My Tea Collection

So it seems I have quite a love for tea...

I have found I have many varieties in my ever growing collection of tea...
So much so that I really should have my own cupboard for my boxes and bags of tea.

Since I am always posting up here or there that I am drinking it, 

I figured I would type out a list of all the teas I have so you have an idea of what it is I like to drink.

I find my favorite brand of tea is Numi brand tea. I also drink teas from the stash brand often.
There are a few others that aren't worth naming aside from the loose tea I buy from the local co-op.
I drink some teas with sugar, some without, some with honey.

Honeybush
Which is one of my favorites, I like to drink it with sugar added, brings out the honey flavor

Jasmine green tea
Another favorite, use sugar in this as well

Chamomile
I usually drink this without any sugar but occasionally I will add some in

Chamomile Nights
I love it because it has Lotus flower in it ^_^

Mint Medley
Is the mint tea I have on hand right now aside from my dried fresh mint from my garden.
I prefer mint to peppermint but I do like this tea.
I drink it without sugar.

Green Tea
I drink with sugar

Ooolong Tea
Which I drink with sugar

White Rose Tea
I do not drink this one as often so I do not currently have a preference on how I like it

Forever Fruits Tea
One of the few teas I like with fruit in it.
Its a fruity minty tea.
I drink it with sugar

Papaya Mint Tea
It does not taste like the fruit since it is made from the leaves.
I drink this without sugar.

Orange Pekoe Black Tea
With sugar

Magosteen Superfruit Tea
Which I am not a big fan of but I have it

Red Roobios Tea
With sugar

Jasmine Myrtle Tea
With sugar

Peppermint Tea
which I drink without sugar
I am not a hue fan of peppermint as opposed to mint

Moroccan Mint Tea
which I have yet to try but have it in my cupboard

Chamomile Lemon Ginseng Tea
With honey

Bergamot Assam Black Tea
Have but yet to try

Chinese Breakfast Blend Tea
With sugar

Other various green teas... there are a bunch..

Morning Rise Breakfast Blend Tea
With sugar

Gypsy Cold Care Tea
With honey, not my favorite tea

Echinacea Elder Tea
I highly recommend.
I drink it with honey

Echinacea Complete Care Tea
I do not like this one...
I am not a fan of any sort of black licorice tastes.

Acai Berry Tea
I dont drink it often but when I do its with sugar

Blueberry Tea
In my cupboard but not really for my drinking.
I am not a fan of it but others in my house are.

I honestly probably have more than 30 different teas. That is not counting any that I may hand blend from herbs I have on hand. Some herbs I love to use are red rose, and lavender.
I do not like teas with orange, spices, licorice, most fruits, vanilla,
and a few other things I can't think of off hand.

But yes, that is my tea collection currently.
As I said before it is ever expanding.

I have also made my own Lavender Mint herbal sugars to use with the teas.
The sugar tastes especially good in the orange pekoe and the mint teas.
Sadly I am pretty close to out of the sugar now and since my plants are gone for the winter I will not be able to make any more until they start blooming again and I have fresh plant material.

I would like to mention that another alternative to sugar that I use in my tea is Agave Nectar.
It is light, delicious, and works very well in tea.
I am not a fan of stevia or any artificial sweetener.
I have found agave nectar fits the bill for a natural sugar/honey substitute.
You can find agave nectar in most stores, co-ops, and health food stores that carry food products.
I suggest anyone looking for an alternative to give it a try.
They have both light and dark nectar bottles.

I would love a victorian cottage in the woods

I am completely awestruck.
I found this house on Vintage Girl's Blog
You have to cross a stream to get to it.

 On her blog it says that she renovated, extended and decorated this tiny former hunting cabin on a budget of $3,000. Using salvaged goods, vintage finds and shopping at flea markets and garage sales. I thought it was an amazing inventive idea that I would defiantly do if I had the money and the right hunting cabin in the right location to renovate.

 She made a loft style bedroom in the cabin that you can access via ladder.

 The main living area is quite small but for a retreat it's not a problem. I would not mind having one this size, though a little bigger might be nice for having friends over for tea. It is not big enough to be a full time living residence though unless you dont have many things and do not mind cramped quarters, which some do not mind at all. I really do love the decorating done in this place. She did a fantastic job.

I love the uniqueness of this little house.... and to imagine, it was a ugly brown hunting cabin before it turned into this. One can do some amazing things if they think out of the box and see beyond the surface.
It would be a ton of fun to plan out and create.
Yet another little house idea I would love to get my hands in doing.
Who's with me?! ha ha

Woodland Homes

I have once imagined living in a tree house.
I thought that would be so awesome. 

I was very surprised when I searched up pictures of them one day and found some really large ones that people actually do live in. I had never heard of it before and thought it would be a really neat thing to try doing. Maybe it's just the kid in me still wanting that tree house that every kid wants when they are younger.

These are some of the pictures of those I have found

 I loved this picture when I found it. I do not know who made the picture, but the idea of having what is essentially a village within a large tree peaked my interest. 
It reminded me of how some imagine the fae to live.
It would take quite a large strong tree to hold one tree house let alone many.

Along with thoughts of tree houses I have been thinking about how wonderful it would be to buy up some land in a forest and build a small village filled with woodland cottages.
In a nut shell I am thinking of hobbit houses haha.

I found some of these in various places.

I especially love this white one.

 I loved the idea of having a lavender garden on your roof. Or some other kind of garden.

 This woodland home I found on Simondale.net
It is an eco friendly home they built in Wales.
They spent around $4,000-$5,000 on supplies, and invested 1,000-1,500 hours of work into the project.
I am sure a lot of the supplies were taken from the land around them and from unwanted items they could find for free. I found it amazing that one could build such a home for so little money.

 These are the house plan drawings. If I was to ever make one, I would make it bigger than this one but this is gives you a good idea of the design and thought process put into it.

Some key points of the design and construction:

• Dug into hillside for low visual impact and shelter
• Stone and mud from diggings used for retaining walls, foundations etc.
• Frame of oak thinnings (spare wood) from surrounding woodland
• Reciprocal roof rafters are structurally and aesthetically fantastic and very easy to do
• Straw bales in floor, walls and roof for super-insulation and easy building
• Plastic sheet and mud/turf roof for low impact and ease
• Lime plaster on walls is breathable and low energy to manufacture (compared to cement)
• Reclaimed (scrap) wood for floors and fittings
• Anything you could possibly want is in a rubbish pile somewhere (windows, burner, plumbing, wiring…)
• Woodburner for heating – renewable and locally plentiful
• Flue goes through big stone/plaster lump to retain and slowly release heat
• Fridge is cooled by air coming underground through foundations
• Skylight in roof lets in natural feeling light
• Solar panels for lighting, music and computing
• Water by gravity from nearby spring
• Compost toilet
• Roof water collects in pond for garden etc.
  
  
  I personally would not go for a compost toilet but that's just me. I also do not trust a fridge that is cooled by natural means. My house would not be quite as eco friendly I guess, but it would be close. I believe they got around land costs by submitting their home to some association which proved that their home would not have any harmful impact on the environment. If I was to build one or more (If I could get a group of friends to want one too ^_~) We would most likely have to buy up a plot of land in the forest which even with that cost does not cost more than the price of a very small house if that.
  I may be crazy in thinking this idea seems cool... and maybe I have watched Lord of the Rings too many times and that might be why I want a hobbit hut, who knows? (I have only watched the movies 2-3 times really... so not as many times as others I know)
  
  
  These are cottages that I thought was adorable.
  There are so many different designs and styles, what I wonder is...
  Which ones are your favorites?

Am I really all that crazy for wanting a little enchanted cottage in the woods?
Its inexpensive in the scheme of things. Not only that but it would be quite an adventure trying to find everything to build it on a budget. Free windows and doors, left over lumber from construction sites, building the thing yourself or with friends. It would be hard for one person to do if not impossible I am sure.
It could be in the forest, but not so far from town that you couldnt get to a store easily if you wanted to. Hopefully a larger city would be within an hours drive from the town so if night life is wanted it could be gotten. So it is not like I want to become some hermit living in the middle of nowhere haha.
I just think it would be nice to have my home be my enchanted oasis.
I have so many plans and ideas for things like this its not even funny.
Has anyone else had the idea to want to do something like this before?
Any other ideas that might be useful on this subject?