I remember so well in my younger years being taken to visit, whether it be my Gran or Nana or Auntie, and being presented with the 'best china'.
The fine bone china was brought out like a royal event (I always used to wonder how much dust lay at the bottom of the cups!).
A small china cup on a saucer and a side plate with a slice of cake, or in my Grans case a Dundee biscuit.
You would sit there with the best china dithering, trying to balance cup and saucer and plate on your knee........trying not to drop the cup that no adult human could hook their finger through...
Then there was the tea... it was always luke warm, very milky (made with sterilised milk) and 'so weak it was a fortnight'... as my Mum describes it! The tea bag purely waved at the cup only ..It would make you gag!! But you had to drink it and when offered a second cup ..dither again between 'it may offend to refuse' and 'maybe the second cup may taste like tea out of the pot!'
After a recent experience of this whilst visiting my elderly God Mother I got to thinking ... I have just the china tea set to inflict on the youth when I am elderly.
Bought in auction in Kent a few years ago for £1..... Vale bone china.. It is very retro and bizarre..........
I will be serving 'peely wally' tea (earl grey of course) with skimmed milk (white coloured water)
6 comments:
My mum had a similar set ...... quite nice in a way. Of course, I am the elderly relative now ...... I think I've only got a couple left that are actually older than me including Auntie Betty who is 93 [I think].
I look forward to the day when I will actually serve tea using some of the amazing china I inherited from my mother and from her mother (all collecting dust in forgotten cupboards across the globe). Until then I'll stick to serving martinis ;-)
Daddy P...I bet you Mum didn't have the spots??
You can not be the elderly relative?..but saying that when thinking about that I only have ny god parents and 1 elderly aunt left... but I have at least a spotty retro tea service just in case :-0
Martinis in a small china tea cup sounds fabulous .. it can be done ;-)
youe maternal line would be impressed with the practical use of the dusty dainty cups lol
My mum had the same tea set - but with red spots!
Weak tea with skimmed milk sounds right up my street! I love the saying 'so weak it was a fortnight' - excellent!
wow Diane how fabulous .. red spots. I had never seen a spotty china tea set before I just thought it was an experiment ... obviously it must have been al the rage at one time lol
'so weak it is a fortnight' is such a Northern expression... isn't it great?? :-)
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