Citron, Socks, and a Cup of Tea

   I probably would have had Citron done by now, but I stopped so I could make a pair of socks for my mom for Mother’s Day, do some yard work, and various other miscellaneous things. Yeah, I’m quite ambitious with the spring weather around here. ::lol:: I’ll just summarize everything in separate paragraphs and hopefully, I don’t bore anyone reading this. ;)

   I thought I gave myself plenty of time to get Mom’s socks done (2 weeks is enough, right?), but I was pushing the limit on getting them done and mailed to her on time. They should be there Saturday (I mailed them yesterday afternoon), but it might be Monday depending on how fast USPS moves. Close enough at any rate. I didn’t get them blocked, but that’s alright. Between the socks and the tasty coffee, I think she’ll like them. :)

    I’m almost done with section 3 of Citron at the moment. I’m excited to be that far into it and I can’t wait to finish it. I love the color green and with spring here, this is an excellent project to be working on right now. :D I’ve mentioned before that the pattern just caught my eye when I first saw it. It’s even lovelier when you’re seeing it in person.

   I’m currently enjoying a cup of Mighty Leaf’s Pear Caramel Truffle. This stuff is incredible! A nice, rich black  tea that’s perfect for any occasion. Mmmmm. If my allergies weren’t wreaking so much havoc with me, I’d write a tea review as well, but it’s taking all my mental functions just to get this post written and not be incredibly dry. Hopefully, I get over the low brain power state of my allergy troubles soon. Until then, I have tasty caffeinated tea.

   I’ve been trying to make it outside lately--especially with the  warmer weather—and get some stuff done to my yard. I noticed a few weeks ago that there was something growing along the outside edge, but wasn’t sure if they were tulips or daffodils. Turns out they’re tulips. I moved in to this place during the fall last year, so I didn’t have a chance to see the tulips, but I’m happy they’re there because they brighten the whole place up. The yard has some dead patches, so I’ve been raking and trying to reseed it a little bit when it’s not too cold or windy out. I need to kill some dandelions as well, but at least I have my own yard to play with now. ::happy dance:: I already have the start of a small garden out there. Some cilantro, chives, dill, basil, and creeping phlox right now, but I’ll get some more stuff out when it warms up more and I don’t have to worry about snow.

   I’ve decided to give spinning a try. A drop spindle isn’t that much, so I won’t be out hardly anything if it doesn’t pan out. As for why I want to spin, well, I saw a colorway I loved on Etsy, but the fingering weight yarn was sold out. I could have asked if they’d dye some more for me, but since they had the roving in that colorway, I decided to give it a whirl (no pun intended). I ordered a Learn to Spin kit from another seller, so I had some short instructions and practice material. I got my lovely roving yesterday and I’m anxiously waiting on the spindle kit to arrive. It’ll take me a bit to get the hang of it, but I think it’ll be a lot of fun…if I can keep my dog away from it. ::lol:: I’m hoping he doesn’t decide that he should try and play with the spindle, and knowing him he might.

   Wow, this ended up being a lot longer than I thought. ::lol:: Yay for spring and summer! :D

Morning Cuppa, Kukicha and Windows Live Writer

   OK, that sounds a bit Pokémon-ish, but that’s alright. LOL.

Kukicha is a Japanese green tea, just in case you were wondering. I’m not sure how to describe the flavor of it, but here  it goes: a bit “grassy” with a chestnut and cream undertone is about the best I can do. It’s a pretty looking tea. The leaves are a nice light, bright green and there are some twigs in it. Yeah, you read  that right twigs. Kukicha is also known as “twig tea.” I’m not sure why the twigs are in there, but it does add a different flavor to it. I’ve seen one site say:

Land is a scarce resource in Japan, making all agriculture a pricey endeavor. So it became essential for the Japanese farmer to extract as much value from each tea bush as possible. Necessity being the mother of invention, the Japanese have been ingenious at devising tea varieties that are unheard of in countries more land-endowed. One such product is Kukicha. Twigs are an unusual tea ingredient. However, combined with green leaves they form a serendipitous mixture, with a unique taste and aroma. Well worth a try.

I’m not sure if that’s true or not, but whatever the reason for the twigs, it still makes it interesting. 

   I’m currently writing this out on Windows Live Writer. I’m not sure what I think of it right now. I’ll say this though- it’s a lot easier to add pictures and links to it and previewing the post as I write it. I’m a huge fan of being able to see my posts real-time. I can fix errors or possible errors ahead of time, rather than after I post it. :D Excellent in my case. Now let’s see if I can get it to post onto here. LOL

Morning Cuppa: Tea for a Captain

   It's not surprising given my blog title, that I'd review a tea on occasion. After all, that's my general drink of choice. Different brands have a different idea of certain blends or flavours and it's kind of interesting to see how one compares to another.

   One of my favourite places to get tea --especially since I'm in the middle of nowhere and the tea selection can be sparse-- is Adagio. They have a plethora of loose leaf teas and accessories in a variety of sizes. One of my favourite features by far though is the custom tea blend option. There are a lot of neat ideas to fit your mood. Everything from the Zodiac series to Birthday Tea to Velvet. Just rummage through the list or watch a few Adagio TeaV episodes and try a few!

   The one I'm drinking right now is a nice little blend called Tea for a Captain. The blend consists of chestnut black tea to give it a bit of an "outdoorsy-in-the-woods-or-at-sea" feeling, a bit of cinnamon black tea to complement the chestnut, and a touch of rum (also a black tea) to warm you up on a chill winter night. I might have overdone the cinnamon tea a touch though. Maybe. Even if there's a tad too much cinnamon, the flavours complement each other nicely (no, I'm not saying this because I made the blend) and you can still taste that hint of rum and the chestnut isn't overwhelming. The aroma of it is freaking amazing as well. I could sit and just smell the danged tea. All in all, a great tea that I'm definitely going to enjoy. Good thing too since I now have 4 oz. of it. LOL. If you try it, let me know what you think.