A Love......

I ❤ Tea

I just love it. I drink copious amounts each day.

I do like a coffee nestled somewhere in the day, but tea is my biggest love.

♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥

I grew up in a household where tea was made in a cup. A teabag plonked in each one with a bit of milk. A teapot was rarely used. 

Now, I have always been a fan of the 'teabag plonked in a cup' method. You get your tea exactly to the strength of your liking. Quick, easy, no extra washing up. Simple. I'm no snob.

No one I knew actually liked using a teapot. You could never get it to the right strength. First too weak, then too strong. What a waste of good tea!

Tea needed to be instant and I didn't want to faff about getting it.

So, a cup and a teabag it always was.

Coffee, however, was a different matter. There was pleasure in drinking it, but there was as much a pleasure in making it. I got my beloved Francis Francis coffee machine, and the effort required in making a coffee from it, is quite time consuming (well, perhaps not in the grand scheme of things, but when you like your drinks the moment you decide you want one, it is!). I love to take my time over making a coffee. A sort of ritual of finding the perfect cup for the mood, picking the perfect coffee for the mood, slowly getting the machine fired up and listening to it roar.

Yes...there is most definitely a real pleasure dedicated to making a decent cup of coffee.

But.......

I have found that in the last few years, I have started to enjoy using a teapot more. Maybe it was the fact that I had collected many teapots and felt that they ought to be used. 

I only use a teapot when I am on my own though. Mr H cannot stand tea made from a teapot.

I do enjoy setting 15 minutes aside each day to choose a teapot, milk jug and favourite cup of the day. It seems to relax me. When the day is rushing at an alarming rate, to take 15 minutes to settle back down again is bliss.

So, my teapot teas are here to stay. That is as far as I went though with my tea making.......

....that is.......

.....until I found....this.......

The cutest ever tea strainer.

I do have a lovely silver heart strainer, which I adore.....but I use it for fresh ginger infusions in hot water.

I fell head over heels in love with this little strawberry strainer. Just the cutest thing in the world in my opinion. Little things please little minds and all that!

Found in my local Tiger shop.....gosh how I love that shop!

So, I have entered into a new phase of tea making. Out with the bag, and in with the loose leaf!

I am finding I need to add an extra 5 minutes to my special tea making moments, but they are a joy!

Just once a day though. The rest are 'teabags plonked in a cup' moments. I am far too impatent to do it everytime, but I am loving my quality tea time moments!

Ridiculous really, but it makes me happy................xxx

Stuff.......

The weeks are speeding by at an alarming rate. I'm trying hard to get the time to sit in my little crafting corner to churn out bits and pieces, getting what's in my head, into some sort of woolly reality.

The half term has passed and now it's the run to the finish line of the school year. Goodness me that's scary.

My plan, to be on here less and be in the real world more (so I can get more achieved), has not seemed to have paid off. I am still so far behind it is unbelievable! I need more time. I think we all feel like that though. I have been rushing about here, there and everywhere. Also, walking everywhere, takes a huge chunk of time out of my day. I am trying to adjust to that. Still managing to find time for a little relax in between the hustle and bustle of life though. There wouldn't be any fun to the day if I cut that out totally!

The days are mixed, the weather is mixed. 

One day i'm summery......

The next.......

 thick wooly socks....

and my favourite.....a shawl has become a staple...

I am trying to pack a lot in. Apologies for visiting less. I am trying to have strict rules about when and how long I am on the computer each day.

I have been pottering about with crochet. I have ideas in my head i'm itching to get started on. It's all Autumny stuff. 

I find I like to work on Autumn/Winter in the Spring/Sumer and vice versa. I wonder what the point is of working on Spring/Summer stuff in the Spring/Summer when it will be finished when the Autumn comes. My head is buzzing and I seem to be flitting from one project to another at incredible speed. 

I'm soaking up inspiration too, my brain is overflowing with crafty make ideas.

Trying to balance this all is a juggling act. Sometimes I find myself automatically saying 'no' to Baby Bear when i'm trying to catch up with emails at the computer. I don't even hear what he asks. It's then I just turn it all off and make sure I give him my undivided attention. Sorry if you ask me something and it takes a while for me to get back to you. I do try, but sometimes, I forget where the question was asked and I cannot find the emails. I have been trying to make a better filing system, but some still fall through the net.

So, that's my catch up. Apologies for the hash of photos on this post today. what can I say? I'm lazy!

I'll leave you with a snap of my bargain find of the week.

I seem to be finding it hard to resist novelty salt and pepper shakers. Who'd have thought it! An Ebay bargain that brightened up my day no end. Little pleasures and all that...........!

I hope that you all have a great Friday and a super weekend.

Hopefully soon I might have something to show for all this crafty pottering i've been doing!

xxx

Outside.....

The wind is blowing heavily in my little patch today. The rain lashing through the night and morning. My poor little roses have been blown from pillar to post. My giant poppies look sad and sorry for themselves.

I love this weather though. I guess I love it because I am fortunate. Fortunate that I don't live in flood prone areas. I love to have all the windows in my bedroom open at night. I love to see the curtains blowing. I love to hear the rain lashing, the wind howling. It is strangely uplifting.

The half term week has been wet and cold. It so often falls flat when the kids are on a holiday...but nevermind. We have had a relaxing week. The Bears have enjoyed it. I have enjoyed it. I have enjoyed feeling proud to be British as the Jubilee took place. I have enjoyed resting my weary legs from all the darned walking everywhere! I have enjoyed waking, and thinking, ooooooooh I can have another half an hour to daydream. Perfect!

I hope if you were off for the half term, you managed to have a decent week. There's always the weekend to look forward too!

I have been dabbling in a little crochet this week. Bits and bobs. Starting new projects before others are finished. I don't think I have it in me to just stick to one, two or even three things at a time. Oh well, it's all good fun!

Have a wonderful weekend all!

xxx

P.s Thank you for your comments on my last post. It's funny that most of you thought I would be blonde!

Obsession......

.......You know.....blogging is a funny thing.

I sometimes wonder how you would describe my blog. It's mainly craft, with a bit of this and that thrown in. 

I don't really like my picture being taken. I much prefer to be behind the lense. As a result, there aren't too many pics of me on this old blog. But, it doesn't stop you being curious! I get emailed a lot and asked questions like 'what's your dress style?', and 'what make up do you wear and recommend?'.

I guess it surprises me a little, as I don't really show myself. I mean, if I paraded my noggin on here, I guess I might understand it a little more.  

So, Ilanna, to answer your question..... I don't think I really have a set style. It chops and changes depending on each day. I like what I like, regardless of what's 'in fashion'. I guess I have just reached that age. Sorry if that disappoints! If you follow me on instagram, you will know that I can sometimes do 'bag lady' very well! There is sometimes a little bit of what I wear on there, but not a great deal. 

Currently, I think i'm obsessed with the bat-wing top. Something big in the 80's, not really sure that it ever came 'back in', but I realised not so long ago, that I seemed to have a fair bit of it in my wardrobe.

So here we go, a set of pics taken over a couple of weeks as and when I wore them. Wow, it's hard to take a pic of oneself. I don't enjoy it. I tried hard to chop as much out as I could! So, I present the batwing obsession......

Maybe I just like floaty.

The above one is currently my favourite one. I love the lace edging.

This one was my first, and it started my sleeve obsession a few years ago.

So there we are. A little bit of what I like. None of these tops are current i'm afraid, so I cannot pop you in the direction of any stores.

I have collected a few tablecloths over the past months with the view to turning them into some more 'batty' style tops, however, my crafty 'to do' list is just so long, it may well be a while before that idea comes to fruition! Never mind, one day.

I hope I have satisfied your curiosity a little Ilanna. As for make up....well.....I don't think my face is a good advertisment, so I might leave that one for others! Sorry about that!

xxx