AT HOME IN MARCH

Apart from having been away for a few days and my anticipated trip away for a while soon, things have been rather quiet at home this month. When the weather is fine – which it usually is – I like to either breakfast outdoors or to enjoy my mid-morning tea in the garden. On this particular day I had baked banana muffins:

The bird feeders hang from a tree very close to where I like sitting in the shade:

I enjoy the early blossoms of the Vachellia karroo against the blue sky that is the norm for this time of the year:

It has been so very dry here that there has been no point planting either seeds or seedlings in my barren flower pots. A local fleshy weed has obliged to provide some greenery instead:

During the hot days and nights, the sound of crickets – mostly in the garden – is a common one. However, one evening, I found this large cricket perched on my butter dish in the kitchen:

Lastly, for now, even though I am reluctant to admit it, autumn is creeping closer and this is becoming more evident as the nights are a lot cooler than they used to be. For this reason, a large cup of tomato soup is most welcome:

A COLLECTION OF TEA POTS

While I was in Gauteng I was treated to a delicious brunch at a nursery chosen specifically for this interesting collection of tea pots:

I BOUGHT A NEW TEA POT

I couldn’t help it. As I walked into the charity shop where I volunteer once a week, sorting books, pricing and shelving them, this tea pot winked at me. I didn’t even put my bag down in the workroom, but went straight to the tea pot, lifted it up … and paid for it on the spot!

“As if you need another tea pot” teased my husband when I brought it home. I know I don’t for I already have quite a happy collection of them that fill my kitchen windowsill, the windowsills in the short passage leading to the dining room and, indeed, some even grace our sideboard in there.

What is it about my interest in tea pots? I don’t really know. Just as I never really set about collecting different teas, the tea pots in my collection simply grew. I had a large teapot to begin with. Although this isn’t my first, it is an example of a ‘family sized’ one that gets used when our children come to visit.

Over time I needed a smaller one because obviously the size of the tea pot used will depend on the number of people drinking tea – sometimes there are a lot of us and these days it is mostly only me. I have received tea pots as gifts … a couple have smiled at me at fairs … and this one ‘told’ me it needed a happy home. There you have it.

There are several factors which influence the pleasure with which one can use a tea pot, whatever its shape. One of the most important for me is whether the tea pot pours well without dripping. Another might seem strange, but, is the lid secure enough not to fall off while one is pouring the tea? I might have mentioned before that I was once given a ceramic tea pot the lid of which fell inside the tea pot when the pot expanded as a result of the hot liquid inside it – and the lid didn’t.

I always like to feel the heft of a tea pot: one that is easy to hold will be used far more often than one that isn’t. This applies particularly to silver tea pots: I have one with a silver handle that gets far too hot to hold. Fortunately others have handles made of various materials that remain cool to the touch.

Some people regard the ease with which one can clean a tea pot important. Yes, one should easily be able to discard the tea leaves – if one has been using loose leaves – but here one comes across some differences of opinion. There are tea drinkers who wear that merely rinsing a tea pot is enough and that the build-up of tannins inside adds to the flavour of tea. Then there are those who like to scrub the insides of their pots until they look like new.

Naturally enough, a tea pot needs to be attractive to the eye of its owner. This particular one, featuring Elizabeth I, attracted the eye of my husband. It brews tea well, pours reasonably well, cleans easily enough and the lid doesn’t fall off, but aesthetically it is not really my cup of tea. I do use it now and then though.

Still, a look at these tea pots on one of the passage window sills shows that tea pots of all shapes, colours, sizes and patterns can be used to hold a really good cup of tea – so much depends on what tea goes in!

 

MY DELIGHT: DRINKING TEA

Regular readers know that I enjoy drinking several cups of tea a day – preferably a different kind each time. I have often featured different teas on this blog and even some of my favourite mugs. Today I want to share the delight of drinking tea. The first picture shows an interesting – and very pretty – mug given to me years ago by my older granddaughters. I sometimes use it when I wish to brew only one mug from loose tea leaves rather than using a tea bag. A ceramic strainer fits inside this mug, which is topped by a delightful lid. What I have discovered over the years is that keeping the lid on in between sips of tea – especially if I am distracted by reading – helps to retain the heat of the tea for a bit longer.

I was given this very large tea cup by my son in Glasgow earlier this year – a nod to how much tea I drink! The teapot was a use-the-last-of-our-British-money purchase at Heathrow a very long time ago. Have I mentioned that I like collecting teapots? This one has resided on a shelf for far too long: what is the point of having a teapot and not using it? It too is used for brewing loose-leaf tea. Given its size, it holds only enough tea to fill this large cup. While I am about it, the blue pottery milk jug was a gift from me to my mother and which I can now enjoy in memory of her.

On the subject of loose-leaf tea, I cannot recall which teapot I was using at the time but this picture illustrates the idea of squeezing the pot for the last drop of tea!

The blue milk jug appears again, this time in the company of a silver teapot given to me by my late English aunt and a (large) mug which has been hand-painted by one of my granddaughters now living in Norway. The fallen petals in the background are from some clivia flowers.

Tea is my choice of drink when we stop along the way during a long journey to fill up with fuel and perhaps get a bite to eat. I enjoy getting tea in a pot for one can always ask for hot water to top it up and that way get nearly two cups of tea for the price of one.

Lastly, here is a mug I have featured before and this time a different silver teapot – also only used for loose-leaf tea. The white milk jug in the background is part of a set of crockery I won a very, very long time ago in a magazine competition.

Tea anyone?

TEA IS SERVED

Some people swear the traditional Brown Betty tea pot brews the best tea, others say any porcelain tea pot will do. Some eschew aluminum ones that tea is commonly served in at food outlets … others (if they have them) are convinced only silver tea pots will do. Then, of course, there are differences of opinion about whether or not mugs or cups and saucers do the trick. I will leave that open for debate. Going back in time, a silver tea set was obviously the elegant way in which to serve tea. This one comes from the Gimle Gård Manor House in Kristiansand, Norway.

The tea pot has a sensible handle which means that it won’t get too hot to hold in one’s hand. Several silver tea pots I have seen have a silver handle too and require a cloth to hold it when pouring the tea. The milk jug is elegantly shaped with a good pouring lip. I presume the container on the right would be for the sugar.

Also in the Gimle Gård Manor House is this silver pot – which I wonder if it was for coffee:

The handle here too is made of a different material which would prevent it from getting hot. I find it fascinating that the handle is on the side of the pot – does that make for easier pouring? The size and shape of the pot gives me the impression that the pot is meant for brewed coffee. What do you think?

One of the many fascinating objects in Chartwell, Churchill’s country home, is this porcelain tea pot:

There is some writing around the rim in gold, but I couldn’t make it out except for the date, 1939. This is a large pot and would therefore be quite heavy to hold when it is full. See the extra ‘ear’ on the spout? What an excellent idea that is!

Back to basics: I visited a home in Dorset that is currently being renovated. Judging from the size of the box of tea bags, the builders clearly drink a lot of tea during the course of each day. Their large mugs were in the sink, yet I couldn’t resist this modern approach to tea-making: a kettle, tea bags and mugs to drink from!