Resolute to Sun Bathe

Fore word: I’ve finally managed to nab a spot of internet away from crowds and my troublesome mates and I was just thoroughly motivated and I absolutely must share this in hopes that it might help someone else to gain their confidence as well.

I’ve decided. This year is going to be different. No more procrastinating, excuses, putting off things. No more disorganization and no more bad habits. But most importantly: No more shyness, insecurities and putting others before myself.

Yes, here comes the ages old refrain: I want to make changes in my life. I want to get closer to attaining my dreams and stop telling myself that I’m too young or too weak to do something or make a difference. No more letting myself get caught up in a whirlwind of life in New York. No more turning my room into a compressed version of Times Square after the ball drops. [Ok I’m not that messy, but its why I’ve become messy that I want to change and that’s simply not having the energy or the time. So I figure organising myself and setting my priorities will give me time.]

So what’s brought about this change? Someone made me see myself differently. This happened a few weeks ago on the Cycladic Isle of Paros. It was one of my first stops on a summer of touring the Islands with friends and family rather than just visiting our old familiar areas of Greece. My parents also agreed to letting my sister and I tour the islands with our friends alone, because of my dream. Most of you know that I want to be a Marine Biologist (or something along that line) despite my love of writing (and you might also know that I want to incorporate my love of writing and teaching into that career).  Ever since we spent those few years living in Athens, I wanted to visit all the Islands and Scuba dive off the coast of each. Our first summer here I got my first certificate on the Island of Crete with a local Padi dive shop.  Since then I had diven off the coast of Santorini, Zakynthos, Paros and in the North of Greece near Thessaloniki. But anyone who has seen a map of Greece knows that there are hundreds of Islands just begging to have their sandy shores discovered.

So we started our summer in Paros- we have a property there and my parents agreed to let us all crash there and use it as a home base. Though its a humble island home, comprised of just three main rooms and two bathrooms, its airy when there’s the typical Parosian tempests.  Also, there is a rather large balcony/porch out side that is partially sheltered by the sun. We have a hamock and pool chair out there and all together- using the back area, the bed room, the couch, and the roof (we threw the tent kit up and then jumped onto our roof from our neighbours which is easy to get onto because the ground slopes…) we managed to sprawl comfortably in the heat… Well relatively comfortably. After spending a few days with Jynx in the desert near Saudi Arabia in Jordan, and enduring the scorching hot sands, muds and water(liquid salt) of the Dead Sea we made our peace with the heat during the breif, still nights knowing that we’d find relief in the beaches and depths of the water during the day.

So what does sun bathing, resolutions for change, and scuba diving all have to do with one another?

Earlier, while we were in Paros for the first time (a luscious five days of staying put!) I met a 22 year old English chap who would soon become one of my favourite dive partners. We are both easy going people who have an unbridled love for the water and the depths, so we naturally and effortlessly melded together in the water. Our dives were relaxing and stimulating and perfectly enjoyable. Everything would go smoothly and we’d get to discover the local environment. On deck we fell into easy conversation- me telling my complicated life’s story and explaining my name and etc. and him telling me about his voyages. He’s been out of school for four years traveling the globe. Jynx and mine’s adventures in Jordan and our henna struck him quite a bit as just this winter he had spent five months traveling and exploring India in Solitude. He was full of great anecdotes and the brevity of the boat rides to our dive sites was sorely accentuated. However, it didn’t take long for us to discover something else we had in common… We were both half Italian. I was shocked when he told me- I really didn’t see a millimeter past his strong british accent. However, despite his coppery blonde hair, whether from the traveling and the past month on the boat diving every day- he was tan enough to be Italian. See his skin tone didn’t match with the pale English stereotype.  So amongst our reminiscing about what our mothers were like in the kitchen (clean to the extreme, quick, efficient and not to mention talented making for a lovely and healthy child hood) he quick to comment on my paleness for someone of full Mediterranean descent.

Needless to say I got burnt that first day. I blamed it on my lack of vit. D in recent times- from staying inside to study rather than participate in sports and outings and staying relatively covered up in Jordan or inside to escape the heat. Fact of the matter is- every summer, no mater how much sunblock i put on, how often I put it on, or how high an SPF (UVA or B) I use… I still get burnt within the first few weeks of every summer. My skin just doesn’t have a lot of melanin in it 😦

So after his teasing about me being the only mediteranean to get sunburned- ever- I decided that bit by bit, every day I’d commit to sitting outside for half an hour or more, until I built up a tolerance to the sun (A.K.A. – a tan). A couple weeks in and I am fairly darker than I was at the begining of the summer. You can actually say I have a tan now. However I’m still not even half as dark as most of my friends who darken all but exponentially as soon as they are exposed to an ounce of sun. It’s like their skin is photo-reactive or something! But what happens to me is the opposite. My hair lightens rapidly in the summer- resulting in me being called blonde by all my family.

I find it very hard to waste my time. To just sit outside and do nothing- even though I tell myself I’m helping myself by getting a little bit of vitamin D and melanin into my system.  And part of that is the nagging feeling that by trying to make myself feel like a bigger part of the family by darkening my skin… I make myself seem even more alien by lightening my hair. And hats don’t help. Once it gets the slightest bit of sun I get blonde streaks from root to tip!

Another reason why I don’t like to sit out tanning is because its a boring activity. It’s hard to read one of the bulky books I have to read for school, and with no one to talk to I feel like time just draggs on- as a result I interpret 10 minutes as half an hour and get no where with my goal. It would undoubtably be easier if I had a friend or two willing to sit out in the sun with me instead of resting in the coolness of the water, so we could at least gab or gossip (though you know I don’t like to gossip every now and then Jynx’s twin brother  draws us into a gossip fest be jumping into the room, hopping onto her bed and twittering in a falscetto “Ok guys, now DISH!”)

But that doesn’t happen, and with my group of mixed friends who don’t all know eachother and without the stimulus of the socialites of school there isn’t much to gossip about. As a result, back in Paros for a few days, I took a small bowl of chips, a frigid glass of Iced tea and  one of my mom’s “O” magazines (and of course armed with my trusty Ipod and brassy tones to help keep self consciousness at bay) out to the chaise lounge to keep me company. I hoped the magazine would provide some uplifting and insightful- but light- summer reading.

Thankfully it was.

The issue I happened to pick up was (I believe) the most recent one. Dedicated to change (you’re starting to see how it all comes together now, aren’t you?) One of the cover stories immediately caught my eye. “What your body language is saying behind your back” I take a keen interest in what different action and movements mean when translated into the mind so I was curious to see what path this article would take. When the stage opened onto an overly apologetic, active mother I saw a glimpse of what my life would be like in ten years or so. My Canadian ‘side’ really shows through when it comes to my manners. I say sorry way to much-to the point of getting on people’s nerves or having them laugh at me- and I say thank you and please as if they were still a part of the modern vocabulary. Adults like that about me, as do people my age since it makes me a laughing stock.  However it makes me seem meek- a characteristic that my peers are all to eager to exploit- despite my stuborness and strong willed nature.  The way that this mother was able to change her life- even to the point of getting her daughter’s soft ball coach to put aside prejudices on the feild and give the weaker players a shot, as well as reading other articles in the mag about change- I thought it was time I tried some myself.

I figure if I make myself determined enough, and resolute enough, and guard myself against potential failures, Also if I commit myself to changing another aspect of my life as well (so self confidence along with organisation) any progress made in one area should stimulate me not to give up.

Also, that fact that we are moving houses and I’ll have a room to myslef, as well as a chance to re decorate and re organise all my stuff is going to help to set my life in order. I’ll have a space to work all of my own- rather than taking over the dining room table! Also, I feel that if I’m more organised, it will be easier to get things done quicker and in a more prioritized manner.

However there is one other thing that is motivating me to boost my self confidence. A few days ago I stayed up until 4 in the morning, online with a group of my friends, as we waited for the demand on the website we were all trying to acces- to drop. Results from some exams we had taken this year as part of a new program were to be released at midnight, but so many people were trying to get on the site at once that it wasn’t letting us get in.  For some three hours I repeatedly refreshed the page, re entered the webadress, re entered and double checked my login and passcode. One by one we heard the shouts of joy of our friends through the wires as their codes were finally accepted and those lovely letters that mean so much; popped onto the screen. Finally my results came. But my joy was dampened. The pleasantly stellar results I’d achieved were dulled by one of my low marks. The sad part is my lowest mark was an A, and though I was thrilled about the A I’d gotten in Art, the english language A was somewhat of a let down. I love to write and for the past year and a half, English Language was the one class where I really felt at home. The class where I had the support I needed, but not the pressure of an oversized class or overeager teacher. In the torture that school had become- days clouded by boring geography teachers and cramped, noisy classes; English was my haven- a room where I could retreat to, put on my music and just write with the help I needed, when i needed it.

When my friends started asking me how my grades were (we never ask for what just how pleased we are) and I responded with “ok” (because I knew they were good but I didn’t want to accept it) every one became concerned. When I finally told them what subject and the mark it was that was disheartening me, I became awash in congratulations and reassurances about my ‘skill’ as a writer. Soon even a couple of friends who only read this blog and don’t really know me other wise were participating in the charade. I would have been happy with an A in English Literature or any other subject (although I got an annoying full marks in Lit. that I didn’t want) what annoyed me was this: I got an A+ in two subjects where I thought I would get an A, but I just wanted to prove my Geography teacher and the history class bully wrong. I wanted to show our geo teacher that despite his not having taught us anything in the past year and a half and me sleeping during class and then having to learn the syllabus on my own in three months- that I could pull it off. I wanted to show a particularly annoying pupil in my history class that; though I didn’t care if he thought he was smarter than me; he shouldn’t be so arrogant. But the high mark in Language I wanted just to prove to myself that I actually can write (much like why I started the blog). I guess I suspected my teacher of baby-ing me, or giving me high marks just because i was a good student and we got along, or because she knew my ambitions to one day be a writer. like wise I suspect my friends of just telling me what they think I want to hear. so i thought an examiner would be truthful, and I honestly thought I could get a high mark in it. I felt a bit heart broken when I saw my predicted grades for the two english subjects reversed into reality. I kept looking back and rechecking them to make sure I wasn’t reading them wrong.  And I was about to close down this website with tears in my eyes when the words a close friend had said to me a few nights earlier, struck a chord with what my other friends were presently saying. He had said “don’t sell urself short…if u want to write and have a passion for it…i say..write♥” which was basically just saying to do whatever i want and had no allusions to talent or anything of the sort- which was why it appealed to me. He was telling me to just do what made me happy no matter what anyone else thought. And this bluntly honest, down to earth encouragement was what I needed to hear because its when friends start raving about a invisble ‘talent’ or ‘greatness’ of one sort or other that I lose faith because it seems so inscinsere and impossible.

And so with those words bouncing off my head I’ve also made up my mind- Come september I will audition (as a new kid in school) for the school musical in my new school. I’m moving to a school that has better options for me and will stimulate me more as well as give me more support in my dreams. Where as I’ve always sung in the choir as a supporting vioce with my sister braving center stage, I’ll try the spotlight on my voice and try to squeak out the bold tones that normally grace only my shower tiles.  Maybe the confidence in this arena is also coming from the fact that for the first time I will not be just, someone’s sister. I’ll be me. People won’t have to know i’m a twin until I’m ready for them to and they won’t be able to judge me compared to her or align us or confuse us. And so if my voice turns out to be crap, who gives a damn, they don’t know what hers is like and I won’t be tarnishing her reputation.

So I guess I want to say thank you to friends who know eachother well enough to be able to get past eachother’s fail safes against disapointment in times of crisis. ANd thank you to my friends for being there for me at  the lowest of low moment of an identity crisis.

Even when things should be slowing down…

…they just end up speeding up.

It’s summer.

We are now nearly ready to end school. Exams have been handed back (all but art). Lessons are winding down.

Deadlines are being met,  summer work is being set, and relaxation is being post-poned…

Its that time of year when everyone just wants to relax, and finish, and start summer, but our school has decided to have school end a bit later this year, so we are all enduring a bit more of the … well nothingness that marks our daily lives. typical days.

That sounds really depressing.

I just mean that we are all in suspense as usual, always waiting for something, to happen.

Tomorrow morning, something will happen. My grade is going on a camping trip. Beach, sun, trees, relaxation, swimming, ice-cream, good company (hopefully)… what more can I ask for? (that actually sounds like a lot of demands :P)

Well my point is that not much has been going on right now. I just finished packing. I’ve got everything on my check list (provided by school) and yet I still feel like I’m missing something… We all go through this, problem is, I think I have this feeling far too often. And its normally right.

Anyways, I know this is kinda short, (VERY short) but I’ll be getting up in 7 and a half hours… probably I’ll only get 5 hours sleep by the time I’m done getting everything I could possibly need, and finally put my mind to rest that I have EVERYTHING I could Possibly need.

I think the big problem though  is that I’m not taking my I-pod with me. I mean can you imagine 3 days with out music??? I certainly can not! Haha, this sounds really spoiled. But Music, Dance, and words… they are just a must for me in my everyday life. (oh! Thats something I need to get, my notebooks! Thx guys!) (oh and I could get another novel too… what else is there to do but read when I’m not swimming. I’m not a sun bathing type. WAY too boring!) Keep up the Brain storm! see this is one of the great things about being able to multiple think… while you are busy doing one thing you mind keeps tackling another problem… Where as other people, though tend to think about 2 or 3 things at once, it seems that I can annoyingly think of 5 or 6 at once and sometimes end up getting confused.

Ok- new problem arose. My flashlight isnt working. It’s an underwater one I got last year. Bulb is fine, batteries have charge- but for some reason there seems to be no negative terminal and we can not find out how to get the light on! oh well… another thing to do while I can not sleep. Find new Flashlight!  *sigh* aint this just swell?

Ok flash light is now working and I just managed to stuff a few more things into my bag. Next, a couple more books.

Ok books and flash light added to bag… bag itself is full, though the zip still goes by really easily… htere fore there is still some room for stuff on the top should I need it (such as books… camera… more books 😛 I know I know, I’m a total book worm! :P)

Ok forget about that. It’s now officially full… which means that coming back I wont be able to fit ANYTHING in it! haha. I’ll manage… somehow…

Well I really should go. I have some email and correspondances to write before I go to bed so toodle-oo (just found out how to spell it correctly haha!)

Bonna Notte Tutti!

Baking time

Well it has been pretty warm lately, summer has been coming! That means we’ve been eating more ice cream and baking less unfortunately. The entire house just heats up way too much as soon as you put the oven on! However, right now I’m the only ones home, (plus the dogs but they get to sleep on the cool shady floor- jealousy) so therefore without any one here to complain about the heat I will do some baking! And of course share the recipe de jour (well week now I guess) with all of you!

Ok, so I go to our kitchen bookshelf (we have a bookshelf in pretty much every room of the house each with different genres and such) and take down the Williams-Sonoma baking book. We have the baking and Italian cooking one and use both all the time.

Anyways, I turn to my favourite two pages and am immediately struck by a dilemma. which to make!? Snickerdoodles or oldfashioned oatmeal cookies!? they are both sooo good! Its so hard to choose, so I thought of you guys. Which would you rather hear about? I came to the conclusion that probably you all have at least one oatmeal cookie recipe from Grandma (maybe not granny but its soo easy to get a hold of a good one) and it took me ages to find this good, reliable snickerdoodle recipe, and some of you might not even know them, so that made up my choice.Hope you all agree with my decision.

So, without further ado, I present to you (rhyme… 😛 ) SNICKERDOODLES!

Ingredients:

2 table spoons plus 3/4 cup sugar (6 oz or185 g)

2 teaspoons ground cinnamon

1 1/3 cups all purpose flour (plain) (5 1/2 oz or 170g)

1 teaspoon cream of tartar 1/2 teaspoon baking soda (bicarbonate of soda)

pinch of salt

1/2 cup butter, softened ( 4 oz or 125 g)

1 egg

1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract or essence

Directions:

Pre heat oven to 400 degrees F (200 degrees C)

In a bowl, stir together the 2 tablespoons of sugar and the cinnamon. Set aside. In another bowl, whisk together the flour, cream of tartar, baking soda, and salt. Set aside

In a large bowl, combine the butter, the 3/4 cup of sugar, egg and canilla. With an ellectric mixer set on medium-high speed, beat until the mixture is smooth and well blended. Reduce the speed to low, add the flur mixture, and continue to mix just until incorporated (the worst mistake normally occurs here. People tend to over beat the mixture, I have done it many times. It just doesn’t bake the same so as soon as it is blended  shut it off!)

Roll 1 rounded teaspoonful of dough between your palms into a ball. Roll the ball in the cinnamon-sugar mixture. Put the sugar coated ball on an un-greased baking sheet (though you may put a sheet of parchment paper underneath if you like), spacing the balls 2 inches (5 cm) apart on the baking sheet. Repeat with the remaining dough and a second baking sheet.

Bake until round, flat and a light golden brown, should be 8-10 minutes. Transfer the baking sheets to wire racks and let cool for 1-2 minutes. Using a metal spatula, transfer the cookies to the racks to cool completely.

Bon appetit! (you should get about 2 dozen allowing for size of cookies)

These are great recipes for the fall too. The rich cinnamon flavour is perfect for autumn in New York or even Christmas time. I normally wouldn’t have had them at this time of year, but as soon as I saw the recipe I realised how long it had been and I had a huge craving so they are in the oven as we speak (or as I type rather…)

In the book there is a little piece about the cookies, a description I guess. I’ll write the tid bit here:

“A cinnamon-and-sugar topping distinguishes these classic cookies. Served warm with a tall glass of cold milk, they make a favourite after-noon snack. Store cream of tartar, tightly covered for up to 1 year)

Ok, well I have never left the cream of tartar for so long, because we always find another use for it, especially around the holiday season, so I dont know what to tell you there, but the rest is all too. They are great morning noon or night, with milk they are superb! They are also great if you freeze a batch and then take them out just as you need. I’ll probably do that with half of this batch because during the summer my sister and brothers and I love to eat them still frozen! They are just as good as when they are warm, and still just as deliciously chewy!

I’ve just been looking through some of the other recipes. I’ve forgotten how many great ones there were! Next time maybe the Cinnamon-Chocolate Chip refrigerator cookies (we also like to freeze these… :P) or the Othellos are great. There are some good biscoti recipes and a nice one (though not my favourite) recipe for walnut cardamom viennese crescents… Or of course I could give the delish Peanut butter cup cookies… oooh! Just caught site of the chocolate Fudge Squares… yummmo! but those are really great for the holdiay season! There are so many that are perfect for that time of year I think I will have to put up a seperate one each day for a month or two to get them all to you!

Also is anyone a carrot cake fan but allergic to nuts? I have a great on for nut free carrot cake and a lot of other recipies where nuts or dried fruit are optional because I prefer my baked goods to be clean… so to speak (I’ll explain another day) And so if anyone wants that, I’ll put it up.

From any sugestions I’ve given, if there is one you would like to see, leave a comment. Or if you like… say coffee and want a recipe involving it (I have a great coffee cake recipe and another for esspresso-spice cheesecake) or if you like almonds, or anything of the like… Or if you would rather a recipe for something more… healthy or trailmix type…  there are some great bread recipes int he book. THeres a Vegetable Nut bread (which actually turned out surprisingly appetizing, despite looking moldy), pistachio-olive bread, honey nut bread (i like this quite a bit if I either dont put the nuts or finely grind them in a food processor) and countless other great recipes…

I would put them all up, but its so time consuming I’d hate to put one no one would use. Especially now that they are all done I should get back to my history revision… (nearly done those exams! Only English literature- sorry bout the rants on the books last time, history and chemistry- which I still haven’t started for…)

This summer however, I will probably be able to write many more posts, and possibly if the recipes still get as good reception I’ll put up more more often. DUring the summer we are all so active that me and my sister will normally bake something either the night before (or one of those over night recipes where you leave it in the fridge over night and then just harden and cut in the morning) or get up early to bake before anyone’s up. We have a great habit of stuffing something in the oven and going for a jog around the block a few times before stopping back in and taking it out of the oven. We can proudly say only once did something burn on us… ANyways my point being, becuase we are so active, going to the beach, biking, playing volley ball and soccer (and dancing for me) as well as our weekend adventures rock climbing or hiking we HAVE to make things more… healthy because we wil be eating them so much. So bye bye christmas triple chocolate cupcakes and hello Strawberry orange, Orange Yogurt, and bran muffins. :S not that they are that bad but… we do have to purge on the fresh summer fruit to get our summer sweet kicks…

Sometimes we end up in Europe, Greece, Italy or Spain for our summers visiting family or traveling, so we really take advantage of the fruit which is always so great and fresh! Unfortunately I have yet to recipe that uses fresh watermellon or fresh cherries in a baked good. Normally fruit needs to be dried…

Oh boy, people are gonna start getting home soon and I’m still not at my goal for history revision. Better leave the cyber world and get back to the physical world. I think i prefer the 2-D world of computers… life is so much easier, I mean there are undo buttons and everything…*sigh*

Don’t forget, all comments welcome and you can email me if you have any suggestions or requests: miraella_rose@yahoo.com

Fight or Flight instinct

Which do you tend to follow more?
I can never choose.

I’m not talking about coming across a bear in the woods, or a bully in school (in which case I say fight however you might, so long as you can win it- yes, I know that sounds very… I don’t quite know how to put it, but I have a theory behind it. All for another time). No I’m talking about coming into conflict with someone we all know and love and wish we didn’t have to fight with but sometimes… Well sometimes it really can’t be avoided.

I just got into a fight with one of my best friends.
Again.
I think she’s wrong (therefore I’m right).
She thinks she’s right (therefore I’m wrong).

But he problem is, we are both so stubborn (she can’t deny that I got that from her) in our beliefs and unless you present either of us with proof as to the truth being other than what we are fighting for we simply will not turn the other way.

The problem is she has a reputation for certain things. All of which add up to her horrid stubbornness:

1. She has a very selective memory. So she remembers what she wants to remember and not what she doesn’t.

2. She has a reputation for twisting other people’s words. When you pair this with her selective memory (and hearing at times) she is very hard to deal with. (example: we were trying to find a store someone had suggested to her. They said it was down the street on the side of the same side as Store X. SHe remembered “it is right beside Store X”. the result? we wasted 45 minutes looking for it when I was insisting that we widen our search rather than treading and retreading the 100 or so meters maybe one of them was mistaken. SHe insisted that she had heard right (sure she might have, but does that mean she understood right? selective memory and that they had said what she thought they had said… I was right. lets just leave it at that. It was about a km down the road.)

3. She also has a habit of not giving you her full attention no matter what you are talking to her about, or when, or where. and her excuse: it wasn’t a good time, I was busy, couldn’t you see I obviously couldnt hear you properly? and then she twists around you words. Or you tell her you are going to your friend’s house after school tomorrow, she says what a wonderful idea it is and then tomorrow afternoon- GUESS WHAT! she’s freaking out cause she’s thought you have been kidnapped and then gets mad at you for going out without her permission or without letting her know at least where you would be.

Then again it doesn’t help that she worries a lot.

Anyways when we get into a fight everyone else makes themselves scarce. We all do it whenever anyone gets into a fight, no matter who or about what. Its kinda like “Let them work it out and grow stronger together through it, ON THEIR OWN. LEave or risk having your head bitten of in hot blood”- an unspoken law in our household, as everyone knows to lay low and wait out the storm when they feel one brewing.

However when someone is asked to back someone else up, normally our parents go for one another, leaving the kids with the kids (not that I’m saying we are kids! We are all young adults, and act very much like it… most of the time). Not that even having the four of us agianst the two of them is much help either. Besides, we know both parties are equally biased so we don’t take any aid to account to much.

Anyways back to me. (I know this sounds really self centered…- wow deja-vu. just had to share that with you)

Anyways I always want to just walk away and let the storm blow over, tempers cool and then approach the issue in a more reasonable manor. sitting down, face to face, making sure we take turns talking because we never do…

But I also want to just stay and scream my head off at them. Gawd I hate being so stubborn sometimes.

So what do I do? Scream a little. Go take a shower (water makes me feel better. Idealy I would jump in a pool and just sit at the bottom until my heart had stopped racing and then surface- but closing my eyes and imagining a waterfall works too) and there I cry a bit (because I hate feeling the way I do then. If its bad enough to make me take a shower then it is bad. but most are. ANd I cry a bit in there too. Though I never really know if I’m crying or just sobbing.

Ironically enough the shower thing is another thing passed on through the female line in my family. My grandma always used to say that stepping out of the shower feels just like being reborn. Which I think a bit too. And yes, my mom says this all the time too. Hence the irony.

Next step, sensing when the time is right for both of you, not too soon or too long after the fight to talk sanely.

Well its getting late, she’s asleep and so I will be soon, hopefully and there you have it. More lemons thrown into the fruit cocktail that is my life.

About that, I know I promised more recipes, but here’s one for when the warm weather returns to those of us who are experiencing some near summer frosts. Take a large glass jar, or any sort of topped see through container to fill witha t least a liter of water. Place in it 4-5 (or more depending on volume of water) tea bags of your favourite selection (great opportunity to try mixing too!) Leave in a sunny spot all day long, you might have to move it with the sun. It needs at least 3 hours of good sunlight. But you should be able to tell when its ready. THe water is actually hot, if the colour dosen’t tell you enough!

Take out tea bags sqeezing tea from them for the extra deep flavour. MIx in however much sugar is to your taste. Refrigerate over night or ice. We do this all summer long and my personal favourite is Twigging Forest Berries tea. It is so refreshing made in a iced tea. And Believe me when I say my siblings and I LAUGHED when we saw commercials for NEW Twiggings iced tea. We’ve been doing it for years, sorry guys, beat ya to it. We just don’t have the money to advertise it all over the television.

Also another great use for those lemons. slice
em up and throw ’em in the jar.

There you have it, another entry in the diary that is this blog. I’m much more faithful seeing that someone is actually reading it where as my real journal, for my eyes only gets forgotten and prioritized against much to often.

Ok, I’ll try once more. GOOD NIGHT EVERYONE!

P.S. tell me what you think, fight or flight, in the comments.

P.P.S. Or you can contact me at my email: miraellarose@yahoo.com – or on Facebook at Mirella Rosaria.