A Baby Shower at The Tea Cup

As I sit here awaiting news of a the pending arrival of a friends new baby boy, I thought I'd tell you about the baby shower.

The Tea Cup is set down a narrow cobblestone lane way called Brewers Lane off of Richmond High Street, and is just one of a few boutique shops on the way towards Richmond Green. It's a rather quaint and traditional tea house where tea is served in an eclectic mix of unmatched crockery. I’d love to know where the pieces came from, perhaps saved from potential demise at a local garage sale or car boot. 

The owner who usually appears relaxed, was on this day, a little perplexed by the some 20 plus females that overwhelmed his little shop. Instead of a gaggle of geese he had a gaggle (quite literally) of women. While he had one helper, he was constantly running around and continuously mopping his brow in an almost Fawlty Towers – Manuel manner. Thankfully nothing ended up on any of our laps and Basil wasn’t running through yelling ‘Fire… Fire… Fire’.

My contribution to this event, other than trying to win a game of baby bingo (it is tradition to play games at these events), was some specially designed baby shower cupcakes;

My new personalised stamps - getting the business ready!

 To end today's blog i thought I'd delve into some history and research how the traditional high tea came about? After googling I found out the following;

 Anna, the 7^th Duchess of Bedford introduced the pot of tea and snack in the afternoon. Apparently she was known for complaining of getting a ‘sinking feeling’ mid afternoon. I think in modern terms that might be the mid afternoon chocolate craving.  Whilst back in Anna’s day it may have had something to do with the fact they typically only had two main meals a day, I’m not sure what excuse we can offer in modern times. Anyway back to the story, Anna started to invite her friends to these 'afternoon snacks' and gradually the practice extended and became popular amongst fashionable society. It then extended to hotels. 

Source : http://www.afternoontea.co.uk/information/history-of-afternoon-tea/

 Well back to my cup of tea and dreaming of scones.

A bike ride to Richmond

What's the best thing to do on a gloriously sunny 25 degree day? A bike ride of course. 

This time I decided to go along the Kingston to Richmond route which takes you through Canbury Gardens, Teddington Lock, Ham Fields and into Petersham Meadows. Of course when you're out and about in Blighty you can't escape the history. 

As I cycled this route I stopped and took a number of photos. I caught sight of the white house across the river (third photo above). Amazingly I found it online.  

It's called Marble Hill House, and it's a Palladian villa set in about 66 acres of parklands. If you have no idea what 'Palladian' is like I didn't, try google. By the way, it's a type of architecture.

Apparently Marble Hill was built for a woman described as 'the remarkable Henrietta Howard', mistress of King George II when he was Prince of Wales, and friend and confidante of some of the cleverest men in England. Mmmm if you're a friend and confidante of numerous men could that be interpreted as something further?

  

The two photos to the right above, are the last stop just before Richmond, the Petersham Meadows. It took me about half an hour one way but that was stopping quite regularly to take photo's and enjoy the scenery.

Ham House

On the way back I did a detour past Ham House which is described as one of Europes greatest examples of 17th Century houses. I didn't go in this time but when I have more time I will. Ham House is said to be the vision of Elizabeth Murray, Countess of Dysart who was deeply embroiled in the politics of the English Civil war and subsequent restoration of the monarchy.

See it's amazing what you can find when you go out exploring! Bit different from a bike ride in Oz which I'd still love, but for a whole load of different reasons.

Volunteering in Richmond

One of the items on my ‘to do’ list has been volunteering work. Since I cannot legally work in the country I can at least contribute to society by doing something worthwhile (or try to).  

One of my fellow gym buddies recommended a homeless shelter in nearby Richmond called The Vineyard Community Centre which I dropped in to today to attend an afternoon tea for volunteers.

If you’re not aware Richmond is quite a posh area and I think the opening sentence on the Visit Richmond website summarises it ‘swimmingly’ as the posh people say... “Welcome to London's most attractive borough, which for hundreds of years has been a favourite retreat of Royalty, the rich and the famous.”

The bus ride to it from Kingston takes you through a very scenic road of green pastures, cobble stone roads and enormously large houses. You also cannot miss the well manicured polo ground.  I must say, it does seem odd going to Richmond to visit a homeless shelter and meanwhile the average resident probably earns well above the median wage in the UK and drives the latest Mercedes, BMW or Ferrari.

However, getting back to the topic at hand, the centre itself is located within the basement of a local church. It’s recently been renovated so looks more like a local cafe than what its real purpose is for.  It opens out onto a terrace with a large cottage garden.  It’s open for its residents so they can drop in, have a shower, get some food and relax in the atmosphere.  If you’re interested in knowing more you can visit their website at http://www.vineyardcommunity.org/ .

I met a number of different people, mainly volunteers who devote a lot of their time either working in the charity shop, in the cafe or in the garden amongst other things. One old lady in her 70’s looks after the vegie patch which apparently this year has not done very well due to the weather. Another very welcoming volunteer happily gave me a run down on some of the residents and who to avoid.

I have to be completely honest and say that other than participating in a fundraiser for an Adelaide charity called The Hutt Street Centre which was ‘Walk a Mile in my Boots’, I think that’s the correct term, I have not had anything to do with homelessness.  It can be quite confronting as there are a few odd people that you typically avoid when you see them down the street but I’m determined to at least give it a try and if it doesn’t work out then I’ll move onto the next one. Wish me luck, my first shift in the cafe starts next Thursday!

The cupcakes I baked for the Afternoon Tea. One person thought they were from Waitrose!