Welcome, Sunshine

We have been having a whole string of beautiful days.  Some were only half days, but around here, you celebrate sun.  Perhaps you could even say we appreciate it more because it is somewhat rare in winter.  In the summer, we often welcome a cloudy day that is little cooler.

Some tea news first of all.  Choice Teas has just introduced an organic Korean Green Tea.  It only comes in teabags at the moment.  They also have some other new ones - decaf green, chai, and rooibos chai.  All their teas are organic.  Their website is http://www.choicesorganicteas.com/  At just 4.99 for 16 teabags, this is a good way to try out some Korean tea.  Generally, it is prohibitively expensive.

Numi Tea has just gotten some awards for their organic teas and for their efforts at sustainability.  http://www.numitea.com/ .  I am pleased to see organic companies rewarded for their work in helping the planet and its people.

The New York Coffee and Tea Festival is taking place February 25-26 and there are lots of tea courses available to choose from.

The World Tea Expo, held in June in Las Vegas is 10 years old this year!  Wow, I didn't know that, it's heartwarming that tea has been that important for that long.  I'll have more information about it later on. 

I am having Dragonwell Imperial Reserve from Teavana today.  It is part of a swap I got from participating in the Tea Review Blog swap.  I thought it suitable for the celebration of the Lunar Year of the Dragon.  These lovely green leaves are so much fun.  They are long, slender and absolutely flat as they are generally hand-fired in woks.  They feel like silk as they run through my fingers.  These seem to give off a sweet aroma.  I am brewing them at about 170 for 2 minutes.  Wow, does this smell wonderful.  A cross between spring green and a sweet orchid.  It is a very pale green.  It tastes as good as it smells, delicate, sweet, spring grassy, a great way to welcome the new year in.

I drove by my neighbor farmer this week and spotted a flock of about 50 wild turkeys gleaning in his corn field.  My little downy woodpeckers are back at the suet feeder and last night I heard the owls calling to each other in the woods - it is mating season and I suppose all the gents were telling the ladies how wonderful they are.  I have been saving my yarn ends from my projects for the birds and soon I will string them through the bushes for them to use in their nests.  I also put out dryer lint for the same purpose.

This is another German ancester's church.  I guess they liked blue.  At some point they had a flood, which rose above the pulpit and up over the balcony.  I now understand what that is like.