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I have been collecting teacups for some 40 years now, and I must have a few hundred of them. To me, it doesn't matter what kind of teacups you like or who the manufacturer is, just as long as you like it.

Here are some tips on teacups where to find them, what kinds are popular, and how to care for them.

When I do a workshop on teacups, the first question all want to know: Is it porcelain or china? In 1707, German manufacturers started using feldspar instead of glass in a process that continues today to make porcelain. Also in today's porcelain, silica is added to the raw ingredients. The raw materials are finely ground, cleaned, formed in a mold and then fired, then glazed and fired again, which gives it that refined look. The design is often very detailed.

You will find bone china is made similar to porcelain and, yes, you will find fine ground fragments of cow bone ash added to the clay. And yes, you can tell between bone china and fine china. Bone has a warm color, while fine china will be brighter and porcelain is much harder than either. More information: http://www.narumi.co.jp/en/tableware/how_bone_china_is_produced.html.

There are many types of teacups. The cups I tend to use for the traditional afternoon tea are the footed cup or the flat teacup. The footed cup usually has an indented saucer and can be used for coffee as well. Flat cups have a matching saucer, but are flat on the bottom instead of shaped. These can also be used for coffee.

What I really love and have quite a few of are the Demitasse cups and saucers that are traditionally used for espresso or Turkish coffee. But nobody says you can't use a coffee mug for tea, especially for breakfast tea. I even have for everyday use whimsical designs such as lady bugs and dots.

You know I always love colorful books, so check out my current resource: "Collectible Cups & Saucers: Identification & Values, Book 3," by Jim & Susan Harran, and "Teacup Collection: Paintings of Porcelatin Treasures," by Molly Hatch & Kathleen Morris.

Thrift shops are always first on my list, especially those operated by nonprofit charities such as Salvation Army or Goodwill. I also check out flea markets, garage and estate sales, online and country auctions as well as antique shops.

There are also websites that have new and used tea cups for sale that may be of interest to you. Decide before you get started collecting in a big way just how much money you want to spend. Sometimes it's just the thrill of the hunt to find a teacup for a small amount of money than it is to pay $50 for one teacup.

Deb Schreck, of Lakeside Antique, Lake City, said, "Tea cups are still selling. A cup and saucer set starts at $6 for the demitasse size and goes up to $15 for full-size English bone china sets. Some patterns by Parragon and Royal Albert run higher, and sets by Shelley can run as high as $50 each. No chintz right now. Our 'English Tea and Cakes' cookbook will help anyone who wants to host a tea party."

Joan Thilges, owner of the New Generations of Harmony Antique Mall, said, "I am no teacup expert so I asked our resident authority on teacup collecting, Betsy Hillesland-Busch. I would say that English teacups decorated with floral designs are far and away the most popular at New Generations of Harmony. There is still a large collector base for cups and saucers, as well as people who give them for gifts. Also collected are Depression glass cups and saucers, which can be difficult to find, depending on color and pattern. We do have a very nice array of them throughout our mall. Prices are $12 and up."

Never stack your cups, but if you need to, place a soft cloth between the cups.

China pieces should never be washed in the dishwasher, especially those vintage pieces. Newer pieces now are labeled if they are dishwasher safe, but I still don't do it. I handwash with a gentle dish soap and dry with a soft towel.

Be sure to keep your teacups out of direct sunlight when displaying and do try and hand-wash them twice a year if possible. It's fun to rotate them at the same time.

Never put teacups in the microwave, especially those with a metallic trim.

Sandy Erdman is a Winona freelance writer, dealer, speaker and workshop appraiser. If you have an antique shop, hobby collecting anything or restoring antiques or collectibles and want to share within this column, contact Sandy at life@postbulletin.com.

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Antiques & Collectibles: Have an old-fashioned tea party - Post-Bulletin

US Congressman Mo Brooks

Huntsville, AL- Today, the Tea Party Patriots Citizen Fund (herein Tea Party Patriots) endorsed Congressman Mo Brooks in the Alabama Special Election to fill the U.S. Senate seat vacated by Attorney General Jeff Sessions.

Tea Party Patriots is one of Americas largest grassroots conservative political organizations and was created to counter the Washington lobbyist and special interest groups that fund establishment candidates like Luther Strange and Mitch McConnell. Since the conservative groundswell of 2009, Tea Party groups have successfully defeated countless liberal Republicans masquerading as conservatives.

The Tea Party Patriots endorsement follows the endorsements of national conservative thought leaders Sean Hannity, Mark Levin, Ann Coulter and Laura Ingraham, along with Congressmen Mike Rogers of Alabama, Lamar Smith of Texas, and House Freedom Caucus Chairman Mark Meadows of North Carolina.

Congressman Brooks said, There is no bigger fight for the heart of the Republican Party than that between establishment Republicans who are funded by lobbyists and special interests and principled conservatives who put America First, before the greed of special interest groups. I welcome the endorsement and help of Tea Party Patriots as we work together to fight Washington special interests that hope to buy Alabamas senate seat.

Brooks Continued, Alabama voters must send a message to the Mitch McConnell, Luther Strange, and Washington special interests groups and lobbyists that simply hate the idea that Alabama might elect a principled senator. Trump promised to drain the swamp. In this election the swamp is fighting back, as evidenced by the millions of dollars that fund the deceptive attack ads Luther Strange has aimed at me. I ask Alabama voters to defeat the swamp by defeating Luther Strange and electing Mo Brooks to fill a Senate seat formerly held by another great principled conservative, Jeff Sessions.

In its endorsement, Tea Party Patriots praised Congressman Brooks, stating:

When Sen. Jeff Sessions accepted President Trumps nomination to serve as Attorney General, we at Tea Party Patriots were of two minds on the one hand, we were thrilled, because we knew Jeff Sessions would return to the Department of Justice a reverence for the Constitution and the rule of law that had been sorely lacking through eight years of the Obama Administration; on the other hand, we were concerned over who would replace him in the Senate, as he has been a champion for our principles over the course of his two decades in office.

Then Congressman Mo Brooks decided to run for the seat, and we were thrilled again.

On virtually every issue that is important to Tea Party Patriots activists, Mo Brooks has been a fearless leader and a fighter. He has fought to secure our borders and strengthen enforcement against illegal immigration; he has been a strong defender of the 2nd Amendment; he has championed our efforts to fully repeal ObamaCare and return us to health care freedom; and he has fought for trade and tax policies necessary to defend and grow good American jobs.

Its no wonder hes been endorsed by conservatives like Mark Levin, Sean Hannity, and Laura Ingraham, and members of his own House Republican Conference who know him well, including U.S. Reps. Mike Rogers, Mark Meadows, and Lamar Smith. Both NumbersUSA and the NRA have given him A ratings, and he has the strongest conservative voting record in the Alabama delegation.

Consequently, on behalf of Tea Party Patriots Citizens Fund, I am pleased to endorse Mo Brooks for the GOP nomination for the U.S. Senate seat vacated by Jeff Sessions, and I urge all voters in Alabama to make a plan to be a voter for him in the August 15 special primary election, and, if necessary, the September 26 special runoff, and the December 12 special general election.

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Tea Party Patriots Endorse Congressman Mo Brooks for US Senate - Shoals Insider

Angelica Tea RoomandLockhouse Distillery & Barinvite you to the grand unveiling of their first collaboration Angelica Dry Gin. This is great news for the tea room and the local distilling industry. According to Angelica co-owner Harry Zemsky, the process was a vigorous one, with a lot of tweaks and tastings before coming up with the Angelica approved gin.

The process of working, and reworking Angelica Drys taste was a very engaging process, I think for both parties, said Zemsky. We were much more concerned with what the product tasted like in our cocktails a level of customization wed never be able to find in a mass market product.

The Inaugural Tea Party Release of Angelica Dry Gin will be held on Friday, August 4 from 8 PM to 1 AM.

Angelica Tea Room | 517 Washington Street | Buffalo, New York

For further information on the event, visit this Facebook event.

Sometimes the authors at Buffalo Rising work on collaborative efforts in order to cover various events and stories. These posts can not be attributed to one single author, as it is a combined effort. Often times a formation of a post gets started by one writer and passed along to one or more writers before completion. At times there are author attributions at the end of one of these posts. Other times, Buffalo Rising is simply offered up as the creator of the article. In either case, the writing is original to Buffalo Rising.

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The Inaugural Tea Party | Release of Angelica Dry Gin - Buffalo Rising

In Iraq, thousands of families from Mosul remain living in camps and unable to return to their homes, nearly a month after Iraqs prime minister declared victory in the U.S.-backed offensive to reclaim the city from ISIS. At the Salamiya camp west of Mosul, residents complain of limited water supplies and sweltering heat. Those returning to Mosul say they face ongoing violence and unlivable conditions.

Saddam, displaced resident: "I cant go back to my neighborhood because there is no water, no electricity, no services, nothing at all in my area. Our homes were destroyed. They were robbed. TVs, everything was stolen. We came here to this camp, and life here is very difficult."

The Independent reports more than 40,000 civilians died in the nine-month battle to retake Mosul, with thousands of bodies still trapped under the rubble. Meanwhile, Human Rights Watch is calling on the Trump administration to cut off support to an Iraqi Army division, after it reported Wednesday that Iraqi troops trained by the U.S. allegedly executed several dozen prisoners in Mosuls Old City.

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Ex-Tea Party Lawmaker Pete Hoekstra Named Ambassador to Netherlands - Democracy Now!

Even when Republicans control the White House and both houses of Congress, liberalism remains the default ideology of the federal government.

A Republican Senate could not muster even 50 votes for the full repeal of Obamacare's taxes and spending. Six Republican senators who had voted for repeal in 2015, when the party was merely pretending it was possible, flipped on Wednesday rather than deliver.

Five of the six represent states President Trump won in November. The sixth hails from a state Trump lost by less than 3 points.

An argument can be made that repealing these parts of Obamacare while leaving its regulatory structure largely in place is a bad idea. But we are discussing a law that Republicans spent seven years campaigning against. Every GOP senator except one either voted for repeal in the past or campaigned on it in a recent election cycle. Their leader was said to have a "secret plan" to repeal Obamacare "root and branch."

There was ample time for a contingency plan or even a better approach to replacing the healthcare law.

No amount of time ever seems to be enough. Not 1 inch of ground gained by liberalism is ever ceded without a fight. Republicans can campaign against those gains. They can now tweet about them. But when it comes to action, Republicans can seldom do more than nibble around the edges. The slightest retrenchment of a healthcare law that did not even exist a decade ago is portrayed as a mass casualty event.

Perhaps the most enduring conservative domestic policy gain is keeping marginal tax rates below 40 percent for the past 30 years. (Oops!)

After Mitt Romney, Republicans were supposed to have learned how to do healthcare policy. After the Tea Party, they were supposed to have become more serious about contesting big-government liberalism. After Trump, they were supposed to have learned how to fight Democrats and the media.

The score as of Thursday morning: 0 for 3.

Little of this is surprising. Republicans had 23 years since the failure of Bill and Hillary Clinton's healthcare power grab to come up with their own alternative. Romneycare, the precursor to Obamacare, and the deficit-financed Medicare Part D was about the best they could do.

Republicans have long paid lip service to opposing big government when the Democrats are in charge, only to keep the trillions flowing once they take charge.

Yet the Tea Party was the triumph of hope over experience. Substantially a protest against former President Barack Obama, it was also believed that it could lead to a revival of constitutional conservatism.

For the first time since the ascendance of New Deal liberalism, constitutionally limited government Washington confined to its enumerated powers was a mainstream part of the political discourse.

Just not mainstream enough, as it turned out.

That's not entirely the Republicans' fault. In practice, the American people want a much bigger federal government than the Constitution currently authorizes.

Not long ago, a conservative wag quipped that if a president actually tried to enforce the Constitution's limits on federal power, he or she would be impeached.

But even if Republicans find a way to give Obamacare a haircut, part of a new "skinny" welfare state, it will more closely resemble past free-market corrections of liberalism's excesses than a serious constitutional conservative challenge to liberalism.

That doesn't bode well for the Tea Party project of rolling back major liberal initiatives. The point of voting Republican will remain to make the inexorable growth of the welfare state as slow and painful as possible, a political posture that may be attractive to neither libertarian-leaning conservatives nor the populists drawn to Trump in the last presidential election.

The Tea Party came to repeal and replace Obamacare. They ended up getting repealed and replaced themselves.

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Republicans repeal and replace the Tea Party - Washington Examiner - Washington Examiner