Tea Time : The Norns by The Forest Witch

Note: I have already removed the tea from its original packaging and placed it in a tin for storage, but originally it came in a resealable stand-up pouch the same as the one pictured.

Today's Tea: The Norns from The Forest Witch
What is it? From the Forest Witch website: "A black tea swirling with deep forest fruits of elderberry, currant, and blueberry. Woody clove and sweet fennel round out the flavour, all creating a deep cup of tea, dive in if you've the heart for it."
Ingredients: organic black tea, organic blueberries, organic elderberries, organic currants, organic cloves, organic fennel, flavour
Recommendations: Steep 1 teaspoon for 3-5 minutes.

The Tea and Me:
The Norns is created by independent tea blender The Forest Witch Mia, located in Canada. All of her teas are inspired by Celtic deities or fantasy themes such as Harry Potter, Game of Thrones and most recently, Good Omens. The Norns are the little-known Goddesses of fate in the Norse pantheon, deep and mysterious.

The dry tea has a very strong, earthy spice scent. I steeped it for 4 minutes, hedging my bets with the instructions. I usually try black teas both with milk and without. My preference is to drink black tea with milk, but I like to try it both ways to find the best. The black tea has a very strong fennel flavour, though not as much like liquorice as the spice itself. This is possibly due to the influence of the cloves, which come through too in a moderate way. Strong tannins made my tongue wrinkle, made even more astringent by the fennel. I found that the fruits were barely noticeable.

Adding milk punches down the tannins and allows the fruit flavour to come out. Even still, I found the berry flavours too subtle to be satisfying. My personal taste in teas is to the sweet side, so perhaps my taste buds were searching in vain for something that was never meant to be there.

Nevertheless, I enjoyed The Norns and would purchase it again. It's the perfect tea to sip deep into the night, staring into the flame of a single candle, waiting for the witching hour to arrive.

Available:
The Norns is available online from The Forest Witch shop. I found the price (in Canadian dollars) very reasonable and the postage costs to Australia, too, especially compared with many U.S. sources. She also has an Etsy shop if you prefer. I loved dealing with Mia and look forward to making many more purchases with her. Her Instagram is here.

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My June, and Life & Health Update

In June I've been enjoying the colder weather, as I wrote about more in my Hello Winter blog post. In this post I want to talk about some more personal things. Some long-time readers might know that I have Ulcerative Colitis (I even wrote a zine about it a couple of years ago!). In late May I developed some new health problems, quite suddenly. I woke up in the middle of the night with severe pain in my knee. I was almost unable to walk. I managed to make it to a doctor and to my chiropractor with Husband's help, but I was given conflicting information about it. The most likely diagnosis is arthritis, which is a secondary complication of Ulcerative Colitis. It began to improve very slowly, but has relapsed several times. I can only stand for a few minutes, I can't walk very far and between that and a Colitis flare-up, I haven't been able to work. At the moment, I don't know if I'll get better, or if this is how my life will be now.

Having said that, I've been trying to stay positive and do what I can. I can still cook, do dishes, etc, as long as there's a chair nearby to rest my knee. I've been making art, crafting and even writing a couple of stories, which I might share soon.


What I've been painting ...
Here are some paintings in progress, and finished. I like giving the paint-by-numbers an ironic message. I have at least 10 more stashed away to do.

What I've been crocheting ...
It's been a lot of fun making these little plushy monsters. I'm currently onto my fourth. I love choosing the colours, and designing the faces.

What I've been reading ...
As one of my 101 Things in 1,001 Days items, I've been continuing on with The Lord of the Rings, and nearly finished the first book. The Fellowship have just left Lothlórien and said farewell to Galadriel and the other elves. I have been deliberately trying to imagine everything independently, not just fall back on what places and people looked like in the movies. Sometimes it can be quite difficult, even though I haven't seen the movies for about 5 years. Am I the only one who worries about that?

What I've been playing ...
I've started playing The Blockheads again. From what I understand, it's like a 2D version of Minecraft (though I've never played Minecraft). I'm working towards the ultimate pinnacle of the game -- the creation of a jetpack! so my Blockhead can fly through the sky rather than having to put up with riding donkeys. So undignified.

Bonus Kitty Picture ...

Hello Winter!

Winter (one of my three favourite seasons) has returned, and I'm glad. To be honest, it probably started a couple of weeks ago, but Australian winter is quite mild and sometimes we can slip into it without even noticing. I've observed that a lot of the time, only every second day is really wintry, alternating with lovely sunny days. Here's a montage to illustrate. The photos were literally taken one day apart:

So what do I love about Winter right now?

COMFORT FOOD
A cheese toastie and a bowl of soup are the perfect lunch in Winter. (The bread is gluten-free as I'm still unfortunately gluten intolerant.) I also like noodle soups, we've made pea and ham soup a few times, and I want to try making minestrone with gluten-free pasta.

KITTY QUIRKS
Sharick will do anything to soak up some warmth in Winter, even to the extent of lying on my computer, which he's certainly not allowed to do! Not only does it exude warmth on its own from the CPU, but in the mornings my desk is in the sun from the side window. I'll have to try to wean him off it, because he's done all sorts of strange things from pressing the keys randomly!

Additional snuggling:

NOTICING NATURE
Winter is a dormant time, but a lot still goes on in the plant world. Even before they've lost their leaves, the buds on the deciduous trees are already forming. It's a relief to get up close to my fruit trees and see them, and know they're not dead, just asleep. The usual Winter life is there too: the mushrooms. Plants that get enough warmth, like my indoor succulents and chilli, still grow quite vigorously. And of course the combination of rain and sun causes the grass to go bananas.

Bonus photos taken last Winter. I no longer work near this park and I miss visiting it so much!

Flashback: I Grew Potatoes!

Last year I grew potatoes. I mentioned it in one of my previous posts, but I didn't make a full post about it because I'd lost half of the in-process photos. Yesterday I found them again on my computer, plus it's the right time of year to start growing them again, so I thought I may as well share it now.

I started out with four normal potatoes from the supermarket. There are special seeding potatoes available from nurseries but I'd read that you can use normal ones too, so I decided to try that. (I felt like I was bucking the system a little bit!) I'd also read that some supermarkets use a sprout inhibitor spray on their potatoes to stop them from sprouting so they can be on shelves for longer. If that was the case, there was nothing I could do about it, but I got some unwashed potatoes as I thought they might be less likely to have been sprayed. Thankfully, it wasn't a problem.

I put the potatoes in an egg carton so they had plenty of air and didn't touch each other. It's best to put them in a place that does get sunlight or at least daylight, not in a dark place as I'd assumed before I started. I put them on my indoor plant trolley and waited. It took nearly a month before I saw any signs of change. When the potatoes sprout it's called chitting. As the sprouts grow bigger, the potato itself shrinks and goes wrinkly.

After about 2-3 months, the potatoes were ready to be planted out. (Apologies I can't remember the exact timelines as it was last year!) This would have been in early Spring, around September. I'm not sure if the sprouts are a good size or too big and I should have planted them earlier, to be honest.

I used a Tatey Bag that I bought from Digger's Club, but you can use a sturdy garbage bag, or a barrel or even an old tyre. The bag has drainage holes in the bottom. As per the instructions, I filled it halfway with compost, then folded down the edges of the bag for maximum sunlight.

I placed the potatoes on the compost and added a little more so they were just covered, with the sprouts poking out. It was a little difficult as the sprouts stuck out every which way and I couldn't decide which way was up!

The sprouts started to grow quite quickly and within a month or so I had some decent potato plants growing. The compost provided all the nutrients they needed, and I just needed to water them regularly. To get the maximum amount of potatoes, you're supposed to add more compost or straw regularly. This encourages the plants to grow taller and put down more roots and hence more potatoes. That's why the bag is folded over -- you can unfold it in stages as you add more straw.

The instructions say to keep repeating this process until the leaves start to turn yellow. Then it's time to dig up the potatoes. However, one day in late Summer (around February) I went outside and the plants were all brown! I wasn't sure if the plants were supposed to do that or if they'd just died. It was hard to keep them watered and safe from the sun as the summers here are very hot. To be safe, I decided to harvest them straight away. I started digging down but it was easier (and more fun!) to just tip out the bag and go through it to find the potatoes.

As you can see I got a small potato haul! By volume it's probably about the same as what I started with. All it cost me was half a bag of compost and a small amount of straw. The potatoes were very fresh and tender. I ate them boiled until just done and they had a different taste from storebought potatoes -- a fresher taste, though that's hard to describe for potatoes! I was also pleased that they were all different sizes. Supermarket potatoes tend to be all the same size, or there are normal size and mini size. It was strangely satisfying to have ones of many different sizes all together, especially the tiny fingernail-sized one!


I would definitely like to try growing potatoes again. Things I might do differently are:
✷ try growing 3 potatoes instead of 4. The instructions say you can grow up to 4 potatoes per bag, but I want to try less in case they were crowded last time.
✷ add straw more regularly. I wasn't very conscientious with this and only added two or three times. I'm sure I could get more potatoes if I did this more often.
✷ protect the potatoes in hot weather better. I could make sure I water every day, and move the bag to a more sheltered spot on very hot days.

It's almost time for the cycle to start again!

101 Things in 1,001 Days : Year 1 Update

I can't believe it's been one year since I started my second 101 Things in 1,001 Days challenge already. It feels as though I've done more than I did at the one-year point the first time I did the challenge, but I can't really be sure. I've completed 11 items -- that's ten percent. I guess it's not too bad. Here are a few highlights:


DONE!
✦ read Ulysses by James Joyce - this book is considered to be one of the hardest to read in the English language, and I can see why. It's so beautiful and complex that I couldn't even attempt to review it. I would never have read it if it weren't for the Reading Ulysses with Conner Habib course. The course is run once a year to coincide with Bloomsday, which (actually coincidentally) is next week, on the 16th of June.
UPDATE: The course is now available year-round!

✦ finish making a blanket - yes, it's true, I have several blankets in progress, one of which I started when I was 14, and until a few months ago, had never actually finished one. If you read this blog at all, you'll recognise it as the one I made for my first solo art exhibition. I cherish it not only for the art in it, but the craft in it.

✦ get another tattoo - as with my other tattoos, I decided to get one design at first, but then changed my mind in the end. I got a candle in remembrance of all the forgotten people, all the people who have had violence done against them, who should be here but aren't. I chose a rose, poppy and peony for the flowers. The artist told me she usually does one flower showing from the back as her signature style, and I agreed to that. It only took 3 hours, and, I have to confess, it hardly hurt at all.

✦ watch 50 new movies - I finished this one very early, thanks to Netflix. I guess I'll increase it again next time, assuming we still have Netflix then!

IN PROGRESS!
✦ do nanowrimo - but isn't NaNoWriMo (National Novel Writing Month) in November? Yes, it is. But I still haven't finished my story, so I consider it to be 'In Progress'. I'm pleased to say that I'm up to the final editing stage though. After those few final tweaks, all that remains is formatting it (after figuring out how it needs to be formatted), creating a cover image, and then uploading it to some self-publishing site (after I choose which one/s). I can't say when it'll be done, but I'll be sure to let you know when it is.

✦ go to 15 exhibitions - It seems I'll finish this point early, too. I've been to 12 so far, big and small, from paintings to jewellery. It's been very inspiring! I want to make it a regular occurrence, if I can. I saw an original Frida Kahlo! A Yayoi Kusama! And so much more.

✦ go to 30 new restaurants - since Husband and I started having regular lunches with our foodie friend, this point has been easy to work towards. I/We have been to 25 so far, from Korean to Colombian.

✦ donate 101 items (new) - I recently replaced a point I no longer wanted to do with this one. So far I have donated 15 items. 11 of them were books I gave to the Melbourne Central Little Library. I bought a box of 25 random children's books from an op shop for a bit of light reading, so there will be plenty more to donate soon.

My April & May

I didn't post an update for April, because it wasn't very varied -- I spent the first half working, and the second half crocheting! I finished up my job just before Easter and put all my efforts into finishing the art piece for my exhibition. I wrote about that a few posts ago, so I won't go into a lot of detail here.

The exhibition came, and the exhibition went. I'm talking like it just happened, but I made it happen! I did all the work. (Lately I'm trying to be more aware of when I'm downplaying myself, and give myself more credit when it's due!) Perhaps I'll write more about the whole experience later. After the installation, I concentrated on other art projects, which I talked about in this post.

Yeah, I did that! And it's in a window in front of an art gallery!!!

What I've been trying ...
I tried Lucet braiding for the first time -- and I made it into a video! Lucet braiding is an ancient craft, known to be practiced by the Vikings and is probably even older. The fork-shaped tool creates a braid that's strong and slightly springy. Watch the video to see if I master the craft or not!
(The answer is, um, not really!)

What I've been reading ...
After waiting months, I finally began reading Lord of the Rings. It's on my 101 Things in 1,001 Days list to re-read this classic, and I was waiting until Winter (or late Autumn at the very least) to begin. I read The Hobbit first, of course, and I'm currently about to begin the Council of Elrond section, if you're familiar with the story. When I first began reading, I became completely obsessed with Hobbit foods and collected a large treasury of recipes. But that's a post for another time!

What I've been playing ...
I've been absolutely obsessed with a site called Chicken Smoothie since I discovered it at the start of May. It's just one of those sites where you collect things (pets in this case) and hang around on the forums. The average player seems to be quite a bit less than half my age, but I don't care, I'm enjoying it! It's run by a couple from New Zealand, and the pets and other elements are all designed by independent artists, so I feel like I'm not only having fun, but supporting a small business. I collected my first Unicorn yesterday!


Pet's name: Bunilla
Adopt virtual pets at Chicken Smoothie!
What I've been eating ...
I went to brunch at a French restaurant called Bon Ap' in Fitzroy. It was a simple spread, with bread, cheese and ham, but every element was such high quality and it came together into a memorable feast. Words can’t describe how wonderful it was.

Selections from Instagram
It seems my cat has started watching Youtube....

Hobonichi Art Diary Update

I've started journalling in my Hobonichi art diary again, after a lull of many months. In general I really enjoy kawaii/cute journalling, but I sometimes have phases where I hesitate, because of feeling like it's not good enough (not cute enough?), comparison envy, not having the stickers, washi tapes, etc that I wish I had, or simply because I feel like my life is too boring to document.

Up until the start of this month, I'd only made about 5 entries in this years' book. At the start of this month though, I had an urge to write, not to draw or decorate, but pure diary writing. I didn't care how boring my day was, I wanted to document it. It also gave me a chance to use the beautiful fountain pen I was given as a going-away present from my last job (two jobs ago now, actually). I've been writing almost every day, filling up the pages and only using the bare minimum of decoration.

So for the past month, my art diary has been more diary than art. Don't get me wrong: I still love washi tapes and stickers and coloured pens. But it's my fountain pen and my need to record the little things that's been getting me to open up my Hobo every night, and whatever makes that happen, I'm happy with it.

Of course, some sections are too personal, but here are a few pages:

This spread has some washi tape samples I received in my Patreon reward from Rainbowholic, and most of the stickers are from Daiso.

The pages aren't meant to be arranged aesthetically, but just have a few stickers in strategic spots, and washi tape covering up the text at the bottom. This one is a little more like my 'old' style pages, with a separate box for a snippet of information, and I stuck in the business card for Coco Glez, whose Etsy shop order I received that day.

As you might have read in the pages, during this time I was watching My Mad Fat Diary. I started it after I began writing in my own diary again, but I think it spurred me to keep going. I loved the show and I'd recommend it to anyone who has mental health issues, is fat, is a teenager, loves 90s music and aesthetic, or just about anyone really!

More recently I joined in on Rainbowholic's Reset Kawaii Journalling challenge. It's all about self-care and relaxing ... not to mention journalling and decorating! More details and the challenge page to save/print are here. I love Rainbowholic's challenges because they're so chill -- there's no pressure to finish every prompt, and the time given is very generous.

Here the right-hand page is still in progress. I decided to draw my comfort foods as I don't have many stickers representing foods, plus I want to practice drawing. I haven't decided yet if I'll colour them in with pencil or watercolour.

The challenge is not only fun, but a good way to fill up all those blank pages. I know a lot of people who do kawaii (and other kinds of) journalling have swapped from a Hobonichi to a journal with undated pages, but at times like this, I'm glad I didn't.

And finally, here's a picture of my beautiful fountain pen!: