] She's very involved in her little town.

[00:18:33] She does it all.

[00:18:34] Yeah.

[00:18:34] She loves her town.

[00:18:36] Her parents have moved abroad and her sister has just left as well and doesn't like answer

[00:18:42] calls and so she's like on her own in the town.

[00:18:45] Okay.

[00:18:45] And she has no idea why they don't want to be there or live there or come back because

[00:18:49] she absolutely loves it and doesn't want to live anywhere else.

[00:18:53] Okay.

[00:18:54] She has ties to Sarah Wilde who was like a witch burned at the stake back in 100, you

[00:19:02] know, whatever.

[00:19:03] You said that like it was all one word, like Sarah Wilde?

[00:19:06] Sarah Wilde, I think is her name.

[00:19:08] Sorry.

[00:19:09] Her ancestor, Sarah Wilde.

[00:19:12] Um, which she finds just so fascinating and interesting.

[00:19:16] Of course.

[00:19:17] Um, so she obviously doesn't believe in witches.

[00:19:22] That doesn't exist, right?

[00:19:23] That's ridiculous.

[00:19:24] I know.

[00:19:26] So, so her whole life, you know, has just been going along and she always feels a little

[00:19:33] different and out there.

[00:19:34] Um, she thinks people, you know, get a little annoyed by her.

[00:19:38] She's very proactive and very spunky and she is a little annoying.

[00:19:43] Um, she has this really big feud with the, with the town mayor.

[00:19:48] His name is Skip and they've gone to school together since they were young and ever since

[00:19:52] fourth grade.

[00:19:52] Um, things have just accidentally happened that she embarrasses Skip in certain ways, not of

[00:19:59] her own doing or purposefully, but he hates her.

[00:20:05] Oh.

[00:20:07] So.

[00:20:07] That part is coming back to me a little bit.

[00:20:10] Yeah.

[00:20:11] Um.

[00:20:11] Her rivalry was Skip.

[00:20:13] He hates her.

[00:20:13] Uh, and he kind of, he's terrible.

[00:20:16] Um, there's also a cranky local farmer named Jacob North who she's always had a crush on

[00:20:21] since they've been kids and she doesn't know if it was ever reciprocal so she just

[00:20:26] kind of acts like nothing.

[00:20:29] Sure.

[00:20:29] Um, she has lots of friends.

[00:20:32] Anyways, one, one morning she gets called by Skip and she's like the head of this Red

[00:20:39] Bud Festival that's in town and they have these red buds, these beautiful trees that

[00:20:42] are, we have a bunch of red buds in Louisiana too and Michael, my husband talks about them

[00:20:47] all the time.

[00:20:47] He loves red bud trees.

[00:20:49] Um, they're on this hill over, overlooking the cemetery.

[00:20:54] Okay.

[00:20:55] And she gets a call one morning from Skip and he basically is like, um, good morning

[00:20:59] Emerson.

[00:21:01] Have you, uh, checked on your red bud trees recently?

[00:21:04] Oh no.

[00:21:05] And she's like, what are you talking about?

[00:21:06] And he was like, well, I know the festival's coming up and I just got a local tip that,

[00:21:11] I don't know, you might want to go check it out.

[00:21:14] And she's like, what?

[00:21:15] Okay, whatever.

[00:21:17] So she has to take a boat to get to the cemetery cause it's like this river town and to get to

[00:21:22] the other side where the cemetery is, you have to take a ferry.

[00:21:26] Her uncle's is, do it, is a run in the ferry that morning.

[00:21:29] She gets there.

[00:21:32] She passes by her grandmother's headstone and sees that the headstone, um, figure on top,

[00:21:40] which has always been a fox, is now a cat.

[00:21:44] Okay.

[00:21:45] But it's stone.

[00:21:47] So it's not like it can just change.

[00:21:49] No.

[00:21:50] And she's like, that doesn't make sense.

[00:21:52] Am I not awake?

[00:21:53] What's going on?

[00:21:53] Is this a dream?

[00:21:54] She pinches herself a couple times.

[00:21:57] Um, I'm not going to say anything else about what happens in regard to that.

[00:22:02] But while she is in the cemetery, darkness starts to descend in thick clouds.

[00:22:11] Okay.

[00:22:12] Um, through the dark clouds and mist, which she's like engulfed in and she's like, I don't

[00:22:18] even know, I don't know what's going on.

[00:22:20] She sees little red eyes poking out through the dark mist.

[00:22:26] And at first she's thinking, okay, there's just lots of possums or rats or there's something

[00:22:34] rodent like.

[00:22:35] They start getting more, more eyes and they start coming through the dense fog towards

[00:22:42] her and they're attached to like monster large bodies.

[00:22:47] So this is where I'm at in the story.

[00:22:52] So we know nothing.

[00:22:53] But basically, but basically what I understand is that she, they say this in the, I'm not giving

[00:23:01] anything away.

[00:23:02] This isn't like the.

[00:23:03] On the back of the book.

[00:23:03] On the back of the book.

[00:23:04] Um, that she was given a magic, a test years prior to this and she failed.

[00:23:13] And so she was stripped of her magic and her memories of magic, but the entire town, everyone,

[00:23:21] they're all witches.

[00:23:22] Oh.

[00:23:23] And she is also a witch.

[00:23:26] So there is now a evil darkness of some supernatural form that is coming to the town.

[00:23:32] And so now she's going to have to be informed of what is going on.

[00:23:38] Oh my.

[00:23:39] And realize that everyone around her has known this and been this, like basically it's like

[00:23:45] the Truman Show, like jokes on you.

[00:23:47] Right.

[00:23:47] You're a witch.

[00:23:48] Now I feel really bad for her.

[00:23:50] Poor thing.

[00:23:51] Yeah.

[00:23:51] The only non-witch in a town of witches.

[00:23:54] But she is a witch.

[00:23:54] She doesn't actually.

[00:23:55] She's not a non-witch.

[00:23:56] You said she was stripped of her powers.

[00:23:57] She was stripped of her powers.

[00:23:59] Right.

[00:24:00] That makes her not a witch.

[00:24:01] No, I know.

[00:24:02] But like her lineage, she is a witch.

[00:24:03] Right.

[00:24:04] Right.

[00:24:05] So she's going to have to figure out how to regain her powers.

[00:24:08] And it seems like it's going to be good.

[00:24:10] I don't know.

[00:24:11] It's in a series.

[00:24:12] The other two are called Big Little Spells and Truly Madly Magical.

[00:24:18] So we'll see.

[00:24:19] Hmm.

[00:24:20] Okay.

[00:24:20] Like the first one, I'll read the other two and I'll let you know.

[00:24:23] Interesting.

[00:24:25] Yep.

[00:24:27] Okay.

[00:24:27] What was the thing that I had to remind you to tell me?

[00:24:29] So Michael and I's anniversary is in November.

[00:24:34] And we were trying to figure out what we wanted to do.

[00:24:36] We didn't want to go too far.

[00:24:38] But we still wanted to do something.

[00:24:42] So he actually found this B&B that's in Amy, Louisiana, which my dad's from Amy.

[00:24:49] And it's, there's not a lot there.

[00:24:51] I didn't know your dad was from Amy.

[00:24:53] He was born there, but he grew up.

[00:24:54] I mean, he was, as a baby, they moved to Baton Rouge.

[00:24:58] My grandfather is technically, my grandfather and my grandmother are technically from Amy.

[00:25:02] Dad really is from Adam.

[00:25:03] Okay.

[00:25:04] I'm very curious where this is going.

[00:25:05] Okay.

[00:25:06] So.

[00:25:06] I don't care about your family lineage.

[00:25:08] So he rented a room at this Airbnb that they host like weddings and stuff.

[00:25:13] And it looks quaint.

[00:25:14] It's on like 30 acres, a 30 acre property.

[00:25:17] And you can like walk around the property.

[00:25:18] It looks really cool.

[00:25:19] Uh-huh.

[00:25:20] But what he sent me, because at first I was like, I don't know if I want to go to Amy.

[00:25:24] No, no offense to Amy.

[00:25:26] But I was like, I'm not sure I want to do that.

[00:25:28] And I was in the room with Finn one night last week and he texts me and he says, so I found this.

[00:25:36] This is also in the outskirts of Amy.

[00:25:39] And we could do this in addition to that.

[00:25:41] It's a tea farm.

[00:25:43] What?

[00:25:44] Yes.

[00:25:45] It's the only tea farm in Louisiana.

[00:25:47] They have their own tea plants, which Michael said is like really hard to come by that those

[00:25:52] tea plants, like nobody has that.

[00:25:56] So they have their own varieties of tea that they grow and there's tours and you can do

[00:26:00] tea tastings.

[00:26:01] And so we're going to go do that.

[00:26:02] A.

[00:26:03] How did we not know that this existed?

[00:26:05] I don't know.

[00:26:05] B.

[00:26:06] I'm coming on your anniversary trip with you.

[00:26:08] It's called Flora de Lee Tea Co.

[00:26:10] O.

[00:26:11] M.

[00:26:12] G.

[00:26:12] Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.

[00:26:13] And there's this guy who's, I think his name is like Hans and he's like, so now they have

[00:26:18] a, they have a Instagram page and everything.

[00:26:20] We've watched his videos.

[00:26:22] He's really into tea and he's the guide.

[00:26:25] Oh my gosh.

[00:26:26] Yeah, yeah, yeah.

[00:26:27] So I will report back Flora de Lee Tea Co.

[00:26:31] Tea Farm.

[00:26:32] I, I already have things running through my head where I'm like for my, like, can I partner

[00:26:39] with him for my tea store and, for my tea store, for my bookstore and we can come up with like

[00:26:44] a, a TBR books and tea blend.

[00:26:47] Like how cute the pictures are.

[00:26:48] It's so beautiful.

[00:26:50] And they do, they do like birthday parties and sometimes they, they do like, um, I've

[00:26:54] seen online, they have like princess parties and they'll let little girls come do tea parties.

[00:26:58] I want to go, I want to go have a princess party there.

[00:27:00] But yeah.

[00:27:00] Um, what, how far away is this?

[00:27:03] I don't know.

[00:27:04] It's a Hammond area.

[00:27:05] Yeah.

[00:27:05] Okay.

[00:27:06] So I don't know the geography of our state.

[00:27:07] It's like 45 minutes.

[00:27:08] Okay.

[00:27:09] Yep.

[00:27:09] Okay.

[00:27:10] Well, um, I'm going tomorrow.

[00:27:13] So, um, but yeah, follow them on Instagram, um, to see all the, they have events and things

[00:27:18] and they, this is so cool.

[00:27:21] So we can either schedule a private tour with just Michael and I, or if they have a group

[00:27:26] tour that day.

[00:27:27] So we'll have to figure out, we need to call them and see what the options are.

[00:27:30] Um, but it looks really neat and they have like a couple of different varieties and then

[00:27:34] they also have teas from around the world that they bring into for their tasting.

[00:27:38] So I think you get like two or three tastings of their teas that they grow.

[00:27:44] And then like one or two from around the world that they're featuring.

[00:27:47] That is amazing.

[00:27:49] Mm-hmm.

[00:27:49] How did we not know about this?

[00:27:51] I have no idea.

[00:27:52] I don't know.

[00:27:53] Oh my God.

[00:27:53] But he did good.

[00:27:54] He did good.

[00:27:55] Good job, Michael.

[00:27:57] Yes.

[00:27:57] Snaps for Michael.

[00:27:59] Yes.

[00:27:59] So that's amazing.

[00:28:00] Mm-hmm.

[00:28:01] Mm-hmm.

[00:28:01] Well, let's talk about the tea that we are drinking currently.

[00:28:04] Okay.

[00:28:04] Which is from Iceland.

[00:28:05] Yes.

[00:28:06] Um, so when I was looking for tea in Iceland, first I went into their like grocery store,

[00:28:13] which is called Bonus, by the way.

[00:28:15] And it has a cute little pink pig as the logo.

[00:28:21] Mm-hmm.

[00:28:21] But anyway, I was like, let me go drink with the Icelanders drink, right?

[00:28:25] Yeah.

[00:28:26] So we went into the Bonus and the tea that they had in there was like tea that you can get.

[00:28:32] Lipton.

[00:28:32] It wasn't Lipton, but it was like Puka or something.

[00:28:36] I had never heard of it before, but the people I was with were like, oh yeah, you can get that

[00:28:40] at CVS.

[00:28:41] And I was like, really?

[00:28:42] And then I went into CVS when I got home and there it was.

[00:28:45] Weird.

[00:28:45] I've never looked for tea at CVS before.

[00:28:47] But anyway, so I didn't get anything from the grocery store.

[00:28:50] I got the tourist teas, like the teas that you could find at all the touristy gift shops.

[00:28:57] Right.

[00:28:57] But whatever.

[00:28:58] It's called volcanic tea and it's black tea with crowberries and rose pepper.

[00:29:04] And I don't know what those things are, but they taste good in this tea.

[00:29:08] Yeah, sure do.

[00:29:10] Yeah.

[00:29:11] It's black tea, birch leaves, crowberries, orange zest, and rose pepper.

[00:29:19] Again, I don't know what those things taste like.

[00:29:20] So I am just tasting a smooth black tea.

[00:29:24] It's really good.

[00:29:25] Yeah.

[00:29:25] I didn't, I kind of wish it had a little bit more of a bite to it.

[00:29:29] Yeah, I agree.

[00:29:30] I thought it would based on the description.

[00:29:31] But again, I don't know what those things are.

[00:29:34] So maybe they are very mild.

[00:29:36] Maybe so.

[00:29:37] I don't know.

[00:29:38] But I like it.

[00:29:39] I'm a fan.

[00:29:41] And we have a couple more Icelandic teas to try.

[00:29:48] If, I don't really know how to speak Icelandic because it's a really, really complicated language.

[00:29:54] But it looks something like Eldfjallate.

[00:30:00] Volcanic tea.

[00:30:01] That's what I'm going to go with.

[00:30:03] Sounds, sounds right.

[00:30:04] I think I'm right.

[00:30:06] Yeah.

[00:30:06] I'm pretty sure.

[00:30:07] So, I mean.

[00:30:09] Quick side note before we end.

[00:30:11] Have you watched the new Netflix series that is just blowing up called Nobody Wants This?

[00:30:18] Not yet.

[00:30:19] So good.

[00:30:20] I know.

[00:30:20] I'm looking forward to it.

[00:30:22] So good.

[00:30:23] But also, for spooky fans, have you.

[00:30:26] Did you watch all the Wanda?

[00:30:31] I don't know.

[00:30:32] She's superhero.

[00:30:33] WandaVision?

[00:30:33] Yeah.

[00:30:33] Did you watch WandaVision?

[00:30:34] Okay.

[00:30:35] You know, have you seen that they have Agatha all along?

[00:30:39] That Agatha, you know, the witch in the story?

[00:30:43] I have not.

[00:30:43] I have not seen this.

[00:30:44] She has her own show now.

[00:30:46] Oh.

[00:30:46] I think they have three or four episodes out and they're putting them out like weekly.

[00:30:49] Yeah.

[00:30:50] So good.

[00:30:51] Okay.

[00:30:52] Good to know.

[00:30:52] So good.

[00:30:53] Like for witchy season.

[00:30:54] It's really well done.

[00:30:57] The actors are really great.

[00:30:59] It's really interesting.

[00:31:00] Love it.

[00:31:01] I definitely liked WandaVision.

[00:31:05] No, no, no.

[00:31:06] Sorry.

[00:31:07] The other series more.

[00:31:08] But they're just completely separate.

[00:31:10] Gotcha.

[00:31:11] Yeah.

[00:31:11] I am on season 10 of, I think, 17 of ER.

[00:31:16] Okay.

[00:31:16] Get off of it.

[00:31:18] Watch something new.

[00:31:19] I want to hear back of what your thoughts are on both of those.

[00:31:23] I want to finish ER first.

[00:31:26] We'll see.

[00:31:27] I'll think about it.

[00:31:28] Okay.

[00:31:28] Okay.

[00:31:29] Well.

[00:31:29] On that note.

[00:31:30] Cheers.

[00:31:31] Thanks for listening.

[00:31:33] Be sure to check out the show notes for the full list of books we discussed today.

[00:31:36] You can find that in your podcast app or on our website, inkdrinkerspodcast.com.

[00:31:42] And please support us by subscribing anywhere you listen to podcasts and leaving a review.

[00:31:47] You can find us on Instagram and on Twitter at inkdrinkerspod.

[00:31:52] Cheers.