HOW TO MAKE A POT OF TEA

Drought-tolerant perennials have yet to awaken

As a rule, in the cold months I make a pot of herbal tea for our mid-morning break. It's better for us than many other calorie-laden options. Making the tea falls to me since Mike seems to think it's difficult. No, boiling water is not difficult, but perhaps my rather involved routine makes him think so.

It takes a long time for the tap water to come in hot, and it seems so wasteful just to run water down the drain. So, first I turn on the water -- all the way to the hot side. Then I grab the dogs' water pail and fill it with the water, which is still running cool. I also pour any residual water from the tea kettle into the pail. Next, I refill the kettle with fresh water, which is now becoming warm(er), and set it to heat on the stove. If I have dishes in the sink (and we have so few to wash that I generally save them for this occasion), I begin to run a sinkful of hot water so that I can wash the dishes. Now the the water is hot, so I can finally fill the thermal pot in order to warm it for the near-boiling water from the stove. By this time the teakettle begins to rumble, and I pour the clear water from the thermal pot into the dishwater in the sink and begin to steep the tea bag in the pot of nearly boiling water from the stove.

Crocus blooms amid "snow-in-summer"

Of course, none of this is important. In order to make tea, all you really need is a tea bag, a pot, and boiling water.

Now that the tap water is hot, this is also a good time to run the dishwasher, but sometimes that just doesn't work out. KW