Teatime

Granddaughter Hannah found my stash of china teacups yesterday in the cabinet, and she insisted that we have a tea party.

This morning before breakfast we fixed up the teatray. As I look at the picture, I realise that the items on it are from such diverse places:

The Royal Albert teacup belonged to my mother, one of many English ones in her cherished teacup collection.

The silverplate tray is from Rachel's Relics antique store in Ripley, purchased on sale for $1.00. My mother, who loved silver, would be proud of me for finding such a bargain.

The green dragon creamer and sugar bowl were made in Bavaria, but somehow wound up in an antique mall in Lewisburg, West Virginia, where I purchased them for $3.00. I still haven't figured out why the price was so low.

And the teapot we found in Virginia over ten years ago, in a Vietnamese grocery store. My husband (a Vietnam war vet) talked for a long time with the store owner, who had fought in the South Vietnamese army and barely escaped with his life when the Americans left.

Now all these items live comfortably together in a small country house in the West Virginia mountains, where my granddaughters drink English Breakfast tea with breakfast, unaware of the provenance of the things they use. To them it does not matter, it is tea at Granny's and that is after all the point of all of these items--to have a delightful cup of tea.

But I enjoy the secret stories and memories held within each object as I sip from my china cup.