Tea Break - Cinnamon

Without much ado, let me just say - 'tis one good tea :o).

I must admit, summer has been so summery this year. Result - I have never been home long enough to ponder and create a blog post. First, it was the last-term-of-school which meant sport days, school plays, assemblies, teacher meets, summer fairs and the volunteering it demanded, gifts to make for teachers ( we seldom buy, and if we do end up doing so, it is always a gift card for a bookstore), cards to make with kids, final parties to attend and the farewells. Everything x 2, as the boys are in different schools.

Any breathers in between always made me run to the park with a sandwich and a book, far from the drudgery of my hamster wheel.

So if I had imagined the summer holidays would be THE welcome break from all of it, well, I had the imagination of a school kid. That silly imagination minus really real reality = complexly complex universe that nobody living has ever fathomed :o( ! At least nobody with two adrenalin-filled time bombs that could go off innumerable times, still retaining the potency and power ( screaming sounds included) afresh for every strike!!!

And this is where the sun has really lighted up my days. Considering it is a stay-cation this year, I owe a lot to Ra / Surya / Helios/ Sol. All I had to do was to grab the picnic blanket and basket and take the boys to the park, bike and scooter and all. Then forget about them until they come back all fizzled out by the end of the day, head back home and before I know it, before they had even managed to ask for online time, they're dreaming away like mad!

Summer has also been a wonderful year for the Hay Day inspired farmers that we have been. What started as a casual strewing of some seeds suddenly became quite a bursting mini kitchen garden.

Tomatoes, chillies, strawberries, courgettes and a very healthy patio tub of fresh herbs, something we never ever imagined could happen from a handful of seeds! Perhaps to the expert gardeners it might sound really stupid, but for us amateurs, this was an eye-opening experience. We realized how much care and attention is needed to keep away those caterpillars that munched away most of our marigold leaves, or the aphid colonies that attacked the roses with vengeance, or all those courgettes that were nibbled off by squirrels even before they had a chance to grow. We realized how tough it is to stick to organic means to do all of this, and yet get a good yield! We also realized how dearly we started loving our plants, like they were our babies :o).

And yes, we also realized that if we are going to grow them freelance and organic and allow the good bugs to deal with the bad ones, we might as well allow the squirrels and caterpillars their little treats. We even tried to shift the caterpillars to the nettle plants, so that the birds stayed away from them! And so, we had to get seeds for birds as well, so that they stayed happy and well fed!

So far, it has been a summer of reflection : on things that matter, things that make you happy, things that are important, things that are simply to be, things that are better left alone, things that can change if the thinking changes and quite simply, things! For once, and am certainly not one to count blog posts more than sunny days spent outdoors, blogging or being online faded away into the background while fresh air and nature kicked in and established camps big time!

And here's a lovely post that reflects just the very mood ( Calvin and Hobbes, those darlings!).

Happy Holidays!!

Tea Break - Peppermint

Peppermint tea is a speciality tea having well tested healing properties for flatulence, skin irritations and itching, cold and flu and tension headaches.

It was just when we were having some nice Assam Tea today with hot vadas did I realize I needed a virtual tea break as well!

Well the Vadas were quite a story. Having packed all the boys out of the house, I had planned to shower as quickly as possible and make them a royal tiffin. But plans run amuck when you have a book in hand, don't they!

And by the time I had finished "The Snow Child" and pried my mind off the wonderfully original canvas of Alaska that it had painted in my inner eye, the boys were back home, hungry and grumpy. So I had to frantically search for an instant recipe and rummaged around loads of blogs, finally consolidating many recipes of "instant vada" into my own ingredient-restricted one.

And here it goes: 15 minutes of soaking some toor dal and chana dal in hot water - 5 mins of soaking some aval ( rice flakes) - coarse grinding of the dal with red chillies ( and/or green chillies) and ginger- mashing the soaked aval (after removing all excess water) - adding the ground mix to mashed aval along with finely chopped onions, some rice flour, some gram flour, some grated coconut, coriander, curry leaves, salt to taste - making balls of the firm mixture and flattening it ( flatter is  better than fluffier) and deep frying in oil to a crispy golden brown (takes longer than normal vadas). The vadas were very crisp and gone in a jiffy ( maybe because hunger levels were in RED!). At least it only took about 30 minutes to prepare, cook and clean :o).

 Maybe the other reason why the vadas disappeared so quickly was because of the interesting episode that we were watching on TV. It was about parallel universes - how every thought that originates in your mind creates a new reality: a new YOU, as real as you, existing in a parallel universe, something that you are not aware of at all. Like you go to a theatre and ponder on which movie to watch, you end up watching every movie you think of, but as other realities - the YOUs that you are not aware of.

The program was quite mesmerizing, but only until the point where we started speculating  on our thoughts, after which we broke into a laughing frenzy. Like something as simple as a "to pee or not to pee" dilemma creating two realities. (You can imagine what all disgusting things the boys would have thought of involving poking nose, using the byproduct of poking in multiple ways and such gross thoughts and their realities).

I was quite bemused by my "should I blog now? Naah, maybe later" thought triggering frantic "me"s blogging away like mad somewhere else in an alternate reality. Bet the blogs are much much better out there, since I always "think" about making the blog better and more presentable!!

And how about the thought processes of those realities who think they are the actual realities?! Or the thoughts about the thoughts themselves :o0!!.

DH tried getting preachy telling the boys that this is why they should never have desires, as they keep creating new issues of the self and which means it would be all the more tougher to attain nirvana. To which DS1 promptly replied, "But every time I suppress the desire, there is going to be a reality which would live the "express desire" instance, so I am creating a new reality anyways"!

Quite an interesting concept with loads of physics involved. As long as the Universe remains a mystery, there are going to be a million theories ( and so, a million Universes?!?).

Anyway, since my other reality today has chosen the not-to-blog life, bet she is getting her beauty sleep right now. Wonder who else exist in that universe with her! Dare to take a guess? Remember, every thought COUNTS! ;o)

Tea Break - Rooibos

... otherwise known as Red Bush tea, grown in Africa. Works as a natural remedy for asthma, colic, allergies, skin problems, gout and PMS symptoms. Caffeine free, so aids sleep as well.

I realized I haven't been blogging so much in the last few weeks. I have been making Hay while the sun was NOT shining! When I say hay, I am actually talking about my nemesis - Hay day, the ipad/iphone game that is truly the craziest, most addictive game I have played so far. If you are one of the lucky few who haven't really come across the same, I request you to skip this post and continue your blissful existence. And for the rest, let's make some more hay!

It all started off with my sister suggesting the game to me. I thought it was just another one of those endless games that kids play on the iphone/ipad and wasn't really interested. But because it was my dear little sis who recommended it, I casually asked my DH ( dear husband) to download the free game and check it out. And then I totally forgot about it and busied myself with the mundane. If only I had stayed that way :o(

Realizing the house had been unusually quiet for hours, I went into the bedroom and saw the DH huddled with DS1( dear first son) and DS2(dear second son), all of them talking farmer tongue -  "Dad, Milk the cows", " Oh no! the barn is too full, sell some stuff, Dad", " there's a school order that needs bread, harvest the carrots and sow more wheat". Apparently, they had been doing it for at least 4 hours, while all along I had been cleaning, then cleaning and after that, cleaning. I erupted with a force that was next only to Eyjafjallajökull's (no I don't know the spelling, I wiki-ed it), grounded all of them just like the volcano grounded the flights and gave a long sermon to DH about "setting a good example for the growing boys and rationing internet time". The house continued to be quiet, but now it was the usual quiet, the aftermath of the eruption :o) :o) :o).

Now I am a big fan of "Aunty Acid" and particularly her saying " I go to bed wide awake and wake up extremely sleepy". So when I was lying in my bed that night wide awake, I ended up picking the iPad to see what the bonkers that application was about.

"Hmmm... easy  to play, cute farm there. But not a good arrangement of the fields, lemme just change it".
"I see, oh, silly boys, they should have upgraded the barn to a bigger storage, lemme just earn some money and buy the things needed for that".
"Perhaps I should jussssst up one level to get those new kind of crops, they seem to be there in all the orders"
"Diamonds for achievements, eh. Well I'll prove who I am!".

"Just one harvest and I'm off".

"Just this sale".

"Only this last order".

"Last ever hunt for treasure boxes".

"Teeny peek to see if some farmer needs a hand".

"Never playing again for the next 10... nanoseconds".

And it never stopped at all. If I weren't milking cows in my dreams, I was shearing sheep or counting diamonds. I became a loonier-than-thou loony. Not even the smug smiles on the boys' faces would make me stop playing. Slowly, it became a family-run farm. DH would walk out from meetings to check if I had "harvested". DS1 would order me on phone( while walking to and from school) not to waste diamonds on useless decorating stuff. DS2 would just ask, "Did you do anything other than Hay Day"?.

It was official. We were hit badly by the Hay Day pandemic. We were losing it up there. Week after week, we were walking, talking, breathing the game.

All until the sun really started shining. It is amazing what sunlight can do to your gloomy, couch-warming self! The boys have been out all day these days, they don't bother about hay, it is all outdoor play. To become more presentable when the coats go off, I've put myself into my own correction facility to shake off those fluffy bits and bobs added during winter ( which is so very easier said than done if you LOVE chocolate. Or cake. Or Toffee swirl ice cream with toffee bits and honey coated pecan. With hot Jamuns. STOP!!!). DH is simply too harassed by office to think of anything. And I've promised myself to get back to blogging more.

But if you are thinking that the farm is now neglected and dead, that is where you would be wrong. Nobody really knows who has been tending to it, as nobody catches anybody playing, but somebody always ensures the jobs are completed. My guess is that it is everybody :o)

 

Tea Break - Just plain

Aaaaah... That hot cup of solace from a lone stall on a bleak, shivering day. No posh tea could beat That!

March came rolling in with double digit temperatures, and the daffs in the garden just started playing Peepo! with me, but oh no! Jealous Snow Queen turns up again to punish me with icicles and howling snow! :o(

February and March always have their share of special days. I am not quite sure if I buy into the concept of celebrating "days". I must be the worst memory chip ever designed, you know, the ones that get almost discarded but then sold off on a seconds sale. I forget my own birthday / wedding anniversary etc leave alone remember those of others! I have had instances of my cousins calling to wish me and me asking them what the occasion was!

Anyway, I was meaning all the Valentine's day, Father's day, Mother's day and all similar ones. I like the idea of putting a smile on the faces of someone who means so much to you, but I am not at all for the commercial aspect of it. It is okay that they might be the bread and butter of Hallmark and Moonpig and what-not card companies, but these cards, they are such spoilsports! Even if some of them are really very beautiful and bring out just the perfect feeling, I must admit!

Personally, I rather prefer the home-made ones, the odd paint blobs and finger smudges included. They show someone really took the time. Someone thought about you and broke their back to do something to make you smile. I love that very much. These days we try to make our own cards for all occasions. ( hehe particularly after my little boy started having parties at the rate of 2 per month, each jointly for 3 or 4 kids. In their class, everybody gives parties to everybody!)

I used to be against all these "days" thing. Particularly Mother's day. I would think - why celebrate your mother on just that day, she should be celebrated every single day. That was a very young, very strong and confident ME talking, I think. Because after all these years of being mum to two typhoons,and not being "celebrated" at all, I am beginning to have second thoughts.

I wonder how many people still follow the basic tradition of Mothering Sunday - to go to their mother Church with their family and pray, a holiday to be with their mother and other members of family and do family activities. For the time-pressed, gadget obsessed generation of today, it has become a very easy way out - just get a card, a bunch of flowers, some slippers or pyjamas or girly things and that's all done! Who cares what Mum really wants, am done with the job.

At home, this year was a sweet surprise. As ever, my boys came to me asking what I wanted for Mother's day. I told them I wanted the usual - cuddles and kisses for me and cards and letters for their Grannies. The boys went one step ahead. They made Tea for me ( they sure know how to please Mum and get away with treats!), made breakfast as well, hoovered the house, put the rubbish out, and to top it all, made some delicious toffee for me all by themselves ( they said the recipe was from a book I got for them. They even wanted to make the lunch, but my motherly inner-self's warning intercepted just in time and saved the kitchen from the imminent threat!!) That was the best treat, the best gift I had ever received! I was so overjoyed and that moment I realized - all mums could certainly do with some attention and pampering. Even if it is for just one day, it is a very wonderful way to feel loved, to smile at those genuine attempts made by your little ones to make you feel special.

 

How many times in a day do we take Mums for granted! As if that is not enough, we even idolize Mums and make so many quotes about her faultless, selfless, ever-smiling love, sacrifice etc and make them feel immensely under pressure to be all that they are meant to be as per those poems and verses. I mean of course a Mum is all of that quite naturally, but darn it, she is also a woman by herself - someone with anger, resentment, disappointments, hard choices, fallible, sometimes wanting to be selfish, sometimes with a little ego and sometimes wanting to be so far away from everyone, as well! The most cruel thing you could do to a mother is to pile all those quotes of highest, almost impossible expectations on her, thereby making any normal and sane mother feel like a failure. If a mother is to be idolized, it is not because she spreads love beyond all such human negativities, but despite all of it.

For it takes a strong-willed mother to raise beyond all those feelings and emotions and still love their family like mad. Despite being ignored, despite being taken for granted, despite being angered, depressed, forever tired, deprived of their dreams or with innumerable changes to all their life-plans. That, only a mother could do.

And for that, even if it is hugely inadequate, a day of celebration is only befitting.

If only children understood that in the whole world, despite all their military rules, mothers are the easiest to please. All it takes is just a call, a hug,  a few hours of patient listening, a day off from the drudging routine and some kind words.

And perhaps a cup of steaming hot tea - just plain!

 

Tea Break - English Breakfast

Get your gut into action after breakfast with this lovely tea, a blend of Assam and Ceylon teas.

Well, the writer's block? It's for real.

Not that I claim to be a writer :o). But the block thing is sadly true.

You know you sometimes get an epiphany when you're working your way through dirty dish piles. Or quietly folding away clean laundry. Or perhaps lingering in a really hot shower (which you would never step out of, had it not been for the existence of a water meter). All of a sudden, too many things start making sense and these wonderful, bloggable ideas float in your mind: pellucid bubbles lifting away ever so gently. And  you're so happy and start counting the dozen or so blog posts that could materialize from that bubble stream. But by the time you are done with whatever you have been doing and open the laptop to create those posts, the bubbles have long popped without any trace of having ever existed. :o(

Don't EVER count the bubbles before you blog! Sigh!

And there has also been this major distraction to my blogging ( rather, not blogging!) penance. In the form of a bag from Coimbatore that my friend has been luring me with. Shapely sweets in inviting colours and celestially enticing savouries all decked up and garnished and dancing in front of my inner eye (Daffodils now replaced with Jalebis and Murukku). Hence my mind has not been retaining the calm that I badly need to pen the posts. Must dash to her house, collect the distraction and banish it by feeding it to my gastric juices ASAP!

Anyways, there is this wonderful kids' thing coming up in London, the Imagine Children's Festival
where the children can get to meet many renowned British authors who write for children and young adults. My elder son has been so keen on meeting Anthony Horrowiz ( of the Alex Rider series' fame) and Derek Landy ( Skulduggery Pleasant, the undead detective!) , but unfortunately the shows got sold out the day the booking opened. We still do plan to go and have a look around, maybe get our books autographed if lucky! The festival ends with the "Red House Book Awards for Children's books" and the nominated books are sold in Red House website for a lot less than the cover price and are a good bargain, as ever.

That brings up nostalgic memories of the International Book festival in Edinburgh, where super famous authors and debutant writers come down from all over the world. We would go there every day just to see our favourite authors, lounge in the bookshop, queue for autographs and eat, drink, walk, talk books. What a sight to behold that was! Also, the book stalls would sell a small bunch of autographed copies of books by the authors visiting that day and you'd be so lucky if you managed to pick one. Other than the Horrid Henry books that my boys got personalized autographs in ( for themselves and friends), we now also have autographed copies of some very good children's writers. We would get back home tired, but extremely pleased with ourselves and our achievements for the day.

Beautiful Edinburgh! Apart from my hometown, this is one place that I would be missing for a long long time, I guess. What a lovely place to live!

( at least 20 sighs later...) Must probably get back to being lazy.  Edinburgh it would be, for the next Tea Break!

Tea Break - Mint

A perfect medicine for tummy aches, period pain, headaches and not to mention, a grumpy mood!

There is a saying in Tamil "Uppittavarai ullalavum ninai" ( one who gives salt to you, meaning one who feeds you, should be remembered till the day you die). The caretaker of the school we live in ( oh Yes, we do!) is the one who has gotten into our uppittavar list, by feeding salt. Not to us, but to our doorsteps and front path. He has been gritting our frozen steps every single day before we get up without us even asking. How sweet! He is the sole person who has saved the bones in our bodies when we dart out of the house every morning at a maddening speed and of course, we will always remember his unconditional act of kindness. I wish I could do such random acts of kindness as many times as I can.

Finally, looks like a thaw is on the way. Good news, because what starts off as pristine white snow ends up like vomit by day 3, and as a perfect replica of spit by day 6. By which time you really wish you could shout " Land Ahoy!" and get rid of the vestigial white stuff. In Edinburgh though, we had a worser problem when the thaw set in. It would resurrect the hibernating dog poos ( plural of poo as there wasn't ever just ONE, you know!) that were snowed in. Not a sight to behold, that one! But if you didn't behold, your shoe would hold! UGH.

In any case, another weekend and another major cooking exam - to cook healthy, different varieties that boys would love and not consider boring. This is not a territory that I love crossing, and I am always looking out for fresh ideas of others to piggy back on. And I have to tell you that my friend Roshni's Kitchen is just the place I always end up in! A lovely blog by a lovely girl with just the recipes that would help you out of Saturday and sunday blues and make your day. You should really check it out to believe it. I have tried many of her recipes with great success. And her blog is so beautifully maintained and bursting with goodness. You could perhaps subscribe to her "Arusuvai Kurippu" blog page in FB to keep abreast of all updates.

It is funny, I always want to say something, but always digress so much from what I intended to say. Which is certainly not what I meant to say now, but anyway. There was this nice Kids' Book Event happening in "The Works". It is a "Buy a book for £1.99 and get another for 1p" sale. I have to say the books are GORGEOUS! All famous authors and I even spotted "Owl Babies". Most of the £1.99 books are originally priced at £4.99 or above, so basically for £2, you would be buying about £10 worth of books! I mostly buy books second hand for personal use, but when I saw this, I had to snatch a couple! Also picked up a Michael Morpurgo boxed set of 8 books for a mega bargain. All set for the weekend now :o)

I usually pick my books from charity shops and used, good quality books from ebay most of the times. If I am buying as gifts, I usually do them here: Red House Books or The Book People.
The books are sold brand new, at 40% to even 90% reduction in price and these are great brands I really trust.

But I have noticed that books are mostly cheapest in India. I picked up loads of Agatha Christie and Enid Blyton books priced between 80 - 150. Mera Bharat Mahaan :o)








 

Tea Break - Ginger

The freezing temperatures and long hours of snowball fights demand this throat and tum warming tea for sure! Bye bye colds, sore throats and sinus pains!

It has been a while since my last post. I got into that zone where you think all that blogging or FB activities or twitter posts or any social appearance you had made online are mocking at you. And you think why you ever started it all in the first place and made a fool of yourself.  Perhaps you have been a bit too over enthusiastic?

But it is a passing phase, I realized. That familiar feeling of gloom that hits us every now and then.

Then the Snow came. Nothing much. Only a few odd inches and yet it brought out the child in everybody, as always. It is a always feeling of great ecstasy to behold the snow that blankets the town in shimmering whites. There is certainly something so mesmerizing about the snow.

For the first time ever, I started looking at the snow extra closely just to see if I could make out the famous no-twin-anywhere flake patterns. And what a successful treasure hunt it had become! So many crystals, so beautiful, so alluring! So hypnotizing!

If only I had a proper camera to capture them. I have heard of flakes being enormous and the pictures some folks have taken make me so jealous! But the flakes here were really tiny, about a fifth of a small mustard seed. The patterns, though, were just out of the world!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

These were the only pics ( and many of similar quality) I managed to take in my mobile phone, which is quite primitive. But I was so glad I took the time to look into the snow. Every bit that shimmered like sequin was a perfect geometrical wonder. I close my eyes now and I can only see little patterns in my inward eye ( If Wordsworth hadn't written about the Daffodils, I swear I'd have written the poem to mean the Snow flakes :o) ). It is most certainly the bliss of solitude!

Then I had to trade my solitude for the infectious enthusiasm of my boys, and went sledging with them. This time I did see that flash upon my inward eye again, but it turned out to be the after effects of hours of innumerable bumps and tumbles and the painful beckoning of my barely-there bottom!

Came home to a hot bath, tea, hot chocolate and plain buttered toasts. And a Wodehouse for me and Tinkle for boys!

So much of contentment meant only one thing. Snoozing off and drooling even before you knew it!

And That accounts for the missing blog posts.

 

 

Tea Break - Darjeeling

My dear Patti is no more. She passed away quite peacefully three days back, surrounded by loved ones. While I continue to miss her, I have a repository of wonderful memories from childhood of Patti.

It was, along with my Dad, my Patti who induced in me the love of stories from a very impressionable age. While my Dad would read everyday to me, Patti told me tale after tale every night. It was almost always a tiniest branch of the two great epics, Ramayana and Mahabharatha. Not the main story, but really interesting titbits and side stories that all added up to the grandness of the Epics and made sense in a big, special way that is only possible with her enrapturing story-telling methods. And the best part of it was that she never ever repeated her stories!

So every night, dinner in hand, I would sit beside her and coax her to take me into that mythical realm where good always defeated the bad. And if good did fail, there was a good reason behind it and hence, another story!

When my brother sent around a recorded rendition of one of Patti's many stories, it brought back fresh memories of the story she told me long long ago. Patti's different takes on Ramayana and Mahabharatha always amazed me. They were such stark  twists to the version we know and made you ponder a lot. I guess she just read and read and read so many versions of them that she kind of was like a satnav for the Epics, knowing every single twist and bend and even the unlisted side roads! Here's one such story.

Rama had finally defeated Ravana and decapitated all his heads but one. Ravana lay on the ground, all hands cut off, unable to move. He looks at Rama and wants to touch his feet. Unable to do so, he remains helpless and desolate. Rama looks at Lakshmana and asks him to go and get Upadesam from Ravana. Lakshmana (probably snorts!) asks Rama why in the world would he even go near such a lecherous person who went after Sita like he did. He obeys his brother nevertheless as he knows Rama is always right.

Lakshmana lifts Ravana up in his lap and Ravana starts talking. He first asks for forgiveness from him and says "Lakshmana. I never lusted after Sita. You see, Sita is my daughter. When she was born, I was told that Lanka would burn and I would die because of her. So I sent her away in a little basket, along with the Shivadhanush".

Lakshmana again sniggers and says " It is indeed unbelievable to hear that you, who shamelessly proclaim yourself to be the King of Kings, were afraid of a small helpless child and threw her away so you could save yourself and your kingdom".

Ravana says " There, you are wrong. I sent her away not because I was a coward or I hated the child. I did so because I knew the eventuality. That Lanka would perish. But I did not want my precious child to perish with it. I loved her from the minute I saw her divine smile and knew she was the Goddess herself"

"I had to make sure she would have an able protector, so I sent the Shivadhanush with her. Rama broke it and married Sita, and then I knew she was in safe hands. Fate still played through, and I was taken by a very great desire to have my child back with me. So I carried her all the way to Lanka in my lap and even then, just like how a father would. While here, I tried to please her and pleaded with her to stay with me in Lanka. But she is a perfect "Pathivratha", as pure and chaste as my wife Mandodhari. She would only be by the side of her dear husband. And that minute I knew the prophecy was coming true, because the great Lord himself would be coming to take what belonged to him. And that I would be vanquished by the only person who can protect my dear daughter for eternity, thus attaining salvation"

"My duties in this world are over now and I am at peace".

Lakshmana realized why Rama wanted him to listen to Ravana. He bowed down before a father's love that was so great it gave it's own life to save the daughter.

This different take portrays Ravana in a completely new light, and even makes you love the character and feel for him. It makes me think of my Dad so much. The very same sacrificing, selfless, unconditional person ready to turn the world upside down, fight every single obstacle and give up everything, and I mean literally everything, just so his daughters were safe and happy.

This is one time where I find myself taking the side of Ravana. No matter what he was to the world, to a daughter, he will be a hero. Forever.

Patti, this very minute, I miss you, I love you, I thank you and yes. I will always remember you and all our very special story times when we were both so lost in a totally different world, beyond time and space. May your beloved soul rest in peace.
 

Tea Break

I thought it would  be a good idea to take Tea breaks every now and then between book reviews. I bet all mums survive on that life-saving supreme thing called Tea Break. Be it masala or plain Tea or a tumbler of strong (Narasus) Filter Coffee, it is a mother's own bit of 5-minute paradise! A teeny break from the otherwise chaotic and forever busy universe that we survive on (wonder why we are always so busy, sometimes even with nothing to do!).

 

I can remember my mum doing it. My mother-in-law wouldn't even bother thinking of anything else until she sits down to savour her morning cuppa. And I am no different. The only company I prefer having during any such break is a good book and plate of biscuits ( but only on those days when I am not in a diet conscious frenzy and imagining I am about to explode. Also on those days when I am in a "Well what the heck, I'll have the biscuit anyways. Two hoots to dodgy diets" mode :o))

 

I go through at least 4 mugs of Tea every day, more in winter as the hot cup is a great hand warmer. Between 2 mugs of proper tea that I somehow manage to extract from hubby, I thrive on green teas and I have started loving them. Just the signs that I am growing old, you think?!? Or perhaps it is just a lazy me, as all it requires is getting the kettle on for hot water and dropping the tea bag in it! Whatever it is, I only have to imagine myself all propped up with cushions and toes tucked inside warm blankets, with a cup in one hand and a juicy book on the other, and I am already relaxing those stressed shoulders!

 

It's a different story that just when you've done all of that quintessential preparation and easing your back on the cushion, your little boy needs the potty immediately!!!

 

Do you worship your Tea breaks as well? I'd love to be reassured that I am not the only crazy gal out there! Go on and confess :o) :o) :o)