Wednesday, October 14, 2009

Farmer's daughter Yunnan

It's really Thursday.
Scientists have told us for a long time that smell is the primary sense to evoke memory. I'm sure we've all had the experience of catching a scent and instantly remembering something we may not have thought of for years. That happened to me today and you'll probably laugh about it.
The weather is still pretty grim, so I was again having black tea, Yunnan Jig from Adagio. The dry leaves are quite long and a bit twisted, mostly a greenish black, but with a good bit of nice gold tips. The dry tea didn't have much scent, but as it brewed, it released one of those instant smell-sense memories!
I grew up on a dairy farm before milking parlors got as mechanized as they are now and twice a day we would have to wash out all the milking machines, the cream separator, the funnels, the milk cans. This was done with the hottest possible water and a special soap that would break down the milk protein. The smell of the tea reminded me of that special smell, fresh, steamy, milky, all enveloping.
I loved that smell And I love this tea. It is not the very best I have ever had, as I really like more tips, but this is so fresh and tastes and smells so wonderfully of good clean earth and leather and spice. This really reaches its best in the back of your mouth and along the sides of your tongue. Definitely one to have on hand.
I have discovered a free kitty toy that keeps them amused for a good 20 minutes. It's called "The dripping water bowl filler" Clean out the water bowl, place it in the sink, set your faucet to drip and voila! they'll watch it or play with it until the bowl is full. A plastic bag full of crumpled paper, tied so they cannot choke on any of it also works for a while. A piece of aluminum foil crumpled and twisted and tied onto a chair will also amuse.
I think I need more to do if these are my creative thoughts for the day. But we have 2 overactive kittens and it's raining and they do not want to get rained on!

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