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Tea Tuesday, Black Passionfruit
May 23, 2017
— 2 Comments
black passionfruit sun tea
Summer is hitting Arizona this week with temperatures over 100 every day. We need to seek shade and stay hydrated. There are many pleasant ways to accomplish these goals. The one advantage of the strong hot sun is our ability to brew a jar of sun tea in a relatively short time. I brewed a gallon of this delightful passionfruit black Ceylon tea with natural fruit this morning in my back yard. The fruit flavor is not overpowering like some flavored teas can be. It is present more as an aftertaste that lingers on the taste buds. The tea has a tropical style. It is high in caffeine, so I ice it liberally in the glass to tone it down a bit. I still get a mild buzz from a couple of glasses. Some black teas disagree with my digestive system, but this one goes down very well all day. It makes a perfect substitute for hot coffee in the morning on a hot day.
The taste is strong enough to pair with grilled foods or spicy dips and finger foods. Since Tuesday is time for tacos in many places, a big pitcher of this iced tea pairs well with the food, and compliments family style or buffet meal service. At our house we go through about a gallon of tea every day between two people. We guzzle it at home and Bob takes a big thermos with him to work. I put the tea jar out in the sun every morning unless it is pouring rain. The cost for a glass of this exquisite tea is about 10 cents. The tea is easy to store and light to ship. All we add is the water. We like it much better than bottled drinks, and we must save a lot of money by brewing our own in the yard.
We enjoy switching the kind of tea we drink each day to keep things exciting. I like shopping at Adagio because the variety is great, and expands all the time. All the products are all of high quality and very good value. I have a bigger collection of teas than most people ( maybe 30 bags on hand now), but it is one of our basic pleasures. Tea is our thirst quenching flavor companion all year, but in the summer we consume more as the temperature rises. I raise a glass of iced tea to you, gentle reader. Cheers!
black passionfruit sun tea
#SelfCareSunday Efforts And Rewards
May 22, 2017
— 3 Comments
cactus
The essence of effective self care is self knowledge. If you begin to understand yourself just as you are it becomes easier to please your senses and intellect. Your body craves healthy food and activity, and your mind thrives on stimulating conversation and reading. Writing, art projects, and journaling lead one to discover inner talents and insights. Clearing or updating personal space is an ongoing project that gives great satisfaction. Creating excellent work and play environments in your own home make life much more pleasurable.
I like simple pleasures like beautiful plants and fresh foods. Since I like to cook and find it therapeutic, I can always spend an afternoon in the kitchen having fun. On Sundays I like to prepare food for the week. Bob takes a meal from home to work with him most days, so I pack a few servings to get a head start on the week. If I also take time to do some deep cleaning tasks on the weekend, my work during the week is lightened, and I enjoy the clean environment. I know cooking and cleaning might not sound like self care tasks to you, but in my mind they are basic. I don’t pay others to do these things for me, so making it an adventure in creative homemaking is my only good healthy option. I feel accomplished and well cared for when I have some chores finished. I then relax completely.
I do not plan an entire day of effort without some direct rewards. I often make sweets and desserts on the weekends, and clean my bathroom extra well. I treat myself to some sweet concoction and take a lovely long soaking bath in my sparkling clean tub. I use essential oils of lavender and grapefruit, and take a tall glass of iced tea to drink while I soak. This is at least as good as being at a 5 star hotel for me, because I don’t have to travel back home…I am home!! I provide my own room service, slip into my own bed with fresh linens, and sleep soundly.
How do you make your weekends work to combine tasks that must be done with some relaxation and fun? Everyone has a personal style, which is why each person knows best how to be true to that style.
cactus
#WritePhoto Old Green Stone Wall
May 11, 2017
— 10 Comments
green passages
People tell stories about the time before the stone wall was built. The streams and rivers flowed freely and served everyone as they went by. Water to run small mills and to irrigate crops was plentiful and easy to find. Family farmers subsided and even thrived in years when the weather was favorable. The community members provided for each other, and the simple agricultural life was comfortable. They had plenty of food, shelter, and water.
Progress came to the area in the form of a land buy out by a large estate owner who wanted to experiment in modern farming techniques. His ignorance of nature combined badly with his lame and greedy attitude toward those with deep knowledge of working the land. He changed the landscape, moved the waterways to suit his purposes, and set out to build an empire. He had a monopoly on all the waterways in the valley, having sewn up all the land on which the tributaries flowed. His signature move was a large stone wall he built. It stood in the middle of stream, with tunnels to handle the water as it flowed beneath the structure. He was secure and pleased with his conquest of this natural resource when all hell literally broke loose. With a crack of thunder and a flash of lightening the sky broke open with a stormy and deadly response to his lack of respect for Mother Nature.
The flash flood poured over all the banks and rushed through the canals and tunnels like an angry dragon. Destruction and erosion brought famine to the land, once ripe and productive. Once the greedy land owner gave up the ghost the land itself returned to a riparian state. The farmers did not return, so the land has been fallow for centuries. It no longer feeds or shelters people. The natural world has taken the place of the former residents. The streams flow sweetly and green moss covers the ancient stone as if nothing had ever happened. All is forgotten.
#writephoto
This slice of fiction is a take on the prompt of this week by Sue Vincent. Visit Sue’s Daily Echo to read, comment, or submit your own story or poem.
Habitually Blind
May 10, 2017
— 2 Comments
hole in the wall
hole in the wall
While time passes by your window and blows through your mind
Where are your connections to the natural world?
Are you just habitually blind?
Does the rising of the tide of hatred sting your immortal soul?
Or do you sit in the corner twiddling your thumbs
When everyone becomes a merciless troll?
Did you have a purpose for being born on earth?
If so you better get to work, because things are getting worse
hole in the wall
Tea Tuesday Honeybush Mango
May 2, 2017
— 1 Comment
The tea I am drinking today is iced honey bush mango tea from Adagio. This is an old favorite at our house. All the roiboos and honeybush teas deliver flavor punch without caffeine. They come in many flavors to please any palate. I brew it in the sun, and use a light touch on the measurement. I think it is important to suit your own taste and mood when brewing tea. Sometimes in summer I make the teas dark intentionally in order to add lots of ice. In spring I drink them without ice, so I use a lighter dose of tea.
brewing honeybush mango
This tropical delight pairs well with any fruit. This tea brings a high refreshing high note that combines with sweets, both natural and man-made. With the addition of a little passion fruit or pineapple flavored vodka or rum (and a cocktail umbrella) this tea will take you through happy hour in a delightful, tasty, cordial manner. These drinks will pair well with Joni Mitchell or other soprano voices in the background..something light and lilting.
The health benefits of drinking honeybush (Cyclopia) tea are impressive. Both long and short-term wellness benefits include reducing inflammation, and improving the immune system. Consuming this beverage is a delicious way to improve your body’s systems with no adverse side effects. Try it. You’ll like it.
#WeekendCoffeeShare Wildfire
April 29, 2017
— 9 Comments
tiny adobe house
chard
If we were having coffee this weekend I would offer you your beverage on ice. The weather is warming up quickly, and the wind is blowing outside. The jasmine in the front yard is in full bloom so the breeze is heavily scented as it wafts in through the screen door. It is pleasant this morning, but later you will need your parasol and sunscreen. Relax for a while and tell me how your week has been.
We enjoyed our time away last weekend at the Deep Dirt Farm sleeping in a tiny adobe house. It was the perfect celebration of Earth Day for us. The town of Patagonia, AZ is darling. The humming bird center was very cool, but not so populated with hummers. There are more in my yard in Tucson at this point. There are many birds down there we do not have. Our encounter with nature and farming could not have been better. We plan to return in the future. It is an ideal retreat for us.
We picked vegetables from the farm’s greenhouse to bring home then ate a wonderful breakfast in town before leaving. The drive is beautiful because the elevation changes, and the vegetation along with it. The desert plant ocotillo is in bloom now, painting the landscape with brilliant red flowers on tall sticks. I wanted to stop to take a look at them, but there are few opportunities to turn out on the road. We stopped at a winery to take in the view. I tasted the wine, which was pretty good, and we noticed how strong the wind was. Then we looked across the valley to see the Sawmill Fire, just as it began. The dry grass is kindling for the wildfire, which has spread all across the area rapidly. I tried to find news on twitter, but it had not yet become news. We saw the smoke growing as we finished the drive home. It was a spooky and terrifying reminder of Mother Earth and her freaky powers. We had seen burned scorched land from a previous wildfire along the road and I had just remarked that a fire now would be fed loads of dry grass and be hard to contain…and that is exactly what happened. The cause seems to be target shooting by an off duty Border Patrol officer. He caused it and reported it right away, but the fire still raged out of control. It is early in the year for fires in Arizona. This does not bode well for the summer.
If we were having iced tea to take our minds of the fire, I would tell you that I am almost finished with #NaPoWriMo this year. I always say each year that I will continue to do a poem each day on my tumblr, but it hasn’t happened yet. I still need to crank out two more for this month, then we shall see where the poetic muse will reside in the month of May. No predictions. I plan to review teas, and may do it on Tuesdays on Tumblr. That could be poetic perhaps.
ocotillo and dry grass
ocotillo and dry grass
If you want to catch up with other digital beverage drinkers please visit Nerd in the Brain, where the party continues each weekend. Read, comment, or submit your own coffee share post.
Weekend-Coffee-Share-Link-Up-Nerd-in-the-Brain
#NaPoWriMo Beet Poetry
April 24, 2017
— 1 Comment
beets
If I had to depend on just one vegetable for my entire diet
I would choose one that has both greens and root
The versatile, flavorful, colorful beetroot family is quiet
While deeply reaching down into the earth for loot
The nutrients to produce a truly magical ingredient
For borscht, kvaas, and pickled eggs they are expedient
You can’t beat the beets!
beets
Join other poets, beet and otherwise, for the National Poetry Writing Month. Join the #VeggiePoetry set on twitter, or visit the #NaPoWriMo site to find new poets. The celebration lasts all month in April.
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- #GloPoWriMo
#NaPoWriMo Guilt Trip
April 24, 2017
— 1 Comment
love of the environment
I find that after a weekend away that I am far behind
In my goal to write a poem each day in April this year
Instead of writing poems I left my home and daily grind
To drive in the desert and sleep where I could not hear
A single sound in the night while wildlife crept around
A tiny slice of pristine wilderness preserved for the future
tools of the trade
Join the poetry party all month at #NaPoWriMo website, or by following the hashtags on social media. Read, write, recite , enter contests, and find new poets. Somehow today I will catch up by writing two more poems. Then my guilt will be gone.
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- #GloPoWriMo
#WeekendCoffeeShare Earth Day Edition
April 22, 2017
— 6 Comments
antique glider
If we were having coffee this morning I would invite you to sit in the antique glider that sits next to my desk (since last week when we spotted it at a yard sale), and chat with me while I take care of all my office and internet chores. We are taking off later this morning for a night in a tiny house on a farm in Patagonia, Arizona. Nothing could be earthier. There is no internet, which is fine since it is only an overnight trip. I am not constantly connected anyhow, but this will be a tiny earth house kind of disconnect. I am excited because it is a big time for the humming-bird migration, and Patagonia is right on the flight pattern. It will be a lovely place to take some photos. I will fill you in next weekend over coffee.
If you were in my office you would see that since taxes have been filed my excuses for the big pile of paper on the desk have vanished. The desk is clearing up, and I am tossing out old stray junk from the office closet as well. I am rounding up some books to take to the used book store while examining my own need to surround myself with cookbooks. I love to read them, but seldom actually follow any recipe. Ditto with all the yoga books in my library. I feel secure somehow owning them but never pull them off the shelf. I had the occasion to want a yoga book recently and it took me a while to locate it. That is just silly. If I trim down the total number of books and make sure they all give me great joy, as the Japanese tidy lady advises, I believe my whole life will improve. That is my next great task. I do own her detailed tidy book on kindle, but I am not following her recipe. I am starting with books and office clutter. I may discover my need to own all these rules and directions I do not obey. There must be some crazy thing going on there. I had some issues about buying the very chair in which you are gliding, but decided it was an asset and it does bring me joy. I hope it is bringing you some to sit in it while I type.
cookbooks
I am not in danger of becoming a minimalist any time soon. I think that is what Earth Day really should be, a celebration of using and owning less. I will consume a bunch of gasoline to go assume my minimalist tiny house on a farm lifestyle for a night. Then I will drive back to Tucson on Sunday where it will be time to start air conditioning the condo. It will be hot today while we are down south at a higher elevation chilling. I will check in at the library in Patagonia to use the internet and post my daily poem for #NaPoWriMo this afternoon. All this is making me realize how very high maintenance I still am.
I want to know how your life and writing projects are going this week. Fill your cup and then fill my ear with your stories. I look forward to hearing the news from this talented and diverse group of writers. Nerd in the Brain hosts this lavish party each weekend. This is where you go to submit your own coffee share post, or keep up with the news of others in this lively group. Thanks for visiting today, and happy Earth Day to you all.
#WeekendCoffeeShare
#NaPoWriMo Tides of Change
April 19, 2017
— 3 Comments
Pacific Ocean
The ebb and flow of oceans and blood
Follow the seasons and phases of the moon
We are created by heaven’s whimsical mood
Educated by stars and riptides we are surfing soon
Riding the waves with ease and graceful flow
Is all a matter of sensing the power from below
Pacific Ocean
Read, write, celebrate National Poetry Writing Month in April. Join us at the #NaPoWriMo site to find new material or submit some of your own.
#NaPoWriMo2017
#GloPoWriMo
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