Tea Time.... Relax with us and have a cup of hot tea!

[poodlechicks]

Hi folks!
Wondering how you guys are doing! I've been busy with gardening, chickens, and kids in my "spare" time, but enjoying it all.

Oh, and finally iced tea

 

[3goodeggs]

Hey, I was thinking about you! I assume it finally warmed up?
How'd you like iced tea?
Apparently a pinch of baking soda in a gallon smooths it out. I have never tried that.
There are recipes on line, I may have to try it and see if it works.

 

[TeaChick]

Getting the children to camp w/o being affiliated to school here is actually very easy. There are summer camps at every town at fair prices. The only drawback is that they do the same old thing. Nothing really out of the ordinary. There are great arts camps around here, but too pricy for me

Maybe it would be a good idea to start a tea tasting group of your own. I'm sure you would get the attention of homeschooling moms and their daughters. It could be a lot of fun and a wonderful opportunity for socializing.
We do have to get creative. When I homeschooled, I contacted a local homeschooling group that got the children together to socialize once a week and also held science groups for the ones interested. We stopped going b/c the children were too rowdy and their parents let them get away with anything and everything. I guess this group mistook homeschooling for lack of civility. I hope you find a great group for your children. Homeschooling is such a good experience for all. It just didn't work for DD.

Temps are rising here and I'm happy. It's so nice to see the chickens running around flapping their wings or just laying around. They're such sunny creatures.

The girls are going to help out at a VBS where a neighbor is doing the craft class.
I'll do something kind of like VBS here with the boys the same week.

Some ppl either claim to homeschool so as to avoid sending their kids to school. Others just call it "un-schooling" (which I think is actually a form of education, but is so child-led that there aren't any really discernible learning outcomes). I buy curriculum and help them out when they need it (I'm no instructor, at least not after 3 years old lol).
At least the girls will get a break from the boys and some social interaction and they enjoy helping, so that will be very good for them.
And the boys will get a break from the girls and they'll get a little more MommyTime than usual.

Yup, getting hot here too. Upper 90s all week. I think someone said something about the forecast showing 101 one day next week or something like that? Ugh!

I was just sitting down with my tea!
yes, on the homeschooling groups.Some moms felt their children's freedoms included encroaching on the freedoms of others.
We were lucky, there were a lot of groups to choose from.
And we had a boy. Scouts were great. Summer camps were great -it was all great. BSA is a good program.

There was an art teacher who would do 'Art in the Park' classes. She charged $5 a day supplied all the materials and they produced some amazing things. She taught art history to them as well. If she could put a math or science lesson in she did that too.
She was fabulous.

Tea chick, you are trying to do it all. Your seams will split and you will come undone.
See what the library is doing this summer. Ours will even do comic cons, If nothing else, maybe she can volunteer in the children's section reading to others or helping shelve books. It is not peer to peer, but life rarely is.

I like that "Art in the Park" idea!!!

I don't do half of "it", actually. I've gotten really good at deligating.

My girls help out with the chickens and with the boys. DH uses the kids in the yard. The kids do a lot of the basics of the housework (dishes, laundry, sweeping, mopping, cleaning their own rooms, etc). As a family, we get a lot done!!!
I've got a neighbor who's going to take them to help her with VBS.

 

[TeaChick]

Hi folks!
Wondering how you guys are doing! I've been busy with gardening, chickens, and kids in my "spare" time, but enjoying it all.

Oh, and finally iced tea

Hi, Hon!
I'm doing alright. Busy, of course, but aren't we all. =)
I made sun tea for the first time the other day. Even DH liked it (and he usually says that it's weak).

Hey, I was thinking about you! I assume it finally warmed up?
How'd you like iced tea?
Apparently a pinch of baking soda in a gallon smooths it out. I have never tried that.
There are recipes on line, I may have to try it and see if it works.

A pinch of salt would do the same thing.
I have found that just a splash of lemon helps to cover up the bitterness that results from over steeping (which usually happens when making iced tea).

I, personally, like to put 6 bags (regular cup bags) of tea in half a gallon of water and set it in a sunny window (or just out on the walk way in front of my house, the chickens don't mess with it). Then I add about 1/4 c sugar and about 1 T lemon juice. Mmmmm. I need to get some tea out in the sun now for dinner, in fact! Thanks for reminding me!!! =)

 

[CGinJCMO]

I haven't had sunshine to make tea all week...rain, rain, and more rain. Creeks and rivers are flooding their banks and there's still more rain in the forecast (Tropical Storm Bill is supposed to bring more rain Thursday evening). Guess it isn't as bad as what Texas is getting.

I put the lime from my Sonic Strawberry Limeade in a pot of brewed raspberry tea and it was interesting. Good enough to do again but it started molding so had to throw it out. I need to decide on my next experiment. Thinking Chai Tea with milk. It's in the grocery stores but I can surely make it cheaper and just as delicious.

CG

 

[TeaChick]

I haven't had sunshine to make tea all week...rain, rain, and more rain. Creeks and rivers are flooding their banks and there's still more rain in the forecast (Tropical Storm Bill is supposed to bring more rain Thursday evening). Guess it isn't as bad as what Texas is getting.

I put the lime from my Sonic Strawberry Limeade in a pot of brewed raspberry tea and it was interesting. Good enough to do again but it started molding so had to throw it out. I need to decide on my next experiment. Thinking Chai Tea with milk. It's in the grocery stores but I can surely make it cheaper and just as delicious.

CG

I saw Bill on the radar this afternoon; he was in the Dallas/Ft. Worth area.

I hate it when good tea goes bad!

Chai is good. I have Chocolate Chai now. I don't remember whether I've tried regular Chai or not, but probably not; I'm not that much into cinnamon, especially in my tea.
Go for making it at home!!! Let us know how it goes and give us a recipe when you've got it nailed down, okay?

PS: Welcome!!! =)

 

[poodlechicks]

It has warmed up! I am so happy I can spend all summer smiling as I see leaves on trees, flowers, birds singing happily!!! I look like a lemonade TV commercial

I've been drinking a lot of iced tea, especially mint because my "mint forest" is right at my doorstep. I never made chai from scratch and never added salt or baking soda. I'll try that. I do tend to add lemon to my teas. It always tastes very good to me.

But I have to say with all the end of school year celebrations and some relatives over, I've been drinking more than tea these days.

 

[3goodeggs]

Just warmed up? Oh my.
I had a cup of real tea with mint last week, and I was awake all night. I have lost my caffeine tolerance. I think I will just use my neglected mint forest and go for herbal tea too.
Your post put the idea of mint and lemonade together for me. Some one try that out for me. If it isn't bad I might do it. (I am a coward.)

 

[TeaChick]

It has warmed up! I am so happy I can spend all summer smiling as I see leaves on trees, flowers, birds singing happily!!! I look like a lemonade TV commercial

I've been drinking a lot of iced tea, especially mint because my "mint forest" is right at my doorstep. I never made chai from scratch and never added salt or baking soda. I'll try that. I do tend to add lemon to my teas. It always tastes very good to me.

But I have to say with all the end of school year celebrations and some relatives over, I've been drinking more than tea these days.

I've missed summer too! =)

Same here about the iced tea. DD adds mint leaves to my black tea. Lemon almost always tastes good to me in tea (not in my chocolate mint tea, but in the regular ones, especially Earl Grey and English B-fast).

I won't tell if you don't. lol

Just warmed up? Oh my.
I had a cup of real tea with mint last week, and I was awake all night. I have lost my caffeine tolerance. I think I will just use my neglected mint forest and go for herbal tea too.
Your post put the idea of mint and lemonade together for me. Some one try that out for me. If it isn't bad I might do it. (I am a coward.)

Boil a cup of water, add dried mint leaves, chill the water, make lemonade out of it. (make lemonade: add about 1/8 cup or 2 T each of lemon juice and sugar)
Or, make lemonade, add fresh mint leaves, run it in a blender for a bit, strain it if you want, enjoy over ice. =)
I promise these methods will work!!!

 

[TeaChick]

I haven't had sunshine to make tea all week...rain, rain, and more rain. Creeks and rivers are flooding their banks and there's still more rain in the forecast (Tropical Storm Bill is supposed to bring more rain Thursday evening). Guess it isn't as bad as what Texas is getting.

I put the lime from my Sonic Strawberry Limeade in a pot of brewed raspberry tea and it was interesting. Good enough to do again but it started molding so had to throw it out. I need to decide on my next experiment. Thinking Chai Tea with milk. It's in the grocery stores but I can surely make it cheaper and just as delicious.

CG

I like your new avi! =)
Barred Rock?