Is the kettle on?

....there's really nothing like that afternoon cuppa to help you relax, get through the next few hours and give you an excuse to take a load off for even 20 mins. I do indeed enjoy this daily ritual ( or rather need it) in spite of myself and I'm pretty sure it's not just coz I'm English! The special blend PG is stashed for this purpose and there may even be an accompaniment of sweet cake, biscuit or other fanciful tidbit to stretch the stolen moment even further. Thanks to a friend who loves to bake, I am kept in many wonders of the sweet bread world, this was a divine choc-chip and fresh raspberry muffin steaming hot from the oven that allowed my poor tired brain from shutting down before sundown yesterday!

I would love to share the ancient Japanese tradition of the highly ritualised tea ceremony - you can bet I will too- and hope to bring the joy to my boys whilst visiting Japan in a couple of years.

The Japanese tea ceremony, or Cha-no-yu, meaning “hot water for tea”, is more than an elaborate ritual. It is an interlude in which one leads oneself for the moment to the spirit of beauty, quietude, and politeness toward others. The ceremony may be practiced anywhere, at home or in a teahouse.

There are 4 principles: harmony, respect, purity, and tranquility (wa, kae, sae, jubuo)

• Harmony: with other people and with nature. The tea ceremony is the way of bringing one’s self into harmony with nature.
• Respects: a harmonious relationship with others.
• Purity: clean yourselves through the five senses - sense of hearing when hearing the sound of water(which remind one of the silence outside), sense of sight when see the flowers, sense of touch when touch the utensils, sense of smell when smell the scent of the flowers, sense of taste when drinking tea.
• Tranquility

so what are you waiting for, go heat up some water....I'm coming over!