Tea and Pears.

An old chapel and bell tower belonging to the church my Swiss grandmother was baptized in.

A good day for a walk. There are piles and piles and piles of wood chips from our trees. I covet them and will indeed use them as mulch, with lots of high nitrogen fertilizer. We saw a small stand of spotted touch-me-nots too, with their odd orange/yellow/brown flowers, somewhat similar to an individual hanging snapdragon. We even spotted a pretty pink mushroom and some no bigger than my pinky finger nail.




Farmers’ market day again. The local grapes - Concord and Himrod are in, as well as Ginger Gold apples. These are wonderful, but they don’t keep their flavor long and from the grocery stores, they aren’t worth much, so I will enjoy the moment, while I await the Winesaps and Northern Spy which generally arrive in October. We are close to the Cornell University farms and can get all sorts of apples from them. They let you taste before you buy, which is really nice. I got a pair of Alpaca wool socks, too. They are so soft. Amazing what you find at the market - everything from socks to fruits and veggies, flowers and pasture fed beef and chicken.


I also bought some pear nut bread, which I am having with some Pear Spice White Tea from Gay Grace Teas www.gaygraceteas.com . It is organic and contains star anise, helichrysum flowers and pear flavoring. In the packet, it is very pretty, but the tea looks overwhelmed by all the flowers and other bits. It seems some of it is bits of chili pepper. It smells rather medicinal, but also pear-like. It has a sweet taste, with some spice, but not much pear. I think it would appeal mostly to you herbal tea fans. Personally, it is not to my taste, although it seems to go nicely with the bread..