Virgin-Lip Tea

At Escapade I was having breakfast with MacGeorge, Cinel and Lori, and the conversation turned, as it tends to when I bring my own to the table, to tea. MacGeorge mentioned acquiring a special blend of Virgin-Lip Dragonwell tea, a Chinese Imperial Blend supposedly picked from the bush by the lips of virgins. Some weeks later, I was in Kuan Yin Teahouse replenishing my Darjeeling stash, and I noticed that one of their other teas was a Dragonwell green tea.

I finally tried it today. It's mild, which is standard for most greens, but also lacks the bitterness inherent in most green teas that usually has me hunting for mint and sugar to balance it. The leaves are delicately rolled tips, a little odd looking dry, but a soft, olive green when steeped. Quite nice.

In other news, I managed to lose my keys at work on Friday. Sometime between three-ish, when I got my last cup of tea for the day, and five, when I got up from my desk to start getting ready to leave - poof. Gone. Not in the breakroom, not left in the bathroom, and nowhere to be found around my desk. I've got a training class on Monday, so no Harborview for me, which is a good thing, since I need my keys to get into the office there. At the U, I can run around to the front of the office instead of using the back door, for which I need those keys.

I was... distressed for most of Friday evening. 'No use crying over spilt milk' warring with 'fuck, my keys!' I could get in and out of the house, ok, but Monday loomed. Still does, but either I find them or I don't.

Saturday I tried to finish up my worm bin, and was foiled by the weather. Pesky rain. I did hike down to Seattle Tilth's office and bought worms, got screening at the hardware store for the drainage holes and Worms Eat My Garbage at the library. Then I holed up with Pharaoh for pretty much the rest of the day. So non-productive.

Today was more of a gardening day. I did some weeding in the front, quarreled with some landscaping rocks in one corner that had vastly outlived their usefulness, and discovered quite a few nightcrawlers in the front strip, among the dandelions. Big fuckers, those, and not at all useful for wormbins, otherwise I might have been tempted to add them to my little colony. Mine are redworms, Eisenia fetida, much smaller and not quite so territorial. I've been learning lots about worms lately, between my coworker, books and the Internet.

Finished the worm bin, and Lori helped me set it up on one side of the house. It'll be a bitch to move, so I've decided not to plan on it. By the time I'll need to, it will likely have outlived it's useful lifespan (being wood, and therefore biodegradable.) There are plastic bins that are three times as expensive, but will last much longer. If I'm still intent on the worm thing by then, I'll go that route.

The cats were freaktastic all day. Calvin was loving the sun, Callie couldn't decide if she wanted to be in or out, Laurier was investigating this freaky 'outdoor' thing that Mom kept going into, and indoor-boy Hobbes even slipped out for a bit of fresh air - just in time for me to close the door on him and trigger the most piteous whining I've heard in a very long time.

Best part of the weekend was getting my new credit card in the mail yesterday. Not a new credit line, just a less-worn piece of plastic. I called to activate it, and transferred most of the balance on the Amex, which was at a much higher rate. That's one thing these piteously low interest rates are good for lately. While I was at it, I checked the balance on my MBNA, and when I found it was zero - cancelled that one outright! YAhah! No more evil high interest credit card. Another month (to get the last bill) and I should be able to rid myself of the Amex entirely as well. I'll be left with just one (distressingly large) balance to pay off.

And, now that I've bored you all stiff, ( cut for the big image-y quiz-ling )