The sunrise thrust an orange glow through the undressed window onto the freshly painted brilliant white bedroom walls. A small, sparsely decorated, warm, dry first new home. The bedroom empty, save a matress upon which is scattered a duvet, pillows, sleepy him and I. After unpublishable morning exercise two large mugs of tea joined us in the bedroom.
wendy: this could be the most exquisite, happiest, moment of our whole lives. it’s all downhill from here
him: it’s not far down from a matress on the floor
wendy: lets remember this morning for the rest of our lives…
him: a little more exercise and another cuppa will help secure the memory
wendy: …mmmmmm….. (unpublishable)
On the way to Cornwall I stopped for Tea and a Pasty on the edge of Dartmoor. Everything was comfortably as expected. Pot of hot water, pot of tea, milk, cup without any roses or pink on it, see:
twenty-first post in a Thursday series of snoops into experiences of taking tiffin with (black) tea in the NW USA.
Thursday Tiffin #21: secret garden (conkers)
recommended venue for an atmospheric, private, conversation with special friends or family over a good cup of tea and to stock up some sizable conkers.
1890’s Historically registered building. For the US West coast that is REALLY OLD! There are several huge old conker trees in the garden. The ground is littered with conkers. I rarely see conker trees in the puget sound region. A habit left over from childhood, I placed a few big, heavy, symmetrical conkers in my pocket, just incase…
Inside, high quality retro décor, not kitsch or overdone. White table-clothes and napkins. Antique furniture that is not ‘distressed’. The establishment blends beautifully American and English tea taking ceremonies with excellent food in a tasteful, timeless ambiance. Let me say ‘excellent food’ once again. Prices are neither cheap nor exorbitant. I had a large bowl of Coconut Chicken Lemon grass soup with a scone and a small pot of Darjeeling that came to about $10 including tax.
English
- clientele included men as well as women
- a jug of milk was offered before it was requested
- sugar-cubes in a bowl with tongs
- matching china crockery and pseudo-silver flatware
- soup served with an actual soup spoon
American
- The en-suite shop that sells quaint things, pink things and sparkly jewellery things
- A glass of iced water, regularly topped-up
- The scones (more like English rock cakes)
- wide choice of sugar substitutes in sachets on the table
- over 70 types of tea on a laminated plastic menu
- staff attentive and clearly amenable to customer requests not currently on the menu. I overhead a customer asking for, and receiving, iced tea. In January.
Those tiny imperfections that even an excellent establishment can have…they are trivial….
When trying-out a new Tea venue I normally take a quick look at the place name and memorize it’s location as a road junction then swing on out there in LooSea. This strategy has served me well, until today. Two tea places in the same building, is Seattle. Hardly what a girl is expecting. I’d arranged to meet Jenn at one of them. Remedy teas.
I went into the wrong one. The Teapot. After two pots of excellent Orange Spice tea, without milk or company, I left. I stopped to take a photograph of the building on the way out. That’s when I noticed my mistake, can you see it? Teapot on the left, Remedy Tea on the right. I meekly wandered over to “Remedy teas”.
Jenn in black and the torture victim were sitting outside. In January, outside, a week after snow-fall, without coats. Washington State locals are really rufty-tufty. Jenn’s ‘Loser’ handbag was definitely pointing at me under the table. How did she know in advance? They were very forgiving about my missing the place first time and let me join them for another pot of Tea and a waitress interview.
After three pots of tea I only used the ‘restrooms’ once, my bladder is under tight control. The restrooms also helped me with a poster describing the six-stages of ’how to wash your hands’ with pictures. Now I know. Good job I’ve got that little skill sorted now. It should prevent all sorts of unplanned nastiness.
