Tea for two
Posted under People I love, Photography
I love tea. It’s a love affair that’s evolved over time and has involved occasional flirtations with coffee but me and tea are now going steady. I have standards and these are they: builder’s tea (strong as you like and ideally one tea bag to a cup, then pressed against the side for extra za-za-zooooom), a little milk and one sugar, in a mug and not a cup and three times a day…on rising…mid morning…mid-afternoon. Sometimes I go crazy and have four cups a day, but I regret it. Me and tea have found our groove and three times a day is the foundation of the groove.
Today I did a little photoshoot at home for my friend Katherine, who is shortly to relaunch her super cakes and catering business. She zipped over with delightful baked goods for me to shoot (badly, but that’s a whole other story). I found myself hoping she’d be prompt as I was more than ready for Cup Two of the day. I debated having a cup before she arrived, but then realised she’d have to drink tea alone when she arrived, or I’d have to push on with an ill-advised pre-noon Cup Three. It was quite a quandary…
In the end I waited for her and the gods of tea delivered her right on time (rejoice). So, it seems, it’s not just the tea and tea addiciction that is at stake here…it’s the well documented ‘ritual’ of tea. I’m not fancy about the ritual though and, frankly, nor is Katherine. We bonded over our trashy love of cheap builder’s tea, and disdain for Earl Grey and other such nonsense. That one sugar makes me very common; Katherine is fancier and goes without but I don’t grudge her for it (yet). So, as non-fancy girls, the ritual doesn’t seem to be part of it on the surface…but neither of us can set a foot over each other’s doorsteps without the kettle going on for a ‘cuppa’.
It’s almost like ‘breaking bread’ together. Why is that? It’s so deeply ingrained…someone comes round? Put the kettle on. Bad news? Put the kettle on. Good news? Put the kettle on. Need a little pick me up? Put the kettle on. Recently a New Friend came to visit for the first time. Naturally I put the kettle on and asked if she’d like some tea. “No thank you”, she said. “Coffee?” I said, in desperation, “No thank you I’m fine”. Erm, I don’t think so…no tea..no coffee…are you ILL? I immediately grudged her…f…o…r…e…v…e…r. Surely everyone knows that tea is the elixir of life, the oil in the wheels of social situations. To refuse? Rude.
I knew I’d love Bee forever when I first met her at Blog Camp 1.5 which she hosted last Summer. I arrived unfashionably late yet again and all in a flap. The others offered me wine, but Bee saw the fear in my eyes and offered me a ‘cuppa tea and then some wine?’ which was just the thing. Made all the more charming since she had taken on some kind of East End accent for ‘cuppa tea’ which juxtaposes in a very interesting way with her Texas/Berkshire drawl…
And then lovely Blanca bought me Friendship Tea as my Blog Camp 3.0 gift and it hit the nail right on the head for me:
“Pour on boiling water and, while it brews, we’ll talk. We’ll talk about everything, we’ll talk about nothing. Whatever you want to say, I’ll listen. Show me your secrets, your troubles, your joys, your profound thoughts and silliest imaginings”.
Tea…the balm for life. We had a long discussion about tea at Blog Camp 3.0 and the differences between Denmark and Other Countries…teabags…loose tea…sugar…milk…warming the pot..many nations… divided by a common tea leaf.
Anyway, tea rocks. Luckily not-so-common Katherine bakes so beautifully and thus tea is always a tea ‘n’ cake experience with her. That’s why I heart her. Her baked goods and love of trashy cheap teabags won me over.
