Nannie’s Afternoon Tea

Yesterday would have been Nannie’s 81st birthday. So we decided to have a family gathering by her summerhouse (my aunt lives next door) in the garden, and honour her birthday with a spot of ever-so-English Afternoon Tea. My cousin had decorated the summerhouse with golden balloons, and everything had been set out. We arrived, fighting our way through the raspberry bushes to find most of the family were already there.

Teapots with tea cosies were brought and laid out (hence the pic - my cousin and I both posing as Colonel Puff*). Cookies, bakes and cakes abounded. True to form we’d all worried that there wasn’t going to be enough, the result being a massive spread with enough leftovers to keep us going for weeks. I let the side down and brought shop-bought Co-Op Fair Trade Carrot Cake (had been rushed with work and didn’t have enough eggs to hand to bake a last minute contribution). We lounged about in the sun, joked and laughed. My Dad arrived a bit later and threw himself on the trampoline and proceeded to scare everyone witless with his antics (running jumps into forward rolls on the trampoline). Having been a trampoliner (trampolinist?) up until my teenage years, I had to put a stop to it because I knew what would happen if he landed awkwardly. No I’m not a party pooper, it’s just that lately I’ve had my fill of hospitals. Enough to last me a very long time, thanks.

We all filled ourselves with more cake, tea, beer and squash. Nannie would have loved it, and I’m sure was smiling down on us. It certainly felt that way as we lazed around in the warm afternoon sun together.

*This came from a family tradition whereby my grandfather (’Papa’) would routinely sit with the tea cosy on his head at the dinner table, hence the name Colonel Puff.