The Ninth Tale- Tea Break (for Tea and Tits mag)

Not exactly winning the prize for Britain’s most patriotic woman, spending the royal wedding intoxicated at the best street party Southampton had to offer, I do however hold some quintessential English traditions close to my heart.

Having an Irish, tea loving grandmother and a British, 'tea for all occasions' mother, I don’t think I could ever shirk off the ritual of tea, biscuits and a mothers meeting. Since childhood I have been made aware that my barmy but nurturing nana put sweet milky tea in my baby bottles. Looking back I doubt tea is a relatively normal liquid to be giving toddlers, her response being 'it never did me any harm'.

Maybe this is why my love of tea has flourished into such a dear, daily routine. The quaint act of putting the kettle on, brewing the teapot and everyone sipping the hot goodness amongst the tales and gossip of the day is a habit I don’t think I will ever break. Call me old fashioned but even pretty teapots and floral cake stands, catch me like a magpie to her shiny loot. My ideal afternoon is spent amongst my girls with a teapot and sugar cubes traded up in the sun. The window displays of the Cath Kidston boutiques never fail to draw me into their pretty house-proud world.

The most joyous occasion fell upon me last month when the three generations of ladies in my family went for High Tea at Coombe Abby country manor in the midlands. I was beside myself with the lavish décor and delicious finger sandwiches, the fact I had to sit on my hands to stop myself from a potential five fingered discount on the teapot of dreams was all to much.

It seems the ideas of the cultural tealeaf have come a long way since the 1500's when the Portuguese first brought the wholesome beverage to our shores. A new genre of tea lovers have taken over and made the act (or art form) of drinking tea fashionable, TEA CHIC, the New Gens of the infamous Boston tea party movement. Somewhere in all of us is an old lady enjoying the spoils of tea, friends and if our student budget allows a delectable Vicky sponge cake. Friends have asked for teapots for birthdays and some are already well on the way to having a cosy collection of tea set treasures.

For me tea is nostalgic, it's reminiscent of my grandmother and I think we all have a hidden agenda to sit around like nana's with our cherry bakewells, talking from the heart about the injustices of the world. So on that note ladies lets hang out the bunting, cut up the cupcakes and whack on the notorious kettle. It's tea break, a drink for the soul.