I returned home from Singapore with an icky cold! What started with a sore throat spread to face pain (sinuses probably?), sore teeth, crackly ears, chest congestion, sneezing, coughing, just a whole lot of fun! And somehow, Jeff developed the same cold within a couple hours of my arrival? Weird.

I missed all the annual fun (stress) of break-up season here in Dawson while I was away. The river got scary high, and Lou and Gary from Sister Island had to get evacuated!

The snow is mostly gone from town now. Our yard is clear! The rhubarb is just starting to poke up out of the ground.

There are still ice chunks and debris all along the shoreline.

Last night after work, I celebrated the new season with an ice cream blizzard from the ice cream shop that recently opened for the season, and went up to the top of the Dome to check on the crocuses. And they are out and ready to dazzle! Here’s your annual dose of the prairie crocus, the first thing to grow here each spring:

Now, I mentioned tea! I’m not a coffee drinker, but I really like caffeine. To keep me from consuming it all as Diet Coke, I started drinking tea a bunch of years ago. And I don’t *really* like it? Or do I? I just drink it black. And I usually leave the tea bag in until I’m done drinking it. Just to have it nice and strong.

Well in Singapore, a coworker bought some tea for the mother’s in his life, for Mother’s Day, from TWG Tea. That must have planted a seed in my subconscious, because when I saw one of these tea stores in the big Japanese food court we ate in one evening, I started strolling through. So much tea!! I asked about a raisin tea I had once, and have been chasing ever since, but they did not have any raisin tea.

I wandered to the black teas, and started sniffing. Soon enough I had a box of their 1837 Black Tea bags under my arm. They describe it as:

TWG Tea’s renowned signature tea, 1837 Black is a unique blend of black tea with notes of fruits and flowers from the Bermuda triangle which leaves a lingering aftertaste of ripe berries, anise, and caramel. A timeless classic.

Then the lady helping me proposed other teas I may like. To remember the trip, I also bought a can of loose leaf tea called Singapore Breakfast. It is described as:

This noble TWG Tea breakfast blend is evocative of the sophisticated harmony of Singapore. Boasting a natural blend of green tea, black tea, rich vanilla and rare spices, this tea yields a complex flavour with a sweet and lingering aftertaste.

These teas are INCREDIBLE! And maybe it has more to do with me not letting them steep for 30 minutes, but they aren’t bitter. They are just glorious. I may just be too posh for grocery store teas now!!