Under certain circumstances there are few hours in life more agreeable than the hour dedicated to the ceremony known as afternoon tea.

(Henry James, Portrait of a Lady)

Artsy-Mama has invited us all to a tea party. So...

My one tea cup and saucer--the rest of my tea drinking vessels are mugs. This was one of the items I inherited from my grandmother.

In this shot, you can see the detail inside the cup itself.

My meal and tea companion at the moment--yes, I am re-reading In Her Shoes for the third time. I would love to have tea with Jennifer Weiner someday. I'm not sure I'm ready for tea with Marilynne Robinson (the author of Gilead), but while we're wishing...someday.

I just finished The View From Saturday, where four friends name themselves "The Souls," have tea on Saturdays and eventually become the first sixth grade team to win the Academic Bowl for their state. Finished isn't accurate, actually, as VFS is a book I have been reading since 1996 when it came out, and will likely continue reading for a long time. I just recently re-read it, as it was the Mother-Daughter-Book-Club book for March. In one chapter, Ethan, who is usually quiet, but is able to come out of his shell with his three friends, asks each of the other three what day they would most like to re-live. When it comes around to Ethan, he says, "Last week, when we first had tea. And now I get to re-live it every week." (This is not an exact quote, but my copy of the book is in the car, three flights down, and baby, it may be Spring, but it's still cold outside.)

So, enjoy, happy Spring! I know the sun has started to melt the winter that has been frozen in my heart. I hope where you are the sun is shining or at least the rain is feeding the soil, ready to bring tulips, daffodills, and green green grass.