SuperEggplant

It’s been pretty toasty warm here as of late, and a cold, refreshing beverage is always welcome. I drink a lot of iced mugicha (barley tea), but sometimes I think it makes my tummy feel funny. So today I thought I’d try something different, and I whipped up a glass of iced matcha (powdered green tea).

Unfortunately, I made it a bit too strong, so that REALLY made my tummy feel funny. Next time I’ll get the proportions right (I think 1 teaspoon of matcha per tall glass of ice water would work well), and maybe I’ll make some sugar syrup to go with it. Hope y’all are staying cool!

This might not be very interesting to anyone, but we had a block party today! Three of us coorganized it, and it turned out quite well. I was worried we wouldn’t have enough food, but we had a TON of food, and Peter and I will be eating hot dogs for the rest of our lives. Here’s one glimpse (that’s Peter’s mom with the backpack):

The party was held across the street in a neighbor’s backyard. She has the most shade in the neighborhood, which is important when it’s 100 degrees outside! I think we had about 25 people there.
Hey, thanks for all the nice comments about Grace. I wore it last night, and it was very comfy indeed, and the panel worked well, so I guess it isn’t so terribly dorky. One reason I was hesitant to try Grace at first was because of the mohair yarn called for in the pattern. It didn’t seem like a very practical choice. The Princess yarn, however, worked out great, since it’s acrylic and viscose and much more summery and drapey. And hey, it’s another $10 sweater! Woohoo!

I have been stuck in the blogging doldrums for a few days. Feeling guilty, I decided I’d better blog about SOMETHING, ANYTHING. So, in order to drum up some blogging fodder, I decided to brew a cup of China Pu-Erh tea that my friend Greg kindly (or not so kindly) sent me to sample. He told me that it was the nastiest, stinkiest tea he’d ever tried. This is understandable, as “Pu-Erh teas have a strong, earthy flavor and aroma due to a double fermentation during which the tea leaves actually begin to decompose” (from Upton Tea). Mmmm, sounds appetizing, doesn’t it? Dead, decomposing tea. Those wacky Chinese! Anyway, it wasn’t quite as disgusting as I thought it was going to be, though the aroma and taste did remind me of the dark, dank, dirt-floored areas of my grandmother’s ancient house in the humid Japan countryside.
So that’s it. That’s all I’ve got today.

Remember those fruit-scented felt-tip markers from grade school? Yeah, I wanted to eat those, too. Here’s a way to revisit that fruity pen high while being fashionable at the same time:

These are Fruity Felt Tip Lip Pens by Eyeko, a cosmetics company with very cute packaging (and I’m a sucker for cute packaging). I got one at Sephora when I was in San Francisco, and I love it. I mean, who hasn’t had the desire to draw on themselves with felt pens? Here’s your chance, and it’s non toxic!

I am not the only one in the household to pursue crafty endeavors. Peter is always drawing up plans for house and sailboat projects. Today he constructed a prototype for a heavy-duty mesh bag that is designed to hold and quickly release a ladder. You see, he often goes sailing by himself (because I get sick), and he worries about what might happen if he gets tossed overboard. He wanted a way to to be able to get back on board.

Here is the prototype. Notice the sunbathing dog.

On the cusp of testing the prototype! The moment of truth awaits!

And voila! It works! The prototype is a success! Notice the absence of the dog. The loud clattering of the ladder disturbed her.