a cup of something wonderful

Drinking tea is part of the everyday British way of life, as soon as you’ve finished saying “hello” to visitor, you offer them a cup of tea. It’s daily activity taken alone or in company. For some, it makes their morning and for many, the perfect way to spend an afternoon.

I hear, a cup of Jo, is the only way to start your day in the U.S, some proclaim they can’t function till they have fulfilled this tradition. Do you make the regular pilgrimage to your favourite cafe for some coffee love? I know others spend time in java solitude or bond together at the end of the night.

Children seem to be fascinated with this adult indulgence. My boys love the froth off the top of a cappuccino, and I’m always so delighted to see little girls still love to play tea parties, just as I did. In fact, a hot cup of something can be the perfect tonic, soothing the soul with its warmth and delightful, kind messages.

We’d love you to say “Hello” and share your favourite cup of something with us today, and we can all enjoy each others company, round this fabulous virtual kitchen table we have created.

Cheers!

+++++

Hello Giveaway! It’s random giveaway time again from our friends at Hello Canvas. YAY!

Leave a comment here between now and Thursday at midnight and you could win a 20X24 canvas of your photo of choice from Hello Canvas. Cheers is right!

Comments

[Vanessa]

i prefer my coffee strong and bitter. i prefer my tea strong and sweet. these are my preferences. but in practice, i'll take a cuppa any which way at all!...
http://www.flickr.com/photos/vanessa_r/3506152854/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/vanessa_r/3710477909/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/vanessa_r/3952406315/

[Kylie]

i love coffee. love it a little too much ...
http://www.flickr.com/photos/madelynsmum/4405440808/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/madelynsmum/4681665432/
actually, i have a whole set just for coffee ... http://www.flickr.com/photos/madelynsmum/sets/72157622720373011/

[Tor]

You offer a cup of tea "as soon as you've finished saying 'hello' to a visitor" - urm no! I offer a cuppa *before* I say 'hello' ;)

From Tor, a True Brit and an Earl Grey obsessive (with milk and not too strong)

"Tea is liquid wisdom." Anonymous

[DorkyMum]

A few years ago I spent some time camping on the Arctic Ice Cap, studying the effects of climate change. This photo was taken about ten minutes after we had been dropped off by helicopter. Fellow Brit Hayley decided that the best way to make ourselves feel at home in this barren but beautiful landscape was to get her thermos flask out and pour us all a cup of tea...

http://www.flickr.com/photos/dorkymum/4255788811/

[Jules]

I'm a coffee in the morning, tea in the afternoon kind of gal, but just recently I discovered loose orange pekoe tea from Bridgehead (a coffee house here in Canada) and I don't know if I can go back to tea bags again... you can actually taste why it's called 'orange' pekoe - the loose leaves allow for so much more flavour! So I've been having it in the morning too! : )

[Jill]

I love tea & coffee and both have inspired some of my paintings. However, here's a scene from a tea party for one (me!).

http://www.flickr.com/photos/23113159@N03/4706020476/?eOrig=4353797222

[s.patel]

i cannot start my day without making a cup of chai first! (drinking one right now while I browse my blogs :))

[cinco_mom]

http://www.flickr.com/photos/37719283@N04/4706042400/ just for you, xanthe. :) taken this morning. xo

[BlessedMess]

I have tried to switch from coffee to tea numerous times to no avail. Perhaps I just need to find the right kind? It's like when I quit smoking. I know I should...but part of me still likes it too much :)

recent from one of our favorite greasy spoons, the boys get their dose of happiness in a mug...http://www.flickr.com/photos/12418609@N00/4700224605/

[Chantelle]

Oh I love that picture! As Australians I guess we're a mix of both the British and American beverage drinking habits. But for me it is most definitely tea. A cup of tea definitely makes things better and a tummy full of tea will make me downright happy. I have been known to break into song....

[Puna]

This may seem greedy since I already won a canvas but I was so happy with the prize that I want to win again:) Thank you for the opportunity!

Here's a link to a place that has great coffee...
http://lifesignatures.org/wordpress/2010/06/thou-shalt-eat-at-the-blueplate-diner-newport-ri/

[coasterkim]

I don't have a digital camera so I can't post a photo, but I love a cuppa coffee in the morning. Just one will do. Unless I'm sick, then it's Earl Grey hot tea.

[jamie {74}]

love this writing. and our coffee/tea has become a staple photographic subject as well. just an FYI, my friend who lives in Britain (3 years) offers me tea now when I go there to visit. And we were die-hard coffee drinkers together in the states. gotta love it. here are my most favorited coffee photos from my stream:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/jamieklimes/4624515245/in/set-72157623448046906/

http://www.flickr.com/photos/jamieklimes/4679926578/in/set-72157623448046906/

[Lou Truss]

I'm an English girl living in Canada! I love my tea in the morning and my sweet late in the afternoon when the sugar levels are starting to dip!

[CDScott]

I am addicted to everything about coffee - the smell, the taste, the way the cup feels in my hand, the enjoyment of sharing a cup with a friend, ordering it, everything. Here's an old post about my mornings with coffee.

http://courtneysablogger.blogspot.com/2009/03/my-mornings.html

[vivienne]

some day i'll cut out that morning cup of coffee but for now it is total bliss...though at this moment i've got the most delicious cup of tea in hand!

[Debbie E]

im a 100% tea drinker...my kid got me a tea from starbucks so now I make it at home and relax with it

http://www.flickr.com/photos/debbsga/4706054908/

[Robyn]

I've just discovered coffee and I love it, first thing in the morning. Must. Have. Coffee. =D

[francesca]

i love how the swedish have fika, which i think is a little coffee break - a cup of something and a pastry. and we have a name for our mid morning break - elevenses. i think that is peculiar to the u.k. lovely how we all have our different traditions.
sweet post. xxx

[Lesley]

Although I do not partake in the drinking of the coffee, I love the smell and make it each morning for my husband. Cheers!

[Tara]

I have always loved the smell of coffee, even when I was young. I didn't start drinking it until college, though. I loooovvvee coffee. I love the smell, the taste, the mug it's in, the state of mind it puts me in. I have thought about drinking less, but, why quit on such a simple pleasure?

[Jessi]

All of this tea and coffee talk has pulled me right out of my lurking phase of Shutter Sisters!
Hello gals!
I love both coffee and tea. Coffee is what I start my day with and a pot of tea is how I welcome family and friends.

This past winter when I was slightly overwhelmed with a new baby (#3) who was a handful I had the displeasure of starting one day coffee-less. Later that day after I had made it to the store, bought some beans, and turned them into the elixir of life, I was so please to be in coffee again that I took some pictures and made a collage. A coffee collage. Because I was so happy.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/21496911@N08/4292998237/in/set-72157622989414863/

[Carmen Farrell]

Lovely post, Xanthe.
I love both coffee and tea equally but coffee seems to be what's needed for me to jumpstart my morning. Hubby usually makes a fresh pot of coffee before leaving for work but today he was running late and didn't get a chance. It never tastes as good when I make it so on mornings like this, I make myself a pot of tea. At this moment I'm drinking a cup of thai chai with a tiny bit of cream and a dash of maple syrup. Good morning!

[Jessica]

I love coffee but don't do well with all that caffeine. But I adore tea. Lately I've bee drinking Yorkshire Gold. I wish I could visit you in London and get some real British tea! The closet I've come to that is a little tea shop in Greenwich village called "Tea and Sympathy".I take mine with milk (or cream, if I have it) and honey. Sometimes if I'm in a slump I'll have another cup in the afternoon. It's the perfect pick-me-up.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/27982366@N06/4368495293/in/set-72157622491326250/

[shutterboo]

I like tea. But I am a cuppajoe kind of gal.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/shutterboo502/4661062363/in/set-72157622010642425/

[Brian Miller]

My wife, son, and I went to England last August to celebrate my mother's cousin's 80th birthday (Rosemary lives on a farm west of London) and while there she taught me how to make "a proper cup of tea." Since then I make a cup of "proper English tea" every morning. I just love it!

Cheers,
Brian

[Gabi]

It's raining over here and this post just put me into mood for a cup of something hot. I love both - tea and coffee but I prefer drinking tea during fall/winter. Here is a photo from me: http://gabirytirova.typepad.com/lifeinpictures/2010/03/march-5th-day-sixtyfour.html

[em]

I don't drink tea or coffee.
I just don't like the taste. I never have.
I had a friend who worked in a coffee shop when we live in Mammoth and everyday when we came off the hill and she went to work, she'd make me a different blend of coffee, or type of tea - we didn't find one i liked.

But i LOVE the smell of fresh (proper) coffee. I could smell that all day!

[Laura]

my morning ritual....xo

http://www.flickr.com/photos/35374947@N04/4705661693/?edited=1

[shirley]

I just posted a little about last night's appetizer of wine and cheese.
http://www.shirleybehindthelens.com/2010/06/appetizer.html

And then there is my favorite store in London, Fortnum and Mason where there are so many varieties of tea it will send your head spinning. But Earl Grey is the classic
http://www.flickr.com/photos/shirley319/4661141371/

[Dotti]

One set of grandparents were immigrants from Great Britain so I learned to love and appreciate tea early in life. I still remember those long ago afternoon teas with my grandparents. Each Christmas Eve, I create a High Tea for our family; it's a favorite family ritual.

[hellolovely]

i don't go a single day without a big glass of sweet tea. it's my absolute favorite! :)

[Jami]

I don't know if I can even say "hello" to a guest without a cup a joe down. In the summer sun tea is the way to go.

[Stacey]

I was a avid avid tea drinker all through high school and college.....and then I had a baby. As soon as I was done nursing, I was became one of those people that cannot survive without it, as you say"cannot function" until I've had a sip.

[mosey]

Coffee in the morning - a requirement. A nice cup of tea in the afternoon, a bonus.

coffee:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/7687752@N03/4659820263/

tea party with the girls:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/7687752@N03/4320926405/in/set-72157622864078631/

[Lisa Anderson]

I'm a Iced Coffee/Tea gal - the colder the better. And since I'm from the south Sweet tea reigns - but I've cut back on the sugar and gone to splenda to sweeten my tea and coffee.

However, I can't think about coffee without thinking of my grandfather...he was a Folgers Instant Coffee drinker - he had a small green pan he used to boil the water on the stove, pour the water over those instant coffee granuals, drink it down...strong, black and hot. He drank coffee all day long...he'd even wake up in the middle of the night, have a cup and go right back to bed.

[brittany]

i think i will go have my coffee now! picture to come? perhaps.

[Suz]

love my morning cuppajo! so much so that it's gone before i can ever pull out my camera to snap a photo!

[melissa]

Great giveaway! Pick ME!

[Tracy]

i drink tea constantly!
hot: http://www.flickr.com/photos/31417716@N00/3264176174/
iced: http://www.flickr.com/photos/31417716@N00/3292354795/

[Jennifer]

Would love this!

[Cheri]

I don't drink coffee or tea - I can't stand the smell of coffee at all - it used to make me nauseaous when I was pregnant! I have tried several times to like tea just so I could have a hot beverage - all kinds of flavors - all to no avail. I'm not much on alcohol either. I just don't care for the taste. Which leaves me.... water. Lots and lots of water. And occasionally orange juice.

[jana]

Coffee, yes, to function. My cup, a spoon, a napkin and my splendid are waiting for me when I wake up....hot pot on the maker. :) I do also enjoy tea...and I love socializing around either....seems like with the busyness of my life these days, there are fewer moments to stop and soak in connection time with friends. Our family, we usually also make a pot of coffee after eating at our get togethers, regardless of the time of day.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/modernscapegoat/4479042229/

The early morning, some time for just me....:)

Great topic, yes, tea parties are still part of the mix here....but G will gladly make you some blue orange juice, chocolate milk if you would like.. :)

[jakki]

my get up and go includes a cup of Jo AND a bottle of cold water...gotta have it, LOL

http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2760/4238888042_e7083173cd_o.jpg

[jakki]

I never can post these things correctly....

http://www.flickr.com/photos/valeenwashington/4238888042/

[Deirdre]

We grind our own coffee and brew it in a french press. But this is in a cafe on a rainy day:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/superdewa/4620919492/

[bridge]

jasmine. hot.
love this ritual.

[sarai]

Living in Portland, Oregon, we OBSESS about coffee. ...and may have a bit of snobbery about it too. But often, I have to believe that our baristas are true artists.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/saraisaehee/3660507816/

[aphrodite]

I'm drinking a nice warm cuppa right now!

[Becky Sue]

I love this time of year when I can enjoy my morning coffee on the deck!

http://www.flickr.com/photos/rslaflam/4705900029/