Summer days... And refreshing drinks

I don’t know what it’s been like where you live, but we’ve been having our share of hot, humid days this summer. I love/hate them. I enjoy it at first, the feeling of true summer, when you have cold suppers and sleep only with a sheet at night, with all the fans going. (We only have a window AC, since here in the north, it’s only a week here and there that it gets over 90.) Like one old-timer told me one sweltering day, we have to have this “so we know we had summer”. Yep, it’s great. Ok, well it does get old after a bit, feeling sticky day and night, and skipping your walks because it’s too hot… There’s where the hate comes in, but we’ll leave it at that for now.

Iced tea seems to be another part of summer, however, I don’t really like to buy that much, because it’s basically just flavored sugar water. In our house, we usually drink milk or water, and every once in awhile I’ll make up a 100% juice concentrate. We’re content with that, and I figure we get enough sugar without drinking it too. But when it’s hot you get a craving for something really refreshing and different than plain water. That’s when I remembered that you can make herbal iced tea! I made some a couple days ago, and will make some again when that’s gone. It’s just the ticket for us. Here’s the recipe I used:

2 cups boiling water poured over 4 tea bags. Let steep 4-6 minutes. Remove tea bags and add 4 cups of cold water. Refrigerate.

I added some honey while it was hot so it would dissolve, and that added to it. Even my husband, who is not really keen on many “healthy” recipes, liked it. I used peach herbal tea. I’d like to try some mint sometime, too. And wouldn’t it be good if you grew your own mint, to add a few fresh leaves? Mmmm! I’m excited that we can add a little variety to our beverages with another “good for you” drink!

The hand that rocks the cradle...

While I have no desire to “rule the world”, it is so important to remember how high a calling is motherhood. Sometimes it is easy to get bogged down in the day-to-day cares and responsibilities of being a mother, and forget that we are shaping lives that will someday shape nations.

The Hand That Rules the World

Infancy, the tender fountain,

Ever may with beauty flow;
Mother’s first to guide the streamlets;
From them souls unresting grow—
Grow on for the good or evil,
Sunshine streamed or darkness hurled;
For the hand that rocks the cradle
Is the hand that rules the world.

Mother, how divine your mission
Here upon our natal sod!
Keep, oh, keep the young heart open
Always to the breath of God!
All true trophies of the ages
Are from mother-love impearled,
For the hand that rocks the cradle
Is the hand that rules the world.

Blessings on the hand of mother!
Fathers, sons and daughters cry,
And the sacred song is mingled
With the worship in the sky—
Mingled where no tempest darkens,
Rainbows ever gently curled;
For the hand that rocks the cradle
Is the hand that rules the world.