Tea for Ten, and Ten for Tea

A Proper Tea is much nicer than a Very Nearly Tea,
which is one you forget about afterwards.

~A.A. Milne

My baby sister came for a Tea Party last week. Actually, she more than came, she brought the whole kit and caboodle! (And tea, and pot, and china, and table settings, and flowers, and crustless chicken salad sandwiches, and chocolate sponge cake roll, and grapes, and oranges, and scones...) And a Proper Tea it was, too, with various selections of tea, loose and infused, brewed to the correct temperature for the type of tea selected.

Sigh. My baby sister...is in her last semester of college.

Another nail in my coffin.

While she readied the preparations, we waited.

Some of us waited patiently.

Some of us not-so-much.

Again? The Patient:

The Not-So-Much:

It was going to be a girls-only affair, but Abraham's (6) announcement to Aunt Becca that "You girls get to eat goodies, while Mama and us boys are cleaning the pantry" quickly changed those plans. Aunt Becca declared there were plenty of goodies to go around, and don't boys like tea, too? More than cleaning the pantry, apparently.


Come to think of it, I probably should have done some preparations, too, in the way of dressing the girls up or possibly even just brushing their hair, but Sunday does come once a week and the thought of doing that twice in a week is just downright burdensome...


Come to think a little more of it, the addition of the boys to the party probably lowered the standards quite a bit anyway.

I'm so thankful our Good Friend Gerald made us the gorgeous long bench that sits on one side of the table. How else could so many claim to share the same seat as the worshiped Aunt Becca?

And then, even though she had only planned on staying the night, we begged and pleaded until she agreed to stay an extra day. In that time, she helped Lily (8) complete her first sewing machine project (a wallet), instructed Miriam (6) on sewing her Build-a-Bear, and played numerous games of chase, tickle, and Castle Panic with all.

I even snuck in some antiquing time with her, and no one wanted to see her go.

Although I do believe she may sympathize with the following on tea: "Tea should be taken in solitude" (C.S. Lewis).

But every once in a while, a Proper Tea for Ten is quite the thing.