Such a lovely calendar and, as always, I scribbled down a list of things to do this month based on the inspirations. Your nudge about comments for paid subscribers reminded me that I have to update my payment method after a little holiday fraud issue (not via Substack) that required my bank to freeze my debit card and issue me a new one.
We don't do much brewing these days in the fermented sense of the word, but I do have a pot of tea on the counter all day each day at this time of year. Lately, it's an herbal roots (Dandelion, Burdock, Yellowdock, Ginger) chai. So warming and good for digestion after all the holiday feasting. Then there is Chocolate, which I'm always eager to include. Happy New Year! 💚
Hi Leenie, Hope all has cleared-up for you at the bank. You are not alone with such stuff. Be strong! :-) Your herbal root chai sounds like a real winner! I will see what I can do along that line. I love carrots, so I may add a hunk of the top of one, too! :-)
Yes, all cleared up and mostly just an inconvenience. I’m still making sure to notify all of the auto-pay bills of the new account. Our bank has always been wonderful at catching these. We’ve been making herbal chai by the half gallon because we’re drinking so much! It has been COLD!🥶❄️ 4 degrees this morning.
I just finished DEMOCRACY AWAKENING last night. Good first choice. It was heavy at points, but I like Heather Cox Richardson's "voice" and a historian's perspective. I will probably reread it before the discussion opens. I will plan read one "heavy" book per month, a related fiction work that stimulates similar ponderings but from a what-if angle, and something uplifting to keep me going. The trio for this month has been DEMOCRACY AWAKENING along with UNSHELTERED by Barbara Kingsolver, and THE SERVICEBERRY by Robin Wall Kimmerer. Together they're carrying me into this new year with both a sense of curiosity and hope.
I like various beers, but I have to be gluten-free. It's wonderful that some good gluten-free beers are also alcohol-free now. Those, like me, who can't drink for medical reasons can enjoy the taste again even if we can't enjoy some of the traditional brews. The choices used to be terrible. As with the beer, the alternative meat choices are now much improved. There's one brand my husband says he likes better than the real thing. My parents were "victims" of the Victory Sausages. My dad never ate a meal without meat, so the stories about Dad and his dislike of Victory Sausages were popular when I was growing up.
Tea is my favorite after-dinner drink while writing or watching television. I haven't tried making my own blends, but I have thought about trying to grow a few plants.
The wassailing sounds like great fun. I have an apple tree in the front yard that has enough room to dance around it, but I also have a very old rose in the back. Maybe I could wassail both.
Penny, do tell what brands of gluten free beer you speak of. Being GF myself, I would like to know what is out there. I do not drink much beer but I would like to have a glass with a meal like fish and chips or a Mexican dinner from time to time. I am hesitant to pick a pig- in-a-poke so to speak. But would like to try something on recommendation with no worries about being non-alcoholic if the flavor is good. :-)
Your rose would love it, Penny 😍 Especially this time of year, when it doesn't get any attention. I'm glad to hear from someone else who remembers those Victory Sausages. They were forbidden in our house when I was a child.
Funny about the reaction to Victory Sausages. They must have been so bad that neither of my parent's families ever spoke of them. A true sign of not being impressed. Scrapple on the other hand had been a favorite of my fathers. Though my mother was not a fan, so I have never had it. Though I have eaten my share of canned spinach coked to fair-thee-well in a little pan on a back burner while the rest of the meal was being prepared. Though my father's family grew a huge veritable garden, I am pretty sure most of that veg was also 'boiled down' before serving too. Still somehow he and his 9 sibs lived on to ripe old ages.
As to Wassailing, my only experience of it is memorable. Sometime in junior high I gave a go at joining the local Horizon Club which was the older girls version of Bluebirds and Campfire Girls. My group was small and led by an older man and woman who I assumed were husband and wife. We met at their well kept home which was some distance from my home. Nothing much went on at the meetings except drawing names of who was to bring the next weeks treats. About my 3rd or 4th meeting we were served punch from a Wassail bowl which was laced with booze! So we are talking about serving alcoholic drinks to 13 year old girls!! The group was soon disbanded and I never knew what happened to the leaders. !?! As to giving a go at celebrating Wassail by hanging bread dipped in vinegar on limbs of the apple tree for the birds, I am all for that! And will be buying a suitable loaf of tough bread for the occasion along with the ingredients to make Wassail, I promise no birds, Bluebirds or otherwise will be served alcoholic beverages! :-)
Susan, I have to ask, What is the weather like where you are? Any rain or snow on the ground or in the forecast? Sending wishes for just the right amount while staying snug for you and Bill and critters. :-)
In the forecast: rain, ice, snow, maybe all three. We won't know until it gets here. Bill brought up an extra load of firewood and I have a pot of chicken, corn, and carrot chowder on the stove. Thanks for asking, Sandy!
Susan I will be coming back to this January 2025 All About Thyme post again and again! If for no other reason then for all of the tea and hot drink links! And who knew about eating or drinking pine anything!?!?! Now I want to know more because I do love the scent of pines. Nice that Carnations are being remembered. As a child I may have noticed dandelions and then carnations first. That scent that is almost too much and yet you want to take a second sniff and look at those colors! Carnations may in fact be a perfect flower for a child! Most forms are surprisingly sturdy and seem to hold up to being bumped or rained on. A good flower for 2025 in that regard! As I say, I will be coming back to many of the other links on this post!
Happy to tell you and my fellow Guerilla Readers that my copy of Democracy Awaking has dropped! Thank you for the Heather Cox Richardson's video. I found it helpful in getting a feel for who she is and how she processes information and life in general.
Thank you for all the research about 2025 and January. Celebrating Robert Burns birthday in January was a great excuse for a celebration in Juneau! There were at least two different alcoholic punches and of course a Haggis (which can be quite tasty if enough oatmeal and spices are used) and then we would attempt a Scottish reel dance (to bagpipes) which was a hoot if you or partner had drank a lot of Atholl Brose!
I have been a tea drinker since Irish grandma introduced me to it slightly milky with a spoon of sugar. Then I discovered Murchie’s in Victoria, BC and still order from them. In fact, I ordered a 4 year supply of a few favorites in case of a tariff. So, drinking a cup of “Ode to Joy” as I begin reading “Democracy Awaking “ again. I joined Substack for you and Heather Cox Richardson.
I'm glad to hear that it is possible for a haggis to be tasty. I've only tried twice (both in Scotland) and was persuaded that you needed to be born a Scot to actually enjoy it. Ode to Joy is new to me, so I looked it up: https://ratetea.com/tea/murchies/ode-to-joy/10088/ Sounds delicious!
I was reminded by a good friend that Joy is simple if we look and listen for it. This poem begins my Yearbook for 2025. It’s called Serendipity Corner by Donna Ashworth.
Pamela, thank you for this lovely reminder. I thought of it this morning, watching wild turkeys come out of our woods, where they roost at night. Joy, enough for the whole day.
Happy New Year, Susan! Thanks for a hearty cup of cheer of tea or beer to welcome in traditions old and new. We have quite a heady brew of a year ahead, so best to call up the trees in song.
Oh, you're so right about the challenges of 2025, Kate. As we wassail (from Old Norse ves heill and Old English wes hál, "be in good health") let's echo Joyce Vance: we're in this TOGETHER. Maybe that will make the year a little easier.
A wonderful calendar for 2025. Thanks, Susan. This caught my eye: Herb of the Year for 2025. Chamomile. Chamomile has relaxing properties, and I think we'll need more than a little bit of that in the days, weeks, and months to come.
I also love that this is hot tea month. I stopped drinking coffee decades ago, and I now love my first, hot cup of black sweet tea in the mornings. My favorite the past few months has been Republic of Tea, Pumpkin Spice. A little honey and some almond milk and it's perfect morning brew. The Pumpkin Spice is available in October and then fades away 'til next year, so in the coming weeks, I'll probably switch to my old stand by, Earl Grey. (I like that with honey too and just a small bit of vanilla.)
Happy New Year. May we all continue to grow a little wiser and a little kinder in these times.
Oh, delightful to know that Chamomile is the 2025 Herb of the Year. I hadn't checked on that yet. We used A LOT of that during the past year with our new grandson and his teething woes. He adores Chamomile/Peppermint tea and our daughter grew them in her first garden last summer. I keep those well-stocked in my home apothecary for his visits. He loves tasting new things from Grandma's herb cupboard and just tried Rose Elixir for the first time. He's definitely a fan.
Stephanie, Leenie is our hands-on herbalist--it's a life path for her. I think you'd enjoy her Folk Herbalist's Journal, the artwork but even more, the earned knowledge of the plants. https://leeniehobbie.substack.com/
Thanks, Stephanie. In a way, our whole home and gardens (both wild and tame) form my home apothecary. I preserve herbs in all sorts of ways. I dehydrate, preserve in alcohol, vinegar, oil, vegetable glycerin, honey, and all sorts of other combinations of these. I make most of our body care products or purchase them locally. For example, I used to make a lot of soaps for both our personal use and for laundry, but I don’t do that much these days. I have a local herbalist friend who makes the most wonderful shampoo and conditioner bars and she sells them packaging-free so I pick up cakes of these seasonally when I visit her. A lot of the herbal preparations I learned to make were motivated by wanting to reduce unnecessary packaging because I live in a rural area with very few recycling options. In my more active days I even distilled my own herbal and floral waters (hydrosols) using a copper alembic “still.” I used these in skin creams, toners, natural perfumes, soaps, lotions, etc. in a garden-to-natural-home-spa alternative to all those tiny, expensive bottles of essential oils from multi-level marketing companies. I still do a fair amount of herbcrafting with things I grow or wildcraft as well, from Mullein stalk candles to woven wild grapevine baskets and such. I really hope this year to explore more herbcrafting from common plants around our home. I feel like I can see the impact and regulate myself more when I live as locally as possible. I think our local communities need that kind of loving, intentional caretaking now more than ever. 🌿💚
Leenie, I think we all need to know someone like you, who models this lifestyle for us, helping to preserve old ways and showing us what it's like to live close to the heart of the land. I so admire what you do! And if I were still writing China's stories, I'd invite you to a guest appearance! (Bertha Reppert was a guest in one of the earlier mysteries--did you know her?)
I'm a longtime Earl Grey drinker too, Steph. I remember my first cup, at the much-beloved Med (Caffe Mediterraneum, gone now) on Telegraph Ave in Berkeley, on my first day there as a grad student. But I also treasure my morning coffee ritual.
Your comment about the Caffe floodeded me with memories. I attended Mills College - we had a "tea shop" on campus. My freshman roommate taught me how to "float" the cream at the top of the coffee.Her father was the brew master for Olympia beer (located in Seattle). Her parents escaped from Germany just before WW II. His US contacts led him directly to the brewery, since he was a brew master in Germany.
I don't know what Telegraph is like now, but it was (mostly) joyful when I was there in the late 60s--in spite of the national angst over Vietnam. I didn't have much of a social life as an undergrad (married, 3 small kids) but grad school and Berkeley was a whole new world, and I associate that tea with it.
When were you at Mills, Georgeann? I see they've now merged w/Northeastern and launched a research institute. Newcomb College did something similar in 2005. Makes sense, especially given the financial challenges.
I attended Mills from 1965 to 1969. My year there were 3 chemistry majors. I also learned computer programming using "punch" cards. Several of us frequented Berkeley on the weekends - we loved wandering down Telegraph Ave. We also joined protests there - when they were on the weekend. Between my labs and my 2 jobs on campus, my weekdays were filled. We even burned our bras (quite literally) there.
One of my Berkeley friends' draft number called him up - he fled to Canada and became a citizen there. Another was drafted and chose the Navy. My brother's draft number was 361 so he was "safe."
I have never reconciled the discrepancy between those who went to war, risking their lives while those at home literally spit in their faces.
Georgeann, fascinated by the Olympia Brewery story! Oly Beer as it was known was a very big deal here in Washington state through all of the 1900's. It has a very colorful history. It's slogan of 'It's the Water' can still be heard today. It was never my beer of choice, as it seemed 'green' and easily 'skunked' after opening. Still, it brings a smile when I go by the very picturesque brewery that is standing in Tumwater near Olympia, Washington - always with rumors of turning into this or that. A museum, or gallery, or a conference center. Wikipedia has a nice recap if anyone is interested. One point to be added to any beer story, is that eastern Washington produces a goodly amount of the country's hops. So perhaps it is more than just the water. :-)
Susan, thanks for this info! Isn’t it interesting! Of course one needs to bear in mind that there are VERY strong rivalries between Washington and Oregon! :-)
Yes, I was fascinated too. We are learning so much about the way the local varieties are influenced by their immediate eco-environment--their plant/weather/soil community. But there's still so much to learn.
A young farmer who moved to our area a couple of years ago with her Mathematics and MBA degrees in hand, invested in a piece of land and is working currently to establish a unique quintessential WV Hops variety. She approached me when she first moved here and I gave her some vines from my garden but she has branched out and expanded far beyond my humble use of the plant. Now she teaches and lectures about Hops and makes many Hops products as she pursues her dream of the ideal Hops vine. So fascinating!🌿💚
Such a lovely calendar and, as always, I scribbled down a list of things to do this month based on the inspirations. Your nudge about comments for paid subscribers reminded me that I have to update my payment method after a little holiday fraud issue (not via Substack) that required my bank to freeze my debit card and issue me a new one.
We don't do much brewing these days in the fermented sense of the word, but I do have a pot of tea on the counter all day each day at this time of year. Lately, it's an herbal roots (Dandelion, Burdock, Yellowdock, Ginger) chai. So warming and good for digestion after all the holiday feasting. Then there is Chocolate, which I'm always eager to include. Happy New Year! 💚
Hi Leenie, Hope all has cleared-up for you at the bank. You are not alone with such stuff. Be strong! :-) Your herbal root chai sounds like a real winner! I will see what I can do along that line. I love carrots, so I may add a hunk of the top of one, too! :-)
Yes, all cleared up and mostly just an inconvenience. I’m still making sure to notify all of the auto-pay bills of the new account. Our bank has always been wonderful at catching these. We’ve been making herbal chai by the half gallon because we’re drinking so much! It has been COLD!🥶❄️ 4 degrees this morning.
That qualifies as cold for me, Leenie! BRRRR!!! Sending warm wishes! :-)
All the way up to 27 this morning and it's supposed to hit 40 today. A veritable heatwave!😂
🙄 We'll look back on these weeks with pleasure next summer, when the real thing hits. We're 36-to-62 today and treasuring it.
Oh, those fraud issues! So sorry you got pulled into that, Leenie. It can be a mess--and worse, when it happens at holiday time.
Thankfully, it wasn't horrible, just a nuisance.
I just finished DEMOCRACY AWAKENING last night. Good first choice. It was heavy at points, but I like Heather Cox Richardson's "voice" and a historian's perspective. I will probably reread it before the discussion opens. I will plan read one "heavy" book per month, a related fiction work that stimulates similar ponderings but from a what-if angle, and something uplifting to keep me going. The trio for this month has been DEMOCRACY AWAKENING along with UNSHELTERED by Barbara Kingsolver, and THE SERVICEBERRY by Robin Wall Kimmerer. Together they're carrying me into this new year with both a sense of curiosity and hope.
I like various beers, but I have to be gluten-free. It's wonderful that some good gluten-free beers are also alcohol-free now. Those, like me, who can't drink for medical reasons can enjoy the taste again even if we can't enjoy some of the traditional brews. The choices used to be terrible. As with the beer, the alternative meat choices are now much improved. There's one brand my husband says he likes better than the real thing. My parents were "victims" of the Victory Sausages. My dad never ate a meal without meat, so the stories about Dad and his dislike of Victory Sausages were popular when I was growing up.
Tea is my favorite after-dinner drink while writing or watching television. I haven't tried making my own blends, but I have thought about trying to grow a few plants.
The wassailing sounds like great fun. I have an apple tree in the front yard that has enough room to dance around it, but I also have a very old rose in the back. Maybe I could wassail both.
Penny, do tell what brands of gluten free beer you speak of. Being GF myself, I would like to know what is out there. I do not drink much beer but I would like to have a glass with a meal like fish and chips or a Mexican dinner from time to time. I am hesitant to pick a pig- in-a-poke so to speak. But would like to try something on recommendation with no worries about being non-alcoholic if the flavor is good. :-)
We like athletic brewing. I like the upside dawn brew, but they have others
Thanks so much! I do appreciate this!! :-)
Upside Dawn--what a great name for a beer!
Ten can is pretty too.
Your rose would love it, Penny 😍 Especially this time of year, when it doesn't get any attention. I'm glad to hear from someone else who remembers those Victory Sausages. They were forbidden in our house when I was a child.
Funny about the reaction to Victory Sausages. They must have been so bad that neither of my parent's families ever spoke of them. A true sign of not being impressed. Scrapple on the other hand had been a favorite of my fathers. Though my mother was not a fan, so I have never had it. Though I have eaten my share of canned spinach coked to fair-thee-well in a little pan on a back burner while the rest of the meal was being prepared. Though my father's family grew a huge veritable garden, I am pretty sure most of that veg was also 'boiled down' before serving too. Still somehow he and his 9 sibs lived on to ripe old ages.
As to Wassailing, my only experience of it is memorable. Sometime in junior high I gave a go at joining the local Horizon Club which was the older girls version of Bluebirds and Campfire Girls. My group was small and led by an older man and woman who I assumed were husband and wife. We met at their well kept home which was some distance from my home. Nothing much went on at the meetings except drawing names of who was to bring the next weeks treats. About my 3rd or 4th meeting we were served punch from a Wassail bowl which was laced with booze! So we are talking about serving alcoholic drinks to 13 year old girls!! The group was soon disbanded and I never knew what happened to the leaders. !?! As to giving a go at celebrating Wassail by hanging bread dipped in vinegar on limbs of the apple tree for the birds, I am all for that! And will be buying a suitable loaf of tough bread for the occasion along with the ingredients to make Wassail, I promise no birds, Bluebirds or otherwise will be served alcoholic beverages! :-)
Susan, I have to ask, What is the weather like where you are? Any rain or snow on the ground or in the forecast? Sending wishes for just the right amount while staying snug for you and Bill and critters. :-)
In the forecast: rain, ice, snow, maybe all three. We won't know until it gets here. Bill brought up an extra load of firewood and I have a pot of chicken, corn, and carrot chowder on the stove. Thanks for asking, Sandy!
Oh, sounds delish! I'm coming for dinner at your house! :-) Will hope you get the much needed moisture in a usable and friendly way.
Happy New Year, Susan! Thanks as always for the wonderful info and links (of course I clicked on the chocolate cake recipe already 😋).
I added the herbal tea blend book to my wish list, too. I have been wanting to get into making my own blends (that actually taste good 🤣).
Making our own blends is easier now than it used to be, with so many different dried herbs, teas, and essential oils readily available. Have fun!
Susan I will be coming back to this January 2025 All About Thyme post again and again! If for no other reason then for all of the tea and hot drink links! And who knew about eating or drinking pine anything!?!?! Now I want to know more because I do love the scent of pines. Nice that Carnations are being remembered. As a child I may have noticed dandelions and then carnations first. That scent that is almost too much and yet you want to take a second sniff and look at those colors! Carnations may in fact be a perfect flower for a child! Most forms are surprisingly sturdy and seem to hold up to being bumped or rained on. A good flower for 2025 in that regard! As I say, I will be coming back to many of the other links on this post!
Happy to tell you and my fellow Guerilla Readers that my copy of Democracy Awaking has dropped! Thank you for the Heather Cox Richardson's video. I found it helpful in getting a feel for who she is and how she processes information and life in general.
Thank you for all the research about 2025 and January. Celebrating Robert Burns birthday in January was a great excuse for a celebration in Juneau! There were at least two different alcoholic punches and of course a Haggis (which can be quite tasty if enough oatmeal and spices are used) and then we would attempt a Scottish reel dance (to bagpipes) which was a hoot if you or partner had drank a lot of Atholl Brose!
I have been a tea drinker since Irish grandma introduced me to it slightly milky with a spoon of sugar. Then I discovered Murchie’s in Victoria, BC and still order from them. In fact, I ordered a 4 year supply of a few favorites in case of a tariff. So, drinking a cup of “Ode to Joy” as I begin reading “Democracy Awaking “ again. I joined Substack for you and Heather Cox Richardson.
I'm glad to hear that it is possible for a haggis to be tasty. I've only tried twice (both in Scotland) and was persuaded that you needed to be born a Scot to actually enjoy it. Ode to Joy is new to me, so I looked it up: https://ratetea.com/tea/murchies/ode-to-joy/10088/ Sounds delicious!
I was reminded by a good friend that Joy is simple if we look and listen for it. This poem begins my Yearbook for 2025. It’s called Serendipity Corner by Donna Ashworth.
When you finally realize that Joy
Is less fireworks and more firefly
less orchestra more birdsong
She will come back much more often
For Joy will not fight
With the fast pace of this life.
She is not in the shiny or the new
She breathes in the basic,
shimmers in the simple
and dances in the daily to and fro.
Joy has been beckoning you
for many a year my friend
you were just too busy doing, to see.
The next time Joy wraps
her quiet warmth around you
as the garden embraces your weary body
In its wildness,
tip her a nod.
You cannot force her to stay,
but if you are gracious host
Joy comes back.
Pamela, thank you for this lovely reminder. I thought of it this morning, watching wild turkeys come out of our woods, where they roost at night. Joy, enough for the whole day.
Love this Pamela. So true to take a moment and recognize Joy when she appears! Thanks so much for sharing it.
Happy New Year, Susan! Thanks for a hearty cup of cheer of tea or beer to welcome in traditions old and new. We have quite a heady brew of a year ahead, so best to call up the trees in song.
Oh, you're so right about the challenges of 2025, Kate. As we wassail (from Old Norse ves heill and Old English wes hál, "be in good health") let's echo Joyce Vance: we're in this TOGETHER. Maybe that will make the year a little easier.
Yes, knowing how many of us will be together in witnessing, reacting, taking action is encouraging.
Hurrah for tea! I'm loving Good Earth's Sweet and Spicy tea.
Also their passionfruit and orange!
A wonderful calendar for 2025. Thanks, Susan. This caught my eye: Herb of the Year for 2025. Chamomile. Chamomile has relaxing properties, and I think we'll need more than a little bit of that in the days, weeks, and months to come.
I also love that this is hot tea month. I stopped drinking coffee decades ago, and I now love my first, hot cup of black sweet tea in the mornings. My favorite the past few months has been Republic of Tea, Pumpkin Spice. A little honey and some almond milk and it's perfect morning brew. The Pumpkin Spice is available in October and then fades away 'til next year, so in the coming weeks, I'll probably switch to my old stand by, Earl Grey. (I like that with honey too and just a small bit of vanilla.)
Happy New Year. May we all continue to grow a little wiser and a little kinder in these times.
Oh, delightful to know that Chamomile is the 2025 Herb of the Year. I hadn't checked on that yet. We used A LOT of that during the past year with our new grandson and his teething woes. He adores Chamomile/Peppermint tea and our daughter grew them in her first garden last summer. I keep those well-stocked in my home apothecary for his visits. He loves tasting new things from Grandma's herb cupboard and just tried Rose Elixir for the first time. He's definitely a fan.
Leenie, I love this — you inspire me to have an herb cupboard. Do you dry your herbs or freeze them for later use? Are you able to make tinctures?
And btw, the combination of Chamomile and Peppermint is a favorite after dinner tea around here.
Stephanie, Leenie is our hands-on herbalist--it's a life path for her. I think you'd enjoy her Folk Herbalist's Journal, the artwork but even more, the earned knowledge of the plants. https://leeniehobbie.substack.com/
Thanks, Stephanie. In a way, our whole home and gardens (both wild and tame) form my home apothecary. I preserve herbs in all sorts of ways. I dehydrate, preserve in alcohol, vinegar, oil, vegetable glycerin, honey, and all sorts of other combinations of these. I make most of our body care products or purchase them locally. For example, I used to make a lot of soaps for both our personal use and for laundry, but I don’t do that much these days. I have a local herbalist friend who makes the most wonderful shampoo and conditioner bars and she sells them packaging-free so I pick up cakes of these seasonally when I visit her. A lot of the herbal preparations I learned to make were motivated by wanting to reduce unnecessary packaging because I live in a rural area with very few recycling options. In my more active days I even distilled my own herbal and floral waters (hydrosols) using a copper alembic “still.” I used these in skin creams, toners, natural perfumes, soaps, lotions, etc. in a garden-to-natural-home-spa alternative to all those tiny, expensive bottles of essential oils from multi-level marketing companies. I still do a fair amount of herbcrafting with things I grow or wildcraft as well, from Mullein stalk candles to woven wild grapevine baskets and such. I really hope this year to explore more herbcrafting from common plants around our home. I feel like I can see the impact and regulate myself more when I live as locally as possible. I think our local communities need that kind of loving, intentional caretaking now more than ever. 🌿💚
Leenie, I think we all need to know someone like you, who models this lifestyle for us, helping to preserve old ways and showing us what it's like to live close to the heart of the land. I so admire what you do! And if I were still writing China's stories, I'd invite you to a guest appearance! (Bertha Reppert was a guest in one of the earlier mysteries--did you know her?)
Only through her books, which I read and reread, and am still proud to have on my herbal bookshelves.
I also noticed the chamomile and thought it an appropriate tea of the month this year.
I'm a longtime Earl Grey drinker too, Steph. I remember my first cup, at the much-beloved Med (Caffe Mediterraneum, gone now) on Telegraph Ave in Berkeley, on my first day there as a grad student. But I also treasure my morning coffee ritual.
And yes, wiser and kinder. And more canny.
Your comment about the Caffe floodeded me with memories. I attended Mills College - we had a "tea shop" on campus. My freshman roommate taught me how to "float" the cream at the top of the coffee.Her father was the brew master for Olympia beer (located in Seattle). Her parents escaped from Germany just before WW II. His US contacts led him directly to the brewery, since he was a brew master in Germany.
I don't know what Telegraph is like now, but it was (mostly) joyful when I was there in the late 60s--in spite of the national angst over Vietnam. I didn't have much of a social life as an undergrad (married, 3 small kids) but grad school and Berkeley was a whole new world, and I associate that tea with it.
When were you at Mills, Georgeann? I see they've now merged w/Northeastern and launched a research institute. Newcomb College did something similar in 2005. Makes sense, especially given the financial challenges.
I attended Mills from 1965 to 1969. My year there were 3 chemistry majors. I also learned computer programming using "punch" cards. Several of us frequented Berkeley on the weekends - we loved wandering down Telegraph Ave. We also joined protests there - when they were on the weekend. Between my labs and my 2 jobs on campus, my weekdays were filled. We even burned our bras (quite literally) there.
One of my Berkeley friends' draft number called him up - he fled to Canada and became a citizen there. Another was drafted and chose the Navy. My brother's draft number was 361 so he was "safe."
I have never reconciled the discrepancy between those who went to war, risking their lives while those at home literally spit in their faces.
Georgeann, fascinated by the Olympia Brewery story! Oly Beer as it was known was a very big deal here in Washington state through all of the 1900's. It has a very colorful history. It's slogan of 'It's the Water' can still be heard today. It was never my beer of choice, as it seemed 'green' and easily 'skunked' after opening. Still, it brings a smile when I go by the very picturesque brewery that is standing in Tumwater near Olympia, Washington - always with rumors of turning into this or that. A museum, or gallery, or a conference center. Wikipedia has a nice recap if anyone is interested. One point to be added to any beer story, is that eastern Washington produces a goodly amount of the country's hops. So perhaps it is more than just the water. :-)
Thanks for sharing Sandy. My roommate was bilingual - her parents spoke German in the home. I remember the slogan, "It's the water."
Interesting about eastern Washington growing hops.\
Sandy, here's an interesting report on the regional differences in hops: https://www.kezi.com/news/oregon-state-researchers-find-regional-differences-in-hops-and-resulting-beer-flavors-aromas/article_cee70c08-1c20-11ed-9c10-b30fce93d2f2.html Who knew?
Susan, thanks for this info! Isn’t it interesting! Of course one needs to bear in mind that there are VERY strong rivalries between Washington and Oregon! :-)
Yes, I was fascinated too. We are learning so much about the way the local varieties are influenced by their immediate eco-environment--their plant/weather/soil community. But there's still so much to learn.
A young farmer who moved to our area a couple of years ago with her Mathematics and MBA degrees in hand, invested in a piece of land and is working currently to establish a unique quintessential WV Hops variety. She approached me when she first moved here and I gave her some vines from my garden but she has branched out and expanded far beyond my humble use of the plant. Now she teaches and lectures about Hops and makes many Hops products as she pursues her dream of the ideal Hops vine. So fascinating!🌿💚