Mrs. Teabody Gets Busy
Bonjour, Hola, Hello, Gentle Friends!
"Friday at last!," some of you are thinking as you bustle about readying yourself for life in the working world, and Mrs. Teabody spent long enough -- thirty-five years! -- in that tension-fraught workplace to understand and feel compassion for you. She highly recommends work that is fun and interesting -- to wit: running a gifts and tea shop such as Tickle Your Fancy. Who knew a February Thursday could be so much fun?
First off, the Teabodys have made being completely idle an art form. Truly. No one can do absolutely nothing with such abandon as the Teabodys. Mrs. Teabody highly recommends it, but yesterday was NOT an idle day. Attend.
The snow moon was far from setting when Mrs. Teabody donned her apron, fired up the nob and set to the tasks at hand: first, scones. Mrs. Teabody was trying a new one, "Hearts Afire" so sultanas wanted plumping and the flour, butter, sugar, salt, baking powder wanted crumbing and then to add the secret ingredients-- a wee bit of cinnamon and "Peppermint Crunch" chips. With hot pepper jelly, Mrs. T. thought this the very thing, and in less time than it takes to iron a Battenburg Lace tablecloth, Mrs. T. had the scones happily baking away. Tea sandwiches followed filled with chicken salad with toasted almonds and white grapes and baked ham and havarti with field greens in a rye wrap. Oooh, La, La! Mrs. T. was, as her father was wont to say, "firing on all eight cylinders." Unadulterated exaggeration. Mrs. T. has but four, Gentle Reader. Three most days. But, more to the point. . .
Dressed in record time, Mrs. T., with the help of her esteemed companion, loaded all in the ancient motorcar and set out first for a full manicure at the salon belonging to the mysterious Mme. Sophia where the delicate and amusing Lady Sheena worked her magic. Afterwards, Mrs. Teabody nearly had a smash up admiring Lady Sheena's handiwork as she motored along to unlock Tickle Your Fancy. Events accelerated and soon enough, the tea room was graced with tea aficionados Lady Kathleen of King of Prussia, Lady Carol ( of Ohio!) and their jeune partenaire Mistress Justine. Whilst the lovely ladies enjoyed chat and tea, parcels were delivered, phone calls made, SUPERB cupcakes delivered by the very talented Lady Lindsey, proprietor of The Batter Bowl, and time ticked forward. A quick visit from Duchess Betsy, and then a whirly wind departure of everyone before the arrival of noon luncheon guests.
Three happy hours ensued, Gentle Reader, in excellent company. Mrs. Teabody is blessed to have spent most of her teaching days with colleagues who are personable, witty, amusing and kind. Who can imagine a better gathering? Mrs. Teabody cannot. All too soon, Mrs. Teabody watched her friends spill out onto the street into the mild February afternoon and TYF seemed quite crestfallen without their bonhomie.
"Friday at last!," some of you are thinking as you bustle about readying yourself for life in the working world, and Mrs. Teabody spent long enough -- thirty-five years! -- in that tension-fraught workplace to understand and feel compassion for you. She highly recommends work that is fun and interesting -- to wit: running a gifts and tea shop such as Tickle Your Fancy. Who knew a February Thursday could be so much fun?
First off, the Teabodys have made being completely idle an art form. Truly. No one can do absolutely nothing with such abandon as the Teabodys. Mrs. Teabody highly recommends it, but yesterday was NOT an idle day. Attend.
The snow moon was far from setting when Mrs. Teabody donned her apron, fired up the nob and set to the tasks at hand: first, scones. Mrs. Teabody was trying a new one, "Hearts Afire" so sultanas wanted plumping and the flour, butter, sugar, salt, baking powder wanted crumbing and then to add the secret ingredients-- a wee bit of cinnamon and "Peppermint Crunch" chips. With hot pepper jelly, Mrs. T. thought this the very thing, and in less time than it takes to iron a Battenburg Lace tablecloth, Mrs. T. had the scones happily baking away. Tea sandwiches followed filled with chicken salad with toasted almonds and white grapes and baked ham and havarti with field greens in a rye wrap. Oooh, La, La! Mrs. T. was, as her father was wont to say, "firing on all eight cylinders." Unadulterated exaggeration. Mrs. T. has but four, Gentle Reader. Three most days. But, more to the point. . .
Dressed in record time, Mrs. T., with the help of her esteemed companion, loaded all in the ancient motorcar and set out first for a full manicure at the salon belonging to the mysterious Mme. Sophia where the delicate and amusing Lady Sheena worked her magic. Afterwards, Mrs. Teabody nearly had a smash up admiring Lady Sheena's handiwork as she motored along to unlock Tickle Your Fancy. Events accelerated and soon enough, the tea room was graced with tea aficionados Lady Kathleen of King of Prussia, Lady Carol ( of Ohio!) and their jeune partenaire Mistress Justine. Whilst the lovely ladies enjoyed chat and tea, parcels were delivered, phone calls made, SUPERB cupcakes delivered by the very talented Lady Lindsey, proprietor of The Batter Bowl, and time ticked forward. A quick visit from Duchess Betsy, and then a whirly wind departure of everyone before the arrival of noon luncheon guests.
Three happy hours ensued, Gentle Reader, in excellent company. Mrs. Teabody is blessed to have spent most of her teaching days with colleagues who are personable, witty, amusing and kind. Who can imagine a better gathering? Mrs. Teabody cannot. All too soon, Mrs. Teabody watched her friends spill out onto the street into the mild February afternoon and TYF seemed quite crestfallen without their bonhomie.
The weekend is at hand, Gentle Reader. One of Mrs. Teabody's favorite maxims is, "You are the architect of your life," and whether you choose to be as idle as a doorpost through it all or to be the person who gathers some fine friends at your domicile for a wee bit of fun is entirely up to you. Yesterday the Duke commented that life is passing by so quickly reminding Mrs. T. of another favorite quote by Benjamin Disraeli : "But what minutes! Count them by sensation, and not by calendars, and each moment is a day." So true, yes? Whatever you choose to do, Mrs. Teabody hopes you will be firing on all eight cylinders. Or however many you have. Adieu, Gentle Reader! Adieu!
I love this!!! Especially the last paragraph!!
ReplyDeleteCould I post this on my wall?