Iced Tea

I have been on quite the ice tea kick lately. Over the years I have made ice tea in lots of different ways. I remember as a kid using a huge glass jar with a lid, putting cold water in it and tea bags and setting it out in the sun. Sun tea... Yum!!! I have also been known to make a cup of tea and then throw lots of ice in it to get it cold. Sure it got cold but it also got watery... blech! So I have had at times... very strong ice tea... weak ice tea and fake ice tea. LOL

Finally though, I found a way to make my ice tea consistent and this is what I do...




Put 8 cups of filtered water into a pan on the stove-top. Bring to a simmer. Remove from heat and toss in 6 tea bags. I then let this steep for 4 minutes, not 3... and not 5 but exactly 4 minutes. =P Remove the teabags from the pan and put a lid on it. I let this cool until its able to be poured into my ice tea pitcher.

I usually like to sweeten my own tea glass by glass ... but the husband prefers it pre-sweetened. I have found that a scant 1/3 cup of sugar mixed in at this stage is just right for him. Gives it a bit of sweetness but not too sweet. If I make tea during the week and know he wont be partaking, then I don't bother to sweeten it and add my sweetener when I pour a glass. Another thing I have done before is make up a simple syrup and store it in the fridge. He could use this to sweeten his ice tea (if he doesn't use it for something else that is lol)

The possibilities are endless... how about a raspberry/lemon iced tea... Blueberry iced tea... or even a lovely mint iced tea. Sounds delicious to me!!!

What about you... do you have a favorite way to make iced tea?

*hugs*
~Reg

My loves...

Miss M. and Leen. My girls!

WIPs and 1 finish

I completed the mother's day gift for Hubbys mom... good thing as Mother's day was yesterday. *smiles*. I did not however get a picture of it... I kept meaning to and then next thing I knew we were heading out the door. We gave her a lovely potholder and some lavender soap I made, a copy of my favorite picture of the husband and our girls in a nice frame... and a lavender candle from pier 1 imports... all in a nice little basket. We also gave her a funny tshirt that said Help my husband has retired and has no hobbies... she got a big chuckle out of that.

I have also gotten Maddy's quilt top finally sandwiched so although I wont count that as a finish (cause technically its not finished lol) Im excited to have gotten it to that point. Next step is the tying and border quilting. Then the lovely binding.

I have also been working on the Improv squares... Im really not liking them at this point. The eldest does however like them so perhaps they have a home before they are even done.

I haven't forgotten...

Getting ready to run out the door but just wanted to say I havent forgotten.

This is what I have been working on the last few days...

The improv quilt is coming along. I am trying to just wing it and add fabrics I like in whatever suits my fancy. Not sure what I think but its coming along lol. One thing though... the dang blocks keep getting bigger and bigger. I would like them to be a kinda uniform size before I add the sashing but the suckers keep expanding... (which tends to happen when you add more and more fabrics. ) The photo is an old one... but since i cant find the camera it will have to do until i can get some pics taken and uploaded.



Potholders... not sure if they are a gift or for Meeeeee. I realized i havent yet made anything at all ... not a bit of anything for moi. How sad... and the newest potholder is gorgeous. I think it is anyways. Its supposed to be a gift for the husbands mom for Mothers day... we will have to see.

Maddys quilt is coming along nicely... i have the quilt top/batting/backing almost completely pinned together and then i can start tying it. It will be tied together in the center and then stitched in the ditch on the edges... and then i will start in on the binding. Woot... i cant wait to get this baby done.

I need to find my camera so i can take some pictures but I am getting excited to get a few items off my WIP list for Jacquie's Spring to Finish Challenge.

*waves*

Busy ...Busy... busy

Its been a bit frentic here in our house... Maddy was on school vacation and while we did lots of fun stuff... boy was I tired at the end of it.

Lets see... we:

had a sleep over with a friend where they stayed up till 3 am giggling.

made lip balm and lotions from a kit she got for Christmas.

made masks with cool feathers and sequins.

went to a bowling ally with her cousin and did DDR... well they did... i watched lol.

worked on a huge huge project for school where maddy had to make a model of a roman house. The place had a vestibule, atrium with a pond and a hole in the roof to let water in, 6 bedrooms, a kitchen, several halls, a garden room, a dining room and something else i am forgetting. Paul helped her and her partner cut out the walls using a special foam board he uses to make model airplanes and then they had to make up a floor plan following the rubric they were given from the teacher. They had to download mosaics from the internet and paste them on the walls... color the rest of the walls like a roman family would have colored them and then name and tag all the rooms with their proper name. And it all had to have a removable roof so you could see the floor plan. Yikes... it was a ton of work but awesome in the end.

Finally on Monday when maddy went back to school I pulled out my trusty old sewing machine and got to work on some of my WIPs. I got some work done on my improv quilt as well as a pretty little potholder that i will take a picture of when i find my camera.

Back again from a blogging vacation...

*waves*

Long time no see... *grins*

The other day my youngest daughter pulled me kicking and screaming into Joannes. I tried so hard to resist but she was quite insistent. No mom... you will go into joannes and buy fabric she said with a serious look on her face. You will browse and ask my opinion and not take it just like you used to. You will force yourself to buy some fabric and add to your already large stash... you will poke and prod and fondle the fabrics to your hearts content while I stand by watching, waiting patiently.

ok ok... thats a fib... i had to drag her in. The kid is taller then me... and boy it was iffy if I was going to be able to even get her in the door. As she explained to her Aunt Linda who showed up 20 mins later (maddy claims we had been there 45 mins by that time which i completely disagree with) "My mom drags me into fabric stores... looks at all the fabric, finds a pattern she really wants to make, picks out all the fabric... then puts the pattern back and then changes her mind on the fabric and we leave the store 3 hours later with something completely different". She swore after the Indigo incident that she would never ever... ever go into a fabric store with me again. So... i had to resort to bribery... I bought my child something so that I could have 45... i mean 30 ... ummm 20 mins of lovely uninterrupted fabric fondling time...and let me tell you... it was sheer heaven.

So... after bringing my new little lovelies home I decided i wanted to figure out what I was going to do with them right away... as opposed to putting them away and deciding at a later date. I racked my brain trying to think of something just right for the little beauties and it came to me. The lovely little wonky stars we made for the Bushfire Quilt Project, perfect!!!



But... since the last time I blogged... the last time I browsed blogs... the last time i did any kind of projects we have had to replace a computer, email addresses etc and I had none of my old links. Wasn't even quite sure how to access this blog. I couldn't remember the email my blogger account was under or even the name of the blog. (i seriously need to keep a list of blogs/sites/forums I go to with passwords and member names).

Anywaysssss.... in the course of trying to find that pattern we used for the little stars I came across some of my favorite blogs and i realized how very much I missed the blogging community.

So... almost a year later I am back and I cant wait to get started.

*hugs*

Regi

These are the days...

My momma told me there would be days like this. She laughed when she said it, with an evil look in her eye and a strange look on her face. A look of knowing and bedevilment. I had no idea what she was talking about... no idea at all.

Of course now I am 43... have two charming daughters of my own, who get along about as well as oil and water... and I know exactly what my mother was thinking and doing when she said that to me. She was cursing me. Cursing me... her very own first born child...

So I hereby officially write it down for posterity (or however you spell that lovely word). Let it be known that I, Regi, hereafter known as cranky mom, do state for her two daughters... teen girl and dictator of the universe, that... there will be days like this! And may you be blessed abundently. May you both be overcome with a multitude of daughters of your very own. Little charmers with dancing eyes who fill your lives much as you have filled my life. Little girls... just like their mommas. *sprinkles holy water and fairy glitter around* let it be, let it be, let it be.

Woot! *throws fists into the air*

* drags herself off to find the coffee pot and a painkiller*