Monday, June 20, 2011

Iffy 50

I turned 50 today.
Yabba dabba dooooooooo!
Seriously though, turning 20, 30 or 40 never bothered me in the slightest. Turning 25 did because once you hit 25, you can't use the excuse of youthful exuberance any more for dumb mistakes. You're also a quarter of a century old which sounds even worse. Now that I'm a half-century old, it means I'm at least half-way towards the end and I'm definitely no longer a kid.
But everything was going OK until I looked at the newspaper online and found out that another relative had died. I guess that's going to keep happening with increasing familiarity now that I'm firmly in the middle of middle age.
Fortunately, there's a small birthday cake in the fridge and my friend gave me the prettiest Royal Albert teacup (Lovelace) and a package of Stash's Chocolate Mint Oolong. I'll raise a toast this evening, to my favorite great uncle and to whatever the future may bring.

Saturday, June 18, 2011

Cloudy Days and Crazy Crows

The sun dropped by for a visit yesterday although it's gone back into hiding today. Apparently, according to the weather gurus, we've had 14 days of rain for the first 17 days of this month - yet, we haven't broken any records. I guess it clears up at night. Oh well, we're saving on sunscreen.
Of course, this is delaying getting my roof repaired although I may have some explaining to do when they eventually get here. As I drove out of my driveway yesterday, I noticed a crow with a hot dog on my roof. Now that's not something you see everyday! I watched as he carefully placed the bun in my rain gutter and then he began to eat it. It's probably the same bird that was up on on the roof a few weeks ago with a sandwich.I don't know where or how he's getting his meals but I can just imagine the looks on the roofers' faces when they'll take down the rain gutters off the house - an all-you-can-eat buffet? What's up with that?
As long as they don't start stealing my tea ...

Thursday, June 16, 2011

Computers and the democratization of us all

Yes, I am getting pretentious here but when you think about it, what has, more than anything else, made us more equal than almost anything, besides the vote?
It has to be the computer and what it has led to.
Think back about 25 or 30 years ago. If you lived in a small town or rural area, you bought what was available at your local shop or you had to drive miles out of your way to the city. If you wanted to see a major entertainment or sporting event or even buy a bestseller, you pretty much had to do the same thing, since big name acts don't usually fly into beautiful metropolitan Podunk and many of these smaller areas don't even have (gasp) book stores.
It just ain't the same today. Thanks to computers and the internet, we can get anything we want when we want, whether we live in New York City or Hicksville. We can order whatever books and tea whenever we want or not when the local shopkeeper decides to carry it. I remember years ago looking for pants in an olive green color and being told by the local shopkeeper that she didn't sell them because people around here didn't want that color.
Yeah. Guess I didn't count.
But that's OK now because I can get them online in whatever color I choose and not what a local yokel fashionista deems to be the proper shade for my rump.
The same goes for my coffee and tea choices. I tend to get most of my day to day stuff online with the occasional taster bought locally when something catches my eye. I do try to shop locally when I can but I refuse to give up when they don't carry the things I like.

Tuesday, June 14, 2011

Just Getting Lazy

I've been buying teas lately and it seems every tea I try, I have a single cup and I'm not inspired enough to have a second. So I've been making too many cups of Twinings Earl Grey via the Tassimo. I mean, I like Earl Grey, but I wish it wasn't becoming my fallback tea because the other teas are so lousy.
My onions in the backyard are growing wonderfully. Unlike most Maritimers, they seem happy enough with the wet, chilly weather we have been experiencing lately. I've just learned about bag method for growing potatoes and I might give it a try. I've always wanted to grow potatoes but thought it was too difficult. The bag method sounds pretty easy and therefore, right up my ally!
I have been adding more and more cups and saucers to my collection, thanks to Value Village. They sell saucers for 99 cents and cups for the same - the trick is managing to match everything up so you get a complete set for a 1.98. It's a great, fun way to expand your teacup collection for next to nothing and you get some pretty amazing pieces. People just don't value these items any more - but that's good news for those of us who love a bargain.

Friday, June 3, 2011

Scone-a-mania

I baked again today. On the menu today were mayonnaise biscuits (surprisingly delicious and few ingredients), rich tea scones, blueberry oatmeal scones, chocolate chip muffins and a President's Choice shortbread mix that I managed to burn. Everything that I made from scratch was delicious and the shortbread was OK - the unburnt stuff, that is. Nearly everything has been frozen except for the tasting scones/muffins so my freezer is now heaving and I'm stuffed!
The tea de jour is Grapefruit black, which cuts through all the sweetness quite nicely.

Thursday, June 2, 2011

Muffin Mania!

Even though the weather here argues to the contrary, I do believe we're going to have a long, hot summer. So, I'd like to have a freezer full of my favorite baked goods ready so I don't have to turn on the oven more than necessary during the summer months. Last week, I made a few loaf cakes and today, it was time for muffins. I started at 7 pm and by 10 pm, I had baked five and half dozen muffins: blueberry, strawberry, double chocolate and banana chocolate chip. Four and a half dozen have been frozen while the remaining dozen have been left out for snacking purposes. And I do have to say - I make a great muffin! Muffins are one of those foods that have to be made at home - I have yet to have a decent one in a restaurant or coffee shop. Also, the ones you buy are so big and full of calories - at least homemade ones are smaller and can be adapted for whatever diet you follow.
To go with those muffins, I just received some of Stash's Meyer Lemon Herbal tea and have been drinking that. It's very lemonny and not at all grassy tasting, like so many lemon teas are. I'll definitely be ordering more.