Just the other day I was telling a friend how much I love coffee.

I started drinking coffee when I was in high school.  Having grown up in an English family I was a pretty committed tea drinker, but once I tasted my first cup o’ joe, I was hooked.  I still drink tea, but my go to beverage and the drink I want first thing in the morning is coffee.  I’m definitely a morning person, so my choice of coffee isn’t necessarily for the caffeine (although it certainly doesn’t hurt) but for the aroma, the taste, the warmth and, admittedly, the habit.  In the past 9 months, I’ve had to give up several foods and beverages, but thankfully not coffee.  These days I do have to say no to all the fancy coffee drinks like Pumpkin Spice Lattes, Cinnamon Dolce Lattes and Mochas (too much sugar), but give me a regular cup of coffee with cream and I’m good to go.

I’ve written about my experience at Starbucks in England.  It’s quite an amazing feeling when you step into that store and they know your name and your drink order.  It helps that we go every day for two weeks, order the same drink every time and one of the baristas is named Grace.  Oh and I have a Starbucks Gold Card which is not available overseas.  It’s gets quite the attention from the Starbucks employees. There are other coffee houses we can choose, but we love Starbucks coffee and the free wifi is nice also ;-).

A couple of friends and I meet regularly at our local Starbucks to knit.  Knitting and coffee drinking really go together quite well.  I’ve knit many a dishcloth during these times as well as coffee cozies, scarves, hats Sockee Poos and Cattywampus catnip toys.  It’s a wonderful way to spend a couple of relaxing hours with friends, sipping my favorite beverage and plugging away at projects.

I’ve acquired a nice collection of ‘dog’ coffee mugs over the years.  Most were gifts (I’m really easy to buy for), but some I bought myself.  To be fair, I like all kinds of coffee mugs, but when I started to run out of space in our cupboards, I had to de-clutter and decided on a ‘dog’ theme since those mugs outnumbered the rest.

When it comes to the type of coffee we drink, I’d like to tell you that I’m a real connoisseur, but I’m not.  A lot of you reading this will cringe when I tell you’ve we’ve drunk Folgers for years because, frankly, we like it.  A couple of years ago, however, I had a cup of Starbuck’s Ethiopian coffee and was smitten.  For special occasions or if they’re having a sale, I will buy a bag of those grounds and just the other day, we picked up a pound of their Guatemala Antigua blend.  It’s our new favorite at the moment.

So what’s your favorite coffee drink on National Coffee Day?

Off to pour another cup and get on with my day, 

My mom loves coffee like I love kibble.  When is it going to be National Kibble Day?  If they don’t have a day for celebrating Kibble, we should start one.  Recently my mom ‘updated’ our kibble bin and this is a picture of me with the old bin.  I was so sad, I sat by it all day until dad took it away.  Since then I’ve adjusted, but it was rough going for a few hours.