There are those things that show up in the kitchen that you know, you swear you never bought. At the same time, there are those things you should have because, well, you bought them 20 years ago and as far as you know, you've never thrown them out. Right? Yeah. Right. So why can't I find at least one bamboo tea strainer? I swear I had two. I am pretty sure I got at least one when I was in college and the college store offered loose tea (it was the 70s, kids, and i had discovered the joys of herbal tea.) (to be honest, I had discovered the joys of camomile tea which tasted ever so much better than I thought it would. Beatrix Potter had me fooled.)

But along came Celestial Seasonings and even Twinings with tea bags and I stopped drinking much tea, so that buying it in bulk was silly. Tea bags are not as good as loose tea, I know, but it's convenience I look for now. And I still can't manage to start my day without coffee.

But, but, well, but we have that kitchen drawer with all that stuff. You know the one, right? You have one, right? (ok, neatniks, don't show off too much.) And that's where the bamboo tea strainer should be. The strainer I want to find because my sister Pat sent me a box of Pomegranate Oolong tea that I've been just dying to try because oolong was my favorite black tea and I'm in a happy place because pomegranate is a very trendy right now and oh, I love the stuff.

Before we go any farther,(further?) let me tell you that my sister knows me better than I know myself. The lovely tin of tea does, in fact, have tea in tea bags, which I just learned by finally removing the protective hood (hey!) (requisite FKB reference) and actually opening the lovely tin (which will not be thrown out when I'm done with it). I hadn't actually seen the note that the tin contained "30 sachets"). And so I can actually make some tea - and make some iced tea, which I am so looking forward to. (And the "sachets" could end up in a drawer, they smell so groovy. And they appear to be silk mesh or something fancy-schmancy.)

However, this does not resolve the "where did my wandering tea strainer go?" issue. Did everything from those years disappear? Nope. I have the sifter I know that I never bought (ok that's from the 80s, probably when I lived on Sixth Ave in Berkeley in a shared house), but still. And there's the ice tongs from Albany. From the time that they were tearing down a hotel and I picked up the tongs and a crystal dish that was, I think, for celery and carrot sticks from the hotel's once-elegant restaurant. And that was in the 70s, right? And I blush to admit that's been what passes for "tongs" chez roscoe. Until recently, when there was a kitchen gadget sale and we bought some gadgets since my hands need help more and more.

So no shit, there I was, almost posting on Facebook to ask "what does one do when one does not have a tea strainer?" but I don't need to do that. I do need to ask instead, what was I doing at a hotel demolition in Albany (it was Pat Devane's fault, I'm pretty sure) and where the hell did those tea strainers go?

And in honor of one of my favorite writers in the universe (major points if you get the reference) where did the blue blanket go?