Wednesday, April 18, 2012

Tea

"What would you like mumma? Pumpkin soup, or tea? "
"Oh a cup of tea would be lovely".
"OK, I'll be just a minute".





"There you go mumma"
"MMMM delicious".
"No you have to drink it like this!", animated pretend slurp slurp.
"Oh I see, like that".
Lemon verbena tea.
With leaves and flowers freshly plucked from the garden.
The little Bowerbird knows you can make real lemon verbena tea, she and her big sister like to make a real pot to have with honey. It's tangy and very refreshing, my favourite herbal tea. She also likes to pick the leaves for smelling and squeezing.

The beautiful wooden play kitchen was a gorgeous gift from Christine at Slow Living Essentials, whose girls had outgrown it. It sits right outside our front door, creating happy chaos on our verandah.  Whenever she gets a chance, this little one is cooking up all sorts of delights. She needed yellow water for her pumpkin soup yesterday so we added some food die. Usually there is something from the garden in the brew, particularly bits of succulent that are easy to break and squish.

The beautiful apron she is wearing was a gift from Nanna, who was given it from a kind neighbour who knew she had granddaughters. So much love and generosity is overwhelming.  Makes me feel like another cup of tea.

Speaking of generosity, I have been getting lots of spoiling from Nenek (Indonesian for grandma, also known as mum to me). Nenek went to my brother's today, after staying with us for a week. I'm feeling exhausted.  She is such a whirlwind of activity, even when she's ill, I wish I'd inherited a little more of her busyness. I was meant to be looking after her, but she did a great job helping sort me out. There's a reason why her house looks immaculate, and mine does not. It was so lovely to have her to play with, we've been visiting local cafes and opshops, cooking up a storm, and taking a daily stroll of the garden.  My middle one came home from school and said "Where's Nenek?".  Even though we'd explained she was going to my brothers, he honed in on a more positive comment. "But I thought she said it wasn't a proper goodbye?", "Yes, not a proper goodbye, we'll see her again before she goes, but she won't be staying with us". "Oh".  Yes "Oh", perhaps that's why I'm all worn out, even 1/2 goodbyes are hard. Jakarta is such a long way from home.

 Our awesome Autumn has put her well on the road to recovery, this eternal sunshine is ridiculously divine.  Just a couple more days of bliss before the cold change arrives. I need some foul wet blustery days in order to feel inclined to clean the house, rather than frolicking in the garden.

Linking up with 1000 Homes of Happiness Playlist, even though we're only just in the outdoors, there is definitely some fun with nature happening in our kitchen.

6 comments:

  1. What a lovely post...you brightened my day! That apron is gorgeous and I love that she was making some 'real' tea!Could you send some of your sunshine our way though please!!!

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  2. Such a beautiful week it was. All a nenek could ask for. Miss you all already. Xx

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  3. very sweet :-) Glad you had a nice time with your mum x

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  4. Just lovely!
    We're being served a lot of 'tea' too... several times every day it's questiones about a tea party.
    I remember that kitchen from spring, it's lovely. Now it's out turn for spring, but it's still quite cold.
    Wishing you a lovely weekend,
    Lilli :)

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  5. Ooooh, look at that gorgeous wooden kitchen. Tea parties are fabulous. Especially those you can have outdoors. Beautiful pictures. Thanks for joining in the outdoor fun this week.

    xoxox

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  6. Aww, so sweet to see the play set in use! Thanks for sharing pics.

    Lovely that you got a chance to catch up with your mum, the kids with Nenek. The Autumn weather was a real treat..perfect for such a visit. :)

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In the spring, at the end of the day, you should smell like dirt.
Margaret Atwood

“She turned to the sunlight
And shook her yellow head,
And whispered to her neighbour:
"Winter is dead.”
― A.A. Milne, When We Were Very Young