We recently entertained Richard and Charlie, friends of my daughter Natasha, to afternoon tea. I used my big brown tea pot and a woollen tea cosy that looks remarkably similar to the one my grandma knitted for me, many years ago.
Given that we are in the middle of winter, the occasion fell short of the ideal from a nostalgic point of view for me; there was no coal fire burning in the grate. As a boy, afternoon tea would have included slices of bread toasted on a fork in front of the hot embers and subsequently covered with lashings of butter and possibly home-made strawberry jam. Still, the occasion was delightful and not a puff of sooty smoke was discharged into the atmosphere. Speak to you later, my dear blogophiles.
Tags: afternoon tea, coal fire, lashings, strawberry jam, tea pot
