A Very Good Morning to YOU ~

Summer sunrises are splendid at Willowbrook Manor. This is a morning view from the English Thyme Room, the master suite. We are entering the best season to visit for tea, a bike tour or an overnight stay. I’m excited to share NEW upcoming events.

Mom and Me ~

For those of you who are new to The Willowbrook Word, I’m Terry, owner and caretaker of Willowbrook Manor English Teahouse and Farm Stay. My mother, author Liz Adair, lives here as well. Mom has her own corner of this newsletter. We always have a giveaway, so make sure to read to the end.

Tea and Tulips was FABULOUS ~

This year the weather was wonderful for the month-long Skagit Valley Tulip Festival, and guests from all over Washington State plus 24 other states came to my home for high tea. Darla from Trabuco Canyon, CA (above) loved the Tulip Crown and sent me this photo. She was supposed to have come for Holiday Tea 2025, but you might remember my newsletter about the flooding that made us cancel. Click HERE to read. So she changed her tickets for springtime. I’m so glad she made it to tea!

Instagram Reel ~

I thought I would share Tea and Tulips through the lens of guests who posted on social media. If you have an Instagram account you can view Alicia’s reel above. It shares snippets of Tea and Tulips at Willowbrook Manor. Thank you Alicia B for tagging me.

Wisteria Wow ~

The wisteria arbor is in full bloom! And just in time for Mothers Tea. I loved watching mothers and daughters enjoying tea together and wandering the gardens and grounds of Willowbrook.

Mothers Tea ~

EmyRay’s precious Instagram video gives the feel of Mothers Tea. You can view the Instagram reel above. If you also click on her profile you will see the amazing French Macarons she makes! Thanks EmyRay for this darling video.

For Facebook Folk ~

Toni H tagged us in her Mothers Day post with four generations of tea lovers! Thank you Toni for sharing your photos with us. (Click on the picture to view more on Facebook.)

During tea events I take very few pictures. Seeing these pop up on social media makes me giddy.

My six children are grown now and on their own. Hosting tea events allows the walls of my home to filled with people, love and laughter through the gentle tradition of English tea.

Tea Tents ~

Typically I wait until the end of May to set up the tea tents. But the weather was so favorable, that I set them up for Mothers Tea.

This picture taken on Tea Tent Set Up Day (TTSUD). When the tables are in place with linens, lace and flowers, the tea tents are magical. You will want to come enjoy our summer events.

Summer Garden Tea ~

Every second Saturday of the summer months we host Summer Garden Tea. Guest can choose to sit under the tea tent, or inside the manor. Sweets, savories and scones are served with a pot of Willowbrook tea in a setting that feels like you are stepping back in time. Our July tea includes U-pick chamomile. Click HERE to book Summer Garden Tea.

Planting Chamomile ~

This week I’ve been tilling the soil and planting German Chamomile. I actually began my tea farm growing Roman Chamomile. The apple-like aroma of its lacey foliage and the fact that it was a perennial made it my first choice. The problem was, it made bitter tea. So I’ve since switched to planting German chamomile every spring.

U-Pick Chamomile ~

This is the first year guests can come to my farm to U-pick chamomile on summer evenings. It is the perfect date-time for couples or for besties. I personally would bring my kids if I were you, to get as much chamomile as possible. (There will be plenty.)

Select Thursdays and Fridays evenings and some Saturday mornings in July, my farm will open for chamomile picking. I provide little red picking baskets that makes harvesting chamomile easy. You can pick as much as you would like. No extra charge.

Self-serve tea and scones under the tea tent can be enjoyed before or after harvesting these daisy-like flowers that make wonderful tea. This is a ‘good for the soul’ kind of country experience. Take the flowers home and air dry on a pan or put them in a warm oven to dry overnight. Bagged up, they make wonderful gifts, especially if you include a picture of yourself harvesting the chamomile.

Click HERE to book U-Pick Chamomile plus Tea & Scones.

Hundreds of Tadpoles ~

The reflecting pool at Willowbrook is the summer nursery for tree frogs and it is FULL of pollywogs. Everyone says watching them brings back memories of grade school days. Froggy Lou (pictured above) tends the pond. Her outfit changes with the every season thanks to my dear friend Mary Lou.

A Bit About Bikes ~

My brother Clay is an avid cyclist. He and his college buddies had their annually ‘guys trip’ recently on San Juan Island. Clay decided he would visit mom and me after their island adventure. He actually rode his bike from the ferry, and traveled 35 miles of back roads to arrive at Willowbrook Manor. It was fun to welcome him with a happy dance as he rode down the driveway!

Clay got me into road biking after a bear attack back in 2010 made me shy away from hiking. (A story for another newsletter.) I put a lot of miles on my favorite orange Kona road bike.

From Road Bikes to E-Bikes ~

When I added E-bikes to the bike tours of Willowbrook Manor, I purchased an orange Rad Power Wagon for myself and that was the end of my road biking. I do at least one family E-bike camping trip a year, usually to one of the San Juan Islands.

Cascade Trail History Bike Ride and Tea Picnic ~

My infatuation with biking brought me to create a summer experience that is part bike ride, part scavenger hunt, part history lesson and best of all, part picnic with tea and scones! You can bring your own bike, or rent one of Willowbrook’s E-bikes and head down the Cascade Trail.

Along the route there are tour posts that share intriguing history about the people who lived and worked along this trail.

Enjoy a picnic of tea and scones along the route. You can stop at any of the quaint benches along the trail, or at the Lyman town park. Your 8-mile round trip bike ride will take you through forest and farmland, with wonderful views of the Skagit River. The tour is mostly shaded so it is pleasant even on hot summer days.

The Lyman Tavern is at the half-way point of the bike tour. It is a great place for a refreshing drink or some house chips. People say this is one of the best bike tours. For many different reasons.

Click HERE to book your bike tour.

If You Wanna Walk instead of Bike ~

The Willowbrook Water Tank Walk-Bike-Run is a fun event that will help pay for the water tank for Willowbrook Manor. It is a Walkathon, Fun-run and Bike ride all wrapped in one, with tea and scones and chamomile picking PLUS lunch at the Lyman Tavern on Saturday July 25th. My good friend Penny C from Salt Lake City UT said wasn’t going to make it, of course, but would purchase a ticket to support the cause. Thanks so much Penny, we will miss you! Click HERE for more information and to sign up. I appreciate your support.

Time For Liz ~

This is where I turn the pen over to my mother, author Liz Adair. Here she is:

Liz Sez ~

When my son, Clay, recently rode his bike from the Anacortes Ferry to Willowbrook Manor, it reminded me of when he was posted to Rwanda twice early in his career for a period of six weeks each time. This was twelve years or so ago.

He took a bike with him, and after work and on weekends, he’d cycle around the countryside. On the first trip, he met one of the Rwandan cycling team and rode with him.

On that first trip, he visited the Rwandan cycling headquarters and found that the team was woefully underfunded. When he saw that some team members were reusing flimsy grocery-store water bottles because they didn’t have sturdy cycling bottles, Clay and some cycling buddies offered help in that area.

At the time, Clay and his buddies had an online cycling apparel company.

After the initial water bottles that Clay carried to Rwanda in a duffel, they gave American cyclists who used their website the opportunity to support the effort. Each time a customer purchased a water bottle for him or herself, a matching one would be donated to the Rwandan cycling team. They sent a lot of water bottles that way.

The Christmas after Clay returned from Rwanda, as I was looking for a gift he would enjoy, I found a DVD of the indie documentary Rising from Ashes. It’s a great film, aptly named, about the development of the Rwandan cycling team.

The documentary is on YouTube and I recommend it highly. The title has two meanings, as you will find if you watch it. Both will give you hope for humanity.

It was from that movie that I got the idea for the Rwandan character, Nathan Kamagaru, in my Spider Latham mystery Death on the Red Rocks. I’ve been so immersed in this current book I’m writing that I had almost forgotten about Nathan. It was nice to be reminded, as he was a sweet boy.

Click HERE to watch RISING FROM ASHES: FULL DOCUMENTARY MOVIE

-Liz

Now back to Terry

This Month’s Giveaway Winners ~

The five winners of note cards with artwork from my daughters Addy and Aliece are:

• Zita M from Sedro Woolley, WA
• Debbie R-Y from Bow, WA
• Beth A from New Castle, PA
• Cyndy L from Tallahassee, FL
• lene, A from Hampton IA

Congratulations! Keep entering to win. I have drawn one winner twice.

This Month’s Giveaway ~

With all the talk about tea and scones, I decided that this month’s giveaway must be Willowbrook signature Scone Mix and a package of Willowbrook’s Women’s Blend tea. Five sets are up for grabs. Click HERE to enter to win. Make sure to write a bit about how you are doing. Mom and I love to hear from you!

That is it for this issue ~

Thank you for reading to the end. Watch your email in the next couple of weeks. I’m thinking I might just write about my bear attack story. Don’t worry, it’s bear-able.
-t