International Tea Day

 If there is a tea day out there then I am celebrating!  Today is International Tea Day! 

On this day, tea lovers unite to celebrate their favorite beverage. This day also promotes ways to sustain the production and consumption of tea. Fun fact: Tea is the most loved beverage for millions worldwide. Every second, people consume 25,000 cups of tea (more than two billion cups a day!). 

There are quite a few health benefits of tea drinking (anything to justify my tea habit). Tea contains antioxidants that reduce the risk of heart attack and stroke, aid with  weight loss, protect bones, prevent tooth loss (?), boost immune system, help battle cancer, sooth your digestive system and relax the body. Habitual tea drinkers (drinking tea at least three times a week) are less likely to die prematurely.

Fun and weird facts about tea:

There are roughly 3,000 varieties of tea

Some teas have some weird additives (sawdust, twigs, and sheep dung)

Tea is a diuretic (it makes you pee) 

Timing and the correct temperature for that tea is everything. I learned this at the tea shop.

Tea has some good health benefits. Green tea has more health benefits than black tea.

How to celebrate today:

Drink some tea! (sounds easy enough!)

 

Try a new flavor of tea (herbal, floral, matcha, green, white, rooibos, etc.)

Have a tea party! Don't forget the scones and finger sandwiches!

Don't forget to use #InternationalTeaDay on your social media posts.

I think today is a perfect day for several a cup of tea! I think I will start out with a cup of good ol' Earl Grey. 

What kind of tea will you drink today?

National Hug a Tree Day

 Happy National Hug a Tree Day!

Trees have so many benefits!  They provide lumber, food, nuts, oxygen for us to breathe, homes for wildlife and much more. Trees are even used for decoration purposes. In the US, there are about 766 million acres of forest land.

Trees are an essential part of our environment and protecting trees has become part of the norm. Most people want to preserve our trees which make the world a better and safer place to live in.

How to celebrate today:

Hug a tree 

Plant a tree native to your area

Go for a walk in the woods

Use #NationalHugATreeDay on social media.

We just planted 4 trees. I'm thinking a nice hike would be a great activity for today.

How will you celebrate today?

National Limerick Day

There once was a man from Nantucket

Who went down a well in a bucket

The last words he spoke

before the rope broke 

were, "Arsehole, you bugger and suck it."

You guessed it!  Today is National Limerick Day!

This day celebrates the birthday of Edward Lear, an artist, illustrator, author and poet.  Limerick poems became popular after Lear's book, Book of Nonsense, was published in 1846. A limerick is a very short, humorous, nonsense poem.  It contains five lines with an AABBA rhyming pattern.

How to observe #NationalLimerickDay

Write your own limerick poem.

Share on social media.

Enter a limerick contest.

Read some funny limericks.

I thought I would participate by sharing my limerick.

There once was a woman who lived by the lake

who wanted to mix together a sourdough to bake

   She noticed the hooch was green

    tossed it in the trash so as not to make a scene

and decided to do a sourdough starter remake. 

I would love to hear some of your limericks! Drop them in the comments below! (and try to keep them clean!).

World Naked Gardening Day

 If there is a traffic jam on the Avenue (my street), then you know today must be World Naked Gardening Day. 

World Naked Gardening Day is celebrated the first Saturday of May. Gardeners all over the world tend to their plants and flowers wearing no clothes or shoes. This is so they can connect to the origins of gardening and a natural relationship with Mother Nature. It also promotes the benefits of gardening and the acceptance of the human body. Oh, and think of all of that Vitamin D you can soak up!  

Why do we like it:

It's good for your health. Gardening helps your body stay healthy and reduces dementia by 30%.

It supports sustainability.

It supports freedom. I mean, it's not every day you get to walk around naked.

How to get celebrate:

Well, get naked!  Take those clothes off!

Buy some new seeds or plants.

Spread the word! Promote on social media the benefits of gardening. #worldnakedgardeningday

I would love to stay and chit chat, but I have a vegetable garden to plant!

National Tea Day

 Today is National Tea Day in the United Kingdom.  A day for Britain to celebrate it's love for this hot, steeped beverage. It's so loved that they consume over 60 billion cups of tea a year!  That's a lot of tea!

Every year, the Britains host a "Fes-Tea-Val" where they showcase new teas, bringing together tea drinkers, servers and the entire tea industry.  Their slogan is, "Brew more. Do more" is to inspire special moments with tea and bring together tea drinkers, servers and the whole tea industry.

This is a great day for me to celebrate since I am working as a tearista in a local tea shop!

Here is a list on how my fellow tea infusiasts can celebrate #NationalTeaDay: 

Host an afternoon tea (it is National Afternoon Tea month, after all)

Visit the festival.

Learn proper tea decorum (in case you get invited to afternoon tea with King Charles)

Here are some tea etiquette tips, in case you find yourself with tea royalty.

Dispensing the tea:

The host should pour the tea for every guest.  Make sure to leave the teapot on the table with the spout facing the host.

Dunking:

Dunking a biscuit in your tea is not appropriate.

Food:

A tiered cake stand is the appropriate serving piece.  The upper tier is filled with scones, the middle has sandwiches and the bottom has treats and pastries.  Food must be eaten in this order: sandwiches, scones and then desserts.

Too bad I'm not in Boston to celebrate this holiday.  

Luckily, B just got home from school so we will definitely be celebrating today with some tea, and maybe even spilling a little.

How will you celebrate today?

Sourdough Starter Restart

 Went out of town for a few weeks and did not drop my starter off at a daycare facility.  When I returned home it looked a little frightening. The liquid "hooch" was green. I looked up green hooch and I guess there is a fix. After a little further research I decided that it was easier to just start over. 

If you take a look at the starter recipe that I use, you will see that it makes a large amount. This large amount does not fit into a mason jar. So, I spent my morning making a loaf of bread and some cheeze it crackers. 

Χριστός Ανέστη

Happy Easter!  Καλό Πάσχα!

We are celebrating Greek Orthodox Easter at our house.   

Xristos anesti

ek nekron,

thanato thanaton patisas,

ke tis en tis mnimasin zoin xarisamenos

Christ is risen

from the dead,

having beaten Death by [his own] death

and having given the gift of life to those in the graves.

Christos Anesti. (Χριστός Ανέστη)  (Christ has Risen)

Alithos Anesti.  ( Aληθώς ανέστη!)  (He has risen indeed)