Tea Time

I am a tea drinker not a coffee drinker…I never could get over the biter taste of coffee so finally gave up trying to like coffee and stuck with tea which I enjoy very much, hot or cold.

I like to have hot tea and would heat 2-3 cups of water in microwave each morning and would brew my tea using loose leaf tea in a tea ball strainer but always had to re-heat the brewed tea or heat more water as it always got cold.  Not a huge problem but I like my hot tea HOT.  I have one of the pretty glass coffee presses and it works but just doesn’t keep my tea hot.

Before Christmas I was looking through Amazon.com and came across several different insulated coffee/tea presses.  I immediately knew this would work for me…easy to use, easy to clean and hot tea for several hours, plus they looked pretty.

I settled on this stainless steel insulated pot and ordered it and have not been sorry I did.  I LOVE IT, LOVE IT, LOVE IT.  It holds 3 cups of water which fills about 2 1/2 mugs of tea which is just the right amount for me.   I like that I can put the tea leaves in the pot and when I am finished and need to clean up I can just rinse it out and the leaves go down the disposal.  I always had tea leaves sticking to the tea ball strainer so it is nice to just rinse out the pot and swish…they are gone!

The lid/press looks like the above.  Some tea leaves might stick to the bottom but a quick rinse and they come loose and down the drain like the rest of the used leaves. 

I do like that it looks pretty sitting on my table or by the computer as well as the fact that it keeps my tea hot for several hours.   So far I am not putting it in the dishwasher to keep the outside shiny and unscratched.  I dry it immediately too so it won’t water spot. 

Here is the web page on Amazon.com for this particular pot I ordered but look at all the other coffee presses for other models. 

Tea, tea, tea, so many flavors and kinds – I love all kinds but right now my two favorites are Oolong and Lychee Black.  I love the semi-sweet flavor of the Lychee Black so am choosing to drink it most mornings.  I would like to drink tea all day long but need to have decaffeinated tea or water in the afternoons if I want to sleep at night so usually opt for drinking water which is good for me anyway. 

Nice sunny day today.  We didn't get much more snow last night and John estimates we had about 6-8" and it is very light and fluffy but slick as John found out this morning.  He had to go to town and another guy slid through an intersection and they crunched together.  Our pickup has a dent over the front wheel, passenger's side, plus did some damage under the headlight too.   The pickup is old but it will still need to be fixed...guess we are lucky no one was hurt.  John said it was kind of like slow motion as he hit the brakes too when he saw the guy coming across but they both slid together - Crunch. 

I have quilt guild tonight and I will have John drive me in as I am not driving yet.  We have not had a meeting since November so it will be good to see everyone.

Lynn

Snow

Backside of our house.

Today we are getting a snow storm but so far we are just getting falling snow, not blowing snow.  That is unsual for us in Nebraska as most times as the snow falls it also blows in blizzard like fashion.  Of course the wind could come up yet and blow it all into piles by morning. 

View from my front door, looking toward the barn.

I took these photos right around noon today and it has snowed pretty steady since then so everything is a little whiter.

Lynn

Keeping My Hands Busy

I finally am able to do a little with my right arm so decided to try knitting.   That makes it sound like I really know how to knit and  guess I do but definately not a master knitter by any means.  My knitting experience is quite limited and mostly I have just knited squares and rectangles.  I did start knitting a pair of socks at least a year ago but only got one done over the heel then put it away.  Must get it out again sometime and see if I can figure out where I am on it or start over.

I decided to make more dishcloths.  I love to use these dishcloths and this was the perfect project for me right now.   I use the directions for one called Grandmothers Favorite.  The website is called Knitting Pattern Central and has lots and lots of free knitting patterns all types.

It had been so long since I have knitted anything I couldn't even remember how to cast on and then after I finished it I couldn't remember how to cast off.  Luckily I had a fabulous website (knittinghelp.com) bookmarked to give me a memory boost.    I used this website to help learn to knit even though my niece taught me the basics.  For one thing, this web page has wonderful short videos on the different stitches.  The videos show the English method of knitting which most American's use...this one you throw the yarn over the needle with the right hand, and the Continental method which picks up the yarn that is held with the left hand.  The Continental method reminds me more of crochet and for me being left handed it just was much more natural feeling so taught myself that method and that is the one I use.

I would recommend the Knitting Help free web videos to anyone wanting to learn to knit.  They are very easy to see what to do and you can play them over and over until you get it or to refresh your memory as I needed this time.

I like to use the circular needles when I knit instead of the straight kind as I was always hitting the sides of my chair with the straight ones and the circular ones are more compact and I don't have that problem.  

Oops!

I did make a few errors when knitting this first dishcloth but you know it is just a dishcloth so I am not ripping stitches to start over.  I didn't do the increase yarn over a couple of times and once I stopped in the middle of a row to go do something and when I came back I picked it up and knitted back to the same end and didn't notice it until several rows later.  It makes the dishcloth have 1/2 row more on one side than the other.  This pattern only uses the knit stitch and is knit from one corner up on the diagonal with yarn over to increase at the beginning of each row until you reach the half way point then knit two stitches together to decrease.  It makes the dishcloth look like it has a lace edge with the yarn overs.

Two more errors.

I made one change in the pattern though.  I like a larger dishcloth so I knit rows until I have 50 stitches on the needles before I start decreasing.  The pattern says to increase until you have 44 stitches.  I use a size 7 circular needles that I purchased at Hobby Lobby.  I like the narrow tips on the end of these particular needles.  I use the Sugar and Cream yarn an inexpensive cotton yarn that makes great dishcloths.  That is pretty much it - I do use a large eyed needle to weave the tails back into the previous knitting at the start and finish.

Have one done and started another with another color yarn last evening.  Don't know how many I will knit but now can knit these almost without thinking so can watch TV while knitting.  As I said they are great dishcloths, easy to make and they do make great gifts too!

Until Later,
 
Lynn

Amaryllis

There is something nice about having real flowers in my home in the middle of the winter, especially after all the Christmas decorations have been taken down’  Maybe it is the hope of spring to come, don’t know, but January and February are times when I especially like to have fresh flowers around.

On my last trip to Hastings I purchased a couple of amaryllis bulbs right before I had surgery – love the flowers and since the bulbs were over 1/2 price I couldn’t resist.  Could get my flower fix this way.  

This one was already growing when I bought it and was out of it’s box so didn’t know what color I was buying.  I was hoping it would be a red one but as you can see it has variegated pink and white blossoms.  The other one is supposed to be this color so who knows maybe it will be a surprise too when it blooms.  The second one is just starting to grow and a leaf tip has just emerged from the bulb.  It is nice that they are not both blooming at the same time. 

I hope to be able to keep these alive over the summer and plant them again next year.  I had one that I kept for several years but last summer it didn’t get planted and of course died of neglect.  I had a late start getting my garden in shape then broke my ankle so was just lucky that John wanted to take care of what I had done before my fall.

Keeping them from year to year is pretty easy…just sink the pot or remove the bulb and plant it in your flower bed in the spring after all frost is gone and keep it watered and fertilized all summer.  Towards fall dig it up and lay it in a dry spot  out of the sun and let it dry up.  (I lay mine on newspaper on my garage floor.)  When you want it to grow again and bloom, re-pot and start watering it.  I think they do need the rest time without water to bloom and the old leaves will dry up and you will need to pull them off before re-potting. 

I have found that keeping the bulbs over and fertilizing them during the summer they tend to have more than one bloom stem and more blooms per stem so it is well worth the effort.

Enjoy my flowers to brighten your winter.

Lynn
P.S.   When I looked at my blog this morning I couldn't figure out why the photos all looked a little out of focus but when you click on them they are sharp...wonder if that is the way it as always been?  Anybody know?