Finally big enough - a highlight of my year!

..........My lemon verbena plant finally got big enough to give enough leaves to make a small pitcher of tea!  This is my favorite iced tea.  Lemon verbena is high on my list of favorite herbs to grow.  It is a bit of a challenge though, for me to keep the plant growing and healthy long enough to use.  My last plant never grew very big and then got frozen and didn't come back. (It is a deciduous  plant and supplies the leaves in warmer months only.) So, I started over with the present one and have been patiently waiting to have enough leaves for tea.

This is less than half as many leaves as I use for a big pitcher of tea.  I use two bags of black tea also when I make the big pitcher full. And I never use lemon juice. I thought the lemon would just add to the picture. If you are not familiar with lemon verbena you need to experience it.  It has a strong sweet lemon flavor and fragrance similar to lemon balm.  I did add the one bag of mint tea also.

The top leaves are the lemon verbena.  The flowers are from blue pea vine which is a tropical vine that I also love. Here, it is for decoration only - don't put it into the tea.

This lemon herb has it's own sweetness and even though I like sweet tea I use very little sweetener for this kind of tea.  Today I added just a bit of honey.

And then, there were these.  A friend mentioned yesterday about how Publix has mangoes on sale and how good they are.  I have always thought that I don't like mangoes but decided maybe I ought to try them one more time.  There are several food items that I wouldn't be eating if I had not tried them several times before I decided yes, I do like this after all.

So here they are looking all tropical and pretty!  I peeled one and took a bite and................

eeeeeeeeewwwwwww I DID NOT like it!  I had planned to show the nice pretty cubes in the bowl but I didn't get cubes I got a mangled juicy mess!  Does that mean it was overripe?  I don't know but I do know that I will not buy another one.

So, what do I do with this one.  Wonder if my neighbor likes mangoes.

And, so I turned to this.

It is almost overripe but was not a disappointment.

Now to another subject - this little devotional book.  I have been seeing it on Pinterest. And then this week a group of friends I was with discussed it and highly recommended it. Three out of the six were using it as a daily devotional. One friend who recently lost a son told us except for this book she would have canceled coming to the luncheon that day. She got up and was especially sad and depressed but as she read the short page for May 29th she decided to get dressed and go to the lunch after all. Look what part of that page contained. ".........I know precisely what you need to draw nearer to Me. Accept every event as My hand-tailored provision for your needs. When you view your life this way, the most reasonable response is to be thankful. Do not reject any of My gifts; find Me in every situation."  We all six had a great time and as I left decided to stop by the Christian book store and buy a copy for myself.

The store owner said they keep it on a special sale all the time and it is very popular. It is not a new book.  I believe it was written in 2004.

The over riding theme of the book is that our Father loves us and He guides our minds as we think things out in His presence.

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Sure wish I could give you a big glass of lemon verbena tea!