Thursday Wanderlust

Two things eluded me today - sleep and blog fodder. Up at 3:45 am. Huh?

I asked a couple of my Twitter/blog friends @katdish and @billycoffey (and if you don't follow them, you should because one is going to be famous and one is ... hey look, a chicken!).

Their ideas? Tea. And pictures.

So I left work early and captured a few....

This is what greets me in the morning. Choices, choices.

White cantaloupe is one of my favorites. Sweet without sugar. Yes Billy, I said without sugar.And I love all things pomegranate. Even my tea.

I'm not a tea snob, but I've loved green and white teas for years. It's chock-full of healthy antioxidants which you all know and love. Plus a little caffeine if you feel you need it. Or not.

I prefer the loose leaf variety. It's fresher, gives you a better flavor, and if a leaf escapes the tea basket you have something really special to pick out of your teeth and save for afternoon tea. Loose leaf tea has a woodsy flavor and aroma that can't be steeped from bagged tea. More than one person has looked suspiciously at my "stash." I swear to you, it's T-E-A.

And look at this awesome one! It's called Green Peony and the leaves are so long they tie them together like a flower and when you put in in the perfectly off-boiled water, it turns into a tea ball. This is particularly tasty and works well as iced tea because there's a LOT of tea in this bundle.I got this quaint tall mug I got for my birthday from someone who claims me as their mother - it's my favorite size and the woodsy pattern on it is fabulous! OK, so I used "woodsy" twice in the same post. Too much tree bark and woodland creature food for lunch I guess. If I'm feeling really special and Ron Burgundy isn't here to give me a foot rub need to pamper myself, I use this little pot/cup combo that my sister-in-law gave me. It's gorgeous porcelain, so please, Hands. Off. Only I am allowed to break it.Let's grab our tea and go outside and look at my new hummingbird feeder and garden stone that were also birthday gifts. No, Snickers, you can't come out. And Lucky's not coming back (insert sad face emoticon here)See the humming bird? Yeah, me neither. I think it flew behind either the yard waste bag or the kitty litter bucket that I seem to be focused on here.Can't wait until these are big enough to dredge and fry. I love me some fried green tomatoes. They've grown so slow this summer, and nearly got frostbitten a couple of weeks ago. Global warming has escaped Iowa.

The fish are in school this evening. And the water hyacinths are ready to explode into bloom.

Anybody know how to read tea leaves? I never got into that. I'll read this instead. Makes perfect sense to end the evening with cup of tea and a little Malachi.

Tea tonight: Genmaicha