hiber nation
Feb. 13th, 2021 10:30 amThe water in this apartment was terrible when I moved in. It was hard enough that the minerals in the water would bind to the tea and create this weird skin on top. That didn't taste bad but it looked really unpleasant and was hard to clean. So I got in the habit of using self-made teabags and having tea one (large) mug at a time.
Over the summer they did something to the water system and it's ... less bad. I'm still using a Brita but I no longer feel like it's absolutely required. And the tea doesn't skin over anymore. I'm still mostly making tea by the mug, though. Habits.
This morning I made myself a pot of Sikkim, a tea that's been my favourite since I picked it up on a lark from the Teavana in Tysons Corner. I'm slowly drinking it out of a small but gorgeous mug that Ellen gave me when Erin and I visited her on the island in 2019.
It's been a cold week here, down below -30 most nights. My heaters have been working overtime to keep up with the drafty windows, and I've been actually using both the quilts on the bed. I'm generally happy down to around -10 and fine at -20; much below that and I get cranky. Should be warming up later this week anyway. And it's plenty bright outside, which helps.
I'm watching Arrow, which is mostly enjoyable as a spine story for Flash and Legends... but in that sense it definitely is enjoyable. It weaves a complex network of character relationships, mostly for plot purposes but often enough there are interesting interactions there. It's nice to have this larger fictional world to immerse myself in.
Been cooking again, partly because running the stove / oven keeps the apartment a bit warmer. It's good to be back into feeding myself actual food. Later today I'll bake a couple loaves of sweetbread, and tomorrow breakfast shall be french toast.
I picked up the viola again this week as well, first time since July. I am of course incredibly out of practise but at least I know how to fix that. If it turns out to be something I stick with, I'm considering getting a set of octave strings, to make it sound like a cello, because I think that would be neat. Less useful for fiddle tunes, though.
Unrelated to any of the above: I wish the USPS were less hooped, but I've been wishing that for a decade now. Here's hoping last fall's damage is serious enough that fixing it will be something of a priority. (I also wish Canada Post were in better shape, but I don't know enough to even begin to speculate as to either causes or solutions there. Beyond the obvious "throw more money at it," of course.)
I appreciate that Hibernia, the Latin name for Ireland, means "Winterland," and that it shares a root with "hibernate." Dublin's at about the same latitude I am, too. I feel like I'm hibernating, this winter. This past year, I guess. Curious as to what spring will bring.
Over the summer they did something to the water system and it's ... less bad. I'm still using a Brita but I no longer feel like it's absolutely required. And the tea doesn't skin over anymore. I'm still mostly making tea by the mug, though. Habits.
This morning I made myself a pot of Sikkim, a tea that's been my favourite since I picked it up on a lark from the Teavana in Tysons Corner. I'm slowly drinking it out of a small but gorgeous mug that Ellen gave me when Erin and I visited her on the island in 2019.
It's been a cold week here, down below -30 most nights. My heaters have been working overtime to keep up with the drafty windows, and I've been actually using both the quilts on the bed. I'm generally happy down to around -10 and fine at -20; much below that and I get cranky. Should be warming up later this week anyway. And it's plenty bright outside, which helps.
I'm watching Arrow, which is mostly enjoyable as a spine story for Flash and Legends... but in that sense it definitely is enjoyable. It weaves a complex network of character relationships, mostly for plot purposes but often enough there are interesting interactions there. It's nice to have this larger fictional world to immerse myself in.
Been cooking again, partly because running the stove / oven keeps the apartment a bit warmer. It's good to be back into feeding myself actual food. Later today I'll bake a couple loaves of sweetbread, and tomorrow breakfast shall be french toast.
I picked up the viola again this week as well, first time since July. I am of course incredibly out of practise but at least I know how to fix that. If it turns out to be something I stick with, I'm considering getting a set of octave strings, to make it sound like a cello, because I think that would be neat. Less useful for fiddle tunes, though.
Unrelated to any of the above: I wish the USPS were less hooped, but I've been wishing that for a decade now. Here's hoping last fall's damage is serious enough that fixing it will be something of a priority. (I also wish Canada Post were in better shape, but I don't know enough to even begin to speculate as to either causes or solutions there. Beyond the obvious "throw more money at it," of course.)
I appreciate that Hibernia, the Latin name for Ireland, means "Winterland," and that it shares a root with "hibernate." Dublin's at about the same latitude I am, too. I feel like I'm hibernating, this winter. This past year, I guess. Curious as to what spring will bring.