Jaye Marie and Anita Dawes

“She’s going to blow!”

The gentlemen may have found it amusing. I did not. We had often stopped at this particular place for a pot of tea mid-afternoon and it was always a pleasant pause beside the fire of the old coaching inn. It had been bad enough when they stopped serving pieces of fudge with the tea, but you can understand the economics of that. What I couldn’t understand was the move away from teapots.

The first time I spotted this aberration, I was too shocked to voice my disapproval…for at least a minute. The waiter brought out the customary tray with cups, saucers and the usual accoutrements…. but the tea was in things that looked like mini-cafetières. A novel idea… but it was all for show, wasn’t it? The tea would still brew in the glass contraptions.

Not so. It was not to be allowed to…