Hi Everyone, Happy T
We are in for many days in a row of mid to high 90's F here at the lake for the next two weeks or more. We have been enjoying lovely cooler weather with a little rain thrown in so this will be a shock to the plants for sure-and me too haha I am not all that thrilled with weather this hot and for many days in a row.
We did enjoy our Wisconsin friends Rob and Rich for a few days last week. Good eats, they caught lots of fish to take home with them, and nice for us to have visitors for awhile. (more in a previous post)
I have a handful of slow mail friends that I really enjoy writing to, and look forward to receiving mail as well-it's always a surprise to see a letter in my mail box and makes me happy. This past week I received art along with their letters.
From Iris in Germany a lovely drawing and Henry
and from one of my Debra slow mail friends (I have three Deb, Debra, Debbie friends) I received another beautiful painting and she sent me a 40th wedding anniversary card too. Thank you so much to the both of you-hugs
For my drink share this week I bought a new tea. It is one of Oliver Pluff & Co's cold brew teas made with lemongrass, dried lemon and orange peels, and rose hips. Since I bought a lemongrass plant thought I could dry some of the leaves and then buy the rest of the ingredients. It was cheaper at this point to buy the tea and it also came with a large tea strainer.
I wanted to just make a quart but I didn't have a container wide enough for the tea ball-then I remembered I had this lovely small vintage crystal pitcher that I received as a wedding gift from my cousin Ray all those years ago-perfect.
I needed to empty the tin to find the tea ball
This was a nice refreshing tea, next time I will let it brew a bit longer-I needed the frig space at the time. I do really like this tea company they have mostly historical tea blends and I love the packaging too
Lake photos
We enjoyed watching this man and his dog fishing one early morning
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Oh my gosh, I wrote a huge long comment hit publish and it disappeared from sight! This is the most beautiful post, I also apologized for not writing, I was so absorbed during my time away with treatment for my vision loss I just focused on that one thing, it was difficult, your photos are just so very very beautiful and the beautiful pitcher of delicious tea, perfection, take care my friend,
ReplyDeletesorry that is sooo frustrating when google does that to our comments-hugs thank you so much Laurie
DeleteNo worries about writing Laurie, I know you were working to get back your eye sight back and didn't want you to feel bad if I wrote you a letter-hugs
DeleteSome cold brewed tea would be really nice for hot humid summer days. What were those little birds, sparrows?
ReplyDeletewe are headed to 99 f degrees today so the cold brew tea will be perfect today we get allot of the little red house finches so I think that may be what these are-we do get a few sparrows too but also the titmouse visits
DeleteI'm one of the Deb's!! LOL! But not one that has sent you anything recently...lol... What lovely gifts in the mail! I miss alot about Arkansas but the busy lake on Summer weekends especially is not one of them.. HOT HOT HOT here too up over 100 for weeks on end now.. uuugh.. lol Happy Tday! Hugs! deb
ReplyDeleteI don't care for long weeks of hot especially not in the 100's ugh-do you have a dry heat like Arizona or do you get the humidity too? Yes You are one my Deb's-hugs
DeleteLovely art and letters you received from good friends! The tea looks delicious.
ReplyDeletethank you so much Christine, will be trying the tea today
DeleteHappy 40th Anniversary!💐
ReplyDeleteCold brew tea is a good idea for this summer. The less heat in the kitchen, the better.
agree thank you
DeleteYou got a lot done. Love the photos, espcially the birds all in a row, so pretty. Glad you got some slowmail, the painting from Debra is really precious. Happy T Day, hugs, Valerie
ReplyDeleteThank you, Her watercolors are sooo beautiful
DeleteYou can put fresh lemongrass leaves into hot water and make a delicious lemon tea. I have a plant and I like to do that sometimes. I am loving your pitcher. It is really beautiful and makes a nice one to brew tea in. I've been making a lot of ice tea lately myself. Different kinds, depending on the day. I hope you have a happy new week and happy T day too Kathy. Hugs-Erika
ReplyDeletehot lemongrass tea sounds good too-my plant is still really small but I plan to dry allot of leaves once it starts growing-not suppose to winter over. I love teas in the summer too hugs Happy T
DeleteWhat a fun post! Debbie's art is amazing. Your lake pictures are lovely.
ReplyDeletethank you Debra, yes I love Debbie's art very much-so beautiful that was a very misty morning
DeleteMy favorite photo is the man and his dog...wouldn't you know? I am not looking forward to this week's heat either! The lake does look refreshing though.
ReplyDeleteThis was really special watching this man and his dog fishing-the dog was very attentive stay cool
DeleteNice post Kathy. The art from Iris and Deb are just beautiful and something to cherish. Oh, that tea sounds so good. Anything lemon for me and I am in. LOL The lake photos are wonderful. Now for the rain. We never have rain in June and it has rained every day this month, and last month and the month before. I know when it stops I will want some, not all, of it back. Our highest tempts here in the summer is around 70°F I am so looking forward to that. Have a great day.
ReplyDeleteOh I would love to have summers in the 70's for highs-sooo perfect, that just sounds really nice right now.
Deletewe had soooo much rain too for a couple months with only a couple dry days once in awhile thrown in. now we are just going to be very hot for many days ahead.
Debbie's watercolor art is really special I do cherish these lovely mail gifts.
Enjoy your week
We've had SO much rain here, I was hoping for a few days of no rain. However, i wasn't prepared for the incredible heat that both of us are experiencing. High humidity here, too. My window AC is having trouble keeping up. I need it to cool all these electronics in my office. I hate to turn on the whole house AC in the rest of the house, but it was worth it.
ReplyDeleteI adore that pitcher. It is beautiful. I would be proud of it, too.
I'm going to bring my lemon grass in over the winter to see if it will survive. That's why I love planting in pots.
I'm not a fan of Merlot. I prefer a dessert wine that is sweet. Merlot is definitely NOT a sweet wine (grin).
Lovely shots of the lake. The man and his dog were adorable. Thanks for sharing your bee balm, lovely slow mail, your new tea, your Merlot, and your lake photos with us for T this week, dear Kathy.
I was taken a little bit by surprise with this intense heat so soon but that's Missouri haha I am hoping my lemongrass grows well so I can dry lots of leaves for tea, I really enjoyed this as a cold tea very refreshing and the citrus was not strong at all.
DeleteI do prefer a more dry wine over sweet.
Lots of wonderful mail. Slow mail is SO fun! I write to 5 people but I have been a slacker for the past few months. Life gets busy and letter writing goes out the door. Your paintings and drawings you received are fabulous.
ReplyDeleteI have that citrus tea. I purchased it last summer but have yet to use it all. I found that I enjoy it more if I add some green tea leaves. The citrus taste was too pungent for me. I will have to dry some of my bee balm flowers. I had no idea they can be used for tea. What do they taste like?
Enjoy the sunshine but stay cool in those temps. I can imagine living near the water helps cool things off slightly.
Happy Tea Day,
Kate
I have really enjoyed my slow mail friends very much, keeps me in contact with people too. I have around 5 too.
DeleteI let this tea cold brew for two days in the frig and it turned out perfect-the citrus was not strong. I have never worked with bee balm before so I have not tried a tea with it yet. it is suppose to similiar to a mint
this is pretty extreme heat that came up so fast and after a lovely week in the 70's so a shock to the system for sure. very very humid too. Happy T
Lovely art from Iris and Debra - I also enjoy receiving slow mail and I still have some of my pen pals that I started to write to in the 1980s and whom I have also met in person. I don't like those high temperatures either. Last week we hit 103 F, it was miserable (we don't have AC), two days later we hardly made it to 75. It has been odd like that the entire year so far. Happy T day!
ReplyDeletethank you I really loved these art pieces too. that is wonderful that you still have slow mail friends for many years-very special.
Deletethat would be hard here with no a/c as the humidity is extremely high today-we made it up to 100 f actual temp. today. a bit too hot for me too Happy T
Yay for snail mail, that flower is so beautiful! And your tea sounds so yummy!
ReplyDeleteI once made tofu with white wine, mushrooms and lemon grass, hmmm, that was yummy, too, must repeat that - that was 2008! Boy, time runs.
I love, love, love your lake, oh, that fisherman and his companion, so sweet!
Have a happy T-day and feel free to send some warm temps over, hugs!
yes Debbie does beautiful paintings. i used to make my own tofu years back when I was a vegetarian for around 10 years or so. learned my body doesn't like soy products but it is a neat food product to make allot of things with.
Deletethat was so sweet to watch the man and his dog-the dog was really watching for the fish on the line happy T
That tea sounds so refreshing for hot weather. I enjoyed the lake photos especially the birds on the rails. They reminded me of living, musical notes. Happy T Day
ReplyDeleteGood morning CJ I love that-living musical notes Happy T
DeleteThat tea looks delicious. Those foggy lake view photos are very atmospheric. Nice!
ReplyDeleteI've missed T Stands for Tuesday during my staycation. It's good to be back.
This tea was really nice and refreshing since it is very hot here now.
Deletethat fog was a surprise when we woke up early that morning couldn't see anything past the deck for a few hours.
It is nice to check in with everyone
Where to start? So much going on today. It's so nice to get snail mail (that's why I love my Postcrossing). Iris's drawing is great and Deb's flower is gorgeous. (I assume she painted that)
ReplyDeleteI love that photo of the fisherman and his dog.
The cold water tea sounds very nice. Refreshing.
Cheers (I love Merlot too)
Happy T-Day,
Hugs,
Lisca
Hi Lisca, The flower is really lovely, I have it out so I can enjoy it. This one is from Debbie at View from harmony hills here http://wwwviewfromharmonyhills.blogspot.com/
DeleteI loved watching the fisherman and his dog-had to grab my camera-I think merlot is one of my favoirites hugs
Sounds like you've had a busy week and oh how I love the photos of the lake, so beautiful 😁. Such amazing happy mail too - wonderful! Wishing you a very Happy T Day! Hugs Jo x
ReplyDeleteHi Jo, thank you sooo much hugs
ReplyDeleteSounds like you had a lovely visit from friends up near my neck of the woods. :) Lake life really is the best life. For now I'll just settle for time spent at my cousins lake cabin.
ReplyDeleteHappy T day!
we moved to the lake from our 300 acre woods home-to downsize. we are seniors now so mostly enjoy the views over the lake-I tried twice to comment on your blog and wouldn't post
DeleteThe temperatures here are rising too - not as high as you (or my SIL in France) Love your art gifts. Love the lake photos ! Belated Happy T Day, Chrisx
ReplyDeleteHi Chris, thanks so much-surprises in my mailbox are always so fun Happy T
DeleteOur temperatures here in the UK have been about the mid-twenties, which has seemed hot! However, I think rain is coming for the weekend.
ReplyDeleteAll the best Jan
rain is good we are in for a very long heat and humidity string of weeks-this area of Missouri will get a very hot summer once in awhile
DeleteDear Kathy I am late in visiting...been busy trying to get yard work done before we get the heat wave you are having...it is coming our way again next week. So kind of you to mention my art work. It gives me great pleasure to make something for someone. Iris certainly must enjoy it as well. Wow such a lovely gift all the way from Germany. Isn't life the best when we can share our days with each other. Love your photos of the lake. Seeing them makes me feel as if I am right there. Take care - Hugs!
ReplyDeletethank you Debbie-I sent you a email too-hugs
Delete