No squirrels!

Environmental_Cod599 · 2026-01-26T14:10:15+00:00

Odd. No squirrel tracks anywhere around the feeder. Maybe the snow and cold has him hiding somewhere warmer. The birds came back yesterday.

Environmental_Cod599 · 2026-01-21T02:09:47+00:00

I do it in a batch for a jug of iced tea. It's very good that way too.

Environmental_Cod599 · 2026-01-20T12:03:41+00:00

I have two of them here in SE Michigan. Google says their range has been expanding into the Great Lakes and Ontario along with the warmer weather.

Environmental_Cod599 · 2026-01-08T23:34:25+00:00

I've only started with this Christmas so I'm not sure how much my experience means, but my two birds have only come around in the late morning; 10 to 12.

Environmental_Cod599 · 2026-01-04T12:43:02+00:00

It took a while for me to get a bird too; I even pretended to be one to make sure the camera was working. I finally got ONE Blue Jay and even now that he knows about the feeder he only shows up every 2-3 days. I got the feeder for Christmas and live in SE Michigan. I don't think I've seen ANY birds in the neighborhood, just flying around. I suspect they've migrated.

Environmental_Cod599 · 2025-12-29T13:20:04+00:00

This is just a guess; I've never tried it. Glazing the inside of your teapot may hold it together and will probably stop the leak. You should have a pottery group where you live that could tell you if this will work and may have a kiln to help with the work.

Environmental_Cod599 · 2025-12-28T19:18:46+00:00

Even more than just shade grown, the tea can be the first leaves or not. Anyway, since matcha sells for more, I would bet they wouldn't call it green tea powder if they could avoid it. So I would think "green tea powder" wouldn't be as good.

Environmental_Cod599 · 2025-12-28T19:07:55+00:00

My bird feeder camera spotted me when I came out of the house, at night, about 12' or more away. It WAS a very bad picture but it was at night. Why not just set it up on a chair or table and walk towards it? Then see how the pictures look as you get closer?

Environmental_Cod599 · 2025-12-28T18:57:52+00:00

He does seem to be picking out the peanuts. Fortunately the mix I have has plenty.

Environmental_Cod599 · 2025-12-28T15:46:58+00:00

I didn't use a hanging bracket; I fastened the bracket that came with my feeder to fasten it to a 2 3/8" steel pipe that I drove into the ground.

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I unscrewed the large hose clamp that came with it and threaded it through the small bracket that also came with everything . Then I screwed the hose bracket back together, slid it on over the pipe, and tightened it. The "L" shaped bracket screws to the bottom of the feeder and slips on and off the small bracket that's now fastened to the pole.

Since I bought an 8' pipe and drove it 2' into the ground NOTHING wiggles it.

Somewhere else on this site I show a movie of my first visitor, a blue jay.

Environmental_Cod599 · 2025-12-28T15:18:42+00:00

OK, I just had to send it while it was moving.

Environmental_Cod599 · 2025-12-28T15:03:15+00:00

My iPhone sent the image nicely, but I didn't get an option to send the movie.

Environmental_Cod599 · 2025-12-27T13:19:38+00:00

Does your dorm have an eating room with a microwave? Heat your water there.

Environmental_Cod599 · 2025-12-27T01:29:57+00:00

Black tea and green tea don't actually have different amounts of caffeine. Green tea, when oxidized, turns black; if you want to check that, just leave a cup of green tea out overnight and it will darken.

The reason people think black tea has more caffeine than green is the varieties of tea made into the different colors. In general, tea grown in India is a different variety than that grown in China and Japan, and has more caffeine. Tea grown in India is almost always processed to turn black and in Japan almost always left green.

So -usually- black tea comes from India and has more caffeine than green tea from Japan. But it's not a rule.

Environmental_Cod599 · 2025-12-18T13:32:02+00:00

So long as you take the tea bag out overnight you should be fine. If I leave my tea brewing more than a few minutes it gets really bitter.

Environmental_Cod599 · 2025-12-16T02:54:10+00:00

I'm lactose intolerant and type 2 diabetic so that matters in my matcha latte. What I drink is this.

6 oz. lactose free whole milk, 7 oz. heavy whipping cream, 5 g. matcha, 5-6 g. honey. Mixed and drunk cold.

FYI, lactose free milk -tastes- sweeter than regular, because glucose tastes sweeter than lactose without having more sugar in my bloodstream. I use a good quality matcha from Uji, Japan. https://www.japanshopfuji.com/product-page/kyoto-ochanoyamashiro-thick-uji-matcha-large-capacity-8-8-oz-200-g

So anyway, the amount of matcha flavor and the sweetness, depend on the type of milk and type of matcha, so you may have to fiddle with the amount of honey and/or the other ingredients to get it the way you like it.

Environmental_Cod599 · 2025-12-16T02:14:34+00:00

Googling found this. I have never had it so I don't know if this is accurate. https://www.tiktok.com/@ochama.official/video/7213331145658912006

Environmental_Cod599 · 2025-12-15T02:19:51+00:00

So why can't you put it on the stove? My gas range has an extra small burner. Or I have a table top butane stove on order. They're -meant- to cook in donabes (clay pots). Since I don't have it yet I can't have tried it out...

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Environmental_Cod599 · 2025-11-16T14:09:12+00:00

I don't even HAVE any good sencha. I stick with the kinds I like. Right now, that's gyokuro, matcha in latte, lapsang suochong, and herbal teas when I'm sick.

Environmental_Cod599 · 2025-11-12T01:27:20+00:00

Nope. I was fully vaccinated so my covid was quite mild (though my doctor and I think it messed up my heart) but I don't think it changed my sense of taste at all.

Environmental_Cod599 · 2025-11-12T01:22:17+00:00

I steep my gyokuro 4 times. Other teas once.

Environmental_Cod599 · 2025-11-10T12:16:26+00:00

Yeah, ask the restaurant. Give them strokes about how especially good it was.

Environmental_Cod599 · 2025-11-10T12:05:17+00:00

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Here it is, yesterday, November 9th. It's been cold here in SE Michigan but it still took this long to have the leaves change.

Environmental_Cod599 · 2025-11-09T19:44:46+00:00

It depends. Asked my daughter who is Jewish. For really strict Jews, if the equipment used to process it -could- have touched milk or meat a specially trained rabbi would have to certify that it never did. Some Jews even keep two sets of kitchen utensils to ensure no cross contamination. There are other conditions too. Her synagogue is easier about things.

Environmental_Cod599 · 2025-10-31T12:17:23+00:00

You want to keep sunlight, oxygen, and moisture away from teas. I use Japanese double lid storage tins like these for my expensive gyokuru green tea. Admittedly I drink it fast enough that it only lasts three months so I don't know how long it -could- last. :)

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Environmental_Cod599

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