Today I have a mystery and a discovery!

First let’s start with the Discovery!

OK, so… I’m not a tea drinker.  Tea, to me, tastes like flavored water or perfumed water.  I’ve just never gotten the hang of it unless it has lots of milk and sugar – and then, why bother?

So funny then that I would I would come into this ‘tea situation’ with a long lost work friend via FB.  You know how that goes… somebody can’t sleep so they start looking up their old friends.  Or, a friend of a friend comments on another friend’s page and then you want to reconnect with that friend.  Well, that happened last month.  I reconnected with a wonderful brainiac I knew when I worked production in Portland, OR.  His name is Brandon and he was/is this fantastically smart and shiny gem of a computer graphics/animation genius who graced several of my projects.  He is one of those people who you just know will do something big someday.

Well, one of the other smart things Brandon did was marry his wife, who was/is darling and one of the best Production Coordinators I had ever hired.  (They also have a pixie of a daughter who everyone adores.)

Long story short, these two bright stars in the Commercial/Production world are also sports enthusiasts who love tea and are … gluten intolerant.

As most ‘new product’ stories go, these two had a demand for an pre/post exercise energizing/revitalizing drink that was gluten free.  Oh, and they love tea and to grow things.

Alas, their business, SPORTLAND TEA COMPANY, was born.

I didn’t know all of this until just a few weeks ago.

At that time, Brandon said he would send to me some samples, even though I wasn’t a tea drinker… “You might like them, ” he said with a twinkle in his text.

THE SAMPLES ARRIVED.

The samples arrived.  I could tell because the aroma stopped me at my front door.

WOW.  WHAT IS THAT LOVELY FRAGRANCE?

A box.  The box was so fragrant, I wasn’t sure whether to eat it, drink it or bathe with it!

In the box were three samples of tea.  Citrus Mint, Ginger Berry and Eastern LIme.  Endurance, Performance and Recovery Teas.    Yum!

Immediately, I brewed one.  The Citrus Mint.

Well, first of all, I had NEVER EVER seen loose tea so beautiful.  I swear, it was like a basket of fresh cut flowers and herbs!  Oh and the fragrance!  So potent but not pungent.

However, I was hesitant to actually taste the tea… I fully expected the tea to taste like, uh, flavored water.

But I WAS WRONG!  It actually tasted like the fruit forward, herbal mix of loveliness that matched its beauty.  I could not believe that this soothing drink was tea.
So, I made more for Hubby.  HE LOVED IT.  But, he loves tea, so that wasn’t surprising. But what was surprising is that he immediately brewed the Ginger Berry for himself and drank the entire bag over the weekend.  He started in on the Eastern Lime on Sunday and took it with him back to Paso.

HUGE HIT.   We both had never tasted such rich, full, and robust teas, ever.

I am not affiliated. Brandon has no idea I’m writing about his tea on a horse blog.  But, I urge you to get some if you like tea.  You will LOVE THIS.

HOW TO GET THE BEST TEA, EVER (no affiliation)

Here is the website!

Here is the products page!

(If you order it, tell them I sent you – he will be so surprised!)

NOW FOR THE MYSTERY!!  What are these?  Do you want them?

So I have been cleaning out the barn to get it show ready for viewing and also packing whatever I can.

During this process, I have found some unused Mama Tess products I will pass onto you all in a later blog.

But first, can anyone identify this product?  It feels like some sort of hoof filler because the hunks  inside the plastic and spongy.  I think these have to do with the Epona Shoes we didn’t end up using, but they aren’t labeled. They have a use date stamped of June, 2016.  There are also little screws attached to each packet.

Can anyone identify these?  And, does anyone want them?  I will only charge shipping.

Please email me
if you know what they are and/or if you want them!

APRIL BUCKET FUND – Emergency in Progress!  Photos on Thursday!

I heard last night there is an emergency recovery going on at the same Rescue that has Big Girl.  They are picking up 5 ‘soon to be orphaned’ foals from a feedlot in Washington state. Their mothers are shipping to slaughter tomorrow (no, we cannot save the mothers, we tried – but we can save the babies if we get there asap) so they are racing up to Washington to get the babies before they are shipped to a long term feedlot to grow and fatten them up.  I don’t have photos but I will by Thursday.  If you’d like to donate to help with all the milk replacer, coggins, housing, transportation and medical attention these babies will need, click here!