Okay, I’m not a vicar. Not even close. Plummy will never confuse me with her beloved man of the cloth. But I do love the ritual of tea. I may start my day with the delicious bean of the coffee plant, but in the late afternoon nothing is quite so satisfying as a good cuppa, properly brewed with a tiny treat or two for it to wash down. Little sandwiches filled with things like olives or watercress, fresh scones spread with jam or butter, bite-sized cakes and cookies…these things refresh me like nothing else on earth.I don’t do it every day, but I like to do it at least once or twice a month. I make a small pot of the best tea I have on hand (unless I pick up something entirely for the purpose), make the snacks by hand, put the tea in my prettiest cup and saucer and the nibbles on one of my very pretty plates, and settle in for a nice few minutes with me. It’s a reminder that we all need to slow down once in a while and be nice to ourselves. It’s a bit of ritual in a world where we sometimes need the comfort of an act that feels entirely deliberate. As good as breaking bread with friends and family is, I think every now and again it’s important to break bread with just you. It’s also a chance to eat the things nobody else in the house will touch with a barge pole, but that’s another matter. Right now the important thing is that you find a few moments and do something that make you feel whole. For me, that thing is tea. for you it may be something else entirely. What matters is that you carve out a space in your life to do what makes you feel like you in the best way possible. Find it. Do it. Keep doing it, even if only once in a blue moon. We take care of everyone else. Sometimes we need to take care of ourselves as well. Tea might well be a good place to start. PS: extra points to the first person who can identify where the title comes from. PPS: This was not all one paragraph to begin with, but WordPress is apparently miffed with me today and refuses to do my bidding. Humph.
March 1, 2009
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Awww that sounds fabulous,Tea once a month.
And I dont know where the title comes from,It sounds like a very novelesque quote.
I think the thing i do that me with me is reading a book,and drawing.
Twistie,that sounds so fabulousi might try that today
Comment by jessie — March 1, 2009 @ 2:35 pm
Oh that is quite delightful. I guess I am a bit more indulegent. Every morning I brew my coffee with a bit o cinnamon and vanilla, pour a cup, grab a cig, and step out into the crisp morning air. That is my personal quite time as I wake up before anyone else.
Comment by Sarah thomas — March 1, 2009 @ 5:57 pm
I often indulge in a tray of tea on the weekends. I blogged about it here, with a photo.
Comment by Kai Jones — March 2, 2009 @ 2:26 pm
Oh Twistie, Please tell us what this title comes from. It’s been killing me all week. Thanks!
Comment by Bethany — March 9, 2009 @ 10:45 am
Well we can’t have you expire from curiosity, Bethany, can we? Hardly.
The quote comes from the Eric Idle/Neil Innes parody The Rutles: All You Need is Cash. In the spoof on The Beatles’ drug usage and pot scandals, they chose to make the controlled substance in question tea. There’s a shot of a newspaper with the headline: Vicar Says I, Too, Take Tea right before the one shown with the headline: Rolling Stones Party Raided: Nude Girl and Teapot Found.
I have to say, though, the best thing about the entire film (and it gets funnier and funnier the more you know about The Beatles, BTW), is the fact that they got George Harrison to do a cameo. Well, that and the fact that the songs on the soundtrack album almost to a note would have been huge hits if the real Beatles had recorded them.
And this is the sort of thing you get when you combine a Beatlemaniac with a Monty Python fan.
Comment by Twistie — March 9, 2009 @ 11:42 am
Thank you! (I’m recovering already.) And that sounds pretty fantastic. I’ll have to check it out :-)
Comment by Bethany — March 10, 2009 @ 10:56 am