“You can never get a cup of tea large enough or a book long enough to suit me.”
― C.S. Lewis
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There is something uniquely restorative about a good cup of tea. I’m not sure why this should be so, but it is most definitely true for me, and for many people I know. So, since I’m recuperating, I decided it would be a great idea to treat myself to a nice cup of French Earl Grey tea. I have only recently been introduced to French Earl Grey, but having been a devotee of Earl Grey for many years I was delightfully surprised to find this fragrant blend. It has a beautiful floral bouquet which is quite different from the traditional bergamot flavour, but equally as delicious.
OK, so we have established that I like my tea, especially French Earl Grey and I can wax lyrical if given half a chance. But what happens when this restorative little break goes awry? As I mentioned I’m “recuperating” so rather than make a large pot of tea I decided to use the tea leaf infuser and simply make one cup, although one is rarely enough!
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This wonderful little gadget is spring-loaded. In fact, now that I think about it most weapons usually are! So, the tea ceremony begins, kettle boiled, cups warming nicely, the special bag of tea is carefully opened and the infuser is gripped firmly in hand. I should also mention at this point that it was the first time I had used the infuser. Under normal circumstances a pot of tea is the way to go.
Now, there are no instructions with this gizmo, mainly due to the fact that it belonged to my husband, but really, how difficult could it be? So the dry infuser was dipped into the bag to grab a suitable quantity of tea leaves. A little tight getting the infuser open in a small packet but I managed. As I lifted it from the packet I realised it was quite full, in fact over full.
It is at this point that I should have paused to think about what I was doing. I’m falling back on the fact that I am recuperating and therefore may not be thinking very clearly. I began to carefully, or so I thought, open the infuser to allow some of the leaves to fall back into the bag. As my thumb slipped on the infuser so did the bag slip in my other hand. The infuser took on a life of its own and sprang open instead of closed. Beautifully coloured tea leaves sprayed in an arc from my head to my waist and all over the cups! Spluttering tea leaves from my mouth and blinking them from my eyelashes I debated on what had gone wrong.
image courtesy of theteacentre.blogspot.com
It almost smelled like rose petal confetti, with an aroma of other flowers and of course tea. It wasn’t having the restorative effect I’d had in mind either. So, I frenziedly brushed the tea from my hair, eyes and clothes, cleaned up the tea cups and kettle and started afresh, being very mindful of the spring-loaded weapon I would have to master.
It wasn’t an elegant picture I painted as I struggled to master my nemesis, the tea infuser, but I did eventually have a cup of tea. A sense of inner peace has been restored and of course, now I am sipping calmly on my cup of tea, gratitude that I am once more recuperating peacefully.
It was a hard-won battle to retain any peace or gratitude, especially as my husband had to hide his smothered chuckles at the sight of me coughing and spluttering tea leaves and bedecked like dried tea plants. Should I also be grateful that I brought some levity to his workaday activities?
Tea, shared and savoured, and laughter, what better medicine to recuperate with…. I think I’m more than grateful for that. My lesson for the day – when making tea it is always a good idea to ensure you are mindful by BEing present whilst handling contrary contraptions. Then I can be grateful for a wonderful cup of tea.
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“There is something in the nature of tea that leads us into a world of quiet contemplation of life.”
― Lin Yutang, The Importance Of Living
Owls and Orchids 
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