The tea

Hello all, it’s tea time for me here on Fertile Acres Farm. We had a shipment come in today from Coffee Bean Direct via Amazon.com. It’s a 2lb bag of Lapsang Souchong… Oh my, it’s delicious!
I’m sitting in the basement bedroom, because it is 70* down here, verses the over 80* upstairs. I’m busy getting the house ready for our recovering relative’s arrival.
Meanwhile, last night I counted 8 chicks in the pen. That’s a victory. I’m going to head to the coop and count as soon as the temp drops a bit. I feed and water in the evening. As generally it is cooler then.
We are overdosing on fruit here on the farm. The local grocery had cantaloupe for 59 cents a pound. I take one whole melon, peel and gut it, slice it and set it aside. In a microwave safe container big enough for the fruit, I put 3 soup spoons of brown sugar and a bit of vanilla in the microwave until the sugar is melted. I grate nutmeg over the top and stir until all the crystals are incorporated. I let it cool just a bit, and toss the melon in with maybe some bananas or even grapes. If nutmeg isn’t available, I use cinnamon. Exact amounts vary according to taste.
The next day, I add one more melon to the bowl, and stir. This refreshes the remaining fruit.
Now, if the fruit has gotten a bit soft, I increase the amount of sugar and vanilla a bit. It works.
This brings to mind table scraps and animal bread. We buy animal bread at 2.50 a bag. Each bag weighs about 15 pounds. This is enough to feed the birds two loaves a day for awhile. We buy as much animal bread as we can each week, and freeze it. The birds love it as a summer treat. I also throw all of our food scraps in a 5 gallon bucket and give them the scraps daily or twice a week, depending on the time of year. In winter, this gives them a temporarily warm meal.
Tim has developed an allergy. He is covered over his arms with blisters. They are healing, but he is miserable. He kinda overdid it with the deep woods off spray. Dad and I have been extremely busy the last three days, and I didn’t notice his physical reaction until too late. Poor feller, hopefully soon he will be better. He spends his days on the deck, and therefore is a prime target for the bugs.
We need to set up something like a tent for him to set in. It’s the only way I can think of to keep him comfortable.
Another sip of tea, and oh my this is good. It’s got a smokey undertone, and is quite delicious. I make my tea which is loose leaf in my mr coffee french press. I’m totally addicted to this device. It never scorches the coffee or tea, and just works great to make sure that the liquid it produces just is at the best flavor. I just follow the grind and or tea steeping time that I enjoy and I’m in liquid heaven for the next hour. I have a little electric kettle that boils my water for me, so with just a little effort I’m set. No filters to mess with, and clean up is easy peasy.
Does it sound like I’m writing commercials? Sorry, I’m just enthusiastic about these things. Although, perhaps I won’t buy any more bug spray. Sadly, we have enough in the house for daily use over the next two years.
Oh well, life gets teejious.
That’s all for now, I’ve got to get back to the physical work. Break is over.
Louise Ann Benjamin