Tea for Two

There are few hours in life more agreeable than the hour dedicated to the ceremony known as afternoon tea.

(Henry James, The Portrait of a Lady)

I didn't intend that my 200th blip should b a back-blip, but then this isn't really my 200th blip as I have so many back-blips from 2012 still to do :-(

It is a special blip to me though as everything pictured came from my Great-Aunt Gerda. The miniature tea-set was a Christmas gift when I was a child - she knew I loved all things tiny. Everything else came to me after she died - the pink roses tea-set, the monkey and bear that I loved to play with at her house as a child, and even the dresser (made by my Great Grandfather) they are on.

Gerda was a rather eccentric spinster aunt, but she was wonderful with children. She was an artist (mostly watercolour) with a chaotic cottage piled with interesting little treasures. Nothing in the house matched, but everything looked perfectly right together. I'd like to model my own house on hers, but while none of my possessions match they don't look remotely in harmony with each other or their surroundings!

My aunt wasn't really called Gerda - it was just a family nickname. Unfortunately no-one can quite remember why, now. She was born shortly before armistice day, and therefore had 'Peace' as a middle name. She was an excellent linguist. Although her degree was in English it included the study of the origins of the English language including some of the regional languages that have now mostly died out.

Presumably because of these combined language skills Gerda was recruited to work as a code-breaker at Bletchley Park during WWII. She was very reluctant to talk about this time even after fifty years as she took the signing of the Official Secrets Act extremely seriously. Outside the war years she worked as a teacher and then a Librarian, ending up working at Oxford University. She had a particularly specialist knowledge of Jonathon Swift and children's literature, and collected rare books throughout her life.

My childhood holidays were all enhanced by the company of Aunt Gerda. She built sandcastles with us, taught us about nature, advised us about drawing, encouraged all our interests and made beautifully creative birthday cards and gifts for us. But most of all we have wonderful memories to treasure.

Tea for Two