to build a home: March 2012

26 March 2012

Citrus & Ginger Earl Grey Ice Tea

Ingredients:

4 Earl Grey tea bags

1 Orange

1 Lemon

1 Lime

1 bottle Ginger ale

4 tablespoons brown sugar

How to make:

Put the four teabags in a mug and fill with boiling water.
Leave to brew for 4-5mins.
(You can use plain teabags but the bergamot in the Earl Grey is a delicious touch)
Remove teabags and add the sugar before placing the mug of tea to cool in the fridge.
Chop fruit into chunky pieces and place in the jug with plenty of ice cubes.
When the tea has cooled (you can speed up this process by adding cold water to the mixture) add it to the jug.
Then add the ginger ale to fill the jug (you can also use lemonade if you don't like ginger, but it gives the tea a real good kick).
Stir the mixture well, making sure the juices are extracted from the fruit.
Pour and enjoy on a lovely sunny day out in the garden!
It' nice if you put a piece of fruit in your glass with some ice to keep it fresh.
If you make a large jug, you can easily bottle your tea and store it in the fridge to drink later.

25 March 2012

Why is a raven like a writing desk?

As my last post was about receiving letters, I thought I'd continue on that theme and post about writing letters. My favourite place to write letters is probably in the garden on a sunny day, or at my cemetery where I sit to think. During the winter I prefer to write in a coffee or tea shop at a table in the corner (the letter in my last post was written in a coffee shop, so I suppose it's a common pleasure for most letter writers). It seems more practical however to write letters at home, but I have no where to sit and write. My desk is always cluttered with work, the kitchen table is always covered in bits of food and my bed is... well I go into sleep mode if I even look at my bed!

Then I found this at a charity shop in Beeston...

It was on sale for a mere £15. I looked over it carefully and it had quite a few scratches, and an elderly woman passing by interrupted me with remark of 'don't buy that dear, you'll only regret it later, you'll never get those scratches out'. I respected her opinion as a wiser lady, and decided to go away and think about it. That night I travelled to Birmingham to visit my grandma, and after talking to her she said I should go for it. I called my boyfriend back in Nottingham and as he so kindly went to look over it for me, he found that it had been further reduced to £10! How could I resist!

Sadly, he returned later to buy this beautiful bureau for me and it was gone. Grandma had even given me some old scratch polish she'd found in the garage to clean it up, and I became excited for the restoration project. I returned home disappointed. I learnt my lesson: if I ever find a gem such as this I have to swoop in and grab it! At least now I know what I'm looking for to complete my writing experience at home. For now, my café's will have to do!

23 March 2012

From one home to another...

This morning I was carrying my breakfast tray from the kitchen up to my room, and I almost went flying on some letters that had been posted through the door. Most of them were for people who don't even live here any more (we get that a lot in a student house), but amongst them I found a little one addressed to me in pretty handwriting. I was so excited! I patiently ate my cereal and poured my coffee before opening it up and enjoying it's contents. It was from Jenna, my penpal in Cornwall. I wasn't expecting anything (it was actually my turn to write), but she saw this beautifully crafted card with hand knitted fish on the front, thought of me, and sent it on with an update on her life.

I love receiving letters in the post, it gives you a real buzz, a sense of warmth and love that you don't really get through double clicking on an email in your inbox. A letter through the letter box makes me feel at home. It is another thing that makes a house a home. I can't help but feel that people need to rediscover the art of letter writing.