Thursday’s Alphabet of Tea … D is for Darjeeling and Dividend Tea.
I was going to write about Darjeeling, but then I don’t know so much about Indian tea; although I have a friend who served me some first flush earlier this year and it was lovely. However; I know more about Dividend tea, simply because it was very cheap and always on the top of my mother’s shopping list in the 1950s.
It would seem that the tea trade was huge in the beginning of the 20th century; the major traders were very well rewarded and competition was and needed to be enterprising, Clever sales campaigns and advertising became an essential part of the business. Brook Bond used a slogan ‘Full weight without paper’ to highlight the fact that some companies were cheating their customers by including the weight of the packaging in the total net weight in each packet of loose tea.
Following the slump of the 1929 and the misery and poverty of the early 1930s, the company set out to capture more of the market with launch in 1935 of the cheap but good quality ‘dividend tea.’ This was a blend sold in packets bearing a dividend stamp that consumers saved and stuck on a card , reading to exchange for cash or gifts.
I can remember carefully taking the perforated stamp and sticking on to a card and redeeming 5 shillings (25p)
Weekly Photo Challenge … I spy
I spy my next task, I have been looking forward to beginning the classification on the Cole Library for several months. It is a wonderful collection and the first few shelves are mostly biographies and dictionaries; a tiny bit dry so I have been grumbling already, but that is nothing new I am sure there will be some delights as time goes on; but until then I will chug on.
A painting a day … possible?
This blog post might not materialise but I hope it does and come something. I have been ill for the last couple of months; not life threatening but I have been to some dark places and mournful. During this time my usual routines have been thwarted at every turn and for the most time this seemed as traumatic as the pain itself. So, with the pain and subsequent treatment; the hopes, plans, and dreams were were put on hold, some cancelled altogether.
In some respects I have been disabled, but now as I improve and certain routines are returning. Looking closely at the joys and disappointments, not just recently but over the last few years since becoming ‘creative’. I I were perhaps to document the ups and downs the result would be a resounding thumbs up.
However, in reality this isn’t always the case. I can struggle for days, even weeks with downess (not depression I’ve been there). There is an anxiety that is consuming and tiresome; I am always trying to invent ways to enjoy the the starting of a new project or maintaining an ongoing task.
This becomes increasingly difficult when technology, age and ability comes into play. So as I say I am coming out of my recent bout of stuckness and browsing an art magazine. I came across an article about an artist who wished to revive her current practice by beginning a new project, by painting a picture every day and this continues 10 years later and become an international, lucrative and fulfilling community . It would seem that in some quarters these one day pieces are valued.
This got me thinking, I draw daily even in my darkest times; I even keep them and sold the result of some of these scrawlings. Many, I preserve carefully in books and folders; 5 years of progress. I have exhibited them but I don’t consider them my art work, the journey perhaps. not what I aspire to, almost they are a disappointment because they are unfinished or like Cinderella who didn’t make it to the ball.
In a bid to make sense of all the above I will begin my own celebration of a ‘picture’ a day in a weekly blog post … I am not sure which day yet but will you join me?
Silent Sunday …
Library snapshot …
How better to celebrate my first week back at work … dear Alice
Alphabet on Thursday C is for the Cube tea pot
I found this book in a charity shop in Cheltenham; I was killing time and enjoyed ages in the corner laughing out loud. I had to buy it , if only for the comic value … it was interesting too.
It would seem that the Cube teapot “illustrates both British inventiveness and the national obsession with ‘improving’ things. It reflects the continuing search for the perfect teapot – one that makes a perfect cup of tea, but also doesn’t drip, is easy to pour and it can be used and stored away without chipping the spout. Most of the improvers, over the years have settled for just one of these problems, an infuser just for the right brew or an unchippable spout, or a lock-lid. The CUBE claimed to have combined all these individual needs in one ‘perfect ‘ design. The story that followed is a joy.
Monday and Picasso
Still troubled by a ‘stuckness’ during my back problems; I struggle to find inspiration and motivation. My hopes to be creative and involved in the Christmas festivities have almost passed me by. However, at the weekend I did some drawings and this morning I proof-ed some dry points; with some collagraphs also in mind …
I understand that Picasso said ‘ … inspiration does come, but to those who are working’ I am not exactly working just playing … but remain hopeful.
Silent Sunday …
Saturday
For the last few weeks I have whined and wailed about my misfortunes, so why change the habits of a lifetime. However, while the sun peeps through and the howling gale now a pleasant breeze; I can sweep the leaves and tidy the garden and take pleasure from these drawings done earlier as the aforementioned sun struggled over the chimney pots.
Thursday’s Alphabet … B is for Black Tea and pot
I don’t have favourite tea; all, even those I have yet to try are special and hold a happy opportunity. Black tea, I take when I return home from work at 5.30pm or a little earlier at the weekend when the afternoon begins to fade at about 4pm; sometimes, with a cake or biscuit. The one I have at the moment is called Tippy Yunnan. It is a very forgiving tea and allows me merely to use boiling water (others are a little more tender and prefer 80 degrees) and steep it 2 or 3 times. While it is deliciously smooth; the first steep simply sparkles. Thereafter, the flavour softens and becomes comforting as the night draws in. Black tea is known for its anti inflammatory qualities, so lately after the leaves are completely steeped I add some camomile flowers, that also has healing characteristics along with aids to a restful sleep.
I have a nice teapot bought in a charity shop that gives tea time a sophisticated air albeit a little out of focus!
Coat Hanger Doll's House 