Teatime

It's teatime at my house. On my days off I celebrate teatime and it is always Tetley English tea. It bring back happy memories of times spent with my 2 aunts who live in London. We're always having the kettle on and drinking endless cups of tea. Here, I make a big to do about it, I bring out my favorite cup and saucer, my silver teaspoon (a yard sale find) and bake a cake (not always). It is teatime again and I disposed of the contents of the cup and plate pretty rapidly and enjoyed them immensely. This reminds me of a similar scene in the 'Portrait of a lady' by Henry Miller.....

"Under certain circumstances there are few hours in life more agreeable than the hour dedicated to the ceremony known as afternoon tea...... The implements of the little feast had been disposed upon the lawn of an old English country-house, in what I call the perfect middle of a splendid summer afternoon.....The old man had his cup in his hand; it was an unusually large cup, of a different pattern from the rest of the set and painted in brilliant colours. He disposed of its contents with much circumspect....."

I've been reading this book for weeks, each night when I have trouble falling asleep, I read a chapter. John Julian Norwich, the English writer, who also wrote on Sicily, said he likes books that he can read for weeks and months, reading them slowly and savoring every word. It's kind of like that with this book. One has to get into the spirit of the book and pretend one is actually there, participating in all the drama. I have never enjoyed fiction with all the conversation but I love this one. I'm getting into all the conversation and am trying to really empathize with Isabel, a young American girl in England, she has much of her mind already made up. In conversations at my aunts' houses I do participate with my strong and conservative American viewpoints.