Teatime is a chance to slow down, pull back
and appreciate our surroundings.
-Leticia Baldridge-
Dear friends,
I invite you to savour a few moments of quiet and calm...
brew a pot of your most delicious tea,
choose the most beautiful teacup in your cupboard,
perhaps set a cookie or two, or maybe even a scone, on a pretty plate,
turn your phone to "silent" and turn off all the noises around you.
Curl up in a cozy, squishy chair or sofa,
if it's cool enough grab a warm blanket or well-loved quilt.
Sink down into your seat, cozy up,
and take a deep breath.
Soak that up...
that quiet and calm.
Drink it in, let it fill you up.
For this post, I have taken a handful of my favorite excerpts from Gladys Taber and her writings.
I find her writing incredibly peaceful, inspiring, and just beautiful. I hope you find some of that here as well...
May this post bring peace to your spirit,
renewal to your heart,
and refreshment to your bones...
"It might seem as if June were an old story, with so much poetry written about it, and so many songs sung. And yet every time it comes it is as much of a wonder, as much of a delight. If I had Aladdin's lamp and the usual three wishes, the first would always be, 'Give me the first day of June.' The whole, complete day, with the sky-blue dawn, and the golden noon, and the violet dusk, and the silvered night. With early roses unfolding and a hummingbird over the border. And a whole packet of smells too. New-cut grass, and pea vines, and freshly hoed garden soil."
"Now it is warm enough on these May evenings to sit in the back yard while the stars come slowly out in the eternal depth of the sky. The radio is on in the house, and the music comes out through the open door, even sweeter when it is blended with dusk. The cockers settle down on the terrace, paws folded in, and ears limp at last. The May noon is white as foam. And the May night is sweet as first love. And the heart is lifted up by the happiness which is Spring."
"Somehow, since the war has destroyed so much beauty, I hope many people will begin to save and love the old things that are left, to cherish and preserve whatever is available. It is good for us to keep our roots in the past, just as we draw so much strength and courage from great men and women who have lived before our time. Change is a fine thing; growth is necessary in our ideas, our institutions and our way of life. And yet I think we should be careful not to become a regimented people, and not to discard the value of individuality."
"As long as there is a sky overhead there is beauty, something to live for. Early in the morning, when the birds begin, the light is an infusion of gold through my curtains. All the new insistent green of the world, and the glowing color from a thousand blossoms are in it, and the smell is so heavenly sweet it aches in the heart."
"Life is not, after all, made up of grand moments, grand gestures, glorious achievements. Life is made up of many days filled with small things. Shopping, going to the post office, using the telephone, keeping house- these make up the chief sum of our days. And to me, it seems infinitely greater to make all the people one sees feel a little happier for it than to paint a masterpiece or be in bright lights on Broadway. After we are all hone down by the river of time, the simple kindness of those who fulfill their daily tasks graciously will overbalance any special feat."
"There is a kind of enchantment about a tranquil blue morning. I feel as if something wonderful might happen at any minute; and on the other hand, the day itself is a wonderful happening."
"Yes, in spite of all, I am in life with life. There is more beauty than we can measure in this old world of ours. There is surely more beauty than we can measure in a single night."
"I believe deeply that we should live with as much beauty as we can, every single day that we live. We should surround our daily life with as much charm and graciousness as we possibly can."
♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥
"'You see', I tell myself, 'there is always some small work to do, the world goes on, and the simple ordinary things of life are good.'"
"The earth keeps her seasons. Sun and wind and rain are vouchsafed humanity. Nothing can take away the security we have in the earth herself. And no mad dictators can lift their iron gloves and wipe off that delicate lilac color above the dark hill. The earth endures, her strength restores us...I took a last look at the sky about the great maples. The sky and the maples and the darkness made the house seem very small. The house belongs to us, and we are allowed to work on the earth around it. The earth is bigger, the sky and stars and moon are too big to belong to man. Thankful I was for the enduring things, and that I, such a small finite creature, have been allowed to recognize the beauty of the world in my small and finite way."
May the beauty and peacefulness of the ritual of teatime
fill you to overflowing with a renewed mind, refreshed spirit,
and a heart to share that beauty and peacefulness with those around you.
Bless you, dear friends!
Thank you for joining me for tea today.
♥
Note: All quotations are taken from "The Book of Stillmeadow" by Gladys Taber. All emphasis is mine.