Monday, 7 March 2022

One bike bottle of water
Two heaping teaspoons of green gunpowder tea
The leaves of one stem of dried oregano
One rounded teaspoon of brown mustard seed
Two undersized bay leaves

Now it's sitting over a pilot light with a timer set for one hour
(fifty minutes left) in my pocket. Then I'll set it on a burner set
for "simmer", wait one hour, move it back to the pilot light, and
strain it into the bottle in the morning.

And add sweeteners and sourers and enough orange juice to top off the
bottle. (Some boils away and some is soaked up by the vegetation.)

It's been a while since I looked forward to a bike tour. I didn't get
off to Saturday's ride until after noon -- but did get some chicken
tiki marsala on the way back from the graveyard, and ate it for lunch.

This stop was rewarding: Bomy has installed one of those closet-sized
free-grocery stores out front, and on Friday's ride I bought the wrong
kind of Vitamin D3 pills. I bought it on purpose, then on the next
stop I found the kind the doctor prescribed. Don't wanna take them,
don't wann waste them, and they are sure to be what someone else's
doctor prescribed.

I can pass by Bomy's on the way to PetSmart, and that will add a
little punctuation to the ride.

At the graveyard, I discovered that the "preacher's stand" that has
been in the news is better than a gazebo as a place to stop for a
rest. The stage is larger than most gazebos, and filled with benches
so that one doesn't have to lie on the floor. (Last time I stopped at
the Tippe Downs gazebo, I wished that I were in the habit of carrying
a broom.) And they are tiered up nearly to the ceiling that is going
to be installed, so one can choose one's exposure to the weather.

Pity that it's only two miles from home. But I do pass the side gate
of the graveyard whenever I use the Byer Farm Trail. Which I'll do
more often now that it won't be slick with ice and snow or leaves that
would be dry if the boards weren't jammed so tightly together,
apparently for the purpose of making sure snow lingers on the
boardwalk as long as possible.

Bike's all ready with the exception of adding water, tea, and ice. I
filled the water bottle and am leaving it in a warm place next to the
empty tea bottle.

Time to see what I have that's suitable for forty-five degree weather.
I juste added a cotton-linen scarf to my little bag of stuff in case
the wool scarf gets too warm.

***

An hour was too long even though I turned it down below simmer as far
as I could. But by good luck I went into the kitchen for another
reason before the hour was up.

--
Joy Beeson
joy beeson at centurylink dot net
http://wlweather.net/PAGEJOY/

On Mon, 07 Mar 2022 23:08:04 -0500, Joy Beeson
<jbeeson@invalid.net.invalid> wrote:

Despite boiling too long, the tea tastes like water. I added a
teaspoon of ascorbic acid and enough honey to raise the level in the
bottle, then dropped a rack into the humidifier pot and put the bottle
in the hot water so the honey would dissolve. After a while I
bethought me of putting the water bottle in too.

Just tasted it -- about right. I'll add a couple of tablespoons of
orange juice just before putting it on the bike.

I hope the caffiene isn't as feeble as the flavor.

--
Joy Beeson
joy beeson at centurylink dot net
http://wlweather.net/PAGEJOY/