Tea? How Civilized!

Well, good day to you all! It's been a bit since I posted, so I thought I better get my bum in gear and do something! So, I was pondering what to write, when I began to reflect on my weekend, which in Canada was the long weekend (Civic Holiday) It was hot and humid, and sunny. Good Cannuck weather!!! So, we went for a drive to Kingsville which is a charming little town on the shore of Lake Erie. It's in Essex County which was the county where I was raised, and my old stomping grounds. It brings the warm cozies, and I try to visit frequently, while introducing my family to the things that I used to do, and the places I used to go. (hey, I'm Scottish and like the Irish, the Scots are a traditional kind of people. Home is always in the heart!)




So, we're driving around and we come across a little tea room that I've somehow missed on my numerous drives through Kingsville. You see, I love tea, and tea rooms, and afternoon tea makes me giddy with excitement (I also collect teapots!) My husband knows this. The going for tea thing is something I've done with my mum for years, and now that I have a ughter she comes with us. (Interestingly, all our baby/wedding showers are in 'afternoon tea' form and the men cannot wait to be let back into the house so that they can scarf down those little tea sandwiches made with colored bread!) So, I digress....hubby knows I love tea rooms, so we pull into Annabelle's and enter a bygone era!




What a beautiful place and the afternoon tea was perfect and formal and everything you would imagine afternoon tea would encompass. Although, when one reads those tea scenes in romance novels, it usually involves ladies sitting elegantly in a salon of a townhouse gossiping avidly. Well, let me tell you, it's rather novel to be sitting across from a man who is a mechanic and a little over six feet tall, hoisting a fragile red and white willow tea cup in his hand! Even stranger, watching him systematically go through the three tiered silver stand while trying to 'gentlemanly'. I didn't have the heart to tell him that this was supposed to be a light reprieve back in the day. Something to tide you over. The man was eating like he hadn't eaten in days. (his favorite sandwhich was the creamchesse with maraschino cherries)

Our conversation was pleasant and we talked about things we hadn't in a while. And there was NO writing talk, although I will confess to having some fleeting thoughts about seduction at an afternoon tea....:)

It's funny. Why do we think that only women would enjoy such an event as tea? I mean, my husband is one of those manly guys. Yet he had no qualms about sitting at a little table with fancy china and fussy little sandwiches. He also thoroughly enjoyed the scone with Devon cream and jam!

I asked him about it after, and he shrugged. "It's neat, and besides, it reminds me of your wedding shower, when I was invited in after the 'ladies' had left to sit with your family and eat the leftovers with the other men. It made me part of your family." Ahhhhh!!!! And that was quite a sight, watching these tall men balancing little plates on their laps and trying to delicately eat little sandwiches!

So, I have resolved to take my mum to Annabelle's for a little tea and gossip, and thought it would be lovely to go to an afternoon tea at RWA while we're in NY a couple of years from now! Of course, there's a midnight tea at the RT convention, a lovely 'Madhatters' event that you might want to check out!

So, tell me, have you ever been to an afternoon tea? And if so, what is your favorite part! If you would like to do a virtual tea, then visit Annabelle's and have a look at the lovely pictures. She has a cute little shop on site as well.
Also, Amanda has posted the second stop on her blog tour, just beneath this entry. For a look at her stop, just drop down below!