Sewing Mojo Drain

Well, the skirt project drained my mojo (see parts of the project here).  The last time I saw it - the skirt, not the mojo -  it looked like this:

This skirt has been stowed away in its own box in a cabinet until I really, really, really want to work on it again.  The skirt will be most useful when I want to wear dark colors more than I want to wear light, bright colors.

Think: winter in Florida - which, I admit, is not really saying much.  Like, two, three days a year?

Yes, I can get off track.  A little.

I did something nice for myself last weekend.  I had a manicure on Saturday a week ago, then bought new sandals the next day, and DH painted my toe nails Sunday night.  Here's what they look like with my favorite color, purple:

That's a "Florida Casual" look above; to go to work, throw a shirt over it:

I hope to get another set of bed sheets cut out this week (see original project here).  I will try to post about that soon.

Next up will be inspirations for summer dresses.  Here's hoping I actually make some summer dresses before it's no longer hot enough to wear them!

Making Green Tea

We make iced green tea by the half-gallon, and here's how we do it.

We start with a 16-oz steeping teapot from Amazon (link in the picture):

Then we throw in one heaping scoop each of green tea and dried stevia leaves.  Each heaping scoop is just over half of a 1/4 cup measure:

We get our loose tea and dried stevia leaves from San Francisco Herb Co.  Link here for tea, and link here for stevia .

We heat up some filtered water until it's boiling:

After the water has stopped boiling, we pout it over the tea and stevia, and set the timer for nine minutes:

Meanwhile, we add two or three inches of filtered water to a half-gallon pitcher.  When the timer goes off, we hold the teapot over the pitcher of water, and press up one side of the bottom, which lets the tea escape:

My husband makes his tea first and adds more filtered water until his pitcher is 3/4 full.  He also adds some ice.  Then he heats up more water, fills the teapot again, re-using the tea, and sets the timer for 13 minutes.  When the timer goes off, I prepare my tea in the same way, filling my pitcher about 2/3 full.  We leave our pitchers out on the counter until the tea has cooled a bit before storing in the refrigerator.

Different types of tea turn out with different colors.  It took us a while to figure out how we like it.  My husband likes his tea strong and sweet, while I like mine weaker and not as sweet.

Do you make more than one cup of green tea at a time?

More Sewing "baby steps"

Sewing progress is very slow.  One day, I moved the skirt in progress from the cutting table to the ironing board:

A few days later, I placed the skirt in position to be pinned for the hem:

Like my husband likes to say to other drivers, "Can you Go any Slower?"

Guess not ...

A Peek at my BlogRoll - May 2012

I would like to introduce you to a blogger on my BlogRoll:

MushyWear - Sewing Surrounded by Salt Water

Shannon shows how to dress Hawaiian casual, and she does it well.  I am partial to red and purple, by the way.

She always has a smile on her face.

Sometimes she makes things and gives them away.  Woo Hoo!

Everything she does has happy colors!  I'd be happy, too, if I lived in paradise!

Shannon also has an etsy shop where she sells the purses she makes.

I like the key-hole back paired with the tropical print!

Packaged Foods not always Convenient

I recently bought a package of pre-cut kale because the bunches were not available.

I should have remembered from previous experience that these bags tend to be full of stems.  What you see here is half a bag of kale that I had already blanched (boiled for just a minute or two).  I let it cool before I removed the stems.  That's what I get for being in a hurry:

I hope I don't forget this lesson again!

Have you ever found a "convenience food" that was not so convenient?