Read the book by Kim Wilson

or

Take the Tea in London Tour with Denise LeCroy

Granted, Austen did not live in London but her brother did and this allowed Jane to take advantage of London’s shopping! You could do the same. Denise LeCroy, the tour’s director, having lived and worked in London herself, has designed an eight-day tour incorporating many elements of the tea culture and history one can only find in London. Be sure to check out her brief or detailed itineraries, even if you can only imagine taking part at this point. If nothing else, you’ll catch a glimpse of the best Britain offers for the lover of afternoon tea.

If, like me, a Tea in London Tour seems like a farther off dream than next March, consider consoling yourself with a pot of tea and a book that transports you there in your mind. Today in Northern California, the rain pours down, and a tea order with four new samples just arrived in the mail. My radio is tuned to the classical public radio station. The fire burns downstairs and my fingers look for a treasure to pull off the shelf. While I heartily recommend Austen’s novels, of course (and if you’re wanting something daring and more modern there’s always The Jane Austen Book Club.  I don’t recommend it for those whose moral sensibilities appreciate the 19th century more), the book Tea with Jane Austen is a enjoyable escape into Regency culture for a day.

History, tea, and recipe lovers will all find something to love in Wilson’s exploration of tea and Jane. I personally enjoy the quotes throughout of tea-related scenes from Austen’s novels and her personal writings.

“I could not tell whether you would be for some meat, or only a dish of tea, after your journey, or else I would have got something ready… . Perhaps you would like some tea, as soon as it can be got.” They both declared they should prefer it to anything. –Mrs. Price to Fanny and William in Mansfield Park.

Throughout the book, the author juxtaposes recipes written 200 years ago with the modern equivalents, allowing the lover of the kitchen to experiment with the food from Austen’s time (thankfully, the butter for the pound cake no longer has to be churned first!). The tea lover interested in authentic Regency-themed tea would find information on what to cook, wear, and depending on how far you wanted to take it, where to make your purchases (with Mr. Wedgwood and Mr. Twinings, of course!).

Even if you are not yet a lover of tea, but of the nineteenth century, plenty of explanations on all the walks of the upper-class, from transportation to night life and etiquette are found within Wilson’s book. I will say, however, that you will learn what an integral part of the culture tea played.

So, which will it be, the book tour or the most authentic tour?

One of the incredible pluses of schooling my children at home is taking the time to read novels aloud. I try to incorporate them with the time of history we’re studying, but feeling a little tired of Ancient Egypt and Greece stories, we decided to switch gears and read The Hobbit together. And as Tea Party Girl and a writer, I cherish the opening scene.

Many of you may already be familiar with the early life of Bilbo Baggins. He lives in and loves the Shire, and when we are first introduced to him we’re told his family is very respectable because:

“they never had any adventures or did anything unexpected.”

Bilbo meets Gandalf the wizard, who’s reputation’s less spotless, shall we say, and Bilbo keeps up his guard.

“Sorry! I don’t want any adventures, thank you. Not today. Good morning! But please come to tea–any time you like! Why not tomorrow? Come tomorrow! Goodbye!” With that the hobbit turned and scuttled inside his round green door, and shut it as quickly as he dared, not to seem rude. Wizards after all are wizards.

“What on earth did I ask him to tea for!” he said to himself. He had only just had breakfast, but he thought a cake or two and a drink of something would do him good after his fright.

If you know the rest of the story, Bilbo’s fright, the challenge of hospitality with politeness, and possibilities of adventures are only beginning as Gandalf calls a secret meeting of many dwarfs who show up to Bilbo’s hobbit hole the following day right at teatime. And Bilbo ends up serving everything BUT tea. The “open-to-adventures” dwarfs and wizard would rather drink ale, porter, coffee, and a little red wine with their scones and cakes.

Oh, the humor as Tolkien describes the tension Bilbo feels trying to graciously serve the assuming dwarfs whose priorities are not on perfect manners or overstaying their welcome. Haven’t you been there? I certainly have. And I definitely know what it’s like to needs cakes and a drink after breakfast to help me recover from my fright.

So far today I only drank (have drunk?) tea standing up. Three different neighbors/friends stopped by (only one planned) and I didn’t serve tea to any of them. As I raced out of the house this afternoon without contacts or make-up, cramming down an apple and peanut butter with a handful of crackers, I consoled myself. At least today I’ve been open to adventures!

If you and I have the heart of a hobbit and hospitality, dwarfs and adventures with all their unpredictability and messiness will find their way to our front door and maybe even our tea table. My unexpected guests today were not as lucky. My heart, as Tea Party Girl, however is to welcome anyone to tea, even if their a little hairy or ask for something that causes me to scramble a bit. You never know where a new alliance will lead.

How do you handle unexpected guests?

Even the hairy ones?

Little inspires me more to take the time to plan a tea party than reading beautiful books about the tea party. One of my earliest blogging favorites, Sherry of Semicolon, loves to read and write about what she reads. Her question during my comment contest was:

“My question is, however do I find time to plan a tea party type event?”

Well, Sherry, you won’t hear from me that you need to read and write LESS so you gain more time. From one fellow (lady?) book lover to another, may I recommend finding a book or two that will inspire you? Books and tea make wonderful bedfellows (there’s that word again!). I highly recommend tea-themed book parties or book-themed tea parties as I enjoy nothing better than promoting literacy and tea.

The colder months are coming. Plan one classic read (they almost always drink tea in the classics) you and a friend or student need or want to read. Celebrate finishing the book on a cold winter day with a brewed pot of tea in front of the fire. If you’re especially inspired, bake something to go with it. Try to drink from a beautiful vessel and share your thoughts about the book as long as the pot and your toes stay warm. Can anyone think of a better way to spend a winter afternoon? Oh, if no one’s allergic, be sure to invite the cat. If you’re lucky, it will rain.

For other ideas and inspiration, you must add the book, “Time for Tea: Tea and Conversation with Thirteen English Women” to your library. I love this book for a number of reasons. Most importantly, this book provides snapshots of the lives of women ages 6 to 80-years old (surely you and your friends fall in this category!) and their teatime traditions. These women live their beauty and story enough like you and me so we can relate to them even though their circumstances are different.

The beauty of the English countryside permeates the pages while the women’s stories unfold. Somehow this book taps into that part of my soul that loves simple beauty in such a profound way, I stand up from my time with it changed. My eyes and imagination feast on the photographs included in the book. I end up longing to grow an English garden, cut my front door in half and paint it blue, and invite my friends over for tea no matter what the house looks like (almost).

I think I also really appreciate this book because the women interviewed are down-to-earth and share from their lives. What could be better than a book that celebrates the beauty of tea, women, and the English cottage garden? Oh, and for those of you who enjoy the kitchen, some of their favorite tea-related recipes are included.

What book inspires you to bring more beauty to your day-to-day life?

Instead of forging ahead with planning the August Tea Party Event, I thought I’d take a short break and answer the above question. (Thank you for all the comments yesterday! I am thinking through some menu adjustments and I’ll be sure to let you know what I decide.) I’m meeting professionals in both arenas who are watching me out of the corner of their eyes wondering what I’m up to. I think some tea professionals aren’t convinced blogging is a viable platform to build a business. And the bloggers want to know if a non-technical blog can really fly*

I want to be clear from the beginning. I treat Tea Party Girl as a business. I see my blog as an on-line magazine. Instead of a glossy you receive in your mailbox once a month with twenty articles and beautiful pictures, my readers receive one article a day for twenty days, give or take, per month. As I write, you, my readers, are always in the forefront of my mind. I write to provide you with~

1. Quality content and information.
2. A gathering place and sense of community with other Tea Party fans.
3. A way to find what you need, when you need it to plan a Tea Party Event. Quickly.

Obviously, this takes time and work. I look forward to some of you writing as guest columnists, building an even greater sense of community through contests, carnivals, comments, etc., and educating those searching the web for tea party ideas. Just for fun, here’s a small list of some of the search terms others use to find me in the last twenty-four hours:

• non soggy tea sandwiches
• grocery store tea party foods
• benefits of different types of tea
• summer tea time invite
• etc.

Last summer at this time, I became licensed as a Tea Specialist through Lady Dawnya’s Start a Tea Business program. I joined Lady Dawnya’s class because like so many who do, I had caught the afternoon tea bug and wanted to open a tea room. But I couldn’t figure out how to do it without having to work at a restaurant (remember my love for being in the kitchen!). Thankfully, taking her class talked me out of it as she led us through understanding all the ways we could make “tea” our business. Instead of opening the traditional tea room, I considered:

• 0rganizing a tea club with special events.
• starting a tea publication.
• training students and children about the tea party.
• giving tea parties in others’ homes.
• conducting tea tours. (Mom just did her first one yesterday, yea Mom!)
• working with an established bed and breakfast.
• offering speaking engagements.

My other reality includes three children who are growing up very quickly. The way this reads out is that our family educates them at home which means I am home. A lot. Trying to do something away from home and away from them doesn’t fit the current life paradigm. My tea business needs to truly work from home.

Since February ’06, I’ve begun selling loose leaf tea and tea brewing accessories, held tea events in my home, worked at a BnB/tea room, and opened an on-line tea business Wellspring Tea (no longer available). I’ve continued to work with Lady Dawnya in preparation for a new venture in her business that also involves me(more info coming soon) and written a column with Mom for a local paper. None of these opportunities, however, compare to the joy, satisfaction, and excitement I find creating Tea Party Girl. I love connecting with my readers quickly and spending the majority of my work-time writing and marketing about a topic I’m passionate about.

Blogs are unique because of their immediacy. Anyone can publish (with grammatical and spelling errors, I might add! This is not easy for me knowing my journalist father and English-teaching mother read this!). They need to be updated often to gain and keep an audience and it requires a lot of work. However, blogs are not unique in the sense that if they are going to be a business and not a hobby, they need to make money.

There are a number of ways to monetize a blog, I am learning. Two of the most common ways include incorporating ads and selling affiliate products. Someday you may see an ad or two pop up at Tea Party Girl.

HOWEVER, know this. The monetization of this blog will always be in the background while providing value and community to my readers will stay in the forefront. That is my commitment to you. All I ask is for your openness and continued contributions as Tea Party Girl grows. The best way for you to say thank you if you find the content valuable is to subscribe (it’s free and considered a vote to the search engines) and consider buying through my Amazon store if you need a Tea Read for yourself or someone else. That’s it!

Otherwise, continue to brew yourself a cuppa tea and spend some time here at Tea Party Girl. Oh, and be sure to tell your friends!

*Many of us at Blog Mastermind are certainly pouring our heart and energy into finding out. Some of the blog topics include Japanese drama, gardening, and cartoon drawings with a church ministry twist, among many others. Consider giving them a visit and cheering them on if you feel so inclined.