24 Tuesday Mar 2015
Posted in Art, Design, Food, Photography
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Teacup © Joan Currie
The Tea Party
I had a little tea party
This afternoon at three.
‘Twas very small-
Three guests in all –
Just I, myself and me.
Myself ate all the sandwiches,
While I drank up the tea;
‘Twas also I who ate the pie
And passed the cake to me.
By Jessica Nelson North (1891-1988)
A lovely cup of tea punctuates the day…
01 Friday Jun 2012
Posted in Design, Food, Photography, Reflections, Relationships, Writing
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© Joan Currie
If thou must love me, let it be for naught
Except for love’s sake only. Do not say,
‘I love her for her smile – her look – her way
Of speaking gently, – for a trick of thought
That falls in well with mine, and certes brought
A sense of pleasant ease on such a day’ –
For these things in themselves, Beloved, may
Be changed, or change for thee – and love,
so wrought.
from If Though Must Love Me by Elizabeth Barrett Browning
Surely after all these years our love is transcendent.
13 Friday Aug 2010
Posted in Food, Photography, Reflections
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© Joan Currie
Would you like a little more tea?
Lewis Carroll – Alice in Wonderland
My best elementary school memories in Canada are associated with the daily communal singing of “God Save the Queen” to a picture of Her Majesty wearing a lovely diamond tiara and ermine stole, and having tea with my mother – a reward for a scholar’s toils well done. After mother inspected my penmanship, arithmetic, and spelling papers, we would move into the living room and the ritual of taking tea would begin.
Unlike today, where people pop in and out of coffee shops whenever they feel inclined, having tea at four o’clock required a certain restraint. It was a demonstration of good breeding to reign in one’s desire and wait until the appointed hour. If anyone wished to call on my mother, it would be at tea time.
Visitors would be offered a cozy chesterfield or armchair in which to sit and could look forward to an hour of bliss – excellent conversation, orange pekoe tea served in English bone china cups with pink cabbage roses and plates laden with scones and clotted cream, crumpets and maple syrup, or thumbprint cookies and strawberry jam. It was a gentle, genteel, and feminine ritual of hearth and home. This activity punctuated the day with pleasantry, allowed for pause and reflection, and taught a young schoolgirl about one of the niceties of life.
