All in a Day's Work

There was no way to know 

what would happen in the day 

but I knew that whatever it was 

I would pick up that one thread;

weave it into morning, 

     then afternoon 

        until time for bed. 

That one thread begins with 

rubbing my eyes and stretching. 

All the to do things, in their patient way, 

wait quietly for me to engage brain with body.

On this day, no need to rush, except 

to put the kettle on for tea. 

The evening will end as quietly, 

the tea things put away, 

groceries set in cupboard and fridge,

the last piece of chocolate cake eaten, 

and my thoughts gathered in this poem.

“Don’t let the good days get to your head,

 and don’t let the bad days get to your heart.”

~ Caroline Ghosn, businesswoman

Morning Ease

Herb Farm, Fredricksburg, Texas. April, 2005

Tinkling alarm went off

I rolled out of bed

Sleep still muddled my head

I scrubbed my eyes

Wrapped cold shoulders in fleece

Went to the kitchen for tea

A new day has dawned

Whether in rain or sunshine

I’m already feeling quite fine

The simplest things like

A warm cup of tea and warm, cozy fleece

Start early days with a feeling of ease.

“Morning is an important time of day, because how you spend your morning 

can often tell you what kind of day you are going to have.”

~ Lemony Snicket, The Blank Book

Tasty Treats

Tasty treats at any time 

are pleasing to my tummy ~

pretty on a party plate

oft made by someone’s mummy.

But who knows the creator

of that very first recipe ~

a wise old witch or warlock

just wanting a snack with tea?

“Drinking tea with a pinch of imagination.”

~ 50 Ways to Drink Tea

Author's note: Edited February 22, 2024

Count Down - Aaa..chooo!!

Friday afternoon:
‘Can you be home after 2 pm Saturday?’
‘Definitely!’

Saturday - all day:
Time
Counted in sneezes and sniffles
while I puttered and cleared space

Time 
Counted in tissues and wrapped in warm fuzzes ~
while I went through papers and files

Time
Counted in cups of tea with honey and lemon
while I ate soup and a sandwich

Time
Counted in naps in the rocking chair
while Cuban jazz played on the radio

Time
Interrupted by the doorbell!
My new chair (it swivels) delivered!  Yay!!

(Not sure about Henry David and his opinion!)

“‘Tis healthy to be sick sometimes.”

~ Henry David Thoreau

From Reality to Memory

From Reality to Memory

Belinda washed the beautiful fragile teacup gently in water soapy and hot. A careless moment of hurry, had broken it’s partnered bone china saucer a few years previously. The beautiful china teacup was not destined, ever, to be loaded in the dishwasher. Her dishwasher was a definite convenience, but the gold on the cup would surely flake off just as memories flake off once the reality of a moment is passed. Pouring tea, for ladies decorated in their finest on that long ago Golden Anniversary for her grandparents, was as real, and the moment as fragile as the precious tea-cup. 

She promised herself to hold all of her realities loosely but carefully. The hustle and bustle of the work world did tend to be like a dishwasher. Everything gets cleaned up and done, but the sparkle inadvertently gets rubbed off. Of course all of the should’s and shouldn’t’s, she had learned through the years just heated things up loosening past joys, and yet holding tight pieces of painful memories.

Drying the cup carefully, she replaced it, saucerless, in her china cabinet awaiting hot tea and a cookie. 

“Each cup of tea represents an imaginary voyage.”

~ Catherine Douzel

It's only a Teacup

A tiny porcelain teacup

lay buried in the yard,

lost from a lovely tea set.

This lovely yard had seen

tiny cars, a fire engine

action figures and marbles,

all unearthed from beneath weeds

around the old tree trunks, and

under hedge and bushes.

One pink high heeled slipper

probably belonging to a Barbie doll,

was found once,

but that was two years ago 

between front fence and sidewalk.

Now this little porcelain teacup,

banded in mauve, emerged

as if by magic, from loosened soil 

in an old bed of daffodil bulbs

inside the fence.

There are stories inside this little teacup ~ 

of fine ladies picnicking on the grass and 

calling to the boys playing across the lawn

while the breeze blows from the west.

“Play gives children a chance to 

practice what they are learning.”

~ Fred Rogers