Today I had an early going-away party with my family. I was under the impression since last night that it would be a Saint Patrick's Day celebration, since we do a sort of family meal every year for that, usually with corned beef and cabbage, the usual. I do have a bit of Irish heritage, so that's normal enough.
It wasn't until mum had finished cleaning a bunch of antique teacups that both of her grandmothers had collected before I realized it would be a bit of a tea party, but I figured with a bunch of nieces (4, counting the step-niece) that it would be mostly for the kids to have a bit of a tea party.
It wasn't until today that I really picked up on it: Mum made sure I was awake and told me she'd made Yorkshire Pudding for me for breakfast, so we could have some with food. We'd been talking about it, so that wasn't too unusual. I had some Yorkshire Gold tea to go with it, and it was fantastic! Yorkshire pudding with Jam is definitely a plus. I noticed by the tea was a little bitty framed image of some scrapbook stickers of tea and the like within it. I thought it was pretty cute, and mum said "Yeah, you'll see a few of those around today!" Two in the entryway, two in the bathroom, two by the food, one by the tea, and one in the other living room, to be precise. She gave me the other stickers. Cutest little things around. Then I passed the entryway and saw a "Keep calm and carry on!" poster on the entryway. I realized it was a bit of a going-away party! It was fun, we had english-style food (Yorkshire puddings with beef-onion gravy, Oaty Beef, boiled vegetables (potato, cabbage, carrots), corned beef, British cheddar cheese, French ciabatta bread, branston pickle) and tea snacks (or whatever they're called) (French fancies, digestive biscuits, jam tarts, Viennese whirls, and some sort of layer cakes with filling), as well as some fantastic gluten-free chocolate cake (which was fantastic, brought by my sister, who would know the name of the bakery better than I.)
We had a fantastic time, chatted, played with my sister's baby, looked at old family photos (not nearly as embarrassing as usual), and a grand time was had by all. I'll be putting one of those "Keep Calm and Carry On" posters in my room when I get back, I think.
The middle sister's family gave me a sweet card with warm wishes for my travels, and letting me know they'd miss me. I teared up a little (not that I'd show it). My eldest niece gave me a little blue crocheted bracelet, which I'm still wearing. I'm hoping to bring it with me as a sort of good-luck charm. It's been a fantastic day, and all that tea will probably keep me up until far too late. I'm supposed to be adjusting my sleep schedule, but how can I when there's so much tea to drink?!
We've ordered me another tablet (This one will be named SHODAN, for those keeping track of my technological theme-naming), and I've finally started packing. There's still so much to do, I don't know how I'm going to get it all done! But I'm INCREDIBLY excited about it! Prepare for our blogging to increase as we begin to report all of our exploits!
Happy Travels!
-Tea
No comments:
Post a Comment