Yum Cha and Gunpowder

What a ride over the last 6 days.. firstly there has been a virus which absolutely flattened me Wednesday and Thursday by Friday afternoon I was functioning in Elmo mode.. all red n wide eyed, tottering when I walked, with a grimace on my face. I do not know where it came from but I was certainly glad to see the end of it.
Come Saturday I was up helping my son move into his new apartment, doing far to much lifting of heavy objects and feeling like I had been in the spin cycle of the washing machine. By 6pm on Saturday night, I fell into the shower, knowing full well I had done to much but looking forward to my lounge chair and the rare treat of a take away dinner.. yanno when you been lifting and carrin' and helpin' people move house and when your done and buggered - fish and chips taste like manor from the Gods.
Unfortunately, I did't feel that flash this morning either which bugged the daylights out of me, I had HUGE plans of cleaning and mopping and bread making and biccie baking but as a woman presently living with active Rheumatoid Arthritis- I woke feeling a bit like I had square wheels and didn't achieve very much at all. I did what I could, doing a load or two of washing, the beds and and tr bathroom then I gave in to common sense and slowed down, and did a bit of knitting.

The bright spot of the day was the parcel left on my door step this morning. I thought it would have been here last week, but as we have stringent quarantine laws into Western Australia, to keep out anything that would threaten our agriculture or honey industry I wasn't too surprised to see the big QUARANTINE sticker on the box.. so it must have been held up at the border, opened and checked..

There was waiting for me. the little Yum Cha teapot I had ordered, it was so cheap and it held just the right ammount.. I am very fond of Yum Cha, which is the experience of drinking tea and eating Dim Sim.. no not my cat, but beautifully steamed or fried Cantonese dishes that can be either sweet or savory... with Yum Cha there is always tea and it is served in little pots like this one.

Gunpowder tea- is a rolled tea and is often served with Yum Cha or at cafes. It's weird stuff to look at, it looks like tiny bits of rolled up, grey play dough, but tastes so good. I was really surprised I didn't recognise it when I drank it at Bettyblues Bistro the other Sunday with breakfast.

The first pot I made near ripped my tongue in two... far two strong and bitter, so I made a weaker brew in me dinky wee Yum Cha teapot, which was tasty but I think the best taste comes from adding 1/2 teaspoon of Gunpowder popped into this dinky little dippie tea thingo my daughter gave me this past Christmas time... I love this to bits.. and it's cute too.. so thank you Sarah for the best making tea thingie a mother could want :-)