A Very Nearly Tea

A Proper Tea is much nicer than a Very Nearly Tea, which is one you forget about afterwards.  ~A.A. Milne

When I was a child I enjoyed tea parties.  Now, this is not the pretend tea parties where a doll and teddy bear are both set up at the tiny table and cups of water are placed near their hands. You know, the kind where Mrs. Nesbit is in attendance? No...

No, I mean a real tea.  The kind where you spend hours in the kitchen with beloved friends putting together cucumber sandwiches, real ones. And then meticulously decorate the table, making it just so - often themed according to the season or current holiday (Michaelmas tea anyone?)  And then sitting together to finally eat the splendor you have created and remember, that it is always polite so long as you have your pinky in the air.  Of course, since my friends and I are not what one would describe as "girly girls" there were often pirates in attendance, and sometimes we were old ladies or kids trapped on a deserted island.  Or maybe we were maidens in a castle, held captive by an evil witch and this was to be our last meal - or maybe we had just gotten away and we were celebrating our victory (I have no memory of ever being rescued, clever as we were we always found a way out, we were never trapped by very smart witches). You get the idea.

So lately I have been wanting to have a tea - but not a Very Nearly Tea, a real one.  I want to invite friends over, sit and laugh together, raise our pinkies in the air and possibly sing a pirate shanty or two...

But Tea in and of itself, while lovely does get rather boring after a while...yes I said it.  So I think I want to start having parties once a month.  I saw on a random blog once the idea of a waffle party - see?.  You know, everyone comes and you eat waffles together. Somehow that grabbed my fancy and all of a sudden I really wanted to have a waffle party.  I'm sure there are tons of other ideas too - My beloved friend Val actually wrote a book a while back about different sorts of Teas you can have.  I have lost this book, I need to get another one.  Was the book published ever Val or did you just make enough for friends and family? Either way I need another one, just tell me how much it costs and I can send it. 

Don't you love how I can ask questions here and be pretty certain they will be answered?  Makes me happy! That and the idea of having a real tea again.


Alright - so I am going to do it.  I am going to start having tea parties.  I will cook for hours, decorate my house and invite friends over.  Once a month is my goal.


Who wants to come to my party(s)?  What day of the week should it be?  I am fine with kids getting invited and having it during the day, or in the evening sometime with only grown-ups.  Either is good with me.  Perhaps it will change month to month.  


I am serious here people.  I would love it if I could have friends from all over come.  Let some of the people I love get to meet one another.  So give me some feedback on what days/times you can do and I will plan it!

I believe my first party will be a Waffle Tea Party.  Then I can get both in there...and Maybe scones.  I love scones.


While searching for my first quote (yes, I really know W.T.P. so well as to know what exact quotes to look for) I found this one and it made me sigh a sigh of contentment.  With this I leave you:


 You can never get a cup of tea large enough or a book long enough to suit me.  ~C.S. Lewis

True, so very, very true.