Hello Earth!

Thou art the flower

"My God, my aim and my fulfillment; 

I am thy yesterday and thou art my tomorrow.  

I am thy root in the earth and thou art my flower in the sky, 

and together we grow before the face of the sun."

~Kahil Gibran

Proportion

The fig-ettes are about the size of peas

I'm six feet tall
and wearing heels (boots) in this picture

Thursday Tea Time - Souper Duper!

This week - Numi Savory Tea - Carrot Curry

Cost:  $5.99 on sale at Whole Foods
Number of teabags:  12
Caffeine:  No
Type of tea:   Green
Steeping time:  10+ minutes
Add ins:  None
Tea fragrance:   Carrot, curry, veggie
Ingredients:   Organic-- carrot, curry, cilantro, onion, ginger, turmeric and decaf green tea.
Opinion:  Further proof if it is weird, I will try it!  Actually I liked it.  It was not unlike a veggie broth, only portable.  "A Garden in Your Teacup" as promoted on the Numi website.  The only ding I give it is there are only 12 teabags per box.  And the regular price is $7.99.  A little pricey.  But on the other hand, low in sodium (none added, just naturally-occurring from the vegetables - 135mg, and 2% calcium)   Plus you get the added benefit of healthy spices like turmeric and ginger.  It also took the edge off my appetite during my melt-down hour from 3-4 PM.
Definitely worth seeking this out and the other flavors of Tomato Mint, Beet Cabbage, Fennel Spice, Broccoli Cilantro, Spinach Chive and Garden Sampler
Rating:  4

Wednesday Work in Progress

In progress!  I actually finished the embroidered baby diapers -- talk about a search trying to find diaper pins!  Now I am brainstorming and sketching out new ideas.

Netflix Stars - The Odd Life of Timothy Green

3.5 stars    Definitely quirky!  If you are looking for a sweet, feel-good movie, you'll enjoy it.  However, there's not a lot of depth -- a lot of issues/characters/situations were skimmed over, and somewhat odd the more you think about them afterwards.  Hmmm.  What can you say, it's a Disney movie.

Drop it!

Upcoming Jo-Ann's Sales

April 14/May 4

30% off Ginghers (including rotary!)
25% off knitting needles and crochet hooks

Daffodil Dash - April 14/20

Entire stock of thread - 50% off
McCall's - 99 cents
Vogue - $3.99
50% off Olfa, Fiskars and Dritz rotary cutters, blades, rulers and mats

Love is all around us

Even broken hearts can be made whole again. . .

Thursday Tea Time

This week - Pukka Licorice & Cinnamon Organic Herbal Tea

Cost:  $6.99 at Whole Foods Market (Arbor Trails), Austin, Texas
(Also online at Amazon)
Number of teabags:  20
Caffeine:  No
Type of tea:   Herbal
Steeping time:  5-6 minutes
Add ins:  Actually none needed!  This tea stands alone just fine.  Hello iced tea!  Though the Natural Bliss Vanilla and Sweet Cream make this a great tea latte, too.
Tea fragrance:   Cinnamon
Ingredients:   Licorice root (25%), cocoa bean, roasted chicory root, cardamom seed, cinnamon bark (15%), fennel seed.
Opinion:  Fortunately I have a hubby who indulges my crazy tea searches, and checking out grocery stores/different Whole Foods, and he likes licorice - so he found this, and I'm glad he did.  This is really, really good!  First you get the cinnamon kick and then the two-seconds later punch of licorice.  Wow!  And no caffeine so I can have this after dinner to effectively dismiss my dessert/carbing desires.   Pukka makes great teas - see my earlier blog post for their Green Chai  And bonus they are all organic, too.
Rating:  5+

Wednesday Work in Progress - Huh?!

This Week in my Garden - Kitchen Edition

Cacophony of Color!

Everything in here has wintered/summered over for the past two plus years, some even longer.  I only added the yellow snapdragons last month to fill in and bide their time.

My tossed outside 2011 Christmas poinsettia still keeps adding even more "blooms"!

Love is all around us. . .

The door knobs at Rice University - Herzstein Hall
Built in 1914, it was originally the Physics Building when Rice was known as Rice Institute.

The Cosmos. . .

Stock Photo

I love stock (also called Mathiola)...and these pink ones are so pretty and fragrant!

Happiness and contentment!

Thursday Tea Time

This week - The Art of Tea "Chocolate Monkey"

Pretty, yummy

Cost:  $11 at The Oasis Juice Bar and Market in Galveston, Texas

Number of teabags:  3.5 ounces (99.2g), per the website makes approximately 45 cups

Caffeine:  Yes, just a little from the chocolate

Type of tea:   Tisane/Herbal/Red

Steeping time:  7 minutes

Add ins:  Natural Bliss Sweet Cream.  Though with a little touch of sugar and served iced would be wonderful, too!

Tea fragrance:   Chocolate!  Then spicy/fruity

Ingredients:   Organic Fair Trade South African Rooibos, Organic South African Honeybush, Organic Cacao Nibs, Organic Apple Bits, Organic Banana Bits, Organic Pink Peppercorn, Ground Chocolate* (sugar, cocoa-processed w/alkali, unsweetened chocolate, soy lecithin, vanilla), Natural Flavors

Opinion:  I think there was a reason there was only one canister tin left, and I got it!  What a beautiful-looking tea, too!  I didn't really taste the banana, which is good.  Mostly chocolate-y/spicy.  I would drink this in the afternoon or after dinner - it kept me from rummaging through the Easter basket remains.  While it is fortunate you can find this online, and in different sizes -- if you are in Galveston or even thinking about it, this is a great reason of many to stop into the Oasis Juice Bar, which is just around the corner from one of my favorite yoga studios, The Yoga Haven.  (Bonus if you are cruising out of Galveston, they are blocks away from the cruise ship dock terminals!)  They have several of the Art of Tea tins, including a coconut which I had iced.  Wow! I'm going back for that one, too.

Rating:  4.75

Love is all around us here in Texas!

Lupinus Texensis

The state flower of Texas, the Texas Bluebonnet.  Photographed along the banks of Oyster Creek, in Sugar Land, Texas.

Happy April to All!

I love the vintage-style lettering!

Today's Favorite Workout Song

Olly Murs - "Troublemaker" - 3:05