Tea Time

Tea

 What it is and what it isn’t

Tea is different in many cultures and countries but for me this is Tea.

Some of my earliest memories are of tea

 Being allowed to finish mom’s tea that she didn’t have time to drink before heading off to work. Cold lemon tea it would be by then but oh so sweet and special as it was “mom’s” tea.

 Then there was Tea with Gran. If we went to town we might just might stop at the T room and have tea and a toasted bun. Oh my, that was a special treat.

 Gran would order a pot of tea and a toasted bun and ask for an extra cup and plate. My tea would be mostly milk with a “drop” (That was what Gran called about a ¼ cup) of tea in it and sugar, hers was always black like she liked it, but with sugar. We would share the toasted bun and oh how wonderful it was with the butter dripping off it and down my chin and the slightly sweet taste and the raisins here and there.

 Sometimes we would go to a friend for tea. Gran and I would take the bus to her friends house and we would have tea with her. This was a very special occasion.

Later there would be tea time at Diana’s house. We would all ( Diana, Jeremy and I and sometimes Glenalea too,) be out and about playing in the “woods” Yes there was 27 acres for us to play in and with the dogs we were quite safe. Sallie the Doberman and Snappy  hmm wonder what Snappy was. Anyway we would all be out and about playing and suddenly think it must be nearly tea time and off we would go back to the house where tea was to be had. Always in china cups and always with a snack of some sort. Maybe some cake or a biscuit. Mom would always laugh that Jeremy, although the youngest was also the biggest and fastest, but he would be in the lead and would screech to a halt at the door and let the girls go first and then follow at break neck speed.

Gran had tea every day at 11am and 3pm. She would say what is the time? and I would later say Gran who cares lets have tea anyway. Gran would not have “dry” tea. There had to be something with it even if it was dry bread she would say.

 When Gran was at Aunty Billie’s we would go next door to Tannie Marta for tea at 10am and we would have to be quiet while Gran and Tannie Marta listened to the Radio. It was the equivalent of the daily soaps for about 30 minutes. Funny thing was Tannie Marta could not speak English and Gran didn’t speak Afrikaans but they had tea together and listened to the radio ever morning. Then back to the housework for both of them. Some days Tannie Marta was busy mopping and would stop mid mopping to have tea and listen. I wonder which language the program was.

Then there was the visiting family and friends for tea. If someone stopped by the first words after hello were, do you have time for a cup, and the kettle would go on and tea would happen.

 Sometimes it was organized before and was a real visit, sometimes it just happened that way.

Special occasions were often marked by tea.

Baby showers were almost always a tea and of course there was the Kitchen Tea.

 This was a magical time when the bride to be was surprised with a shower by her mom and her bridesmaids. It was the equivalent of the bridal shower in America. There are a few differences of course like the way they would not list who the gift was from but would give a clue as to what it was and the bride had to guess. Someone would take notes and read it back later. Obviously there were just words taken here and there to make it sound funny and entertaining. Like of it is soft and squishy and then they would stop and never finish the sentence but leave it hanging.

 Birthdays for grown up were usually teas. Then there was the tea party, a good excuse to just get together with friends and have a good visit.

 When you moved to a new neighborhood tea was there. Often if the neighbors were kind they would appear soon after the “truck “ or cars and say Hi I live over there and my name is and it would be a way of introducing themselves but usually accompanied by a tray with a pot of tea and maybe even coffee and sugar and milk and some cups and maybe some “biscuits”. They would say I’ll be back in about half an hour so don’t worry about washing the cups or such you have way too much to do today. This was a sure sign that this was the neighbor you could count on in a crunch. Occasionally it was also the nosy neighbor who would drive you crazy later.

 When we were young and a moving truck arrived our job was to count people so we knew how many cups to take over. We always added a couple in case.

When the guys had headed to work and you were hanging out washing or watching for the “postman” a neighbor might lean over the fence or gate and say would you like to come and have a cup of tea, I just made one? This was often the beginning of a great friendship. You would usually end up being back door neighbors here and would spend many an hour sitting at the kitchen table having a cup of tea and solving the problems of the world.

A real friend would arrive at your door with something evil to eat or a wonderful bit of news like a new baby that was expected or a wedding and would say put the kettle on and tea would be had.

 When the world was coming apart you would call your neighbor and say put the kettle on and you would put your shoes on and when you got there the tea was half made and she would sit and listen and cry or whatever was needed.

It also worked when you thought you were going to have to kill someone, you know like when your hubby was helpful and cleared out the boxes of your stuff to the “Rubbish”  (garbage) yesterday and the “rubbish men” had just been when you found out. Or your oldest child just cut the lace off your wedding dress to make grandma’s card. Tea would help with that.

 When you were sick in bed and someone brought you a nice cup of tea it was the best comfort in the world. In fact should any disaster happen to happen someone close by would immediately say has someone put the kettle one and tea would be made. Sometimes you needed to make the tea yourself as the ritual of doing the usual things to get it made was in and of itself calming and soothing.

 One of the most amazing treats of all was “ tea in bed” to awaken you this is usually saved for such momentous occasions as Birthdays or Mothers day. There is no better way to face the day than with a sweet person handing you a nice cup of tea just ready to be drunk. Armed with that you could face the world and conquer it.