January 29, 2017
A belated Happy New Year to all!
I’ve been out of commission for what seems like forever. Shortly after Christmas, I came down with a
cold/respiratory thing that lasted for about two weeks. Directly after that, I developed some stomach
issues that went on for another couple of weeks. After a trip to the family doctor, a CT scan,
and a gastroenterologist appointment, I’m finally starting to feel like my old
self again. While I was feeling badly, I
didn’t really even think about knitting, spinning, crafting, cooking, or
anything else. I was content to let
Charming wait on and spoil me as I normally spoil him. (It’s that “for better or worse” part of the
marriage vows that I’ve never once regretted taking.) Thankfully, over the past couple of days, I’ve
been slowly ramping back up to my cruising speed.
Before I got sick, I crocheted a cute little bright pink purse for
my great-niece’s 3rd birthday.
I had found a free pattern on Ravelry (a website for knitters,
crocheters, spinners, etc. that I regularly troll for pattern inspiration) and
I knew it would be perfect for her. (If
you’re interested in a simple, adorable purse pattern for a young girl, check
out: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dCfdtHAusB0&t=537s)
Although my purse is slightly different
in that I wanted to make it as colorful as possible to hold a child’s interest
and I made a change purse to go with it, the pattern designer did a better job
at making the purse look “polished”.
Today, while washing a load of clothes, cooking a pot of
vegetarian beans, steaming a pan of rice that I will later make into
gluten-free vegetarian burgers, intermittently working on our income tax
returns, and charting a new design idea for a Tunisian crochet Christmas tree
skirt, I decided to whip up some home-made tea bags.
Charming and I have been drinking herbal tea on a regular basis
for a few months now. (No caffeine or
other harmful ingredients and we rotate our stock to include blueberry, orange
spice, chamomile, chai and others.) I’ve
grown and used my own herbs for years now.
I’ve used my herbs in cooking, teas, and soap-making. When we move to the farm, I plan to have a
bigger herb garden and make more of my own teas (like peppermint, chamomile,
and comfrey…you can no longer buy comfrey tea because it contains “tannin” and
the Food and Drug Administration’s position is that comfrey contains carcinogenic
properties…they classify sassafras in the same way.) I used to grow and dry comfrey when I was a
teenager because it helped to settle my sensitive stomach. My daddy used to drink sassafras tea in the
spring because he said it “purifies your blood”. I love the taste of sassafras tea and comfrey
tea really does help to settle an upset stomach. Although I wouldn’t drink any tea every day,
I think the old adage “everything in moderation” applies as a common sense
gauge to any food or drink that we put into our bodies.
Getting back to our current day tea drinking habits, Charming had
suggested that we purchase loose-leaf herbal teas to expand our options. I’ve found that there are entire businesses
built around loose-leaf teas of every flavor you can think of. However, these teas usually come with a high
price tag. However, when we were in
Costco a couple of weeks ago, we found some loose-leaf tea in a flavor called “fruity
pebbles”. The 16-ounce bag was only
$4.97! I came home and looked the tea up
on the internet and the same bag sells for $29.99 on the tea company’s
website. After digging out my old tea
balls to brew the tea, I found that the balls didn’t hold enough for both
Charming and I to have tea at the same time.
Making my own tea bags will definitely come in handy when we move to the
farm. They’re cheap, simple, and a bunch
can be made in a few minutes. Making the
tea bags ahead of time will also make it easier for Charming to bring me a nice
cup of herbal tea when I’m feeling under the weather.
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| The crocheted purse that I made for my great-niece Hannah. |
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| I also made a little tiara for her...looked better on Hannah than on this cabbage. |
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| I recently learned Tunisian crochet and I'm making a rug for my bathroom. |
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| Here's a closer view of the Tunisian crochet stitch. |
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| For the tea bags, I cut coffee filters in half. (In future, will use unbleached filters.) |
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| Folded the half filter in half again and machine-stitched with nylon thread. |
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| Sewing the bags in one continuous "chain" makes the job quick & easy. |
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| Snip the connecting threads and you have a stack of tea bags ready to be filled. |
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| Adding the tea. About 1 1/2 tablespoons works for me. |
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| After filling, the rounded edges are folded to the back side of the tea bag. |
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| Tea bags are stitched closed, in a continuous chain then connecting threads are cut. |
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| Tea bags stored in a pretty jar or tin until ready for use. |
