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Posts Tagged ‘Tea Party’

When You’re NOT Having Tea with the Queen

Posted in Beautiful Places, Inspirations, Misty British Isles, Scotland, tagged , , , , , , , , , on October 23, 2014| 2 Comments »

Pictures paint a thousand words.

They can also tell a thousand lies.

A thousand lies of just the sort

you’d like people to believe.

People on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter,

all those people you want to impress.

It’s easy when there’s a filter

for what people see of your life. 

And while I’m so glad to be back here in Scotland,

it’s not all tea parties,

trips to castles,

European shops.

Life is life,

with all the dull, the ordinary, the hard to swallow times

mixed in with all the good.

I was reminded this morning–

that moment I started up the stairs for The Professor’s school books,

but then realized Mr. Waddlesworth had a dirty nappy,

and John asked me to get the General’s shoes on just at that moment so they could get to the swimming pool on time.

And all I really wanted was to eat my cereal, which sat there on the table growing soggy, the milk now warm.

A moment of chaos and I wanted to scream.

Yes, even in Scotland there are nappies to change, toilets to clean.

And worse than that, we find that even in the most Paradise-like of places,

we cannot escape ourselves.

And wouldn’t I like to, sometimes?

Hit reset, start again, with a brand new me.

It’s easy to blame others for my impatience, irritation, foul mood,

but when I’m honest I realize that I need to hit the reset button on my own attitude.

Shake it off, let it go,

and embrace joy, grace, and usefulness,

in spite of all the expectations and hopes that didn’t come when and as I’d hoped.

The days have been quiet so far, quieter than I’d hoped,

without any visits to the friends or beloved places I’m so longing to see.

Quiet days, save the usual busyness of home life with the boys.

And even in such a place as this, 

greyness can fall, 

wrap around you like a fog. 

We went for a walk, Mr. Waddlesworth and I, this morning,

to shake the shadows,

start again.

And as I went along the narrow streets,

between the rows of ancient stone,

thinking,

and drinking in

the cries of the seagulls as they soar,

the balmy breeze,

the North Sea’s roar,

I thought of these words . . .

 image (1)

 

 And though I’m trying, still,

to feel them,

live them,

make them real,

I know,

that whether we’re cleaning toilets,

or laughing over a latte with our dearest friends

in our most favorite place,

our moments matter. 

And words, our expressions,

they matter, too.

In fact, in the grey times,

when the light is dimmest,

is when our words, expressions, and actions,

mean the very most.

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A Cosy List – For Your Morning Cuppa (tea)

Posted in Anne of Green Gables, Books!, Hospitality, Making Memories, Marriage - For Happily Evers, Videos - If You Were There, tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , on November 4, 2013| 2 Comments »

A Dozen Cosies to Warm Your Heart  & Your Hands and  Bless Your Week . . .

  1. Spread a blanket and have a picnic lunch inside. Or a candlelit picnic at night when the children are abed?

  2. Buy a bouquet of fresh flowers and divide them up in jars around your house. Don’t forget your bathroom and your bedside table. And don’t forget to give them a smell.  

  3. Rake some leaves and jump in the pile. Go in and warm your hands and your soul with some tea.

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4. Bake something with cinnamon. Apple pie?

5. Go for a walk and pray until your nose and cheeks are red. Then go in and warm up with some tea.

6. Watch Anne of Green Gables and laugh and sigh when Anne is “in the depths of despair.”

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8HZfQ7EqMUs

7. Make a cup of tea and cradle it in your hands while you read the Bible. Psalm 42?

http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=psalm%2042&version=NASB

8. Make a big pot of soup. Calcannon, an Irish favourite?

2 Tbsp butter

1 large onion, chopped

4 garlic cloves, crushed

4 large potatoes, thinly sliced

Chicken or vegetable stock/broth

Herbs and salt to taste

200 grams kale or cabbage, shredded

300 ml cream

1. Heat butter on low. Add onion, garlic, potatoes, cook for 5 minutes without browning.

2. Pour over enough stock/broth to cover, season to taste.

3. Bring to the boil, cover and simmer for 15 minutes.

4. Add the kale/cabbage, bring back to the boil, then simmer for 5 minutes.

5. Pour in the cream, ladle and serve.

9. Sprawl out on the carpet and listen to some favourite songs. Maybe this, by Welsh composer Karl Jenkins?

10. Invite some friends over without worrying about the house. Light some candles. Serve tea.

11. Stand under a tree, look up, and watch the leaves fall. Try to catch one.

12. As many times as you can remember, tell your spouse and your children how very much they’re loved. By God. By you.

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A Royal Wedding Tea

Posted in Misty British Isles, tagged , , , , , , , , on April 25, 2011| Leave a Comment »

There’s to be a wedding–a royal wedding! And I’m more than a little pleased to be living in The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland for this fairytale event. For what could be more fairytale-like than an average girl marrying a real prince? Prince William, heir to the throne, met Catherine Middletone, or Kate, as she is called, at St Andrews University in Scotland. She’s not a princess, a duchess, or lady (though she will inherit a title after the wedding), and yet she is marrying a prince. The last time a commoner married a future king of England was in 1660. Sigh . . .

They’re a handsome couple, are they not?

Prince William and Kate Middleton at their engagement photo shoot.

Love, weddings, and things of beauty are worth celebrating, and I do believe that this wedding will be a beautiful event. It’s also a truly good excuse to dust off your china (or your mugs) and have some friends round for a cup of tea. Add some Scottish shortbread, scones with jam and clotted cream, and perhaps a few cucumber sandwiches, and your spread will be British enough to feel you’re joining in on Kate and Wills’s big day.

For those of you who aren’t regular tea drinkers, but would like a British experience, Britain’s favourite tea is black tea (Tetley or Scottish Blend are two favourite brands), one tea bag per cup or three to a pot. It’s usually served with a splash of milk (though I take mine black), and very occasionally with a bit of sugar. Shortbread can be found the world over, I believe. I’m not so sure about clotted cream, but this can be replaced with mascarpone cheese. Either taste delicious when combined with a good strawberry or raspberry jam.

Don’t forget a pretty tablecloth and napkins, along with some fresh flowers for your table.

If you’d like to do a bit more, ask your guests to dress up in your favourite British era, be it medieval, Georgian, Victorian, or even the 1960s.

If children will be present, decorate some fairycakes (cupcakes) with little crowns or the Union Jack (our flag). To keep them busy, click on the following link for free colouring sheets of Prince William and Kate and other fun activities centred around the royal wedding.

http://www.activityvillage.co.uk/the_royal_wedding.htm

Scones with clotted cream and jam

Although the guests will begin to arrive at the abbey at around 9am, the bride will arrive at 11am on Friday, 29th April. This is 6am for the eastern part of the United States, so if you live in America, or another part of the world where the wedding is at a time that makes it difficult to watch, then record it to watch later.

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Some other details from the wedding:

  • The fashion savvy Kate Middleton will wear a dress which she designed herself! The design is rumoured to be reminiscent of the Renaissance period, taking inspiration from her History of Art degree.
  • Kate will be driven in a Rolls Royce through London to Westminster Abbey along the traditional processional route of the Mall, Horse Guards Parade, Whitehall and Parliament Square.
  • Prince William will travel in a Bentley, accompanied by his brother, Prince Harry.
  • The service will be conducted by the dean of the abbey, the Very Rev John Hall. The archbishop of Canterbury, Rowan Williams, will marry the couple and the Right Rev Richard Chartres, the bishop of London and a longstanding friend of the royal family, will give the address.
  • Prince Harry is to be the best man and Kate has asked her younger sister Philippa – known to her family as Pippa – to be her maid of honour.
  • At the end of the service, the couple will travel by carriage to Buckingham Palace.
  • The Queen will give a lunchtime reception a Buckingham Palace. During the reception the couple will appear on the Buckingham Palace Balcony.
  • In the evening, Prince Charles, the Prince of Wales, will give a dinner at Buckingham Palace for the couple and their close friends and family.
  • Details on the honeymoon have yet to be announced!

For more information, photographs, and videos about the music, menu, and magic of this royal event, visit the official royal wedding website at http://www.officialroyalwedding2011.org/tag/homepage/page/1

~ Do tell me how  you celebrated the day!

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