More Like Spring

Sunshine

And Melting Snow

Haley, Kaya, Melody, 2 or more

Ah, this is more like it.

Yeah, I'm loving the sunshine.

No jacket required. Nice!

Yeah!

Out Back

Check it out!

What?

Tracks in the melting snow. 
Really cool!

What kind do you think?
There are more over here...pretty sure they are bird tracks.
Now that we can see the bird feeder again, maybe we should start filling it.

Yeah, sounds like a plan.


Do you feed the birds at your house? What kind of feeders and seed do you put out?


Best wishes,

First Day of Spring?

Happy Friday!

Well, spring doesn't officially start until 6:45 PM tonight...This is what we have today instead of sunshine and daffodils.

Happy first day of spring! What kind of day did you have?

Best wishes,

Happy St. Patrick's Day Part 3

Tea Review

Melody, Kaya, Lanie, 2 or more, Haley, Kirsten, Xyra

Harney & Sons: Irish Breakfast Tea

What are we having for breakfast this St. Patrick's Day?
Irish Breakfast tea, of course.

AND Irish soda bread!
(giggling)
Xyra picked up this box of Harney & Sons Irish Breakfast tea at the grocery store.

The bread too.

(giggling)
Let's use the pot from Lady Webby!

Yes! The tea is in bags, so we won't need the infuser. I'll set it aside on the holder.

What are the details?
Well, it says that it's 100% Assam, hand-picked Indian black tea.

Nice!
That means bold flavor with a malty undertone.
Also means good with milk and sugar.
I've got the tea bag in the pot. After we add water, how long should it steep?

Says 5 minutes.
Ready for the water.
Set the timer.

While the tea steeps I'll cut the soda bread.

(Timer beeps)
Looks good. Let's pour!

It smells wonderful!

Hard to explain the aroma.
Smells like good tea with no floral or fruity notes.
Yeah!
First taste is plain.

Yum!
Yeah, well-rounded flavor. In a pinch you could easily drink this plain; it's not bitter.
I bet this would make a great iced tea in the summer.
Second taste with honey.

Not bad. 
Gives a floral flavor to the tea.
Agreed.
Third, sugar.

This is nice.
But there is something missing.
I can't quite put my finger on it.
Fourth, milk and sugar.

Yep, this is what was missing.
The milk pulls more of the malt flavor.
Lovely. I think I've read the Irish would only drink it this way.
Winner!
Grab the tray and let's take breakfast out to Haley and Kirsten.

Awesome! My stomach is starting to growl.
Too bad we don't have any Irish oatmeal.
Next year!
I wonder if Lady Marvin of the Lamppost had any Irish Breakfast tea this morning.

Did you have anything Irish today? If yes, what was it?

Slainte!


Note: Tea Time with Melody Q is not affiliated with American Girl or Harney & Sons Teas. The review was unsolicited and all opinions expressed are our own. All links are provided purely for educational and informative purposes. No purchase is required.

Bread note: According to the Society for the Preservation of Irish Soda Bread what we have here is not really a true soda bread but more along the lines of a "spotted dog" bread or tea cake as the ingredients indicate egg and raisins.

Happy St. Patrick's Day Part 2

Lucky Doll Finds

Dollar Tree

If you are lucky enough to have a Dollar Tree dollar store near you, then you must check it out seasonally for great doll finds.

[Note: These aren't the greatest photos in the world because I wanted you to see the lamps working. The flash would have washed it out.]

Lamps

Everyone needs light! You can find great lamps at Dollar Tree. Our most recent lighting fixture is this Solar Table Lamp. It makes a wonderful floor lamp. This was found in the gardening section. 

Also in the gardening section are these smaller glow in the dark lights. The shade absorbs the light and glows. There are three colors available: aqua (we have 2), red, and yellow. These are perfect table lamps. We picked up these in the fall, but saw more when we found the floor lamp.

I found this great desk lamp in one of the aisles. This we picked up shortly after reading about and seeing one in another blog (I'm fairly certain it was a Madelon find). 

Games

"Jenga" anyone? Well, Tumble Tower. We picked this up when we found the desk lamp. It was in the toy aisle.

Speaking of the toy aisle...if you like skateboarding there is a very nice selection of boards at Dollar Tree. There were even some scaled for minis!

What do you think of our finds?

Slainte,