By the end of the day I am dragging a bit. We usually take ourselves for a walk in the evenings, not far, just far enough to be huffing and puffing. I feel chilled in the evenings, which is completely cured by a brisk walk. February is showing us who is boss, snow, snow, snow, nothing extreme, just regular old winter. It is always a treat when the roads are bare or just wet, sure footing. Winter has been giving us some real workouts walking on slippery snow, or rough ice, or slush… there are no sidewalks here, so the road is our only recourse.
After coming in from our walk, I’ve taken a quick shower. My haircut continues to horrify me, it has been months, it has not grown out gracefully. I am beginning to research hairstylists with good reviews, hoping for someone talented who could rescue my head! Every time I take a shower, my hair and what to do with it are front and centre.
I take an injection every few weeks to control my cholesterol levels, which have not responded to any lifestyle measure, or medication, other than these injections. There are side effects, I live with them, so far none have been too intrusive, or damaging that I know of. With all medications, who knows if they are killing you while they are helping you, killing with kindness. I have chosen to do the injections, these aneurysms are no joke!
The new blood pressure medication seems to be helping. I am not sure the GP will think it is helping enough, hope so.
Meanwhile, back at the “ranch”, we are cozy here in Mist Cottage. It is so great having Attila around, and we are finally falling into a comfortable routine. Tonight he made dinner, macaroni and cheese with mixed vegetables mixed in. Comfort food for a cold winter’s night.
Ginger is sleeping on the couch, waiting for Attila to sit beside him, to rub his belly. Ginger is exhausted from all the rest he has been getting, he really puts his all into it.
We recently purchased raised garden beds from RGB in Toronto, Canadian made, sturdy, very impressive. The pine raised beds Attila built are beginning to disintegrate, so we hope these new galvanized steel raised beds will outlive us. Attila will be very busy with the garden this year, as the old raised beds need to be dismantled, and the new filled and planted.
At the moment, Attila is about to purchase the wood and materials required to build a canning jar shelving unit for the basement. It will hold 1000 jars, and will be built to protect the jars if there is an earthquake. To make sure we maximized space, I did a floor plan of the section of the basement where the shelves will go, and place our freezer, the new shelves, and the old shelves. I am really looking forward to getting all of this storage organized.
I always felt I should like tea (I do not), and would purchase a new flavour, or type of tea, in the pursuit of one that I liked. Over 50 years the collection of rejected teas has grown, and grown, and grown. I don’t throw things out. And now all this tea tragedies have turned into good fortune. I am using them to make Kombucha. I make a gallon jar at a time, usually there are two on the go. Half of the brew is green tea, and half a selection from my tea treasury.
The last three batches of Kombucha were made with tea purchased in the 1970s, I think it is called Harvest Spice by Celestial Seasonings. It was used with the green tea in the last three batches of Kombucha, which tastes great, very Christmasy, as there is a strong element of cloves in the mix. I drink it with a little bit of cranberry juice, very nice. It was decided unanimously that this tea should be saved for our Kombucha next Christmas.
The project now is to brew Kombucha without this flavour, which had I been thinking it through, I would have kept making a batch with just green tea. Now I will start to brew with just green tea, until the harvest spice flavour disappears, it may take a few batches for this to be accomplished. Every batch of Kombucha is started with two cups of Kombucha from the previous batch.
OK, I’ve been here writing, trying to avoid this injection I must take tonight. Silly really that I procrastinate, it doesn’t hurt, the side effects are trivial, time to get moving!
Worldly
Weather
-14°C (this morning it was -21, wind chill -27)
Date: 8:00 PM EST Wednesday 5 February 2025
Condition: Partly Cloudy
Pressure: 103.0 kPa
Tendency: Falling
Temperature: -14.0°C
Dew point: -15.8°C
Humidity: 86%
Wind: ENE 5 km/h
Wind Chill: -17
Visibility: 24 km
Quote
“I believe in God, only I spell it Nature.”
Frank Lloyd Wright
1869 – 1959
I’m glad you found a use for the old tea. (I didn’t know leaves that are nearly 50 years old could still be used.)
Joan, it is very satisfying to use the vintage tea for a beverage we enjoy. We will be tasting each one in a separate batch of Kombucha, and keeping one batch of Kombucha going exclusively with green tea, so that we always have a green tea starter going forward. My tea has always been stored in cool, dry, dark place, in well sealed containers, which helps a lot.
Tea loses flavour, aroma, and some of its beneficial qualities over time.The older it is, the more that is lost. It is safe, just not as flavourful or beneficial. That is why I am brewing the vintage tea with “fresh” green tea, to retain the beneficial elements. The tea described here, Harvest Spice, tastes stronger now, at least some of the flavours in it are stronger, other flavours in the tea may no longer exist. We like the taste, so that is not an issue for us with this tea.
Many vintage foods are not dangerous to eat or drink (some are, e.g. fats go rancid). We don’t throw anything out unless it smells bad, looks bad, tastes bad, or in the case of low acid canned foods, has lost its seal. If a safe vintage food has lost some of its flavour, or quality, we make up for that when we use it as an ingredient, with spices, or cooking techniques. After walking through the grocery store and seeing all the ultra processed faux food on the shelves, I am confident that our vintage ingredients provide us with superior nutrition to those offerings.
I had to throw out some yogurt last week, it was over a year old and I didn’t trust it even for baking. I still feel a little bad about it. I bought it to recover from the colonscopy diet I had to follow, which affected my microbiome, but didn’t eat much of it because I dislike it, It is a rare event that we throw out any food.
DH enjoys hot tea on a daily basis but I prefer an odd mixture of apple juice and ice tea. We save spices for our long term collections, rather than teas. The only problem with that is we’ve gotten used to some spices being more mild, and when we have to replace them there’s a real bite on the tongue from a newly opened spice. We had that happen recently with allspice. I had almost a burning in my stomach, like I get from black pepper.
I just can’t get myself to take a chance with snowy, icy walks. But I do get indoor walks in at various grocery stores several times per week. When the weather gets better, I’ll walk more – to the maibox and back 5 daysa week, plus grocery shopping.
Teri, apple juice and iced tea sound good. Hot tea is something I have not learned to like.
I did not drink tea or coffee until in was in my late 30s. I did come to enjoy coffee, but not tea.
I remember calling a friend when I was at a meeting where etiquette suggested I accept a cup of coffee. He laughed when I called and asked me if I was drinking coffee, as my voice has risen an octave (he was a musician).
Interesting experience with mild aged spices and freshly purchased spices. An excellent tip to keep in mind.
So wise not to take chances on icy walks. Right now we are avoiding the ice by walking down the middle of the road, which has its risks as well, but minimal as we stay alert to approaching vehicles. Like you, we take our walks at the grocery store when the weather, sidewalks, and roads are risky, a great way to get in some walking and do some shopping at the same time. During prolonged periods of bad walking conditions we have been known to alternate between the grocery store, the Canadian Tire store, and Walmart, to get our exercise.