Monday, May 14, 2007

Tea Time: 茶 時 間 – Continued 連綿

Another Short Story:

Continuing on from my previous granny Jamison story …. Ceylon & Darjeeling tea, were the omnipresent beverages, breakfast to supper. The all day presence of tea was social and that’s just the way it was.

Her home was a; Back to Back, kitchen (oven) and living room fireplace. For the uninitiated: a kitchen with an oven back-to-back with the fireplace in the adjoining main room.

The fireplace was huge. The grate was about two feet wide holding two pails of coal with ease. This fire never went out at night it was dampened down and left. In the morning it only needed a poke and a draught and it would offer up a roaring fire. This of course was the main means of heat for cooking, hot water and general house heat.

Hinged on either side were two grids on which the kettle and or pot would be set to boil. At the back of the fireplace was the oven, heated by the large fire which could be drawn under by adjusting the damper. The oven, sometimes called a "range", was a gleaming monster, black-leaded in parts, polished with steel-wool in other parts.

I remember my granny used a preparation in a striped tin called "Zebo", when she cleaned the range. The fireplace mantelshelf displayed brass candlesticks and various objects of fascination.

Away from direct heat, sitting on the sideboard, sat the locked tea caddy. In front of the fire was a large gleaming brass fender and at the right side, a well-used companion set, (poker, tongs, brush, a toasting fork).

The toasting fork was a much used tool and source of entertainment (NO TV), making toast. Fresh baked bread, thick hand sliced, toasted to perfection and a nice cuppa, life is good.

I spent my summer holidays at my granny’s home. Most mornings I’d walk up to my uncle Bob’s and off we’d go to one of the various farms he had contracted with. A farm hands breakfast to start a day, perfection. Nothing will ever come close to eggs just laid, milk seconds from the cow and fresh cream for your tea.

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